| Buddy McGirt once said, "I remember my fight with him | | | | Anthony Stephens for the USBA Welterweight Title. |
| like it was yesterday, He came up to me before the | | | | The fight was televised on ESPN. In a previous bout, |
| fight and asked for my autograph. He was wearing a | | | | Stephens had knocked Felix Trinidad off his feet |
| cowboy hat, cowboy boots, had a chew of tobacco in | | | | before before being ko'd by Tito. Coming from behind, |
| his mouth and a cup in his hand. He definitely could | | | | he savaged Stephens, knocking him down an |
| have been someone to look out for. He had an | | | | astounding five times before the fight was mercifully |
| awkward style, but he could sure fight."Buddy could | | | | halted in the twelfth and last round. Becoming the new |
| have added that he shared something with the likes of | | | | USBA champion, he was now looking ahead to better |
| Danny "Little Red" Lopez, Bobby Chacon, Saad | | | | fights and bigger paydays.His next fight on April 7, 1995 |
| Mohammed, Jaime Garza,Tito Trinidad and Arturo | | | | against a streaking prospect from the UK named |
| Gatti. He had that knack......that special flair for the | | | | Adrian "The Predator" Stone reinforced his growing |
| dramatic.....of coming back from the brink of defeat to | | | | reputation for the dramatic. The undefeated Stone |
| take his opponent out in breathtaking fashion. Only a | | | | was the favorite, and in the early goings, he lived up to |
| fool would ever count him out. With a no-defense, | | | | his billing giving him a solid beating. But he kept his cool, |
| full-offense brawling style, he would take take several | | | | regrouped and suddenly, like a lightening bolt, took |
| blows to land one of his heavy handed straight rights. | | | | command winning by a sensational knockout in round |
| Hanging tough, he would suddenly and dramatically turn | | | | ten. As is my wont, I was up and screaming at the |
| the tables at the end. Once he had his opponent hurt, | | | | end, hardly believing the sudden turn of events. One |
| he would close things out decisively.He had emerged | | | | thing was now certain; he had become one of my |
| seemingly out of nowhere as one of the fight game's | | | | very favorite fighters. I had found my Bobby Chacon |
| most exciting, tough-as-nails welterweights and the | | | | and Saad Muhammad all wrapped into one |
| fans came to love him both as a fighter and as a | | | | fighterAfter quickly disposing of Kenny Lewis, he then |
| young man with an obvious big heart, full of personality | | | | faced capable veteran Nick Rupa on July 7, 1995 in |
| and promise. He was the quintessential blood and guts | | | | what would turn out to be his last fight. True to form, |
| warrior who, like the aforementioned fighters, always | | | | he was losing the fight, but suddenly turned the tables |
| seemed to grab victory from the throes of defeat. His | | | | and ko' d Rupa in round seven.... and he did it in front of |
| come from behind victories over Anthony Stephens, | | | | his proud family. It was Rupa's first stoppage loss and |
| Adrian Stone, and, in his final fight, Nick Rupa, won him | | | | he too would never be the same fighter. I could hardly |
| not only the USBA welterweight title, but a hugh fan | | | | wait for his next fight.It would never come. Sadly, |
| following throughout the boxing world and the ESPN | | | | seventeen days after the Rupa fight, my favorite |
| circuit. Possible big fights were on the horizon and | | | | fighter was missing. Between July 24 and August 11, |
| names like Tito Trinidad and Yori Boy Campas were | | | | 1995, boxing had lost one of its grittiest warriors, but his |
| being mentioned. In boxing parlance, he was a hot | | | | parents, three younger brothers, wife and child, lost far |
| property. Hell, He was Gatti before Gatti.He was also | | | | more. His truck was found on the railroad tracks |
| a loving son and was from a close knit family, but from | | | | outside of town where some speculated a "fierce |
| another perspective, he lived his life the way he | | | | battle" had taken place. Days later, his body was found |
| wanted to........freely and on the edge..........the wild and | | | | in a swamp.The autopsy revealed he had received a |
| dangerous side, but as his boxing success increased, | | | | blunt trauma to the head, but not one that would have |
| his personal life seemed to be stabilizing at least | | | | resulted in his death. More than ten years later, the |
| somewhat. Though, as his brother related, "settling | | | | circumstances surrounding his death remain the |
| down and going to work wasn't part of his life. He had | | | | subject of much speculation and have been detailed |
| several jobs, he was one of the best roofers in the | | | | by far better writers than I and I'll leave that part of the |
| County, but that just didn't appeal to him." By some | | | | unfinished and highly complex tragedy to them.* |
| accounts, he was also allegedly robbing drug dealers, | | | | Suffice to say the pathos, intrigue and cross currents |
| an activity that can have the most serious of | | | | are the stuff of movies and best sellers.One account I |
| repercussions. Allegedly, he would do this in a | | | | came across indicated that after he was found in the |
| dangerous, crime ridden area of his town known as | | | | swamps, his body was loaded onto the back of a train |
| "The Bottoms."He became a professional boxer at | | | | engine and taken home to Mobile, Alabama as the sun |
| age 21 on July 13, 1987 against Billy Pryor whom he | | | | was setting in the distant western sky. If so, then the |
| knocked out in the third round in Mobile, Alabama. He | | | | man for whom he was named, the Outlaw Jesse |
| knocked out his next four opponents. After these | | | | James, must surely have been smiling down on the |
| bouts, he was a bit inconsistent, though extremely | | | | Outlaw Jesse James Hughes who lived like he |
| exciting, winning some and losing to rugged Canadian | | | | fought...........on the edge."Boxing has become America's |
| Stephane Ouellett, and then to Eric Holland in a | | | | tragic theater." Joyce Carol Oates*See: "Ten Years |
| televised slugfest from Philadelphia in August 1994 | | | | Later: Death of Jesse James Hughes Remains a |
| featuring savage back-and-forth exchanges. Curiously, | | | | Mystery" by Sean Newman, May 10, 2005.Ted Sares, |
| Holland, a bright prospect at the time, would never be | | | | PhD, is a private investor and syndicated writer who |
| the same after this brutal bout. Things changed for the | | | | lives in the White Mountain area of Northern New |
| better on January 4, 1994, when he fought tough | | | | Hampshire with his wife Holly and Min Pin Jackdog. He |
| Buddy McGirt in Florida. Even though he lost a ten | | | | writes a bi-weekly column for a local newspaper, is a |
| round decision, he gained respect from those who | | | | regular contributor to the NH Business Review, and |
| witnessed the fight, but more importantly, he gained | | | | many of his other pieces are widely published.His |
| self-confidence knowing he could hang tough with | | | | works focus on issues and themes dealing with |
| somebody as capable as McGirt. I recall the look on | | | | socio-political topics, business and (economics in which |
| Buddy's face toward the end of that fight and it was | | | | he advocates a free market approach to capitalism), |
| one of extreme caution and fear as he was being | | | | patriotism, and matters dealing with individual |
| stalked until the final bell. I sensed something........here | | | | freedom.They are frequently inspirational in nature and |
| was someone to keep an eye on.Things exploded | | | | sometimes reflect the Objectivist philosophy of novelist |
| quiet literally on October 26, 1994 when he fought | | | | and philosopher Ayn Rand. |