Todays post is brought to you by the letter “C”. It is day 3 of the A-to-Z Challenge. I will be writing a post every day (except Sunday) each post representing a letter of the alphabet. You can learn more here:
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
Celebrity Boxing
There is a new reality series brewing and this one is going to be in my neighborhood.
When a neck injury ended his 9-0 professional boxing career, Damon Feldman created Celebrity Boxing. What else was the sidelined champ, son of Hall of Fame boxer/trainer Marty Feldman supposed to do?
Okay, Celebrity Boxing has been around for more than a decade and has had its share of bouts with 15 minutes of fame. There was Todd Bridges vs. Vanilla Ice, Paula Jones vs. Tanya Harding, Octo-Mom vs. Michelle(Bombshell) McGee and Danny Bonaduce vs. Barry Williams. Then Damon sued Octo-Mom for stealing a ring from him and won. He also sued Michael Lohan for not showing up to a fight and won.
In April of 2010, the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission charged Damon with six counts of staging events without a valid promoter’s license in Pennsylvania and six counts of ‘fixing’ fights.
Seriously, Pennsylvania Athletic Commission and Governor Corbett (who was the Pennsylvania Attorney General at the time) you didn’t realize it was entertainment?
Damon was devastated and fell into a deep depression. The scrapper never had it easy. His mother was a paraplegic and died shortly before his wedding and his father was always in the gym.
Rumor has it the state athletic Commissions executive director, Gregory Sirb was p.o.’d at Damon so he k.o.’d the license and prompted the charges. The rumor is Sirb (who actually fought in two Celebrity Boxing matches) wanted to fight Danny Bonaduce. When Feldman chose Justin Schemer to get in the ring with Bonaduce, Sirb was angry.
Doesn’t that just stink of this new culture of political thuggery?
Not wanting to leave Pennsylvania because his children are here, Damon and his father opened the Celebrity Boxing Gym in Havertown, Pennsylvania a small suburb just south of Philadelphia.
He waited and he planned.
Last Friday my husband and I attended the Press Event to announce Celebrity Boxing’s return to the Philadelphia area. The event was well planned, well attended and positive.
Photo credit: http://studio9services.com
If the state does not give Damon a promoter’s license, he will continue to book celebrity and charity matches out of state, most likely in neighboring Delaware.
The premise of the reality show will feature Feldman putting the matches together, booking the celebrities, sponsors and venues all while battling the proverbial city hall and arranging publicity.
Our culture today is so quick to forgive and root for the redemption of the dark among us, the Tanya Harding’s and Danny Bonaduce’s. Personally, I am hoping for more match ups featuring the real good vs. the bad. We need someone we can honestly cheer for, a good soul. Something like Tim Tebow verses Michael Vick, Lindsay Lohan verses Taylor Swift, Octomom verses Kate Gosselin…um Kate verses John??
You may or may not like reality TV, boxing or fighters but how can you not root for this man. He has been knocked down over, and over but they have yet to knock him out.
I will be watching and rooting for Damon.
Who would you like to see duke it out for charity?
