Heavyweight boxer Monte Barrett is gearing up for his 8/13 Rematch with David Tua, but is a career as a pro wrestler in his future?

By Ryan Songalia
Monte Barrett and Ryan Photo by; Keisha Morrisey

At age 40, Monte Barrett is in the final stage of his professional boxing career. He's never won "The Big One," but he's usually been around the top of the division, giving hell to everyone just short of the elite level.

His career hasn't been unlike that of his next opponent David Tua, who Barrett will be facing on August 13 at the TelstraClear Pacific in Manukau City, New Zealand, in a rematch of their controversial draw a year ago. The show is called "Redemption," but Barrett wonders who stands to be redeemed more.

"I think it's more for me than him," said Barrett, 34-9-2 (20 KO), who grew up in Queens, N.Y., but has lived in Bayonne, N.J., for the past two years.

"Tua and I have unfinished business. That's why the rematch is something I wanted and he wanted as well."

After a shaky beginning to their first fight, Barrett found his rhythm in the middle rounds, peppering Tua with punches as the Samoan fan favorite started to slow down. Barrett scored the first legitimate knockdown of the anvil-chinned Tua in the 12th and final round, which some felt was enough to earn Barrett the decision.

Should he emerge victorious in the rematch, Barrett says Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith has promised a victory parade through the Hudson County city.

Prior to the first Tua fight, Barrett had one foot in the sport and one out of it as he eyed a position with HBO Sports. Barrett says that HBO Senior Vice President of Sports Programming Kery Davis reached out to him last year and offered him a position similar to the late Arthur Curry's, as a liaison between the fighters, executives and the community.

"I was asked by Kery Davis, 'Would be willing to give up boxing for this position?' I said, 'Yes, you can't serve two masters.'

"I felt like I could have longevity at HBO. I've reaped the fruits of my labor and this would be my reward, being able to do something for boxing on the executive end. That's why I thought that would be my last fight."

Barrett said the job fell through when AOL Time Warner, which owns HBO, put a freeze on new hires at HBO some time after Davis' right hand man, Luis Barragan, left the company to enlist in the military.

It's unclear how the recent resignation of HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg will affect future hires.

"So the position hasn't opened up yet; it's supposed to open up some time this year. In the meantime, Kery gave me his blessings to do what I want to do. That's what I'm doing," Barrett said.

An email to Davis on Friday seeking comment wasn't returned by Tuesday evening.

With HBO on hold, Barrett's options were simple; continue boxing and seek fights with re-emerging heavyweight Cris Arreola or a rematch with former champ David Haye, or pursue a passion that he has grappled with for most of his life.

He is considering going to pro wrestling school.

Barrett's friend John Cena - who just lost the WWE championship at this past weekend's pay-per-view event - has encouraged the 6-foot-3, 220 pound Barrett to give it a try in another sort of ring. Cena has offered to have Barrett train at WWE's developmental program Florida Championship Wrestling in Tampa, Fla., the city where Cena calls home.

Wrestling and boxing have often crossed paths throughout history. Most recently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. had a foray into sports entertainment, "knocking out" The Big Show, a wrestler named Paul Wight, who can frequently be spotted at boxing events in Florida.

Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson and others have been a part of wrestling events in the past, as competitors, special guest referees and "special enforcers."

"I've always been a big wrestling fan since 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka back in the '70s and '80s. You never know, you might turn around and I might hang up the boxing gloves and have some tight [wrestler CM] Punk panties on," said Barrett, eliciting a laugh.

Then, rethinking his prior statement, Barrett reconsiders his wrestling attire: "I don't know about the Speedos; we'll figure it out. Maybe I'll do the John Cena thing and wear the jean shorts."

Barrett had stopped following wrestling for a number of years, picking it up again when his son - one of Barrett's six children - started becoming an avid follower. Barrett, who had met Cena through a mutual friend named "Rock" (Not "The Rock," Dwayne Johnson) who helps Cena with his music career, became his son's hero anew when he revealed that he was friends with Cena.

"My son said, 'Dad, I love God and I love wrestling. That's how much I love wrestling.' He knows all the wrestlers, all the moves."

Barrett, whose best weapon throughout his boxing career has been his overhand right, sometimes winged from the side, would need a more aesthetically pleasing finisher, and it's something that he's already given thought to.

"I thought about bringing the Cobra Clutch back, I love that by Sgt. Slaughter," said Barrett. "I love the figure four leg-lock by Greg Valentine and Ric Flair. I love the cross-faced chicken wing by Bob Backlund. Those are my favorite moves. I'm not gonna be a Jimmy Snuka jumping off the top rope. I love the energy of the Ultimate Warrior and 'Mr. Wonderful' Paul Orndoff."

WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Johnny Rodz runs "Johnny Rodz School of Wrestling" out of the famed boxing academy Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y. Rodz boasts former WWE and ECW stars The Dudley Boyz, Tazz and Tommy Dreamer among his students.

Rodz, whose real name is Johnny Rodriguez, says that a professional athlete like Barrett coming from another sport could successfully make the transition to pro wrestling, even at the age of 40. It all depends on how much Barrett is willing to commit to the training.

"If he's been a good athlete at 40, he's still a baby," said Rodz. "A 21-year-old can't do nothing if he's a bum. You have guys who are 21 but look like they're 40. If he's a good athlete, then he has ten years of action left in him."

"If he has any love for wrestling, then I would say he has a hell of a chance to do something with it. In life, everything you do is something you're a fan of or something you love to be in. That’s why I did it so many years.

"There is no answer until they take him in and train him. If he doesn't have it, then they're wasting their time and he's wasting his time."

Barrett isn't committing to a decision, however.

"I've given it a lot of thought but I'm undecided yet. Just like John said, 'Focus on winning this fight. Win, lose or draw, you still could do a lot in wrestling, but with a win, it's a better storyline.'

"My whole thing always was to have options, so the only thing I'm focusing on is this fight at this point in time. After this fight, and I come home then I can clear my head and think about my next move."

The conversation switched over to the similarities between boxing and wrestling, which Barrett felt there was none. I asked whether he felt boxing could take a few lessons from wrestling and how it's marketed, and whether borrowing from the "script" could put people in boxing event seats.

He didn't seem optimistic.

"The biggest thing that wrestling has is that they have committed, dedicated fans. The boxing world doesn't have that. Boxing fans are bandwagon fans; they're going with who's hottest. Wrestling, they love wrestling as a whole. Boxing fans, they love the boxers like Mayweather, Bernard [Hopkins]. They love certain fighters.

"That's why on such a broad worldwide level, everybody loves wrestling. In boxing, we don't have that. The fans are not loyal fans."

For now, the only ring Barrett is concerned about is the boxing ring.

"After I beat David Tua and come back, then I'll start weighing my options," he said.

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com . An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia.

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Hope or hype: Harlem prepares for Decision ’08; How a historic election resonates in America’s first capital of black culture

By Vidya Rao

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27477898/

“We’ll see how much our country has grown up on Tuesday night,” said acclaimed poet and longtime Harlem resident Maya Angelou. “In Harlem, to have a black president I would expect the same sort of hallelujah good times celebration as occurred in the ’30s and ’40s when boxer Joe Louis fought and won the title."

It’s one evening late last week, and four men are sitting at the corner of the bar at Londel’s Supper Club in central Harlem, transfixed on its flat-screen TV. The bartender has stopped mixing drinks, her eyes glued to the tube.

As patrons watch a recap of campaign events on the evening news, the bar is quiet but for plates rattling in the kitchen and jazz playing in the background.

Then someone shouts, “There’s no way McCain will win,” and the patrons — who are all black, as is the bartender — are off, onto a raucous discussion of all things political, from Joe Biden to Joe the Plumber. On some issues they disagree, but one thing is clear: They are all Barack Obama supporters.

From Harlem’s bars to its barbershops, its churches to its community centers, America's first black cultural capital is electrified with anticipation of the election, and the possibility of a person of color’s becoming president. Many Harlemites are quick to say that Democratic candidate Barack Obama has changed the face of politics, encouraging people in the community who were apathetic to become part of the process.

Others say this election is something they’ve waited for their whole lives. “I’m on cloud nine,” said 86-year-old Lettice Graham, a Harlem resident since 1947 who has voted in 17 presidential elections. “I’m just glad it happened in my lifetime, that I can have the experience to vote for a black president. I will be at the poll at 6 a.m. to beat the rush!"

Nationally, nearly 90 percent of the black vote went to Democratic presidential candidates in the past two elections. In a poll conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies last month, 90 percent of blacks have a favorable opinion of Barack Obama, while 22.8 percent have a favorable opinion of John McCain. Eighty-four percent said they want Obama to win the presidency.

In Harlem, where the population is 67 percent black, hopes for this historic election are high.

‘Obama, Obama, Obama!’
State Sen. Bill Perkins, who represents Harlem, was New York’s first elected official to endorse Obama for president (in May 2007). He says he’s never seen the kind of political passion among his constituents that he has in this election.

“This election is transformative,” he said. “Those who were turned off by the process are enthusiastically turned on. We just have to keep reminding them, though, that this momentum is not the victory — it’s the vote that is the victory.”

Chet Whye, director of Harlem for Obama, works out of an office at 133rd Street and 8th Avenue, his desk invisible under a mass of paper and files. He says his office has registered more than 3,000 people to vote since September 13.

“This election means something big for this community,” he said. Pointing to a life-size cardboard cutout of Obama in the window, Whye added, “We’ve had a lot grown men come by and they look at that image of Sen. Obama. If they stand there and look at it for more than a minute, we’ll see tears come down.”

Throughout Harlem, residents agree that community morale is up and the level of political engagement has no precedent in decades. Neighborhood vendors sell merchandise emblazoned with images of Barack and Michelle Obama: buttons, hats, T-shirts, umbrellas, shoes. Some see Obama as the personification of the American dream.

“Everywhere, every corner store, deli, barbershop, all you hear is, ‘Obama, Obama, Obama!’ ” said construction worker Karim Solomon, 30, adding that he will also vote for the Democrat.

“He isn’t Martin Luther King Jr., but he has the ability to uplift the community, and that is how many of our members feel,” said Reverend Dino Woodard of the Abyssinian Baptist Church. The first black Baptist church in New York played a vital role during the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights era. “Our church has fought to end discrimination, and for those of us who were around during the Civil Rights movement, this is the ultimate milestone,” the Rev. Woodard said.

Still, some caution against characterizing the excitement about Obama as being race-based, saying that would imply he’s ahead in the polls because of his color, not his qualifications. “I have voted for many white candidates and never had a problem with it,” said John Phillips, 72, who works in pharmaceuticals and is black. “I’m voting for Obama because he’s the right man for the job; he’s a Democrat who will steer this country in the right direction.

“Nobody asks white people if they are voting for a candidate because he’s white, so why should I be asked if I’m voting for a candidate because he’s black?”

The significance of Harlem

The neighborhood of Harlem extends from 110th Street to 158th Street, at the top of the island of Manhattan. To its north are Washington Heights and the Bronx; to the south, Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Central Park. Between 1920 and 1930, black Americans migrated here from the South, searching for jobs and opportunity, until more than 70 percent of the population was black.

Those demographics helped usher in the Harlem Renaissance, when poets like Langston Hughes and Claude McKay and novelists like Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright made the community the nexus of African-American culture. The Apollo Theater on 125th Street, one of few New York venues that allowed African-American performers and patrons, launched the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and many others, still remains a Harlem landmark.

“Harlem created a vibrant culture that it shared with the world, not just New Yorkers,” said Keith Mayes, associate professor of African American Studies at the University of Minnesota. “People still see it as having the roots of the first black mecca, being the home of black arts and culture.”

By 1950, 98 percent of Harlemites were black. Through the next three decades, New York City suffered an economic decline, and the black community struggled. Infested with drugs and violence, Harlem became a symbol of urban decay.

Today the community is changing; though blacks are still in the majority, whites, Asians and Latinos are moving in. Gentrification has improved many blocks, but housing costs are rising, pushing out many black residents whose families have lived here for decades. Columbia University plans to expand through 17 acres of the area, leading many residents to feel they are losing their neighborhood.

“Harlem is in recovery,” said acclaimed poet Maya Angelou, who first visited Harlem in 1952 and has owned a house here for the past 10 years. “It is still the political hubbub and hub — whatever happens in Harlem is going to be repeated in Los Angeles and Seattle, in the black areas around the country.”

Angelou says that Harlem and other communities are desperate for change — and says Obama can make that happen.

“We’ll see how much our country has grown up on Tuesday night,” she said. “In Harlem, to have a black president, I would expect the same sort of hallelujah good times celebration as occurred in the ’30s and ’40s when boxer Joe Louis fought and won the title.”

Still, some are skeptical about Obama’s message of change. “I believe Mr. Obama has the intention of making things better, but he’s not the messiah,” said rapper Immortal Technique, né Felipe Coronel, 30, a Latino of Afro-Peruvian descent. “He can’t undo Bush’s policies over the past eight years.”

The political rapper, who was raised in Harlem and currently lives here, also questions how much direct effect a President Obama would have on the community. “Will Obama stop the expansion of Columbia University? Will he stop luxury buildings from taking over the area?”


Black doesn’t mean backing Obama



In fact, not all African-Americans or Harlemites support Obama, though they are by far the minority. Keisha Morrisey, 38, who has been in Harlem her whole life, says she doesn't leave her house without wearing her campaign hat and buttons — her McCain-Palin hat and buttons.

“I’ve always been going for McCain, and I’m loyal to my party,” said the lifelong Republican. “People say to me, ‘Why not Obama?’ So because I’m black I’m supposed to vote for Obama? I say, ‘If a black man comes to my door, I’m not going to just let him in because he’s black, then ask him who he is afterwards.’ The bottom line is, I don't know Obama.”

Morrisey, who is in the process of developing a Harlem Women Republican Club, has harsh words for her fellow Harlemites. “This Obama thing is clearly a lot of hype,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of people know why they are voting for him. It’s just because he’s black.”

The event planner and publicist blasts people for voting for Obama based on race, but also says that her support for McCain grew stronger when he chose Sarah Palin for vice president — because she’s a woman.

“Young black women should think twice — the Democrats didn’t choose a woman, and Palin and McCain balance each other out well.”

Khalil Figueroa, 38, a Latino and co-owner of Fig’s Barber Shop, gets heckled by patrons and barbers when he says that he will vote for McCain, and proudly asserts that he voted for George W. Bush in the last election.

“It’s a national security issue, and McCain is going to protect the country,” he said. “I’m not leaving my kids on a train, and have the train blow up because Obama wants to run around shaking hands.”

But acupuncturist Andre C. Jones, who is black, was a lifelong Republican and a McCain supporter, yet says he will be voting for Obama.

“I don’t agree with Sarah Palin as a choice for vice president; she certainly doesn’t have the qualifications,” Jones said, adding that Obama’s oratorical charisma, intelligence and message of hope helped sway him.

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