Bruno on Boxing

    Three men have died participating in Toughmen Contests, and as a result, Dore's Toughman Contests have been outlawed in 17 states and in  all of Canada. In the state of Florida, Professional Toughman Contests are also illegal, but the Florida State Athletic Commission is powerless from preventing Dore from coming back to Sarasota next year, which will be Dore's fourth consecutive year of putting one over on the local politicians, the overworked police and Sarasota's general public.

    According to Chris Meffert of the Florida Boxing Commission, the reason Dore can get away with staging his brutal event in Sarasota is that he does not pay out a monetary prize to the winner, only the title of "Toughest Man in Sarasota."

     "If the event is an amateur boxing event, we have no jurisdiction," Meffert said. "There has to be either a cash prize, or an award worth more than $50, to the winner."

    So let me get this straight. Professional Toughmen Contests are illegal in Florida, but Amateur Toughman Contest are as legal as mother's milk. What's wrong with the previous sentence?

    Meffert referred the CBZ to the State Attorney general office in Sarasota. A female answering the phone in the State Attorney General's Office in Sarasota, obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer,  told the CBZ, "We cannot give out opinions about the law over the phone."

    The CBZ persisted. "But we don't want a legal opinion. We want to know if Toughman Contests  are legal in Sarasota?" 

    "We cannot give out legal opinions...bla...bla.. bla."

    The CBZ asked to speak to the local state lawyer in charge.  This lady took our phone number and said she would have a person named Henry Lee call us back.   

    The CBZ is not holding their collective breaths.

    The local police was much more helpful. Beth Muniz, a spokesperson for the Sarasota Police Department told the CBZ, "The Police hate this event, but there's nothing they can do about it. It takes place on private property. There are no laws preventing Toughman Competitions from taking place in Sarasota."

    During the two-night spectacle at the Robards Arena, police made eight arrests, and dozen of drunken bums were thrown out for fighting, some with themselves. According to Muniz, eight policemen were assigned to safeguard the arena, but not at taxpayer expense. "The arena paid for the police and this is normal procedure. But the policemen assigned said eight men were not enough to control the unruly crowd. They needed at least twelve."

    The CBZ attended the first night of the farce. The crowd resembled the class reunion of "Deliverance 1973." Fighters in the ring showed no experience and no skills,  and when the bell rang starting the brawl, both combatants threw wild punches from all angles. Not one jab was seen all night. The winner was invariably the one who tired out last. Scott Hayes, co-host of the daily Scott and Jake Show on 1320 WAMR radio said, "It's like seeing a horse running a 20 second first quarter in the Kentucky Derby."

    Art Dore sat at ringside, a mike squeezed in his hand, yelling for the full sixty second of each round, "Git it. Git it. Git it. Git it." Or "Come on you sissy, start fighting."

    In one fight,  a fighter was hurt bad. The ref jumped in to stop the fight. Dore screamed at the ref, "Let 'em fight, will ya? He's okay. The guy wants to fight."

    It's safe to say the poor chap did not emerge the night calling himself the "Toughest Man in Sarasota."

    No, that title belong to Art Dore. He came. He staged. He conquered. And he made fools of all right thinking people within the Sarasota County Limits.

    And where was the local newspaper on all this? The Sarasota Herald Tribune wrote one article concerning the event; a story about the referee, who was hit over the head with a bottle at the motel he was staying at the night before the first fight. As for the event itself. Nada. It was like the newspaper stuck its head into the ground and said, "What Toughman Contest?"

    It's thinking like this that makes the escapes of a creep like Art Dore possible. If the Sarasota Herald Tribune had one ounce of journalistic blood, it would jump all over this for the sake of the safety of the Sarasota citizens. But editorially, it's more interested in Miss Bumpstead's cat being stuck up a tall oak tree.

    Maybe the CBZ can at least get the local politicians interested.

    Stay tuned for further developments.