MAY 21st - Ending the Cold War



On this day in 1891, Peter Jackson and Jim Corbett fought in a boxing match. Nothing special. Except it lasted 61 rounds. And ended in a draw. That has to be the worst fight ever. 61 rounds. I’d love to be inspirational and wax poetic about the indomitability of the human spirit, but 61 rounds is a tad excessive. If you can’t beat a guy in the first 20, let’s call it even and go our separate ways. The crazy thing is that it wasn’t the worst fight ever. That happened two years later in New Orleans—110 rounds, 9pm – 4am. Also a draw. Who was the boxing commissioner? Torquemada from the Spanish Inquisition? Can you imagine if Rocky Balboa had fought Apollo Creed for 61 rounds, and then they called the fight a draw (assuming Creed would’ve kept the title)? On the plus side we would have gotten some crazy good movie montages of increasingly limp-armed punches (Frank Stallone could have written like 10 more songs), but there is no guarantee that either of them survive, or fight each other again, which would have put all subsequent happenings in the Rocky Saga in jeopardy, which could have prevented Rocky from single-handedly ending the Cold War. Moderation people. It helped end the Cold War.

This day has been Marked.

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