Another Warrior Dies

[BIG BIRD]

Robert Benson 24 aka Bobby Tomasello died today after injuries suffered in his fight Friday against Steven Dotse in the semi main event on ESPN2. It was a helluva fight with Tomasello being out on his feet at the end of each of the last 2 or 3 rounds. I never knew Tomasello but I do share a kinship with him that all boxers share. The passion and love of a cruel often heartless sport. He was a true warrior,he could of quit each of the last 3 rounds and nobody would have blamed him. But he hung in there and fought like a true warrior,which to Bobby Tomasello I offer a ten bell salute. You will be missed by the boxing community. Thank-you for being an exciting fighter and giving your all every time out.

[Hawk]

Damn!!!
I hate to hear that.
Prayers for his family.
Hawk

[Ronin]

Why didn't the ref intervene?

Did he not realize Tomasello had had enough?

[fascistfury]

do you have any details on the exact cause of death?

[BIG BIRD]

They say he was injured early on in the fight. Before he was getting rocked. The reason the referee didn't stop the fight is because Tomasello was fighting back. There were a few times you could make an arguement but then he would battle back and hurt Dotse. Tomasello died doing the thing he loved above all else boxing and for that I praise and admire him.

[SweepEm]

An injustice that an athlete dies in the sport.

An argument that although boxing is so popular and mainstream, yet the sport still has it's dangers and deaths.

[Joe Manco]

Everything has its dangers and deaths.

In fact life itself *always* ends in death, does it not?

Therefore, it is better to die in a blaze of glory, doing what you love, than it is to whither away and expire as an old man in a rest home where someone has to feed you and change your diapers.

In a way it is a shame that this fighter had to die so soon, and yet like Big Bird I salute him for going out like a warrior, trying his very heart out until the bitter end. It is a rare kind of man who can do that.

Yours truly,

Joe




[Edited by Joe Manco on 10-25-2000 at 08:01 PM]

[Water Dragon]

Hey Bird & Joe

That's terrible to hear, my heart goes out to his family.

But I have a question. I've heard an argument before that bareknuckled fights would actually be safer for boxers. The argument went that there would be more body punching and knockouts would come quicker. Basically the gloves allow a fighter to take more head punches which is what causes a lot of the deaths. It was said that although gloves were promoted to make boxing appear more "humane" and safer, it was actually more dangerous for the fighters.

Truth or bulls**t?

[Joe Manco]

That's true. Gloves protect hands, and limit cuts, but neither is fatal. They don't do a damned thing to protect the head ... they in fact hurt it more. So what was once a rule agreed to by old-time FIGHTERS to "wear gloves" for the safety of their HANDS eventually became misunderstood by idiots to now be mandated to protect heads. LOL

Same with head gear. Head gear protects a fighter from CUTS, but it does not make boxing "safer" regarding brain injury. Just the opposite in fact. Because with a head gear on you can't see half the punches coming at you and so get hit more too. I always hated head gear and refused to wear it for these reasons.

Yours truly,

Joe

[Bau13]

My prayers to his family and friends...


This makes me wonder why people say NHB is too dangerous and ban it..

[Joe Manco]

REALITY CHECK

While it is natural to want to find a way to prevent death in any sport, or really in any activity, to me it is insane to talk about "banning" the entire activity.

People die surfing, people die in football, people die in cars, people die mountain climbing, people die hang gliding, people die parachuting, people die walking acrossed the street ... basically we will ALL die doing SOMETHING.

It brings us back to the ban on guns ... it is INSANE to try to "ban" anything, because you CAN'T ban anyone from doing something he is determined to do.

The whole "ban" mentality is insane precisely because it tries to "control" the UNcontrollable ... other people's choices combined with the fact we are mortal and will die in "some" sort of a way, possibly as the result of a bad choice that we made. But bleeding hearts can't deal with this reality, and so when anyone dies as the result of any kind of an athletic or pleasure-seeking way, they want to ban said activity. WTF?

Hell, it is illegal to kill yourself, LOL

Do you think that law ever stopped someone who was determined to do so FROM doing so?

It is f*cking ridiculous how people can't handle death. People who try to pass laws from a person risking HIS OWN life are nothing but CONTROL FREAKS. "They" want to tell YOU what to do with YOUR LIFE. If ever there was a more sinister form of oppression and LACK of freeedom, I have yet to see it.

If I want to risk MY life, that is MY motherf*cking RIGHT to do so!!! If I go down exercising my right, so be it, that's the way it goes sometimes. Now, I have no right to risk YOUR life, anymore than you have a right to risk mine ... but as far as to ourselves we should be free to do whatever we want with ourselves and to ourselves, whenever we want, so long as we don't interfere with the rights of others.

And anyone who says different is an ego-centric CONTROL FREAK who thinks "he" has jurisdiction over "you," me, and others. So it is actually THIS type of person who is the TRUE violator of the rights of others ... and hence the one who should be banned from existence.

Death may be sad and tragic to "us," the living, but it means nothing to the deceased. They have just moved on, either to nothing or to something, no one will ever know until it is their time.

Yours truly,

Joe




[Edited by Joe Manco on 10-26-2000 at 10:50 AM]

[Ronin]

NOW you're talkin' sense.

Good post.

[BIG BIRD]

Tomasello Tribute

Go to http://www.fightnews.com . There is a great article on Tomasello. Talking about the fight and some of the more memorable moments in his career. Including the time Lightweight champ Stevie Johnston had a title defense and forgot his shoes and asked Tomasello if he could borrow his. Tomasello let him on the condiditon that Johnson sign them after the fight.

[PunchDrunk]

By the way, the fight ended in a draw. Joe Manco is right. There are a lot more deaths in other sports. But since in those sports the goal is not to inflict damage on opponents, the deaths are tolerated.

If you would ask Ali whether he would trade his health for his glory as a boxer, I am sure he would rather keep his title as the greatest. Boxers know the risks, they are grown men who are capable of making thier own decisions.

As far as bare-knuckle fighting, gloves were introduced to protect the hands. Period. In fact, it is harder to knock someone out with a bare fist than a glove, because the gloves provide more concussive power by the additional weight of the glove and the tape. If you've ever been hit with 8 oz gloves, it feels like a rock.

[rockinronnie]

Sad news...

Whenever this happens to our brethren at such a young age, we are all sadened. He is now in the hands of the most high.

PunchDrunk - I disagree about the point you made about being hit by an 8 ounce glove is harder than by a bare fist. The gloves do protect the hands, as well, they protect the exterior of the head, but the damage is done from within. That's actually the sad part of using headgear - the cumulative effect of the punches. And sometimes, as in this fighters case, the ref cannot detect the damage to a fighter from within until it's too late.

Ronnie.

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A straight arm's still a broken arm - Master JPF