This is why Vai Sikahema is my new hero.
He bashed in the face of Jose Canseco, something many people would absolutely love to do. That in itself should make Sikahema eligible for the Congressional Medal of Honor.
They met recently in a celebrity boxing match in Atlantic City. Canseco is 6-feet-4 and 250 pounds. Sikahema is seven inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter. Canseco should have stomped out Sikahema's guts.
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Vai Sikahema -- an accomplished amateur boxer -- sees his opponent's weakness ... (Getty Images) |
But something strange happened. The much smaller Sikahema just flat-out intimidated Canseco from the very beginning. When they met at center ring, Sikahema was literally looking up Canseco's nose. He was that much shorter. That didn't prevent Sikahema from stating: "I'm going to knock you down."
Canseco started the fight by throwing two jabs that missed. Sikahema responded with a hard left that connected with Canseco's jaw.
"His pupils dilated," said Sikahema.
I'm sorry but that quote is funny as hell.
Canseco dropped to the mat after only 30 seconds. After struggling to recover, Canseco got up, and Sikahema pounded away. Canseco had no clue how to defend himself. It was like stealing steroids from a baby.
"Whatever size advantage he had it was negated by his stupidity," said Sikahema.
I'm sorry but that quote is funny as hell, too.
The fight was over in 97 seconds. Ninety-seven freaking seconds.
"I read him right from jump street," said Sikahema. "He's soft inside. I think he was probably physically imposing his entire life and he intimidated people. So he didn't have to fight. I bet you he's never fought in his life.
"I had that sense he's never been in a scrap so I was going to hit him in the mouth and see what happened."
This fight utterly obliterated what was left of Canseco's already frail image. At one point, he was the spark that ignited the search for steroid truths in baseball. There was something admirable about that. He has quickly lost that luster and is now more pathetic. Following that ass beating, he's just laughable.
Afterward, Canseco made a bevy of excuses for losing to Sikahema, including a claim he had food poisoning.
What he had was Sikahema poisoning.
Most of these types of celebrity boxing matches are silly and buffoonish. Send in the clowns. This one was different. How can you not love to see the little guy who works in Philly win over the big-mouth rat? It's a real life Rocky story.
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| BaseballTime: Calling Canseco's role in the steroid investigation admirable is akin to calling Milosevic's role in ethnic cleansing admirable: it isn't admirable if you're a prime player in something dirty, no matter how you try to suck up afterwards. |
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| Mike Freeman: Only Baseballtime, the grand champion of simplemindedness, would compare a boxing match to ethnic cleansing. What's next on the ol' agenda baseball: comparing the NFL to the Battle of Britain? Just having some fun with a nice guy who donated some of his proceeds to a slain Philadelphia police officer. Boy, would I love to see your simpleton self get in the ring with Vai. Now that would be great theatre. |
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More importantly, Sikahema proved something I've been saying for some time. Most people have no idea how much skill it takes to box competently. Many professional athletes, ego oozing from their pores, think they can step into a ring and take on a skilled fighter with the same kind of ease as pulling a popsicle out of the freezer.
Canseco has claimed black belts in Taekwondo, Kung Fu and Muay Thai and some 20 years of martial arts experience. He had planned on beginning a mixed martial arts career after the Sikahema fight. What he failed to understand was just how good and tough Sikahema is.
If you have been around Philadelphia for any amount of time in the past few decades, you know the name Sikahema. Before he became a television journalist he was a Pro Bowl special-teams player in the NFL for eight seasons -- including a stint with the Eagles -- who would punch the goalposts in a fury after a score.
Sikahema has been boxing since he was a kid and had over 80 amateur bouts. He once fought in a Golden Gloves title match, losing to Sugar Ray Leonard (no shame in that since many people did).
Sikahema trained for six rounds and Canseco trained with six beers. It was a mismatch, indeed. The big guy was destined to get knocked out.
Here's another nice part of this story. Sikahema took some of his winnings and donated them to the widow of a slain Philadelphia police officer.
"I was fighting for a cause," Sikahema said. "I'm not sure what he was fighting for."
I'm not sure either. I'm not sure Canseco does. He's a lost soul and a beaten man.
In more ways than one.
Unlike Sikahema, who is my new hero.
