AMERICA AT LARGE/George Kimball: Barring a last-minute stay of execution, Ray Close will fly from Belfast to Boston via Heathrow today with the intent of resuming his boxing career on Saturday night against somebody named Shannon Miller in the main event of promoter Doug Pendarvis's card at the Dorchester Armory.
Although his longtime trainer John Breen says that allowing Close to fight again would be nothing short of "a tragedy", the Massachusetts Boxing Commission may be legally powerless to stop it from happening, and those whose fervent wish is to save the 34-year-old boxer from himself may have to rely on intervention from a most unlikely source.
Commission chairman Nick Manzello might not be able to keep Close from fighting, but Osama bin Laden might.
A decade ago Close, then the European super-middleweight champion, came within an ace of becoming the first man to defeat then-unbeaten Chris Eubank. Having battled Eubank to a draw, Close earned a rematch in Belfast, and this time dropped a decision over 12 rounds. The two were slated to meet for a third time in 1995, but prior to that match - a lucrative affair which might have set the boxer up for life - an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) examination revealed two brain lesions. The British Board of Boxing Control (BBBC) lifted Close's licence, instituting what was essentially a life-time ban.
With Close removed from the scene, Steve Collins, then the holder of the WBO's middleweight title, was brought in to face Eubank at Millstreet, thus setting the stage for what proved to be a glorious run in the 168-pound division.
Despite having been diagnosed with brain damage, Close was able to pass a more routine neurological examination and obtain an Illinois licence. He fought and won three times in Chicago, all against mediocre opposition, before announcing his retirement in 1997.
He hasn't fought in anger since, though he did attempt to participate in an unlicensed card at the Park Avenue Hotel in Belfast last November. Since that fight would have been conducted under the auspices of an outfit called the Independent Boxing Association, the BBBC was powerless to intervene, but the show fell apart on its own merits.
Enter Pendarvis, boasting: "What better place for an Irish boxer to make his comeback than Boston? Ray's hoping for another world title shot and this will be his first step."
The promoter has been advertising Close as his headliner for nearly two months, though the opposition has shifted with the winds.
Originally Irish-American super-middleweight Shaun Creegan was to have been nominated, but after he unexpectedly battled former world title challenger Ross Thompson to a draw in Atlantic City last month he was deemed too dangerous.
Next up was Oswaldo Bello, a Venezuelan journeyman who had been inactive for nearly as long as Close. Bello, alas, turned out to be so overweight that the match could not be approved.
Somebody must have then spotted Miller losing (for the ninth time in his last 11 fights) to young Chad Dawson at the Mohegan Sun casino on February 1st and asked him what he was doing on the night of February 15th. Since he wasn't otherwise engaged, Miller agreed to fight Close for a purse understood to be $1,200. (And Close isn't getting much more.)
THE question of whether Close should be allowed to fight at all does not seem to have occurred to the Massachusetts authorities, who appear to have used as their guideline the fact that he passed the Illinois requirements five years ago.
"If he doesn't have all his medical records when he gets here, he'll have them before he fights," promised Manzello. "He'll need a HIV exam, a complete EEG, everything."
The trouble is that Close's malady may not be evident on a routine neurological scan. If it took an MRI to reveal it in Belfast, it may well take an MRI to find it in Boston - and MRIs, owing to their expense, are not normally required of applicants for a Massachusetts boxing licence.
Forcing the boxer to submit to testing not commonly required of other members of his profession could verge dangerously close to denying him the "due process" guaranteed by the American Constitution.
"You can't deny a man his right to earn a living," will doubtless be the promoter's argument. "If he's qualified under Massachusetts regulations, they have to let him fight."
Although Close has attempted to point to Wayne McCullough's protracted battle with the BBBC as a precedent, this is an entirely different issue. We're not talking about some minor congenital abnormality here. What we're talking about is a man whose diagnosis reveals brain damage, likely incurred in the ring, who displays the early warning signs of pugilistica dementia - commonly described as "punch-drunk".
"Ray's a lovely guy, but all you need do is talk to him and you'd know something's wrong," said Breen, the veteran Belfast trainer who handled Close throughout his professional career.
Apparently determined to tell his old trainer exactly what he wanted to hear, Close assured Breen last week that he didn't intend to box on the Boston show, but he told Pendarvis as late as Tuesday that he would.
Ray was working at the Belfast airport yesterday when we tried to reach him at home, but his sister confirmed that he was indeed flying to Boston via London today, with every intention of fighting Shannon Miller on Saturday night.
Whether the Massachusetts Commission can be bludgeoned into ordering a more extensive brain scan on such short notice remains unlearned, but help may be on the way elsewhere.
In anticipation of possible terrorist activity, the Department of Home Security has upgraded the US to "Orange Alert" status, and there appears to be a reasonable possibility that Massachusetts National Guard could be mobilised, in which case they will require the use of the Armory and Pendarvis' boxing show will be vaporised.
The boxing authorities might not be able to protect one of their own, but terrorists could ride to the rescue yet.
