Connect with us

Articles of 2009

PINKLON THOMAS: I Was Praying To God To Let Me Die

Published

on

On Nov. 15 at the Performing Arts Center in Tampa, Fla., former WBC heavyweight champ Pinklon Thomas, after some nervous fidgeting and maybe a quiet prayer or two, will stand up at the podium in front of a large crowd and give an acceptance speech as one of the inaugural inductees into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.

It won’t be a long speech. Thomas would rather go ten hard rounds than speak in public. But a speech is needed  and Thomas will give one.

He could talk about the drug habit he had as a fighter, about that Saturday night more than 20 years ago when he was driving down Interstate-95 outside Miami and saw a semi coming the other way, how he prayed to God to let him swerve into the path of the truck and take his life.

“I was praying to God to let me die,“ he said. “Then suddenly, I realized God wasn’t going to take my life. I was praying for him to do something bad to me, but he wasn’t going to do that. If I wanted to kill myself, I couldn’t ask God to do it.“

Thomas could also talk about a life filled with unbelievable highs and all-time lows, how he finally picked himself up off the floor and brushed himself off with the help of his trainer, Angelo Dundee, who will also be inducted into the FLABHOF on that Sunday.

He might tell the crowd about that bleary-eyed night in February 1989 – just a few weeks after he lost to Evander Holyfield – when he suddenly found himself sitting on a bar stool in Miami at 1 o’clock in the morning after smoking cocaine and weed and drinking booze for five days and five nights. He could tell you how he’d lost 13 pounds, grown a beard and was still wearing the same clothes he put on almost a week earlier.

“I was as red as a beet and my heart was thumping like it was about to bust,” he said. “You know that thing where they talk about hitting rock bottom? I hit it.”

He went looking for help and ended up on the doorstep of Dundee, who had taken Thomas to the heavyweight championship four years earlier when he beat Tim Witherspoon for the title.

But Dundee wasn’t having any of it. He told Thomas to get out of his office, that he wanted nothing more to do with him.

It was Dundee’s way of trying to save Thomas from himself, a slap to the face hoping it will bring a good man back to his senses.

“The way he looked, he scared the hell out of me,” Dundee said, remembering just how far Thomas had fallen. “There is nothing worse than a guy with that much talent wasting it on drugs. He could box and he could punch. He was really a great heavyweight. But you can’t beat drugs, and he was the best example of that.”

It was a turning point for Thomas. He knew he had to put his life back together before it was too late. Dundee had reached him.

“Oh, I shook him up,” Dundee said. “I made him feel so bad it straightened him out. Look at him today. He's a great guy.”

Hit by some of the best heavyweights of his time, Thomas said Mike Tyson and Mike Weaver hit him harder than anybody.

“But it’s a drag to get hit by something you can’t even see,” he said.

He finished his boxing career with a record of 43-7-1 with 34 KOs,  but says the toughest thing he ever faced was his addiction.

“If I hadn’t done drugs, I’d still be champ right now.”

Thomas told me all this 15 years ago when we sat in an almost empty dining hall at the Araba Shrine Temple in Fort Myers, Florida, where he was making an appearance on behalf of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southwest Florida.

He was 36 and six years clean at the time, working hard to make sure he made it to seven years.

Now he’s been clean for more than 20 years.

Today, Thomas, 51, is still in Orlando, still drug free, and still trying to pitch in and help where ever he can, though it would have been easy at any time for him to slip back into that dark hole that swallowed him up and held onto him for so many years.

When he stands up at the podium in front of that crowd on Nov. 15, he could talk about today instead of yesterday.

He could talk about how he just launched his newest idea, a project called PINK, or Pride In Neighborhood Kids, how children from deprived areas “need to believe in themselves,” and how he wants to help them be “physically and mentally prepared.“

He might talk about his work counseling kids. That’s what Thomas does now. He counsels, he makes appearances, he talks to young people. And he’ll hit the heavy bag if he sees one hanging around and someone tosses him a pair of bag gloves.

The guy who doesn’t like to talk in public has a lot he could say. But he saves most of his talking for the kids he tries to help. Those are the ones he’s trying to reach.

So if he stands up at the induction ceremony and just says he’s honored, don’t hold it against him.

Just shake his hand and say, “So are we, Pink. So are we.”

The FBHOF induction in Tampa is scheduled for Nov. 13-15.  For tickets or more information call Butch Flansburg at (813) 810-5896.

Share The Sweet Science experience!
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Avila-Perspective-Chap-330-Matchroom-in-New-York-plus-the-latest-on-Canelo-Crawford
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 330: Matchroom in New York plus the Latest on Canelo-Crawford

Vito-Mielnicki-Whitewashes-Kamil-Gardzielik-Before-the-Home-Folks-in-Newark
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Vito Mielnicki Jr Whitewashes Kamil Gardzielik Before the Home Folks in Newark

Results-and-Recaps-from-New-York-Where-Taylor-edged-Serrano-Once-Again
Featured Articles7 hours ago

Results and Recaps from New York Where Taylor Edged Serrano Once Again

Catching-Up-with-Clay-Moyle-Who-Talks-About-His-Massive-Collection-of-Boxing-Books
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Catching Up with Clay Moyle Who Talks About His Massive Collection of Boxing Books

From-a-Sympathetic-Figure-to-a-Pariah-The Travails-of-Julio-Cesar-Chavez-Jr
Featured Articles5 days ago

From a Sympathetic Figure to a Pariah: The Travails of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

More-Medals-for-Hawaii's-Patricio-Family-at-USA-Boxing's-Summer-Festival
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

More Medals for Hawaii’s Patricio Family at the USA Boxing Summer Festival

Catterall-vs-Eubank-Ends-Prematurely-Catterall-Wins-a-Technical-Decision
Featured Articles7 days ago

Catterall vs Eubank Ends Prematurely; Catterall Wins a Technical Decision

Richardson-Hitchins-Batters-and-Stops-George-Kambosos-at-Madison-Square-Garden
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Richardson Hitchins Batters and Stops George Kambosos at Madison Square Garden 

Callum-Walsh-Umar-Dzambekov-and-Cain-Sandoval-Remain-Unbeaten-at-Santa-Ynez
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Callum Walsh, Umar Dzambekov and Cain Sandoval Remain Unbeaten at Santa Ynez

Jake-Paul-Outpoints-Julio-Cesar-Chavez-Jr-plus-Other-Results-from-Anaheim
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Jake Paul Outpoints Julio Cesar Chavez Jr plus Other Results from Anaheim

A-Fight-Fan-and-Teremoana-Samson-Junior-Leon-Teremoana
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

A Fight Fan and Teremoana Samson Junior Leon Teremoana

Paro
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Liam Paro Returns with a Flourish on Wednesday’s ‘No Limit’ Card in Queensland

A-Boxing-Card-in-Alabama-Goes-Pfft-A-True-Tale-from-the-Underbelly-of-the-Sweet-Science
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

A Boxing Card in Alabama Goes Pfft: A True Tale from the Underbelly of The Sweet Science

Avila-Perspective-Chap-331-Callum-Walsh-Brian-Norman-Galal-Yafai-and-More
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 331: Callum Walsh, Brian Norman, Galal Yafai and More

A-Closer-Look-at-Mario-Barrios-Poised-to-Wreck-the-Comeback-of-a-Legend
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

A Closer Look at Mario Barrios, Poised to Wreck the Comeback of a Legend

Avila-Perspective-Chap-333-Jake-Paul-JC-Chavez-Jr-Zurdo-and-More
Featured Articles1 week ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 333: Jake Paul, JC Chavez Jr, Zurdo and More

Brian-Norman-Jr-Bombs-Out-Jin-Sasaki-with-a-Frightful-Left-Hook
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Brian Norman Jr Bombs Out Jin Sasaki with a Frightful Left Hook

When-Boxing-Was-Big-on-the-Fourth-of-July-A-TSS-Classic
Featured Articles1 week ago

When Boxing was Big on the Fourth of July: A TSS Classic

Mbilli-Blasts-Out-Sulecki-in-Quebec-Wilder-TKOs-Herndon-in-Wichita
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Mbilli Blasts Out Sulecki in Quebec; Wilder TKOs Herndon in Wichita

Avila-Perspective-Chap-332-Jake-Paul-vs-Chavez-Jr-plus-Mbilli-Deontay-and-More
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 332: Jake Paul vs Chavez Jr., plus Mbilli, Deontay and More

Results-and-Recaps-from-New-York-Where-Taylor-edged-Serrano-Once-Again
Featured Articles7 hours ago

Results and Recaps from New York Where Taylor Edged Serrano Once Again

Philadelphia-Welterweight-Gil-Turner-a-Phenom-Now-Rests-in-an-Unmarked-Grave
Featured Articles20 hours ago

Philadelphia Welterweight Gil Turner, a Phenom, Now Rests in an Unmarked Grave

Avila-Perspecrive-Chap-334-Back-to-Back-Boxing-Cards-in-the-Big-Apple
Featured Articles2 days ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 334: Back-to-Back Boxing Cards in the Big Apple

From-a-Sympathetic-Figure-to-a-Pariah-The Travails-of-Julio-Cesar-Chavez-Jr
Featured Articles5 days ago

From a Sympathetic Figure to a Pariah: The Travails of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

Catterall-vs-Eubank-Ends-Prematurely-Catterall-Wins-a-Technical-Decision
Featured Articles7 days ago

Catterall vs Eubank Ends Prematurely; Catterall Wins a Technical Decision

Avila-Perspective-Chap-333-Jake-Paul-JC-Chavez-Jr-Zurdo-and-More
Featured Articles1 week ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 333: Jake Paul, JC Chavez Jr, Zurdo and More

When-Boxing-Was-Big-on-the-Fourth-of-July-A-TSS-Classic
Featured Articles1 week ago

When Boxing was Big on the Fourth of July: A TSS Classic

A-Boxing-Card-in-Alabama-Goes-Pfft-A-True-Tale-from-the-Underbelly-of-the-Sweet-Science
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

A Boxing Card in Alabama Goes Pfft: A True Tale from the Underbelly of The Sweet Science

Mexico's-Francisco-Rodriguez-Jr-is-the-TSS-Fighter-of-the-Month-for-June
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Mexico’s Francisco Rodriguez Jr is the TSS Fighter of the Month for June

Jake-Paul-Outpoints-Julio-Cesar-Chavez-Jr-plus-Other-Results-from-Anaheim
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Jake Paul Outpoints Julio Cesar Chavez Jr plus Other Results from Anaheim

Holly-Holm-Joshua-Edwards-and-Rene-Alvarado-Sparkle-on-the-Paul-Chavez-Undercard
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Holly Holm, Joshua Edwards, and Rene Alvarado Sparkle on the Paul-Chavez Undercard

Mbilli-Blasts-Out-Sulecki-in-Quebec-Wilder-TKOs-Herndon-in-Wichita
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Mbilli Blasts Out Sulecki in Quebec; Wilder TKOs Herndon in Wichita

Avila-Perspective-Chap-332-Jake-Paul-vs-Chavez-Jr-plus-Mbilli-Deontay-and-More
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 332: Jake Paul vs Chavez Jr., plus Mbilli, Deontay and More

A-Closer-Look-at-Mario-Barrios-Poised-to-Wreck-the-Comeback-of-a-Legend
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

A Closer Look at Mario Barrios, Poised to Wreck the Comeback of a Legend

Paro
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Liam Paro Returns with a Flourish on Wednesday’s ‘No Limit’ Card in Queensland

More-Medals-for-Hawaii's-Patricio-Family-at-USA-Boxing's-Summer-Festival
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

More Medals for Hawaii’s Patricio Family at the USA Boxing Summer Festival

Callum-Walsh-Umar-Dzambekov-and-Cain-Sandoval-Remain-Unbeaten-at-Santa-Ynez
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Callum Walsh, Umar Dzambekov and Cain Sandoval Remain Unbeaten at Santa Ynez

Vito-Mielnicki-Whitewashes-Kamil-Gardzielik-Before-the-Home-Folks-in-Newark
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Vito Mielnicki Jr Whitewashes Kamil Gardzielik Before the Home Folks in Newark

Avila-Perspective-Chap-331-Callum-Walsh-Brian-Norman-Galal-Yafai-and-More
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 331: Callum Walsh, Brian Norman, Galal Yafai and More

Brian-Norman-Jr-Bombs-Out-Jin-Sasaki-with-a-Frightful-Left-Hook
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Brian Norman Jr Bombs Out Jin Sasaki with a Frightful Left Hook

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending