Re: Referee Marlon B Wright might have between 6 to 8 months remaining to live
Translation via Google of the article...
"The Last Bell Marlon B. Wright
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Mathieu Boulay
Mathieu Boulay
Tuesday, 25 April 2017 21:49 Update Tuesday, 25 April 2017 21:49
A referee is responsible for protecting boxers from the first to the last second of a bout. But who cares for him when he finds himself face to face with a pitiless adversary?
This is what Marlon B. Wright saw. The 51-year-old man is diagnosed with stage 4 skin cancer in 2014.
He kindly told me about it yesterday afternoon during our meeting in a shopping mall in the west of the city.
In the past few weeks, Marlon has learned from his doctor that the ultimate round may have begun.
"He told me I had between six and eight months to live," the referee said, taking a sip of water from a bottle he had brought in his coat pocket.
"These are his words, not mine. I wanted the truth and I got it. "
His face becomes more severe, but he looks me straight in the eye.
"He also told me that I was starting to have metastases all over the place.
"If you can take control of the disease before it gets too much ground, there may be hope. But maybe it's already too late. "
Much suffering
At the moment, his life comes down to a word: suffering.
Every physical effort represents a mountain for him. For example, he explained that after a short walk of a few meters, he has no energy and he must sit down. It was the same thing to get to our conversation.
It also hurts a little everywhere. On the other hand, the pain is such that he has difficulty sleeping and eating. To try to mitigate it, it takes several medications, but they do not always give the expected results.
"I did not invite you to my home, because you would have thought I lived in a pharmacy! There are pills everywhere, "he said.
A situation that can give the taste to anyone to give up, but it is very badly to know the Montrealer of Jamaican origin.
As a stroke of Lemieux
With disarming calm, he told me how his grueling battle began. Wright remembers the announcement as if it was yesterday.
"At first, my foot was hurting and my doctor thought I was doing a plantar fasciitis. I had a sort of brand under the foot that became more and more dark.
"We finally knew I had melanoma. I was in shock. It was like going through a violent blow to the head. "
I then asked him, "Powerful how?"
"Like a left hook of Lemieux!" He answered tacitly.
After these words, Marlon began to laugh heartily for a few seconds. If there is one who can analyze the power of Lemieux, it is him.
After all, he has officiated several bouts of the slugger over his 16-year career.
"When you do not have control over certain things in life, you have to deal with it. That's what I decided to do, "he said.
A glimmer of hope
When a boxer pulls back on the judges' cards with a round to dispute, he tries to go for the knockout in order to win the fight dramatically.
That is what Wright intends to do.
"I still have hope. I know there is a treatment in the United States that could help me, "said the referee. However, it is very expensive.
"I would need four that would cost a total of $ 120,000 Canadian. I do not have that money and it's starting to be urgent. "
Over the past few years, the boxing community has proven that it can be very generous to the artisans of its sport.
It was found with the man of the corner Bob Miller after his terrible accident of the road. It's now up to Marlon B. Wright to need help when he's in a bad position.
A career on the ice
Wright has decided to put his referee career on the ice waiting to see if his condition can improve.
He has not renewed his official permit at the Régie des alcools des racines et des jeux du Québec for the new year that begins on May 1st. He put this gesture with a small twinge in his heart.
Nevertheless, his name still circulates on the international scene. Moreover, it was considered to be the referee of the next fight of Manny Pacquiao.
"I have not yet received a call on this. If that were the case, I should refuse because of my health, he said. That's why amateurs have not seen me in the ring since February 24. "
During this evening, he was assigned for the duel between Lucian Bute and Eleider Alvarez. Even if the disease had begun to gain ground, his performance had been impeccable.
What is special is that he could have officiated his last career fight while Bute was inside the cables with him. As a bonus, the brothers Otis and Howard Grant were in the corner of the former world champion.
We remember that in 2008, Wright had been criticized by the Grants for granting a long account to Bute when he had been shaken by Librado Andrade.
"Of course we will always remember me for what happened on that night," he said. In hindsight, I think the media had given too much importance to this story. "
The proof that the ax is indeed buried is that Otis Grant was one of the first responders in the middle to contact him to offer his support.
One Last Battle
If he manages to improve his condition in the coming weeks, Wright would like to go back to the ring at least for another duel.
For that, he must get the green light from his doctors. But it is far from done.
"If I'm not fit enough to come back as a referee, I'd like to be a judge," he said.
Meanwhile, he does not intend to throw the towel in his battle that opposes him to his tough enemy.
Instead, he wants to raise his guard and lower his head as he has seen hundreds of times with the boxers he tried to protect during his career.
And it will make up the sound of the last bell."
- It definitely reinforces how fragile life can be. Best wishes to Marlon to survive, flip off the big C and Leave this world when he's ready.
They want your @$$ beat because upsets make news. News brings about excitement, excitement brings about ratings. The objective is to bring you up to the tower and tear your @$$ down. And if you don't believe that, you're crazy.
Roy Jones, Jr. "What I've Learned," Esquire 2003
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