Helping hand ...

A couple weeks ago I was working on a story about the 25th anniversary of Aaron Pryor's epic 14th-round knockout of Alexis Arguello, a fight ESPN recently listed as the ninth best fight in boxing history. I was putting some finishing touches on the story when I figured I'd call Peter King, a fellow Scripps alum who covered the fight for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

King is now a big-shot football scribe for Sports Illustrated. You can also find him on-air with either HBO and NBC or on the big screen in the recent remake of The Longest Yard.

King doesn't know me from Adam, but I thought maybe he'd be good for a quote. Boy was I wrong. He was good for much more than that.

We talked for about 20 minutes. During the conversation he gave me the following quotes off the top of his head:

"My most unusual memory is something I can remember like it happened five minutes ago. The Miami Airport Marriott was the headquarters for the fight. I remember walking down in the morning and the chairman of the boxing commission, Alvin Goldman was on the couch in the lobby and he was reading a woman’s palm. He told me he was a fortune teller. He had a big gold medallion around his neck and an open-necked shirt. And I thought to myself, "Boxing is unusual."

"You know how in sports today, there are events that everyone is watching? For three or four days, everyone was talking about this fight. This was so important. ... This was Aaron's shot at a better life. This was his chance - where the world would be watching - to change the rest of his life."

"Pryor walking down the street the week before the fight in Miami would be like Derek Jeter walking down the street in Boston prior to a Red Sox game. And I say that for this reason: In the arena that night he would be despised and booed, but on the street he would be respected."

"Pryor was crazed. He was going to win that fight or die trying. He’s the only guy I’ve covered in any sport that would rather die than lose."

The whole time we talked, I just kept thinking, "I could have a month to finish this story, and nothing I'd write would be as good or interesting as what this guy is saying completely off memory."

Bottom line: King deserves everything he has. He couldn't have been any more knowledgeable, insightful, helpful, thoughtful or delightful. He's a credit to the School of Journalism.