Forty five years ago today a champion was born
He wasn’t born a champion that came later on
He was born Calvin Dupree
He had skin as black as Ebony
He lived in the outer suburbs of Baton Rogue
Louisiana
They say he was a bad penny with a very short fuse
Calvins Mama worked three jobs just to put food on
the table
But still there was never enough food to eat
His clothes were all hand me downs
He wore no shoes on his feet
Calvins Papa walked out on the day he was born
He didn’t want to be tied down
He didn’t want to take responsibility
Calvin never got to meet his Papa and it is a good
thing that he didn’t
His Papa did a lot of things and most of them he shoudnt
In his teenage years Calvin lived his life on the streets
Just trying to survive
Shop lifting mugging anything to help his Mama pay the rent
As soon as he gets some money it is already spent
When he was Fifteen he robbed the wrong person
And he was arrested
Then next morning he appeared at the Juvenile Court
The Judge gave him three years in detention
Calvin thinks that he got three years because of the
colour of his skin
He is Black did I forget to mention
He arrives at detention with a chip on his shoulder
And a fire in his belly
He doesn’t like to be locked away or confined
Being put away does something to your mind
The following day at lunch Calvin is standing in the food
line
When a White Gang banger tries to push in front
Calvin throws a punch and Whitey goes down like a bag
of shit
And all it took was one hit
With that single punch Calvin got himself a reputation
A skinny Black kid who could punch like a sledge hammer
He toughest little Black kid in this freaking slammer
Over the next couple of years took on any inmate who wanted to
fight
Calvin won every fight and he inflicted a whole lot of pain
And that is where he got the name Freight Train
The Warden got wind of Calvins fondness for throwing
his fists
And two guards escorted him to the Wardens office
The Warden told Calvin that in two weeks time he was going
home
He tells Calvin to keep his hands to himself stay out of trouble
and you are home free
So Calvin does what the Warden asks and he behaves like
a choir boy
He goes to the Prison church and says a prayer
But underneath he is a fighter so beware
Upon his release Calvin goes straight back to his old ways
Robbing stealing making the same mistakes that he did before
Mistakes that he cant afford to make no more
About a week later he is just walking along the street when he comes
upon a Gym
So he goes inside and signs up and starts to lift weights bench
press skip rope and shadow box
One day while doing his exercises a Boxing match is in progress
When one of the fighters goes down in the first round the other fighter
is frustrated he wants a more intense workout
Calvin who is getting bigger and bigger goes to the side of the
ring and offers to take the losers place
Calvin climbs into the ring wearing gloves and head gear
for the first time
His opponent is a little cocky and blaise
Calvin feints to the left then throws a right upper cut
His opponents head snaps back and his lights go out
And that folks is the end of the bout
All the bystanders are stunned and one of them asks ‘Kid what
is your name? he answers with
‘They call me the Louisiana Freight Train’
Well the Train has left the Station it is rolling down the track
It is an express it doesn’t make any stops
It is on its way straight to the top
Over the next few months Freight Train fights and defeats all
of the other Boxers who step in the ring
Not one fight goes past the first round
Freight Train is the best fighter pound for pound
A Promoter does he want to turn Professional
‘I could make you the next Cassius Clay so what do you say?’
Freight Train nods his head and says that he is ready
His first Professional fight is set for three months time
Three months later and the Baton Rogue Fighters Club is
a sell out
Freight Train opponent is a old pro named Typhoon Larry
Typhoon is the State champion and he has been for years
He has had 52 fights and he has won them all by knockout
If a Freight Train and a Typhoon ever meet who would win?
Well you are about to find out
Both fighters touch gloves and the fight is on
Freight Train steps forward and unleashes a volley of punchs
Typhoon Larry doesn’t know what hit him and he hits the canvass
And he isn’t getting up
The referee counts Typhoon Larry
Freight Train is the new State champion
He celebrates with fifty grand in his pocket
It is the most money he has ever seen
He sends half to his Mama and the other half goes in the Bank
Suddenly Freight Trains name gets the attention of Fox and CNN
He is all Red White and Blue
He is fighting for me he is fighting for you
For the next three years Freight Train slowly works his way
up the rankings
He currently sits at number Eight in the World
He wants a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship belt
A month later Freight Trains Manager tells him that if he wins his next fight
He will get a shot at the title
He could be the next Champion
Freight Train works his ass off he trains the house down
He is at peak fitness he is ready to fight
This fight will either make or break him
Fight night arrives and Freight Train enters the ring
He his up against the favourite Rod ‘The Brick ‘ Simpson who
has never been defeated in his 20 fights
Freight Train is also undefeated 29 fights 29 knockouts
For the first Five rounds both Boxers trade blows ‘ The Brick ‘
has a cut under his left eye
At the start of the Sixth round Freight Train walks up and hits Simpson
on his Jaw
And ‘The Brick ‘ hits the floor
The Referee counts to Ten and ‘ The Brick ‘ is counted out
The crowd is stunned then they erupt in cheers
Once again Freight Train has delivered the goods
The World title fight is set for April 13 Six months from now
At Madison Square Garden against the World Champion
The Bulgarian Nicoli Spazovich
FreightTrain now has more money then he could ever spend
He owns 3 houses and about 29 Cars
He is on the cover of every sports magazine
But none of that matters all he wants is to be crowned as the World
Champion
The six months go by fast but Freight Train is more then ready for the
challenge
If he wins he will become the richest fighter the World has ever seen
Madison Square Garden is a sell out
And there is a Global audience of 2 Billion people
The is being billed as East versus West
Some also think that it is Black versus White
One thing that Freight Train knows is that he probably want
win by knockout he will have to wear the Bulgarian out
The signals fight on and both Boxers try to stare each other down
They trade punches for the first Eight rounds Freight Train is slowly
wearing the Bulgarian down with body punches
The bell sounds for the start of the last round and Freight Train is just
ahead on points
He tries to deliver the killer punch but the Bulgarian is cagey
and he holds Freight Train against the ropes
With 20 seconds to go Freight Train knows that it is now
or never
He cocks his right arm but then he delivers a left cross to the head
of the Bulgarian who staggers across the ring by the force of the punch
then he cant do nothing but land on his back
And he doesn’t get up
The crowd goes ballistic and Freight Train raises his gloves in victory
He is now the World Heavyweight Champion of the world
The press the next call the final blow ‘The Punch Of The Century’
Freight Train defends his title against all comers for the next Eight
years but he knows that he is losing his edge
So at a press conference he announces his retirement from
Professional Boxing
Ali Spinks Tyson foreman Frasier and now Freight Train
Now and forever people will remember that name.
Freight Train defends his title against