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