Remembering Rubin

[H2O Man]

16. It is curious,

even strange, that the majority of boxers that I've known -- and that's quite a few, with over 50 years involvement in the sport -- are gentle, thoughtful people outside of the ring. The majority do not have an extensive formal education, but are intelligent men.

Decades ago, my mother was watching Mike Douglas or Merv, and there was a psychiatrist on. I don't know the larger context, but I remember her telling my brothers and I that the psychiatrist talked about boxers as being a puzzle. Most boxed as a way of telling the world at large, "Do not touch me."

I remember discussing this with Rube. Both he and I recognized that was true.