01/31/2022
In late fall 1996, I was in Philly to meet with world welterweight champ Meldrick Taylor at the legendary Blue Horizon to attend a local fight promotion..as I walked towards my seat, I couldn't help but notice the whispers and buzzing in the audience about the great trainer 'Don Turner' being in the house..my curiosity steered me toward the direction the audience was focused on..then I seen Don Turner sitting on a stool receiving congratulations handshakes and gestures of respect from the boxing fans, trainers and press..He was just coming off of the fight which he trained Holyfield to KO Tyson...He sat there smiling and proud taking it all in with grace. It kinda reminded me of the type of adoration Micheal Coleone received in the movie the Godfather after he took over the 5 families and my admiration was overwhelming, due to the fact that I was in my infant stage as a trainer. I went up to Mr Turner and shook his hand out of respect, I guess I also felt a certain passion with the respect maybe it came from the memory of what Tyson had done to my brother Tyrrell during thier championship bout back in 1987..I would get a chance to meet Don Turner at a fight night promotion in ATL..he seemed to take a liking to me and took me under his wing and mentored me..one of my most valuable experiences in my training career..I learned that in his younger days, he was a pimp that hung around the old jazz greats like Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Jimmy Smith and more..that was right up my alley bcuz I was and still am, a jazz fanatic..and I used to send him jazz cds in exchange for boxing wisdom and knowledge..Don invited me to his training camp in N.C. for six weeks and treated me like family..even cussed me out for making my life mistakes.. lol..he is a great man and a great trainer and a very special episode in my trainer journey...more stories to come about Mr Turner in upcoming volumes of sweetsuckerpunch book.
