The THIRTEENTH ROUND by Rick Folstad

Rick Folstad is an award-winning journalist who spent three years as a sports writer with the Rocky Mountain News in Denver before returning to Florida, where his wife is a features writer with the Palm Beach Post. While at the RMN, Folstad won two first-place awards for the best sports story of 1998, a feature on "opponents, or tomato cans'' in professional boxing. Prior to moving to Denver, he was a sports writer in Naples, Fla., where his boxing columns won Florida Press Club, first-place honors for general excellence in sports writing in 1996, 1995 and 1993 and won second-place honors in 1994 and 1991. A former pro fighter, he finished his pro career with a 20-2 record after suffering a detached retina in a fight in Omaha in 1979. Prior to leaving the ring, he was the Minnesota state junior-welterweight champion and was named Minnesota Old Guards of the Ring Fighter of the Year in 1978. As an amateur, he won three Upper-Midwest Golden Gloves titles and advanced to the quarterfinals of the national Golden Gloves tournament in 1974, losing a decision to Aaron Pryor. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota.

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On a Mission
By Rick Folstad
TAMPA (April 2, 2008) - The chip Antonio Tarver used to carry around on his shoulder was nowhere to be seen earlier this week at Calta’s Fitness Club on North Florida Avenue.
Maybe gone forever.
Tarver didn’t claim he was underrated, misunderstood or ignored. He didn’t chastise the press or curse the world because he tho...More

MESI, THE NEXT "WHITE HOPE"?... NOT IF JIROV HAS HIS WAY

INSIDE BOXING (Feb. 4, 2004) - This fight should come with a disclaimer, a strict warning for young kids and fragile grandmothers that this type of carnage could cause nightmares.

"The promoters are not responsible if grandma passes out in front of the TV."

That’s because it’s not expected to be a fight as much as a barroom brawl, two tough guys not accustomed to backing up, trying to see who flinches first.

Undefeated Baby Joe Mesi (28-0, 25 KOs) is a true heavyweight out of Buffalo who is a big name near the Canadian border, but a curious oddity outside the New York State line. He has yet to meet anyone from the top row of heavyweight contenders, though he recently beat Monte Barrett by a majority decision. But Barrett doesn’t make many top-ten lists. More