Alexis Arguello

I just found out that my hero as a youngster committed suicide. Alexis Arguello was one of the best fighters ever and was one of the nicest people in the sport of boxing. His skill was beyond belief. He was a thinking man while in the ring and became a legend while he won championship after championship. I first started looking up to Alexis after the Boom Boom Mancini fight when he knocked Ray out and was a complete gentleman after it was over. He consoled Mancini, who had dedicated the fight to his Dad, and then Arguello engaged the senior Mancini in a heart warming moment. Arguello, like Ted Williams, even retired from boxing for a stint to he could fight for his country. That story is longer than I want to tell here but HBO did a great special on Arguello/Pryor and mentions this in more detail. I was a huge boxing fan in the 80's and I met Arguello at a function in New York. He was such a nice guy and even signed a picture of my dog and wrote, "Thanks for my name" as he got a kick out of the fact that I named my pet Rottweiler (Alexis) after him. Well, Alexis Arguello, thanks for being a great person in a sport known to have a lot of bad people. I am sad that you are gone.