Transcripts

LEIF ENGER: A sport called extreme fighting has gained national notoriety lately, a no-holds barred, bare-knuckle brawl that's been widely condemned and played to packed arenas. The promoters of the reservation's Toughman contest want you to know this is not extreme fighting. The contestants will wear gloves. They won't be allowed to kick. There will be timed rounds, referees, a doctor at ringside.

But there are two big differences between this and a regular boxing match. First, all 32 fighters are in a single open weight class. A guy weighing 150 pounds could end up in the ring with one who weighs 280. And second--

SPEAKER 2: Anybody, trained or not trained, can plunk down 50 bucks and get into the ring.

LEIF ENGER: Father Ron Meyer leads 3 Catholic parishes on the White Earth Reservation. He thinks boxing is fine if approached as an athletic discipline but says this isn't boxing. It's just fighting. And there's enough of that on the reservation already. When Meyer heard about the Toughman contest, he decided to take an informal survey of funeral directors and abuse counselors who serve the reservation.

SPEAKER 3: There have been 175 deaths in the last two years. Of those 175 deaths, 75 have been violent with alcohol involved, drugs, vehicular, or homicide deaths, violent deaths. I've talked to two of the centers in the area that deal with crisis for women and domestic abuse. They have recorded, in the last 18 months, more than 225 cases that they've had to deal with. Generally speaking, there's a level of violence on the reservation that is very, very high.

LEIF ENGER: Meyer says sponsoring a Toughman event on the White Earth Reservation is like handing a bottle of beer to an alcoholic. He believes it will contribute to what he calls the reservation's addiction to violence, that contestants with bruised egos may take their fights into the streets or back to their homes. But while Meyer has rallied many here to boycott the event, promoter Dave Warren says it isn't worth all this hand-wringing.

Warren, who otherwise runs the band's sanitation department, says all the tribal council wanted to do was organize a big draw to the reservation's lavish new sports complex. Since the Golden Gloves amateur boxing program has long been popular here, the Toughman idea seemed like a natural. Besides, Warren says, the who will be left standing advertisements are deliberately dramatic.

SPEAKER 4: People overemphasize Toughman as a brutal, blood spitting sport. It's not. I mean, if we see a anybody dazed or anybody close to dazed, they will be given their aid count and they'll be called out. Normal Golden Gloves has 8, 10 ounce gloves. We're going with the 16 ounce, which is kind of getting hit with a pillow.

LEIF ENGER: It's not as if the fighters don't know the rules, Warren says. They know about the open weight class. They know some will be trained boxers and others will be fighting on attitude and instinct. He says it's as simple as 32 guys taking their chances, chasing a thrill and $5,000.

MIKE BUCKANAGA: I'm just hoping there's guys that are going to be in shape, you know. I want some guys in shape so we can fight. I don't want it to be one sided.

LEIF ENGER: Mike Buckanaga is a former Golden Gloves boxer who grew up on the reservation. He's 35, 6' 1", 240 pounds, not hurting for confidence. He's been training hard for a month ever since his girlfriend showed him the ad. He likes the sound of that 5,000. All the same, Buckanaga says this will be much different than Golden Gloves. He hopes nobody gets hurt.

MIKE BUCKANAGA: I think there's guys going in there that shouldn't be in there. You know, I can understand the priests and the fathers saying there's going to people getting-- be getting hurt. My mom told me the other day she scared.

Kind of made me cry, looking at-- what are you scared of? Mike, man, I'm scared you're going to kill someone.

I just hope they don't put me in there with somebody that I don't know how to protect themselves or something.

LEIF ENGER: Mike Buckanaga is one of 32 fighters who will take the ring in the White Earth Reservation's first annual King of the Hill Toughman contest. Leif Enger, Main Street Radio.