ALL Bradley Ron wants is $800. That’s all and he needs it for a special reason.
Rone has been banned from boxing in Las Vegas, his hometown. Marc Ratner put in place the ban to try to protect Ron from his bravery and need. It never worked; Ron was on the heavy road.
Rone had fought 53 times and had won only 7 when the call came in that July 2003. Rone is at home with his girlfriend, Helen Ruffin. He had no choice but to fight. That was the next night. Ruffin knows that Rone has been banned, she also knows that boxing has brought him quick money. He needs it. He’s known as TC, which stands for Top Cat, and it’s a tough name to hit when you’ve lost 26 games in a row. Rone is a figure in the Las Vegas boxing world, one that has nothing in common with the bright light charade that dominates when the real champions come to town.
The offer was $800, the competitor was Bily Zumbrun, and the location was Cedar City in Utah, less than 200 miles away. Local promoters call the night Ring Devastation. The car journey with Cornelius Boza-Edwards, a truly great former world champion who lives and trains boxers in Las Vegas, is quiet. Ron listens to religious music, sermons, and gospel choirs. Boza was driving.
Rone has lived for a long time in the horrible twilight that many boxers consider their home when the boxing lights go out. Rone refuses to stop, fight, earn money and provide promoters with a brave opponent. He fought in Denmark, he fought in Germany and all over America, including Hawaii. “Boxing gave him the opportunity to see the world and make some money,” said Sean Gibbons, a matchmaker across the rings.
Rone started his career with 4 defeats and was then sent to prison for 5 years. He was convicted of assault, for defending his sister’s honor and for beating a man who had beaten her. He returned to the ring when he was released, a few pounds heavier and a lot tougher. He’s an invisible fighter on the sideline, getting calls from time to time to meet an opponent at Madison Square Garden or MGM in Las Vegas. He’s shared the ring with about 20 quality heavyweights, and over a seven-week period he’s met Kirk Johnson (15-0), Michael Grant (14-0) and Hasim Rahman (10-0) 0). Only Rahman stopped him; Rone can fight, and he can also eat and party. Not criminal, but a tough way to make money as a loser on the ruthless heavyweight track. He picked up money fighting Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson in Las Vegas and I know he was used as a sandbag the first week.
In Cedar City, before the match, Boza and Rone had to buy some socks for the boxer. He was distracted, but that was not unusual.
In the ring with Zumbrun, who beat him last month by more than six innings, Rone didn’t throw anything in the opening round. Nor did he receive any punishment. Ron always has a chance, that’s why advertisers love to book for him. Zumbrun said: “He’s not as strong as he was in the other game.
The first round ending bell rings, Boza starts climbing the steps, Rone turns around and collapses. He went down in a pile. There was no contact, he just fell in a static mass onto the canvas. He failed: Bradley Rone, 34, 259 pounds, seven wins in 54 fights. He definitely needs that $800.
The doctor jumped in, the ambulance was ready and Ron was taken to a local hospital. He was pronounced dead that night. Heart attack. Back in the day, he didn’t even know he was fighting, but that’s not the whole story.
Boza has no way of contacting Rone’s girlfriend, Helen Ruffin. When they rummaged through his pocket, they found only five dollars and her cell phone. It was assigned to the Gibbons to find their way back to their Las Vegas apartment. He is carrying bad news, a terrible job, an evil mission for anyone. Gibbons may be one of boxing’s most genuine acrobats and divers, but he’s not a heartless one. He knew the burden of the performance that night.
Ruffin let him, he told her, she cried and then Gibbons noticed that a new suit and shirt were spread on the bed. It looked like a welcome home gift for Ron, and it was. And then Gibbons got the story, the true story of Bradley Rone’s last battle.
The day before, the day Ron accepted the fight, the boxer was informed that his mother had passed away. He is near her. He needed to get back to Cincinnati, fly and be with her. And to do that, he needs $800. The fight was offered four hours later, he accepted. He has his money; he will be with his mother at her funeral. Then he left for Cedar City.
The following week at the Inspirational Baptist Church in Cincinnati two coffins were opened. His mother was in one room and her devoted boy Bradley was in the other. He wore a new suit, he went to his mother’s funeral.
At Landmark Cemetery, grave diggers have prepared two pits next to each other. “He died of a broken heart,” his sister, Celeste Moss, said. The heavyweight also died with only five dollars in his pocket.
