Retire Already Virgil

In his prime, attending a Virgil Hill boxing match in Bismarck was a treat. Not only because he was taking part in one of America's top sports at the time, but because he was Light-Middleweight Champion of the World. At that time, Boxing was the centerpiece of any Olympic primetime schedule in the United States as well as a major series on cable networks such as ESPN and USA Network.

Virgil Hill was, pound-per-pound, one of the best fighters in the world. Not because he made sure he had a homefield advantage for the majority of his fights, but because he would almost always knock somebody out in the first or second round of a fight.

As for the older, and shriveled up Virgil, it is clear that he should hang up his gloves. It is hard to talk about his financial situation, but Virgil's health is more important than his career at this point. Even if he has little education, he could be making money off a book deal and maybe opening up his own boxing school and training the next generation of North Dakota boxers. If that happened, Prairie Knights and Four Bears wouldn't have to spend as much money trying to lure music acts to North Dakota.

Virgil's most recent match was against a German named Henry Maske who he beat 10 & 1/2 years ago in a split decision, and forced into retirement. The decision this time around was a unanimous decision in which the scorecard most in favor of him belonged to the media. Granted Maske was getting up there in age at 43 years old, but their first bout was a 12 round affair that aired on a Tuesday night on USA Network. This past Saturday's bout wasn't hyped locally except for a few reports in the paper.

Despite his attempts at a comeback, Virgil has mostly failed but his appreciation night at the Bismarck Civic Center, during a Wizards game, will be a night to remember. The sad thing though is that Virgil may not be around for any of it if he dies while trying to stage a comeback.