Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Boxing Becomes Hit Among White-Collar America

Aired April 09, 2002 - 13:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Move over Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. There's a new breed of boxers in town who hail from white- collar America. Architects, accountants and even comedians are putting on the gloves and dishing out the punches. CNN's Jeanne Moos has this story from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine putting on the gloves and stepping in the ring, especially if your only previous boxing experience involved the kind you pack.

(on camera): Do you have any femininity issues with boxing? You're not worried if people think it looks like a guy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Do you think I look like a guy?

MOOS: No, no, no.

(voice-over): Forget all those tough guys you see in boxing films like "Raging Bull" and "Rocky." You're about to enter the world of white-collar boxing, featuring professionals ranging from an architect to an actor. Maybe you have seen Isaiah Witlock (ph) in shows like "Law & Order."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LAW & ORDER")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I killed those boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Around here, he calls himself "Kid Chocolate." And in this corner, a tall, skinny comedian best known to viewers of "The Daily Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAILY SHOW")

JON STEWART, HOST: You're freaking me out, Mo.

MO ROCCA, COMEDIAN: Am I, Jon?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Mo Rocca versus a guy who writes a sex advice column. (on camera): I chew condoms. I just clue them like gum. Do you remember how you answered this guy?

(voice-over): Makes boxing seem painless.

JAMIE BUFALINO, COLUMNIST, "TIME OUT": This is so adverse to anything I have ever done before. Like, I'm more after yoga guy. The first time I hit somebody, I apologized.

MOOS: White-collar boxing attracts all kinds.

(on camera): Who is your opponent now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The clown guy.

MOOS: What's the deal with him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't ask me. I was certainly not expecting that.

MOOS: Nor was he expecting this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could time his punches with a calendar. That's how slow they are.

MOOS: John Risoto (ph) runs the boxing studio here at Chelsea Piers, a three-month course culminating in its exhibition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feels good getting hit once in a while.

MOOS (on camera): How do you figure?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It smartens you up a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I like about it is that you feel like a stallion, that it's all about you. You are rubbed. You're given water.

MOOS (voice-over): Well, actually, PR consultant Gina Sorees (ph) had her contact lens knocked out, then her nose bloodied by this accountant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do numbers and then I trade punches.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yours was the bloodiest battle of the night with your cameraman.

MOOS: Cameraman Mike Giddleman (ph) fell off the edge of the ring while shooting. He ended up with seven stitches on his head and an injured knee. One thing these white-collars haven't mastered is trash talking their opponents.

BUFALINO: He is a big drooler. You know, whenever he puts his mouthpiece in.

MOOS: Not exactly Mike Tyson. MIKE TYSON, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

ROCCA: I'm having your ear for dinner. I'm telling you that right now.

MOOS: Remember the movie "White Men Can't Jump?" The question is can white collars punch?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com