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The Champ
What Gives Life Meaning?
Tabo Mosi retires from boxing: the longest reigning Heavyweight Champion of The World. He lost his mother when he was young, and now he’s lost his father. The Grim Reaper, Old Father Time, this is the opponent which none of us can defeat. Tabo’s life emptied out of everything which once gave it meaning, how should he now spend his time?
Fatherhood and marriage call to him, having children and raising them with a woman he loves calls to him, but the only woman he ever really loved, he already let go when he was young.
Life unfolds like in fights: it’s always the unexpected which makes it great. A new kid with a ton of potential, Tabo mentors him and teaches him the wisdom of The Ring: the things Tabo learned from his father; the things which allowed Tabo to succeed. Focus. Dedication. Decency. Digging deep because you’ve only got one chance, one opportunity, to see how far you can reach, to see how far you can go, to see if you can become, The Champ.
The older generation makes way for the younger generation, and nobody can be The Champ forever. We all get old, and maybe Tabo has already passed his time and will never find a woman with whom he can fall in love and start a family. He’s made his choices, and now he has to live with them. It seems as if everyone knows him. Look, it’s The Champ! The Champ! There’s The Champ! There are plenty of women who are interested in him, but Tabo wants to find someone who loves him for who he is, and not for his fame, nor his fortune.
At a party, Tabo meets Sofia, a high school English teacher who knows nothing about boxing, nor of what Tabo has accomplished. Tabo is drawn to her, but can he keep his past from her a secret so that her love for him can grow before she discovers what he’s achieved? Once Tabo stepped into the ring, and this was his life, but now in the warm embrace of Sofia, Tabo thinks about other rings, and wonders if together, he and Sofia will go all the way.
Humanizing and heartfelt, a testament to the sweet tenderness which resides in us all, The Champ will leave you with the greatest riches of all – gratitude and appreciation for the life you have, and the people with whom you share it.
Tabo Mosi retires from boxing: the longest reigning Heavyweight Champion of The World. He lost his mother when he was young, and now he’s lost his father. The Grim Reaper, Old Father Time, this is the opponent which none of us can defeat. Tabo’s life emptied out of everything which once gave it meaning, how should he now spend his time?
Fatherhood and marriage call to him, having children and raising them with a woman he loves calls to him, but the only woman he ever really loved, he already let go when he was young.
Life unfolds like in fights: it’s always the unexpected which makes it great. A new kid with a ton of potential, Tabo mentors him and teaches him the wisdom of The Ring: the things Tabo learned from his father; the things which allowed Tabo to succeed. Focus. Dedication. Decency. Digging deep because you’ve only got one chance, one opportunity, to see how far you can reach, to see how far you can go, to see if you can become, The Champ.
The older generation makes way for the younger generation, and nobody can be The Champ forever. We all get old, and maybe Tabo has already passed his time and will never find a woman with whom he can fall in love and start a family. He’s made his choices, and now he has to live with them. It seems as if everyone knows him. Look, it’s The Champ! The Champ! There’s The Champ! There are plenty of women who are interested in him, but Tabo wants to find someone who loves him for who he is, and not for his fame, nor his fortune.
At a party, Tabo meets Sofia, a high school English teacher who knows nothing about boxing, nor of what Tabo has accomplished. Tabo is drawn to her, but can he keep his past from her a secret so that her love for him can grow before she discovers what he’s achieved? Once Tabo stepped into the ring, and this was his life, but now in the warm embrace of Sofia, Tabo thinks about other rings, and wonders if together, he and Sofia will go all the way.
Humanizing and heartfelt, a testament to the sweet tenderness which resides in us all, The Champ will leave you with the greatest riches of all – gratitude and appreciation for the life you have, and the people with whom you share it.
326 pages, Paperback
First published November 29, 2011
236 people want to read
About the author
T. Scott McLeod
25 books19 followersAN INTERVIEW WITH MYSELF
This interview first appeared in my head October 30th, 2009
How long have you been writing?
Who am I? How can I ask myself questions?
There are people who want to know, the audience.
I’ve been writing since sixth grade. I’m prolifically unpublished.
Why do you write?
I write because I want to know how it turns out. I write because it’s my answer to impermanence. I write because I don’t feel like I have a choice. I write because writing helps me know myself. I write because writing keeps me in touch with my humanity and the humanity of this world. I write because suffering is as beautiful and as natural to life as winter is to summer and spring is to fall. I write because writing helps me not to feel alone. I write so others will know that they are not alone. I write because it moves me. I write because writing is a gateway to my heart.
Nice. That was nice. Thanks.
You’re welcome.
What do you write about?
What gives life meaning? How can we live more fully and with more happiness?
That’s it?
I have found this to be pervasive, in myself and in others, that there’s this feeling of not being good enough, this feeling of inadequacy, of insufficiency, of deficiency, as if this moment isn’t enough, as if we’re not enough, as if we’re trying to get somewhere before we can rest and be happy. If only we could do this or if only we could get that, then we could rest and truly enjoy life. It’s as if we’re always putting it off, trying to get to some perfect destination. How can we live more fully and with more enjoyment right now? This is what interests me. I write about people realizing the ways in which they have been their own worst enemies, then realizing that they are also their own best friends. I write about the great abyss that all of us are standing before and how we look at it. I write about loss. Of course, what I’m writing about, is my own heart. The struggles, joys, difficulties, loves and hardships of my own heart.
Why are you putting your work here?
I’m not good at targeting the right market and then sending my writing to the right person. That doesn’t interest me. I just want to write. The business of writing, well, it’s a lot of business. I don’t want to be in business. I want to write. What wants to be written is what gets written. In publishing, there seems to be a lot of formula writing and guessing about what certain markets might want. Literary agents and publishers, they’re like junkies at the race-track, trying to figure out which horse is going to be the next winner. They want authors with established markets. They want people who are famous. They want books like other books that have already done well. I’m interested in being authentic. I’m not interested in being like somebody else. I just want to write. This is me. This is my writing. I have no idea what genre I would fit in. I don’t think literary agents (laughing) or publishing houses do either. Maybe if I sell a lot of books here, then they’ll be interested in publishing me. I’m not worried about it. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. That’s not what it’s about for me. I enjoyed writing these stories. They entertained me and I hope they entertain others. They helped me learn about life, helped me come to terms with different aspects of life, and I hope they help others too. If others read these stories and enjoy them and learn some things along the way too, then that’s great. That’s all that matters.
What’s the next step for your writing?
I’d like to find an editor. Everything I’ve written is very raw. That’s good in its own way. It’s pure. It’s straight from my heart, but I’m very much not an editor. I’m a writer. To me they’re two very different jobs. I write and just let it all come out.
Are you working on any current projects?
Always. Until I’m dead.
This interview first appeared in my head October 30th, 2009
How long have you been writing?
Who am I? How can I ask myself questions?
There are people who want to know, the audience.
I’ve been writing since sixth grade. I’m prolifically unpublished.
Why do you write?
I write because I want to know how it turns out. I write because it’s my answer to impermanence. I write because I don’t feel like I have a choice. I write because writing helps me know myself. I write because writing keeps me in touch with my humanity and the humanity of this world. I write because suffering is as beautiful and as natural to life as winter is to summer and spring is to fall. I write because writing helps me not to feel alone. I write so others will know that they are not alone. I write because it moves me. I write because writing is a gateway to my heart.
Nice. That was nice. Thanks.
You’re welcome.
What do you write about?
What gives life meaning? How can we live more fully and with more happiness?
That’s it?
I have found this to be pervasive, in myself and in others, that there’s this feeling of not being good enough, this feeling of inadequacy, of insufficiency, of deficiency, as if this moment isn’t enough, as if we’re not enough, as if we’re trying to get somewhere before we can rest and be happy. If only we could do this or if only we could get that, then we could rest and truly enjoy life. It’s as if we’re always putting it off, trying to get to some perfect destination. How can we live more fully and with more enjoyment right now? This is what interests me. I write about people realizing the ways in which they have been their own worst enemies, then realizing that they are also their own best friends. I write about the great abyss that all of us are standing before and how we look at it. I write about loss. Of course, what I’m writing about, is my own heart. The struggles, joys, difficulties, loves and hardships of my own heart.
Why are you putting your work here?
I’m not good at targeting the right market and then sending my writing to the right person. That doesn’t interest me. I just want to write. The business of writing, well, it’s a lot of business. I don’t want to be in business. I want to write. What wants to be written is what gets written. In publishing, there seems to be a lot of formula writing and guessing about what certain markets might want. Literary agents and publishers, they’re like junkies at the race-track, trying to figure out which horse is going to be the next winner. They want authors with established markets. They want people who are famous. They want books like other books that have already done well. I’m interested in being authentic. I’m not interested in being like somebody else. I just want to write. This is me. This is my writing. I have no idea what genre I would fit in. I don’t think literary agents (laughing) or publishing houses do either. Maybe if I sell a lot of books here, then they’ll be interested in publishing me. I’m not worried about it. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. That’s not what it’s about for me. I enjoyed writing these stories. They entertained me and I hope they entertain others. They helped me learn about life, helped me come to terms with different aspects of life, and I hope they help others too. If others read these stories and enjoy them and learn some things along the way too, then that’s great. That’s all that matters.
What’s the next step for your writing?
I’d like to find an editor. Everything I’ve written is very raw. That’s good in its own way. It’s pure. It’s straight from my heart, but I’m very much not an editor. I’m a writer. To me they’re two very different jobs. I write and just let it all come out.
Are you working on any current projects?
Always. Until I’m dead.
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January 15, 2013
What would it be like to be rich and famous? Would you be able to find people who liked you, for you, or would you always be wondering if they only liked you because of your fame and fortune? What does it mean to love? What is love? How do you find true and authentic, and lasting, love? Is lasting love something you can find? And then, THEN, throw into the mix a huge life-change, and this is Tabo's life. This was my life. Some of it, partially, minus the fame and fortune part, this was my life, fictionalized. Fictionalized. There is some fiction, in all fact, and some fact, in all fiction. How do you shift gears in life, and go from working all of the time, dedicating yourself to a passion, a devotion, all of the time, and then shift from that, into, some other form of life. Letting other people, into your life. Not just training all the time. Not just, trying to be, and maintain being, the champ. What is that like ... what is it like? This was the journey that I went on, that Tabo goes on, captured here in this book. Could he walk away from it all, from his great devotion, from boxing, from being the champ, from striving and driving for success, could he walk away from all of that for love? Read it and find out ....
Displaying 1 of 1 review