Loading summary
Transcript10 lines
- [00:00]
TurboTax
This is a message from sponsor Intuit. TurboTax Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back and then waiting, wondering and worrying some more. Now Taxes is matching with a TurboTax expert who can do your taxes as soon as today. An expert who gives your taxes their undivided attention as they work on your return while you get real time updates on their progress so you can focus on your day. An expert who will find you every deduction possible and file every form, every investment, Every everything with 100% accuracy all so you can get the most money back guaranteed. No waiting, no wondering, no worries. Now this is Taxes. Get an Expert now on TurboTax.com only available with TurboTax Live full service real time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guarantee details@turbotax.com guarantees the Apple Watch.
- [01:02]
Apple
Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist whether you're running, swimming or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum compared to previous generations. IPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary.
- [01:30]
Makers 46
The Moth is supported by makers 46, a handcrafted bourbon that begins as fully matured maker's mark. Then makers 46 is finished longer inside barrels containing seared French oak staves, and only during the cool winter months when bourbon matures more slowly. The result is a more complex taste, highlighted by bigger vanilla oak and caramel flavors. Online at makers46.com makers46 Bourbon whiskey, 47% alcohol by volume, distilled in Loretto, Kentucky, reminds listeners to drink responsibly.
- [02:03]
Dan Kennedy
Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. This week on the podcast we're going deep into the Moth archives, all the way back to 1999. The audio from back then is a little rough because of course Paul Ruest from Argo Studios here hadn't come on board yet and now things sound amazing, but back then, just starting out, it was a little different. I think it gives you a good idea though, of what it was like to be at a Moth show in the early days. And this story is from boxer and author Jose Torres. Here's Jose live from the Bam Cafe in Brooklyn in 1999.
- [02:40]
Jose Torres
When he called this thing a tie, reminded me of Holyfield and Lewis. I was looking for Don Keenan on here, looking for the fix. I Want to talk to you about something very serious in boxing, and that is that when I was growing up in Puerto Rico was during the World War II. And my heroes were the American soldiers that were stationed near my house. They had the best looking girls, they were always in the street, they were protecting us. And we always spoke of them as the greatest people in the world. The American soldier. Thank you. Is that a Puerto Rican there? So I remember that all I wanted to do when I was growing up was to become a soldier. And at 17, I forged some signature and said that my mother was sick and that she signed, but that I was 18. But I was only 17 and I was. I went as a volunteer into the Army. Two weeks after I was in the Army, I realized that had been the worst decision of my life. I disliked the army passionately. And I began to shake. And I was getting sick. It was depression. And then someone told me that if I joined sports, I would feel fine and very happy. And I went to Special Services and I said, I want to become a baseball player. Because I played baseball in high school. And they said, the season is over. I said, well, then I want to become a basketball player. And they said, the season is over. I said, okay, track and field, 400 meters. The season is over. I said, which season is on? They said, boxing. And I was so unhappy by being a soldier that I said, okay, I want to be a boxer. And a few weeks later I started to learn how to box. And the only thing I had done while I was in Ponce, my hometown, was to street fight. So I applied the same kind of method in which I just was a natural good puncher. So in my first fight, I knocked the guy out. Second fight, I knocked the guy out. Third fight, I knocked the guy out. And I became very happy in the Army. So now we're going to fight for the Antilles Championship, the Armed Forces. And I had two fights and I knocked both guys out. Then we flew to Panama to fight for the Caribbean Armed Forces Championship. I was a worthy weight, 147 pounds. And I went there and I won. When I got to Panama, for the first time in my life, I saw my opponent and I began to shake. I was shaking and shaking. And eventually I learned that there was fear out of control. I was shaking and I went to my trainer and I said, I cannot beat this guy. I'm sorry, I don't know why, but I cannot beat this guy. My trainer got very angry and he began to use curses. And he cursed me. And he thought that I was the best fighter pound for pound in the world, that I should not be talking that way. And I said, I'm sorry, this guy, I can't beat him. Look at my hands. And I was shaking all over the place. The fight night came very soon, sooner than I expected. I was supposed to be there for three days. And I thought that the fight came the following day. I was so scared. And then I was walking into the ring and I turned to my trainer and I said to him, listen, don't be concerned. I'm going to do my best and I'm going to lose doing my best. He says, you know something? That's what I want to hear. Just do your best. I went in there and I was still shaking. And the first punch the other guy threw was a right hand that hit me right on the bottom. And I felt like 10 million ants enter my whole body. I was like in the air. It was very peculiar kind of feeling because it was like a nice feeling, but it was also semi unconscious or semi conscious, one or the other. And I got very scared, even though it was like a complacent kind of thing, but I was very scared. And then I hit the guy with a shot. And then he refused to take advantage of my condition. And the bird ran. And when I came to the corner, my trainer says, you know, you lost this round, but you won the last 10 seconds of the round so you have the momentum, so you have to continue that in the second round. Second round, I continued to fight and I began to lose the fear. And at the end of the third round, I had won the fight. Pure skills, none. I mean, it was nothing mental, it was all physical. And I came out of that fight thinking, and this guy was in awe of me, my trainer thinking that even though my mind was telling me that I was going to lose the fight, I still won the fight. And he, you know, he was talking about mind over matter. It was the opposite. It was matter over mind. In other words, I was so good physically that I did not have to use my mind to win this fight. And of course, eventually I came to New York. There's this man that Mr. Plimpton knew very well. His name was Cos d'amaro. And I explained to KOS what had happened to me. He put me back in the amateurs. I won the New York Golden Gloves, by the way, in the army. After that fight, I went into the army and I won the second army championship, the all army championship, the all Service championship. Then I went to the Olympic games and I won the silver medal in the Olympics, losing by one point the gold medal to a Hungarian by the name of Laszlo Pap, who had won the 48 Olympic gold medal, the 52 Olympic gold medal, and then 56. He beat him at one point. It was very controversial, but I thought I lost, even though I lost by one point. In any event, after all that, I came to New York and I met Costa Amado. Amaro began to explain to me all those experiences that I had in the army. And he discovered, I mean, the reason why I was so scared in Panama. He asked me, whom did I fight on my first fight. And I said to him, oh, it was a guy from Puerto Rico. And who did you beat in the second fight? And I said, oh, there was a guy from St. Thomas. And who did I beat in the third fight? I said, another guy from St. Thomas. And then my first four fights, I beat Puerto Ricans or blacks from St. Thomas. And when I went to Panama, I faced the first hero of my youth, the white American soldier. And the reason why I was so scared was because I thought that they were superior to me and Coste Amaro. And I began to understand about fear much better than I ever did. And then in that fight, his name was Billy Priest. In that fight with Billy Priest, we became friends. Later in that fight with Billy Priest from Boston, a blond guy, very good looking guy, strong. I discovered the equality of their colors and race and ethnicity. And it was a great thing, except that when Cus began to teach me about fear, I discovered once that Cus D'Amato was afraid of flying. And I began to question him. I said, wait a minute. How can you teach me about fear if you are so afraid to fly? You never flew in your entire life? And I said, you know, when your number comes up, your number comes up. And he says, you know, you have to be smarter than that, Jose. I don't mind when my number comes up, but I would mind when the pilot number comes up and I am in the plane. So he really, he persuaded me that he was right. It was okay for him to have fear and to have understanding about fear. Then I learned, of course, as a professional fighter, that fear was something that you must have if you wanted to be a champion. Because fighting and having that fear, but not allowing the fear to get the best of you, but to use fear to help you, that would be. That is one of the best quality qualities of champion. You must have fear in order for you to understand when the guy is going to throw a punch. Before he throws a punch, when you are able to anticipate what the other guy is going to do before he does it. That is all triggered by fear. So I established myself through experience taught by Costa Amaro, who was afraid to fly. I learned with him that one of the best friends that a champion had was fear. Thank you.
- [12:55]
Dan Kennedy
Jose Torres was the light Heavyweight Champion of the world in 1965 and 66. He was also an author who wrote acclaimed biographies of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. He died at his home in puerto rico in 2009.
- [13:12]
Makers 46
This podcast is brought to you by stamps.com with the holidays almost here, you don't have time to go to the post office. It'll be packed with everyone mailing holiday gifts, so use stamps.com instead to buy and print official US postage for any letter or package using your computer. Right now there's a special offer for the Moth podcast listeners, a no risk trial plus $110 bonus offer that includes $55 free postage. Go to stamps.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and type in moth. That's stamps.com Enter moth Hey, if you're.
- [13:47]
Dan Kennedy
In Los Angeles or you're going to be in Los Angeles, I guess what I'm saying is get to Los Angeles. The Moth main stage is returning to Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 3rd. If you want to know about tickets or anywhere else that we're going while we're on tour, just Visit the site.
- [14:03]
Makers 46
Themoth.Org Our podcast host, Dan Kennedy, is a writer and performer living in New York and author of the new novel American Spirit. Available now.
- [14:13]
Dan Kennedy
Thanks to all of you for listening and we hope you have a story worthy week Podcast Audio production by Paul Ruest at the Argo Studios in New York. The Moth Podcast and the Radio Hour are presented by prx, the Public Radio Exchange Change Helping Make Public Radio more public@prx.org.