U Los Anđelesu nikada nije vlažno. Kiša je retka, oblaka skoro da nema, nebo je kao staklo u koje gledaš i zbunjen si – ne znaš da li je u pitanju nebo ili mirno more. Ista je boja.
Tako je bilo i nekoliko dana pred boks meč između Meni Pakijaa i Timoti Bredlija. Revanš meč. Prvi je dobio Bredli na poene. Nakon tog meča mnogi ljubitelji boksa mislili su da je svaki od sudija greškom upisivao dobijene runde Bredliju umesto Meniju.
Marta meseca, Meni je došao sa Filipina – odakle je rodom – i počeo sa treninzima u Los Anđelesu. Jednog dana, u salu koja miriše samo na znoj i metalni miris krvi koja se taloži u kantama pored ringa gde bokseri pljuju između 2 gutljaja vode, ušao je Bob Dilan.
Matori poznavaoci boksa, oni koji znaju svaki ćošak svake rupe odakle započinju snovi klinaca kako će jednoga dana biti prvaci sveta, nisu bili iznenađeni. Pozdravili su se sa starim fanom boksa i Dilan sede na jednu od benč klupa. Fredi Rouč, jedan od najboljih svetskih trenera i vlasnik sale, pravio je Dilanu društvo gledajući Menija kako sparinguje. Kako se sprema da pobedi, da ispravi nepravdu iz prvog meča.
Dilan je posmatrao brzog Menija, i moguće da je vrteo po glavi pesme koje je posvetio dvojici boksera – Dejvi Muru i Rubin ’’Uraganu’’ Karteru. Malo ljudi zna da je Dilan, još 1963, napisao pesmu o tragičnoj smrti u ringu, smrti šampiona Dejva Mura.
’’Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not I,” says the referee
“Don’t point your finger at me
I could’ve stopped it in the eighth
An’ maybe kept him from his fate
But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure
At not gettin’ their money’s worth
It’s too bad he had to go
But there was a pressure on me too, you know
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not us,” says the angry crowd
Whose screams filled the arena loud
“It’s too bad he died that night
But we just like to see a fight
We didn’t mean for him t’ meet his death
We just meant to see some sweat
There ain’t nothing wrong in that
It wasn’t us that made him fall
No, you can’t blame us at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says his manager
Puffing on a big cigar
“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell
I always thought that he was well
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick, he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the gambling man
With his ticket stub still in his hand
“It wasn’t me that knocked him down
My hands never touched him none
I didn’t commit no ugly sin
Anyway, I put money on him to win
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the boxing writer
Pounding print on his old typewriter
Sayin’, “Boxing ain’t to blame
There’s just as much danger in a football game”
Sayin’, “Fistfighting is here to stay
It’s just the old American way
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the man whose fists
Laid him low in a cloud of mist
Who came here from Cuba’s door
Where boxing ain’t allowed no more
“I hit him, yes, it’s true
But that’s what I am paid to do
Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill’
It was destiny, it was God’s will”
Who killed Davey Moore
Why an’ what’s the reason for?’’
U pauzi sparinga, Meni je došao do Dilana i Fredija i uključio se u razgovor. Svako je imao svoje viđenje kako bi meč trebalo da ide, u kom smeru, gde trošiti energiju a gde je čuvati. Da li započeti meč lagano ili uraganski. Da li odraditi sve potrebno do poslednje dve runde pa usporiti, ili tada dati sve od sebe. Da li ići na nokaut ? Sedeli su i pričali, svako od njih bi dobro proanalitirao prošli meč i koliko je Bredli napredovao od tada, ali nijedan od trojice sa benč klupe nije sumnjao – pobediće Meni Pakjao.
Dilan je buntovnik. S razlogom. Nije ćtao ni 1966, kada je velika nada boksa, Rubin Karter, optužen i osuđen za ubistvo. Prilično klimav slučaj, bez dokaza, prilično očigledna nameštaljka. Dilan je odmah ustao za Kartera, skupljajući lovu svirajući na humanitarnim koncertima, verujući u Karterovu nevinost.
U pesmi kaže
’’...All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he'd never had a chance
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched, he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks, he was just that crazy nigger
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger
And though they could not produce the gun
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed...
...Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell
Yes, that's the story of the Hurricane
But it won't be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time he's done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The champion of the world’’
’’Uragan’’ je pušten na slobodu nakon 20 godina provedenih u zatvoru, bez dokaza, uništenog života.
I nastavlja trening Meni Pakjao, mesec dana pred odlazak u Las Vegas i revanš meč. Dilan je odgledao sparing, sačekao menija da se fotografišu, i tada Meni odmah objavi "After BOB DYLAN watched me train today, Freddie Roach said, 'I think a hard rain's a-gonna fall on Timothy Bradley.'", aludirajući na Dilanovu pesmu...
Dilan je meč gledao iz Japana, gde je imao zakazanu turneju, ali siguran sam mu je srce ubrzalo gledajući podignutu ruku Meni Pakjaa u znak pobede.
Bio je to lepo veče u Los Anđelesu, ne toliko udaljenom od las Vegasa, a još bliže Dilanovim pločama u fonoteci bliskog mi prijatelja kod kojeg se skupila ekipa da gledamo meč.
’’...I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded with hatred
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall...’’
p.s.
...i baš kada je Belopoljanski trebalo da skine Vanji mrak, ulete Peđa na gajbu sa dve strankinje koje je pokupio na aerodromu - otkazali let za Ljubljanu zbog magle...
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