“My father gave me this 6 month old magazine he ripped from a doctors office for my bornday after calling me on the wrong day. There have been years he missed it all together. Anyone with a family member dealing with substance abuse issues knows the in and out nature of these relationships. Funny thing is in some warped and twisted way, this liberated ESPN The Magazine with whoever’s real address missing from the bottom left corner is a microcosm of my interaction with my pops. Nothing has ever been right with it, except boxing. Ironically fighting is the only thing we can talk about without fighting and is the only practical thing he has ever taught me. I learned to fight as a kid while he was fighting for his sobriety. He would pick me up, put me on the chair and tell me to put my hands up to defend myself. He would use his palms as mitts and call out “jab, jab, cross” “jab, cross, left hook.” -Hasan Salaam