Going for the knockout

“Ladies and Gentlemen, in this corner, weighing in at a muscular 200 pounds and a record of 18 wins and 3 losses, we have the up-and-comer, the contender to the crown, the chief servant of the house. He cleans, he mops, there’s little he can’t fix.

And in this corner weighing in at a portly 250 pounds, with a record of 22 wins, including ten TKOs, and no losses, we have the big cheese, the grand poohbah, the champion of champion, the lord of the manor.

Let’s get ready to rumbbbbbble.”

Okay, I get it now, Boxing Day — celebrated in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada — has nothing to do with the sport of boxing. When you’re a kid growing up in a small rural town in the United States and you hear something about lords and servants and a strange sounding holiday called Boxing Day that you don’t get to celebrate, your imagination starts to take off.

Fortunately, over the years, I’ve come to learn more about Boxing Day and like the turning of the tables so-to-speak. A term from before Queen Victoria’s time, when the rich used to box up gifts for tradesmen, servants, and the poor. I guess it all makes sense now, especially how it has evolved into more of a day for families to spend together and shopping, but I still like my version best.

It reminds me a lot like the movie Rocky. If you remember Apollo Creed picked Rocky out of the blue when the fighter he was supposed to fight backed out. Rocky was a down-on-his-luck underdog and look what happened. Yea, yea, it’s make believe, but let’s put the servant or some poor guy on the street and the owner of the manor in the ring. Wouldn’t you love to see that? C’mon, it would be fun.

We’ll see real quick who’s in charge!