By Ted Sares

 

Sometimes getting to the sunshine can be a lifelong trek; some make it, others don’t. Many don't even realize it when they get there. This is a story about two who tried.

 

Michael Bennett and his "wrong" friends committed a robbery of a toy store for which the Chicago native was convicted and sentenced to 26 years. After an appeal, the sentence was reduced to 15 years. With he help of fellow inmates, Bennett took up boxing, at first to help him keep in shape while jailed at Menard Federal Prison in Illinois. He also managed to earn an associate's degree in general education. Amazingly, after being released after seven years for good behavior, he became a world class amateur fighter. 

He won the world championships in Houston in 1999 with wins over Patrick Mesters , Uzbek Serik Umirbekov and German Steffen Kretschmann but won the final only because Cuban superstar Felix Savon boycotted (forfeited) the final. He eventually became the captain of the 12-member U.S. Boxing team that fought in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and he beat Poland's Wojciech Bartnik in the 1st round of matches on a 11-2 decision before losing to Savon on a 23-8 points stoppage in the 3rd round in his next match. In addition to these  accomplishments, he was also a National Amateur Champion in 2000 when he beat Jason Estrada.

After his stellar amateur accomplishments, Michael won his professional debut in the Theater at Madison Square Garden on the televised card, "NIGHT OF THE OLYMPIANS."  Midway through round one, he drove Andrew Hutchinson of New York to the canvas with a series of savage right hands forcing Referee Arthur Mercante Jr to halt matters at 1:46 of the first round. Unfortunately, this initial success did not continue and his career came to a halt after several knockout losses against limited opposition. While exciting, his weak chin rendered him vulnerable. With the heavy handed Michael, it was a case of whether he got you or you got him. He retired in 2003 with a final slate of 10 -4 with 8 ko's, but he has more than redeemed himself. From his release from prison on July 28, 1998 to captain of the 12-member 2000 U.S. Boxing team. Not bad.

Reportedly,  Michael has been offered a position within a boxing promotional firm, but I have not been able to corroborate this.

Not all stories end so happily.

Ricky "Wonderful" Womack, one of the most respected amateur fighters in the U.S in the early 80’s was convicted of two armed robberies in 1986 and spent fifteen years in prison where he continued to train and where he found faith in God. His record prior to being imprisoned was 9-0-1. He had gone 4-4 with Evander Holyfield in the amateur ranks and just missed making the '84 Olympic team. As well, he was the US national heavyweight champion in 1982 and the light heavyweight champion in 1983.

Womack was 9-0 as a professional at Christmas time 1985 when he walked into a video store, pistol-whipped the female clerk with his 9mm handgun, and walked out with a few hundred dollars and a handful of tapes. Two weeks later he tried to rob another video store in the same suburb, but panicked when a customer walked in. Womack shot him. Police found Womack’s car keys on the counter and his wallet on the front seat of a beige Volvo parked outside. The customer lived, so Womack was sentenced only to one count of assault to murder and two of armed robbery, receiving three 12-to-25-year sentences plus two years for using a gun in a felony.

Upon his release from prison fifteen year later, this tough Detroit fighter with an Adonis-like physique resumed his boxing career and racked up 4 wins between March 29, 2001 and November 23, 2001. His first fight was against Curt Paige, 10-5, 10 KO, and after loosening up and getting some of the long accumulated rust off, Ricky pressed the action in the third forcing Page's corner to call it quits.

Two months later in May, he followed up with a 4 round stoppage over limited Gesses Mesgana. Then in July he continued his comeback at age 39 by pounding out a four-round unanimous decision over journeyman Kenny Snow, 32-23, 22 KO's, in Detroit's Chene Park in Detroit. In November, he duked it out with veteran Willie Chapman, 13-11-1 coming in, and won a UD in six. However, off of this fight, it was clear that his dream at 40 years of age to become a champion boxer was only an illusion and Ricky probably knew it better than anyone else.

After the Chapman fight (in front of 10,000 people at the Palace of Auburn Hills), Ricky was upset with his sub par showing for which he was booed. On the way from the arena sitting in a car with his manager, Dr. Stuart Kirshenbaum, Rickey alarmed Kirshenbaum. "We were driving home and he said to me Doc, I won't bother you anymore I'm just going to end this thing. It was obvious he was talking about suicide. I said Rickey don't do anything you'll regret. "He said Doc, don't worry, I would never do anything to go back to prison. I would kill myself before I would go back there." (Viewpoints, “OL' FATHER TIME IS OFTEN UNBEATABLE,” (Available Online].

Just two months after his last comeback fight, Rickey Womack sat down on a couch in his basement apartment, took out a gun and after threatening his wife with it, put it to his head and shot himself in front of her.

"A prisoner in his own life," is how those closest to him describe Rickey Womack after his death. "Rickey just couldn't make the adjustment back to society. We tried to extend ourselves as friends, but he couldn¹t even accept it. Those sixteen years made it hard for him to come back home." said his boxing trainer Rick Griffith.

Said Dr. Kirshenbaum , “It's a story that I prayed he would make a success out of. The shadow over Rickey wouldn't break and he couldn't get to the sunshine.”

“Rickey donated his organs to medical research. "I hope the good parts of Rickey Womack that he wasn't willing to share in life will have some value to others through this most unforeseen giving of himself. Maybe in the end, Rickey's life was worth it, not to himself, but to other people," added Dr. Kirschenbaum.

"Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain."  Source Unknown