++ [ originally posted by Sergio ] ++
Well, of course he's appreciated.
He's a Paesano, after all.
And Livingstone Bramble still can't hold a candle to Ray.
Believe it or not, Ray and Bramble ended up becoming friends after their second fight
Sergio, if you remember the first fight, it was in Buffalo NY, because thats where most of our family is from. Ray dedicated the fight to my late grandfather. It was a terrible night however. By the 3rd round, I was crying !!!!
Bramble got into Ray's head before the fight, calling him a "murderer" and a "motherf*cker" among other things. Ray really wanted to hurt him, and he overtrained for the fight.
2 weeks before the fight, he wasnt feeling right, went to the doctor and then found out that he was anemic- low iron in his blood. The doc said postpone the fight, but it was damn near a sellout, Ray thought he cant cancel.
Anyways, he had nothing that night. For him to even go 14 rounds with no power or energy that night was a testament to his heart, which I admire even to this day.....
My dad and I picked him up from the hospital the next day and he was a mess. Bruised, cut, and peeing lots of blood- it was bad !!!!
The rematch was a good fight, Ray lost by 1 stinking point....No excuses, but Bramble tested positive for illegal stimulants after the fight, but no protocol was in place at the time for what to do in case of a positive test (this was not long after the Pryor-Arguello "give him the mix" match)