Always Better to Lean In, Not Away

My son’s been walking around the house all week doing the Philly Shell. Must’ve been watching some Mayweather fights on his own. He wants to know if there were any heavyweights I can think of who used the shell, but the only name I can come up with is James Toney, though Toney wasn’t really a heavyweight, just ate himself into the division at the end of his career. I tell him nothing good can come from giving your back to a big man like that. My old man always said that’s what ended Louis’s rematch with Schmeling so fast. Cracked two vertebra in Schmeling’s back when he pinned him against the ropes in the first minute. Plus, there’s just no way to roll out of a big man’s reach. A shoulder shrug’s no defense at all against a hard cross to your temple. So if you’re going to lean, better to lean right into a man’s chest. Close the distance. Do your work.

Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Pigeonholes, The Shore, Okay Donkey, EcoTheo, Heavy Feather, Cheap Pop, and other journals. He has also had work included in Best Microfiction. His latest collection is Against the Woods’ Dark Trunks (Mercer University Press, 2022). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.