Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane was arrested early-Sunday morning after he allegedly assaulted a cab driver in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.
According to a police report, Kane, 20, and his cousin, James Kane, 21, were pinched by the fuzz at approximately 5:00 AM after a physical dispute erupted between the kin and the cabbie over a measly 20 cents in change.
The driver was reportedly given $15 for his fare.
However, once the driver informed the obvious drunks that he didn’t have exact change, he was repeatedly punched in the face by the cheap duo before they stole the money back.
“They broke my glasses, they ripped my clothes…all over 20 cents,” cab driver Jan Radecki recounted.
Radecki, whose nose was broken in the brazen attack, said the first overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft and the winner of the 2008 Calder Trophy bragged about his stature while he proceeded to beat him.
“Patrick punched me in the head. He says, ‘You don’t know who you’re fucking with! You don’t know who you’re fucking with!’ And he kept pounding and pounding on me.”
A witness saw the attack while it occurred in “The City of Good Neighbors” downtown nightclub district and called police.
Both violent members of the Kane clan were charged with felony robbery and misdemeanor counts of theft of services and criminal mischief.
“What are you doing about it?” Radecki, a cab driver for nearly 30 years, asked rhetorically. “They’re hitting a 60-year-old man.”
The puny right wing, who could earn up to $3.725 million annually with bonuses, was hailed as a “hometown hero” by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown just last Thursday after he partook in a ceremony announcing the funding of a local ice rink.
“Today is special for me,” Kane said at the ceremony at Timothy J. Burvid Ice Rink in South Buffalo. “This is where I grew up playing hockey. This is the first rink I probably skated in when I was six years old.”
After he was chosen by the Blackhawks, Kane was interviewed by Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times.
During the interview, Kane was asked what his favorite television program was and he responded, “Friends. I like chick-like stuff. I like love songs, and when I saw The Pursuit of Happiness, I cried.”
Granted, Kane only recently emerged from adolescence and most youngsters are prone to making boneheaded mistakes.
Nevertheless, Kane should be sentenced to serve a minimal amount of jail time.
In lockup, the ice stud can tell his fellow inmates how much he enjoys “chick-like stuff” and how he relishes listening to “love songs.”
Kane would cry aplenty behind bars and he may even learn a lesson or two on the inside about how to properly treat human beings.
Iconic prizefighter Muhammad Ali was honored before the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 13-6 last Thursday night at the new Yankee Stadium.
In tribute, to “The Greatest,” I decided to rank the five most accomplished heavyweight pugilists of the past quarter century.
I want to emphasize that I am nominating the most accomplished fighters, and not the most skilled. Without further adieu, below are my rankings.
1) Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 wins by KO)- Lewis, 43, became the WBC heavyweight champion by default in 1993 after Riddick Bowe cowered and refused to scrap the mammoth Brit.
Bowe’s pink decision made Lewis the first and only world heavyweight titleholder to hail from Britain in the 20th century.
In September 1994 in London, Lewis lost to a journeyman crack-head named Oliver McCall via TKO in the 2nd round.
In April 2001 in South Africa, Lewis was defeated by Baltimore bruiser Hasim Rahman via knockout in the 5th round.
The only two losses that Lewis suffered in his professional career stemmed from two flailing bombs that miraculously landed directly on the Brits kisser.
Lewis avenged both of his losses and retired as champion in 2003.
The United Kingdom’s resident badass is one of four boxers in history to have won the heavyweight championship on three separate occasions.
2) Evander Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 wins by KO)- Holyfield, 46, began his professional career as a cruiserweight.
However, after having had great success in that division, the Atlanta native purposefully gained weight and set his sights on the heavyweight division.
In October 1990, “The Real Deal” countered a looping uppercut and cracked James “Buster” Douglas squarely on the jaw.
The portly pugilist was unable to get off the canvas and Holyfield became the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Holyfield’s crowning moment in the ring came when he bullied Mike Tyson and TKO’d the notorious villain in the 11th round via TKO to capture the WBA Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Seven months later, Holyfield was scheduled to fight Tyson in a rematch for the WBA Championship.
In the rematch, Holyfield incited the menacing Tyson when he connected an inadvertent head butt that opened a deep laceration over the former champion’s eye.
Tyson subsequently went insane and ferociously chomped pieces of Holyfield’s ears off with two illegal bites.
Holyfield has somewhat tarnished his legacy because he has insisted on continuing to fight despite the fact that he is more washed-up than a 65-year-old prostitute.
Nevertheless, Holyfield is the only boxer to ever win the heavyweight title four times and he deserves to be recognized one of the absolute greatest pugilists of the past quarter century.
3) Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 wins by knockout)- Tyson, 43, had one of the most ferocious and intimidating presences in the annals of professional sports.
Before he receded into a cannibalistic, convicted rapist, Tyson was also one of the most skilled prizefighters the sport of boxing had ever seen.
“Kid Dynamite,” became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he demolished Trevor Berbick for the WBC heavyweight championship in November 1986.
Tyson steamrolled the competition for years before his personal demons derailed his seemingly inevitable path to immortality.
Tyson can be considered something of a Shakespearean tragedy.
However, the Brooklyn brawler also needs to be recognized as one of the most talented fighters in the illustrious history of boxing.
4) Riddick Bowe (43-1, 33 wins by knockout)- Bowe, 42, was a genuine superstar in the ring for a relatively brief period of time.
In November 1992, Bowe upset undefeated Evander Holyfield to become the World Heavyweight Champion.
Bowe and Holyfield engaged in a memorable and savage slugfest that will forever be seared into the minds of boxing fans all over the world.
Bowe eventually fought a psychotic Polack called Andrew Golota.
Golota, a barbaric and tough animal, landed so many low blows on Bowe that it is somewhat shocking that the Brooklyn product doesn’t currently speak like Little Richard.
Bowe was named the victor in both of the wars he waged with Golota via disqualification.
But the two fights exhibited that Bowe could no longer compete on a high level in the sport.
Bowe ultimately lost his marbles and became little more than tabloid fodder.
In 1996, Bowe announced that he would leave his wife and children to join the United States Marine Corps.
Due to his anemic work-ethic, “Big Daddy” dropped out of boot camp in the midst of basic training.
In 1999, the punch-drunk fighter kidnapped his wife and children at her parent’s community in North Carolina.
Thankfully, all victims were released unharmed.
Bowe did become a laughingstock.
Still, for five years, he was a legitimate tactician in the ring and a fighter that does not deserve to be overlooked despite his litany of issues.
5) Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 wins by knockout)- Klitschko, 33, outmanned WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 2008 to unify the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.
With his demolition of Ibragimov, “Dr. Steel Hammer” became the first unified champion since Lennox Lewis was in 1999.
Klitschko has shown that he is a worthy fighter and his recent matches have indicated that he is only going to continue to improve his craft.
The heavyweight division is sadly devoid of talent and it seems realistic to predict that Klitschko will continue to be a true force in its ranks for the foreseeable future.
Needless to say, this publication is an opinion piece.
I genuinely would like to hear the thoughts of my readers.
Keywords: Boxing, Chicago Blackhawks, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Patrick Kane, Riddick Bowe
