Wife’s words broke Mir down, built him back up
On the night of Nov. 18, 2006, in a hotel room in Sacramento, Calif., just hours removed from a humiliating…
On the night of Nov. 18, 2006, in a hotel room in Sacramento, Calif., just hours removed from a humiliating knockout at the hands of one Brandon Vera, Frank Mir announced his retirement.
“Never going to fight again,” he said. “Whatever I had, I don’t have anymore.”
Two years had passed since Mir found himself on the receiving end of a motorcycle wreck. His femur had been broken in two places, and his knee all but ruined. The first doctor told him his career as professional fighter was over. A second orthopedist concurred.
Actually, Mir was able to make a comeback of sorts. But the knee was still gimpy when somebody named Marcio Cruz knocked him out in the first round, opening a gruesome, half-moon shaped laceration below his eye. Then he got fat for a lackluster decision over another world-beater, Dan Christison. Next, Vera — “a guy that shouldn’t even have been a heavyweight,” Mir would recall — put him away in 69 seconds. He had been in good shape for Vera, though. The knee was fine. Now he was out of excuses.
“It is what it is,” he said, waiting for his wife to agree.
