D

Boxing, Politics And Cigars … All For A Good Cause

The testosterone-laden, Dallas commercial-real-estate bacchannal called FightNight marked its 20th year last night, more restrained than it once was, thanks in part to Laura Miller’s anti-smoking jihad. Ironically, Miller was spotted near the VIP pre-party at the Ritz-Carlton Fearing’s–she may have been eating there–while, a stone’s throw away, her old nemesis Ron Kirk worked the bash like a world-champion boxer. There were a couple of those on hand, too, and one of them–Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini–had some choice words about today’s crop of fighters. Jump for more.

The annual fundraiser put on by The Real Estate Council has long been known as a wild time. Picture hundreds of men in black tie smoking cigars and drinking booze served by beautiful waitresses in a hotel banquet room, all while two guys in the middle of everything pound each other’s brains out in a raised boxing ring.

A lot more women who weren’t waitresses attended this year’s “main event” at the Hilton Anatole, though. And–thanks to the no-smoking laws Miller pushed for as Dallas mayor–”fire marshalls” buttonholed many of the cigar aficionados and told them to take it outside.

At least, that’s what the little man in the black suit told me he was, as I stood against a wall working on an Arturo Fuente I’d paid $15 for in the lobby. “There are hundreds of guys smoking in here,” I protested. “Are you going to tell them all to get out, too?” He didn’t like the question much, adding evenly: “I’m telling you to get out.” So I did.

Not before encountering Ron Kirk, though, who’d apparently been on TV and radio all day jawboning about Avery Johnson or Barack Obama (Kirk’s a big-time Obama operative). At the Fearing’s bash I ran my theory past him that, if the Democratic Party is to have a real shot at the presidency this fall, it will have to unite behind Hillary at the top of the ticket, with Obama as VP. Otherwise, I counseled wisely, the party will be too splintered and lose to McCain. Not surprisingly, he didn’t agree.

“There’s a reason all the Republicans voted for Hillary in the primary,” Kirk said. Obama will have the educated voters and the students and the minorities, he went on, and therefore will be the strongest candidate. But, what about all those white working people in Hillary’s corner? “We haven’t won their votes in years,” Kirk scoffed. Would he accept a cabinet post under a President Obama? “No! I’m through with government jobs,” he said. “I’d rather be the president’s best friend.”

Over in the corner, meantime, ex-boxing champs Roberto Duran and Boom Boom Mancini were quietly holding court, greeting fans and signing big red boxing gloves for charity. Mancini, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., now after a distinguished career in the ring, didn’t have to think long before answering a question about today’s boxers.

“There’s a lot of good fighters, but I couldn’t tell you their names,” he laughed. “These days, they pay guys twice as much to do half the work.”

The 20th annual FightNight benefited the Real Estate Council Foundation, which helps with the likes of work-force housing initiatives and economic development in North Texas.