John Disterdick was where no boxer wants to be. Especially one needing to stand tall for only 60 more seconds to claim a fourth straight Masters world championship.
"I was bleeding from my mouth and nose," said the 68-year-old Disterdick, recalling his heavyweight title bout 19 days ago in Kansas City, Mo. "I'd gotten head-butted pretty good."
Added lightweight Masters champion and fellow Chattanooga resident Jack Godwin, "I told John, 'They're about 20 seconds from stopping this. You better knock him out fast.'"
So that's what the father of five did. He unleashed his lethal right hand one more time, knocking out Michael McDonald of Mound, Minn., just in time to win his third straight title by knockout.
"That was probably the hardest competitor I've had," said Disterdick. "He was a well-seasoned boxer. But almost as much of a thrill was to see Jack win, because he's been so close the last three years."
They retold this while standing in the Henry Luken Sports Facility on the Red Bank High School campus Wednesday evening. Disterdick and Godwin had spent at least 90 minutes a day in the sweltering structure for more than six weeks leading up to the 10th Annual Ringside World Championships.
This also is where they hope to encourage our community's young boxers to gather beginning Oct. 15, when the ageless Skipper Fairbanks will train, free of charge, anyone wishing to learn to box.
"We'd love to help Skipper fill up this gym with kids this winter," said the 60-year-old Godwin, who earned a boxing scholarship to Cleveland State in the 1960s. "As I've told parents for years, 'An hour in the gym is an hour off the street.'"
The two men have reached this pinnacle from very different paths. Disterdick is something of a senior athlete legend. A former actor who first took up boxing with the 82nd Airborne in 1965, Disterdick has competed for national championships at the senior level in everything from swimming to triathlons, rowing, running and cycling.
His company - Philadelphia Film - is currently marketing a Masters fitness TV series titled "Redefining Aging Through Fitness." It could soon air on Atlanta-based Tuff TV.
Not surprisingly, when the two men's boxing trainer, Dale Dagnan, listed what makes Disterdick so tough, he said, "His conditioning. John really pushes himself. He's always stronger than his opponent in the final round."
Asked Godwin's chief weapon, Dagnan replied, "Jack hits hard for his size. He's just mean."
Chimed in a grinning Godwin, who's been a graphic designer at Chattem for the past 34 years, "That's what my mother used to say."
Yet this supposedly mean man, having opened a cut on his final opponent, quickly apologized, saying, "I'm so sorry I hit you like that."
Replied the losing fighter: "Don't be. I came here to hit you the same way."
Both men recognize the sweet science has seen far sweeter days.
"I used to be a sparring partner for Randy Shields, who was the only guy to beat Sugar Ray Leonard as an amateur," Disterdick said. "Randy eventually became the No. 4 welterweight in the world. Those were the days of Sugar Ray, Tommy 'Hit Man' Hearns. Boxing was still a big sport back then."
Added Godwin, "I grew up in the shadow of Chamberlain Field, on Douglas Street. But if a fight came on TV when my dad and I were at a game, we always hurried home to watch the fight. I don't know that the sport will ever be that big again."
But thanks to an ailing Skipper giving them the keys to the gym as they worked toward the world tournament, they made big boxing news for Chattanooga.
"There are only 57 Masters world titles," Disterdick said. "And we brought two of them back to this little town."
Said Godwin, "I've been doing this since 1961 and that's the first belt I've ever won. I just wish my mom and dad would have been there to see it; that would have made my day. But other than that, it's probably the happiest moment of my life."
E-mail Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com