Mark WiedmerRay Rodgers was sitting in the downtown Marriott on Wednesday morning with Carole, his bride of 13 years, by his side when he began to recite much of his history as one of boxing's most esteemed "cut men."
"I was with (the late) Tommy Morrison for 10 years," the 82-year-old Rodgers said of the rough and rugged heavyweight who starred with Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky V" but died at age 44 in 2013, allegedly of AIDS.
"I was in Jermaine Taylor's corner both times he beat Bernard Hopkins. I was with Iran Barkley and Wayne McCullough. I've been to Germany, Hong Kong, London, Scotland, Northern Ireland."
In other words, if Rodgers' life needed a soundtrack, it almost assuredly would be Johnny Cash singing "I've Been Everywhere."
But Rodgers has been in our town this week to watch members of his Ray Rodgers Boxing Club out of Little Rock, Arkansas, compete in the National Golden Gloves tournament at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
"Perfect place for this," Rodgers said of the Scenic City's hospitality. "Good hotels. Good restaurants. Nice downtown. We've really enjoyed ourselves here."
Boxing has had the pleasure of enjoying Rodgers since he took up the sport as a competitor in the 1940s, when America was still on its way to winning World War II.
"Never finished worse than second in any fight I've ever been in," Rodgers said with a wry smile.
His expert work to stop a profusely bleeding gash on Taylor's head from a head butt with Hopkins in their epic 2005 middleweight title bout was probably the difference in the challenger finishing first against Hopkins, whose 12-year reign as world champ ended with that split decision.
"It happened in the fifth round," Rodgers recalled. "Roy Jones Jr. was commenting on the fight and said that cut might end it. I got the bleeding stopped, and Jones never mentioned that cut again."
Jones may not have mentioned it again, but it took 16 stitches to close it at a Las Vegas hospital after the bout. On another occasion, a facial assault on Barkley took 62 stitches to close. But neither fight was stopped, which is just one reason why Rodgers always has been considered a cut above almost everyone else in his field.
Yet for all his big moments on the professional side of the sport - "I've been a part of 39 world championship fights," Rodgers said - it is his lifelong commitment to Golden Gloves that probably has had the biggest impact on the lives of young men in need of a mentor, role model and father figure.
"It's so good for the kids if it's done right," Rodgers said. "If you're just in it for the money, you're in the wrong business. But if you're in it to help kids, to do it the right way, you can teach hard work and discipline."
Sitting nearby, our town's Joe Smith, who has basically become the godfather of amateur boxing in this community for his work in the YCAP boxing program, said of Rodgers: "How I learned to give back to kids is through people like Ray."
How much has Rodgers meant to the sport in general and young people in particular? Muhammad Ali came to visit his Little Rock gym in 1992 because he'd heard so much about his boxing club. He's a past president of Golden Gloves. Or as Smith said, "Ray Rodgers IS Golden Gloves."
The Golden Gloves semifinal rounds will get underway at 6 p.m. Friday at the convention center. General admission tickets are $10. Ringside tables for eight go for $300. The finals will begin at the same time Saturday night, and a cash bar will be available.
Of course there are no certainties this year's championships will produce the outrageous success by those who won national crowns at the 2007 Golden Gloves here. Of the 11 champions that year, seven went on to win world professional titles, including welterweight champ Shawn Porter and heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder.
A factoid to show the positive traits amateur boxing can instill in young people: Porter still face times the current YCAP boxers.
Such character and decency is just one reason why Rodgers, when asked how much longer he intends to work with Golden Gloves, said, "Until I die."
Having spent more than 70 years in the sport as a participant, trainer, coach, cut man and administrator, Rodgers has seen and heard it all, including the concerns that engulfed boxing when the threat of HIV-AIDS first became known, and long before news that Morrison had tested positive.
"As soon as news of HIV hit the pavement, I started wearing gloves," he said. "When other cut men would ask me why in the years before they required it, I'd just say, 'It is always required at my house.'"
His own home in Little Rock almost always is filled with laughter, thanks to Carole. Both widowed, they married in Vegas the week of the first Taylor-Hopkins fight.
"You have to pay $55 in cash," she said. "And it has to be exact. No change. So we get ready to buy the license and Ray only has $50. So I've always said I've got $5 invested in this."
Which, when you really think about, is probably a pretty good investment on a husband who's never finished worse than second.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.