He was being interviewed on the box,
having famously engaged
in a different type of box
many decades earlier.

They, rather unkindly I thought,
produced a recent picture of him
stripped to the waist and in his boxing shorts.
neck larger than his head,
spindly legs at odds with thickened torso.
His hearing clearly impaired
by the damage sustained to one ear.
His balance slightly unsteady,
but a reminder of what used to be.
I felt really sorry for him.

And then I thought
who am I to judge?
Perhaps his life would have been pitiable
had he followed any other course.
Perhaps he might regard
the loss of certain faculties
a small price to pay
for the pleasure and fulfilment obtained
from the pursuit of a career
that was more satisfying
than any other that was available to him.

The thought sustained and cheered me.