In youth, we get plenty of exercise through games and running around, but as middle life approaches, we settle down, literally and figuratively.

Handball, swimming, running, jumping, basketball, and boxing were as much a part of me as breathing.

My own ambition in the ring had always been skillful boxing, speed and defense - on the order of Mike Gibbons.

Normally, I could hit hard enough, as anyone who studied my fights might have known. But the impression was that I was essentially defensive, the very reverse of a killer, the prize fighter who read books, even Shakespeare.

The greatest fighter I ever saw

If all human lives depended upon their usefulness - as might be judged by certain standards - there would be a sudden and terrific mortality in the world.

The man who has allowed his body to deteriorate cuts a pitiful figure - chest collapsed, stomach protruding.