Fight Night

Last weekend we went to Goeteborg to see Asa from Gleason's fight in the Sweden's first pro boxing bout since 1969. According to Asa they had banned pro boxing since it didn't fit their social democratic sense of self and their sense of decency, which is best expressed by the swedish word logum, which means something like all good, 'cause more would be too much, less would be too little.

Blackmore and Grant had joined Asa and hanging witht the three of them made us realize how much we miss being home in Brooklyn. It was a pretty festive night at the Skandinavium, a stadium roughly the size of Madison Square Garden. The Swedes are pretty good fighters, tight and crisp. Asa dominated her opponent Tiffany Carter, who was a bit overwhelmed by the Swedish Sensation, who not only had the audience on her side, but also a distinct advantage having almost double the reach, which enabled her to escape most of Carter's potentially devastating powershots.

Asa was the headliner. In Brooklyn we knew, but never gauged the level of Asa's stardom. It was fun to be the entourage afterwards though, partying at the Elite Park Hotel until five in the morning. With fellow Brooklynites at her side we were a pretty steadfast posse, we enjoyed healthy helpings of Chamapaign. We went til the morning, although not exactly Led Zeppelin style. It was pretty amazing though to witness most streetside Swede's willingness to drink themselves into an absolute stupor. Hotel security seemed quite relaxed about groping, stumbling dudes making passes at anything female with heavily slurred speech. Asa said it's actually socially acceptable to lose control, since most of Swedish society is so overly controller when sober.