Fundraiser for Bob Miller
Local boxing icon the beneficiary of Saturday fundraiser
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Long time local boxing icon Bob Miller will be the center of attention Saturday night at the Saratoga Springs City Center where an anticipated 17-bout amateur boxing card is scheduled as a fundraiser for the Bob Miller Fund following his car accident in October.
The “Bobfather of Boxing” in the Capital Region and the creator of Uncle Sam Boxing in Troy will be making his first public appearance since the accident which currently leaves him par- alyzed from the chest down. The event is raising funds for a specialty van to accommodate him along with a motorized wheel chair as he continues to rehabilitate his body.
“I’m doing a little better. It’s slow, but it’s a challenge,” Miller said by phone earlier this week. “I know it’s going to be a long haul and it’s going to be timewise, quite a deal, just getting a little, tiny bit each day is what we’re looking at.”
Miller has spent more than 50 years in the sport, first as a boxer in the U. S. Army, then as a cut man, corner man in the profes-
sional and amateur ranks promoting along with training and managing his two sons, Shawn and Shannon Miller.
His good friend, Dave Wojcicki organized the Saturday event that has been in the making since not long after Miller’s accident. It took some time for Miller to understand what the event would mean for the people that care about him.
“When Dave told me what he was doing it didn’t have a big hit on me because it was a long time ago when he told me and I was only in rehab for about a month and it was early in my hospitalization,” Miller said. “It really didn’t hit me until about a month or a month and a-half ago.
“You don’t know how many friends you have until something bad happens. I realize now that people understand that an awful lot of people out there like me, I guess.”
Despite being immobile, Miller’s boxing skills remain sharp along with ability to bring talent together.
“I let everybody know that I was back running the (Adirondack Boxing) Association again and trying to put together some shows other than this one,” Miller said. “This will be the beginning of my journey. I’m attempting to continue on and I’m sure I’m going to.
“I’m going to be running some tournaments for the local kids and I want to keep developing these young fighters in the area and get them up to the level where they can compete nationally with the best
in the country and I think we’re going to get that far. We’re just going to keep working at it until it happens.” Miller’s will and determination is remains as strong as steel.
“I’ve got a lot plans for boxing and I think it’s going to keep me motivated and wanting to get better and hopefully it’ll work,” Miller said. “I’m sure it will because I’m not one to lie down too quickly.”
Miller also hasn’t lost his training touch.
“One of my boxers who came to visit me, he was really bothered by what happened to me and he was slacking off when I was in the hospital,” Miller said. “He wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing. When he came to the hospital I told him ‘ We both have a long road to go. I’ve got a long road, you’ve got a long road. It’s going to be hard, but we’re both going
to do it. I have to work just as hard as you do.’
“What I said helped him out and he’s back on track again and we’ll see what happens.”
Miller, never one to back down from a fight, did admit he is a bit nervous about making his first public appearance Saturday night. “Just seeing everybody and trying to figure out how well I’m going to hold up is what made me nervous,” Miller said. “Seeing people the way I am, for quite some time I wouldn’t take visitors. I didn’t really want to see anybody because I wanted nobody to see me the way I was and that bothered me a lot.
“Now the nervousness is just hoping that everything goes well; that I’m accepted and I accept everyone under the circumstances that comes out for me.”
Miller is appreciative of the help and support he has
received so far.
“If it wasn’t for my family and close friends, they’re part of the reason that I’m battling on,” Miller said. “My wife, Linda, she’s been with me for five months in the hospital, staying with me in my room. My daughters came down and stayed a few times.
“They really helped me out and kept me going in the right direction. Shannon and Shawn I can always count on them to do things, my oldest daughter Lucy, is a nurse practitioner, she made sure all the medical people did the right things for me while I was in Boston.”
Saturday will be a celebration of the sport that Bob Miller loves and the people that love him. He is expected to spend most of the night meeting all his well-wishers and give a speech at the evening’s intermission, with some help
if needed.
“I’m happy, I want to see all the guys again, I expect a lot of my friends from Troy to be there, people in the past, old friends, old fighters of mine and this will be my real ( public appearance) and I’m excited,” Miller said. “I got a little speech for the people that are coming, some things that I want to say, but how far I get into that speech I get is another question, but I have a back-up guy to take of it if I can’t handle it.”