Off the Canvas
A Tale of Two Brothers
by
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Surprisingly, the smaller of the two thugs, who had brown eyes, freckles and blonde unruly hair and who looked somewhat younger than Billy and I, turned to walk away, but the bigger one grabbed him by the neck. “We ain’t gonna let these two punks get away with that, are we Jackie? We came here to get their money and we ain’t goin to leave without all of it. Besides, we ain’t gonna let them insult our parents, are we?” Obviously it wasn’t intended to be a question. The youth he called Jackie slowly turned and walked back to his friend’s side. “No way, Tom”, he responded, trying to be brave. “I was just getting myself ready to kick some ass!”
Billy and I planted our feet solidly, but stood on the balls of them, as we had been taught to do in the gym, and waited for the assault we knew would be quickly coming. Billy intentionally faced the bigger guy named Tom who held the knife, leaving me with a younger, smaller kid to dispose of.
Tom, the bigger kid stepped forward with a sneer on his face and wielding a rusty pocket knife in his hand outstretched. “Are you schmuck’s deaf or just stupid? I ought to cut your tongues out! I said to give me all your money, now!”
Again it was Billy who took the initiative. He knocked Tommy’s outstretched arm out of the way, the knife falling loudly to the concrete, leaped up and landed the sweetest right uppercut to his nose that I think I’ve ever seen, even till this day. It brought a stream of blood from his nostrils and tears to his eyes. The younger kid, named Jackie, just turned and quickly took off, making it two against one, but I knew Billy wouldn’t want me to interfere. Suddenly Billy and I now had the advantage, which I believe was a first for us.
The bully lunged for his knife, which I easily stepped up and kicked far out of his reach. He took another step towards Billy, but it was my turn now, and the adrenaline was flowing and my heart was beating faster than I could ever remember. I could sense all the power and frustration that had built up inside me over the years of being taken advantage of. I pushed Billy aside, and landed three straight jabs to his already bloody face, followed by an uppercut that must have knocked out some of his teeth, because a flow of blood came pouring from his mouth.
The young thug wiped the blood, which was now flowing freely, on his sweater and shirtsleeve, and turned to leave. “You guys haven’t seen the last of me. I’ll get you next time and kick both of your fucking butts! You will wish that this day never happened.”
“We’ll look forward to it”, Billy said bravely, staring him in the face, “Whenever you’re ready, you big, fat, ugly jerk!”
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About the Book
Fast moving and guaranteed to evoke all emotions, the nine chapters of Off the Canvas takes the reader from the depths of the Great Depression, through the days of segregation and Jim Crow, then into World War II and to the events of today.
These are the recollections of Tony Petrovic, former middleweight champion of the world. At that time there was just eight divisions and one sanctioning body, and his brother Billy, a welterweight champion, The book describs their rise to the top of the boxing world, only to have Billy gunned down by a racist assassin.
Off the Canvas will provoke laughter, tears, anger, hate and understanding. It is a work of fiction that is so historically correct, it actually could have happened.
Although historically correct, Off the Canvas is a fictionalized account of two brothers, whose lives are intertwined until the tragic death of Billy, the younger of the two.
We are taken through this history and these events by older brother, Tony Petrovic, who, at age 80, doesn’t recall as well as he should, but is able to express himself in such a way that once into Off the Canvas the reader will not want to put down this novel till its completion.
About the Author
Honesty and loyalty are the two traits that Rusty Rubin values most, and he imparts this in the lead character of Off the Canvas.
In his five decades in boxing Rubin has been the sports editor of Ahora Spanish news, managing editor of Nevada Boxing, Ring Arts, Ringsports Magazine and now Ringsports.com the magazine and website.
He founded “RABBIT: a big brother program where fighters go into the jails and get the inmates interested in the sport of boxing. Not getting the needed support it closed down in 1984.
He founded and operates Glove2Glove, a non-denominational prayer group that aids those fallen warriors and their families in need by sending prayers and mail.
Among his awards are IBF Boxing Writer of the Year in 1993, AAIB Boxing Editor of the Year in 1991. He was the only non-Californian inducted into the Bay Area Boxing Hall of Fame (1996) and in 2002 was inducted into the Northwest Boxing Hall of Fame.