By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Try as I might, I can't be as eloquent as my colleagues on this site when it comes to expressing sorrow over the passing of former three-division champion Alexis Arguello, who was found dead in his Nicaraguan home on Wednesday.

Suffice it to say, though, that one of my truest athletic heroes is gone.

As anyone in my age group can attest, Arguello was a boxing staple of Saturday afternoons in the final chapter of his storied career, dominating the lightweight division with a cool brilliance before trying – unsuccessfully – to become a four-division champion five pounds north.

This was after he'd already cleaned up at 126 and 130 pounds – winning 14 of 15 title fights.

His bouts with Jim Watt, Ray Mancini, Robert Elizondo, Bubba Busceme and Andy Ganigan were classic exhibitions of calculated violence, and his demeanor outside the ring showed that great fighter and quality human being didn't always have to be mutually exclusive.

The post-fight exchange with Mancini was particularly striking to this youngster, with the 29-year-old veteran helping steady his wobbly and dejected 20-year-old foe, praising him for a valiant effort and assuring him he indeed had the stuff of a future champion.

I was only 12 back then – but I never forgot it.

And incidentally, he was proven correct seven months later when Mancini won his first title.

Because I was also a big fan of Aaron Pryor, I didn't exactly like Arguello's chances when moving up to topple the junior welterweight kingpin, but the battle they waged at the Orange Bowl in November 1982 is still a must-watch whenever I dig through my dusty old box of VHS fight tapes.

The Barry Tompkins call of the stoppage in round 14 is equally magnificent in its intensity.

But what I remember even more so in terms of the Pryor rivalry is the second fight 10 months later, when a thoroughly beaten Arguello simply sat and accepted the count of referee Richard Steele in round 10, knowing in his heart of hearts that his best was not good enough.

No whining. No blaming the establishment. No excuses.

Just one classy competitor symbolically tipping his cap toward another.

It's a video every stool-throwing, conspiracy-accusing brat ought to be forced to watch before renewing a boxing license.

The records say Arguello fought three more times before finally losing to someone named Scott Walker 12 years later in Las Vegas – and pre-autopsy news reports used the word "suicide" as the cause of his demise – but those aren't images of him I'll choose to recall.

Instead, they'll be piercing eyes, jet-black mustache, blue trunks with "Alexis" scrawled across the waist and those many Saturdays when he taught an early ’80s pre-teen how to win with respect, lose with dignity and carry oneself the right way throughout the journey.

As a fighter, he was among the best I've seen. As a sportsman, he ranks just as high.

We never met in person, but I'm still a better man for having "known" him.

Farewell and peace, true champion.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now, a bit of feedback after last week's column, "Magazine's mandate has a hollow 'Ring.'"

The tenor of the e-mails I received leaned heavily toward the positive, with multiple fans and boxing business people stating a similar discomfort with the way the Golden Boy-owned property has seemingly anointed itself the be-all and end-all arbiter of championship legitimacy.

One note, though – from a member of the publication's own suburban Philadelphia editorial staff – illustrated to me the hubris now present in those who've taken a few too many swigs of the "we are the gold standard" Kool-Aid.

In part, it read: "Lyle, Lyle, Lyle, my friend, your diatribe of our 'Hollow Ring' policy just came across my desk here on top of the boxing mountain. Lyle, you make very valid points that are correct. But also make assertions that are BLATANTLY INACCURATE."

Somewhere along the climb to the mountaintop, the editor in question must've forgotten that use of excessive capital letters and multiple exclamation points (later in the note) doesn't actually make an invalid accusation any more legitimate. They simply make the author look desperate and silly.

Not to mention just a trifle condescending.

And as for the "BLATANTLY INACCURATE" assertions I supposedly made, I'm still waiting to hear one.

As was stated in my original piece, the magazine's online presence describes the "only three occasions" in which a fighter would lose Ring championship status – namely "when he retires, moves to another weight division, or is defeated in a championship bout."

That wording, incidentally, remains exactly the same on the Ring Web site at the moment I write this.

If the championship policy is spelled out in more elaborate terms elsewhere – perhaps on framed parchment in the editor's office overlooking the summit – I'd make a suggestion that the meaning of the phrase "only three occasions" be immediately reexamined for its own journalistic integrity.

And after such scrutiny, if any corresponding fact in my column can still be called less than 100 percent precise, I'll be more than happy to rewrite the whole thing as soon as circumstances allow.

Heck, maybe I'll even try it in ALL CAPS!!!!!!

* * * * * * * * * *

This week’s title fight-schedule:
Saturday
IBF bantamweight title – Sunrise, Fla.
Joseph Agbeko (champion) vs. Vic Darchinyan (unranked)
Agbeko (26-1, 22 KO): Second title defense; Unbeaten since May 2004 (5-0)
Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KO): IBF champion at 115 pounds; Won 11 of 12 title fights
FitzHitz says: Darchinyan in 9
  
IBF cruiserweight title – Newark, N.J.
Tomasz Adamek (champion) vs. Bobby Gunn (No. 15 contender)
Adamek (37-1, 25 KO): Second title defense; Won six of seven title fights
Gunn (21-3-1, 18 KO): Lost lone career title fight (KO 1); Three-fight KO win steak
FitzHitz says: Adamek in 4
 
IBF featherweight title – Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico
Cristobal Cruz (champion) vs. Jorge Solis (No. 1 contender)
Cruz (38-11-1, 23 KO): Second title defense; Unbeaten in three title fights (3-0)
Solis (37-1-2, 27 KO): Defeated Cruz by decision in 2003; Unbeaten in Mexico (28-0-1)
FitzHitz says: Solis by decision

Vacant IBO bantamweight title – Kempton Park, South Africa
Eric Barcelona (No. 23 contender) vs. Simpiwe Vetyeka (No. 43 contender)
Barcelona (48-15-4, 18 KO): Lost two previous IBO title fights; Five-fight win streak
Vetyeka (20-1, 12 KO): Lost WBC title fight in 2007; Unbeaten in South Africa (20-1)
FitzHitz says: Vetyeka by decision
 
Vacant IBO welterweight title – Kempton Park, South Africa
Lovemore N’dou (No. 32 contender) vs. Phillip N’dou (unranked)
L. N'dou (46-11-1, 31 KO): Former IBF champion at 140 pounds; Lost three of last four fights
P. N'dou (32-3, 31 KO): Ranked No. 51 at 140 pounds; Second fight after five-year layoff
FitzHitz says: L. N’dou by decision

WBA middleweight title – Nuerburg, Germany
Felix Sturm (champion) vs. Khoren Gevor (No. 2 contender)
Sturm (32-2-1, 14 KO): Seventh title defense of third reign; Nine wins in 12 title fights (9-2-1)
Gevor (30-3, 16 KO): Lost IBF title fight in 2007; Reigning European champion at 160 
FitzHitz says: Sturm by decision

Last week’s picks: 0-1
Overall picks record: 13-3 (81.3 percent)

Lyle Fitzsimmons, who is old enough to remember 15-round title fights that don’t seem all that long ago, is an award-winning 20-year sports journalist and a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him at twitter.com/fitzbitz.