Ken Johnston
Loser has to
get tattooed
What do trash talking, the Internet, satellite radio, and fighting have in common?
They all led Robert Tolen of Rainy River to a boxing match he will fight April 3 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Tolen, 37, was listening to the Jason Ellis Faction 28 show on satellite radio when he became interested in some of the fan sites on the Internet.
However, Tolen, who admits he was less than computer literate, had to learn how to access them and get into chat rooms.
But once there, the trash talking began.
“Guys trash talk back and forth all the time and one guy [from Duluth, Mn.] said he wanted to fight someone, anyone, even a Canadian,” Tolen recalled last week.
Tolen said he would fight the American—but they had to find a way to get Ellis’ attention.
“We had to come up with a gimmick,” Tolen noted.
What they came up with was the loser of the fight will get a tattoo ringside of their opponent’s flag on their butt.
Tolen said everyone in the chat room instantly bought into it. So they all started e-mailing Ellis with the proposed fight and its gimmick.
Tolen wasn’t sure if it would work, then one day while he was listening to Faction 28, “They said over the radio that two guys want to fight over a tattoo.”
“I knew then I was going to Vegas!” he enthused.
Tolen, who is 5’11” and 172 pounds, is 10 years older than his opponent. But that doesn’t scare him as he has met “Scott, or ‘Snipe’ as he is known in the chat room” and sized him up.
“I am a knuckle-dragger,” he explained. “I have long arms and have at least five-six inches of reach, and am taller than him.”
The fight will be two rounds and be at the very beginning of Ellis Mania 5. The reason it’s early in the show is because the tattooing will be done right after the fight at ringside.
“I am not worried about getting a tattoo because I am going to win,” said Tolen.
Other fights that night will include celebrities like Benji Madden from the band Good Charlotte.
“There are also a couple of girl fights, and about 10 fights in total that night,” Tolen noted.
The fights will take place at The Joint in Las Vegas, which is owned by Carey Hart, the husband of singer Pink.
His club, Wasted Space, is in the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas and features Hart’s now famous tattoo parlours.
Tolen said Ellis originally was a skateboarder who came to North America from Australia. He arrived in Vancouver, where he became friends with the Red Dragon skating club.
Eventually he made his way to the U.S. and now has a very successful radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio.
But Tolen warned the show is not for everyone as it features content that’s geared to adults.
Tolen, who has never fought before, said he has enjoyed the trash talking over the Internet and as he became more computer savvy, he started a Twitter page and has about 50 followers.
At Christmas, he received a pair of boxing gloves and has been training in preparation for the Easter weekend bout.
Several locals have said they are going with him to watch the fight and Tolen is excited about that, as well.
Tolen said he has learned a lot about boxing.
“At first I thought, ‘Just go in and throw some haymakers,’ but there is actually a strategy to it,” he admitted.
“The whole thing interests me.”
Tolen and his entourage will fly to Vegas on April 1. The weigh-ins are on April 2 and the fight the following night.
The fight won’t be broadcast free of charge, but will be available on pay per view at the website ellismania.com
After the fight, an edited version will be available online featuring several different camera angles all edited together.
