By day, Billy Bad Ass Prusinowski teaches eighth-grade language arts and social studies. But after-hours, like some kind of classic superhero, the charismatic 36-six-year-old takes on another identity as a kickboxing guru and folk dancer.
Cortina de Hierro –Castro’s Iron Curtain
In 1946 after the end of the Second World War what Winston Churchill described as an Iron Curtain stretched across Europe separating East and West with all professional sport banned in the East. That brought an end to any fledgling careers and any future hopes of a professional career for boxers on the Eastern side of the Curtain. After just over forty years with the dissolution of the USSR the Curtain is no longer a barrier to professionalism and fighters such as the Klitschko brothers and Vasyl Lomachenko have since graced our sport.
In 1961 after Fidel Castro adopted Communism as Cuba’s creed another Iron Curtain banning professional sport was woven in the West every bit as important for boxing as the one in Europe. Unlike the European Curtain this one is still in place and still denying professional boxing access to the wellspring of talent that has made Cuba the most successful nation in amateur boxing.