Nick Charles returns to Showtime
In boxing, comebacks are a dime a dozen.
Not this one. On Friday, Nick Charles returns to ShoBox -- the program he helped build into one of the best boxing broadcasts on television.
"It's very exciting," said Steve Farhood, the ShoBox analyst who has worked with Charles since the beginning. "I can tell you, without a doubt, it's going to be the highlight of my 2010 boxing season."
Charles has been the blow-by-blow announcer for "ShoBox: The New Generation" since it began in 2001. This will be his first broadcast since being diagnosed with stage IV cancer of the bladder. The cancer is in 80-percent remission.
"It was very strange doing the show without Nick," said Farhood. "It was in capable hands. But the blow-by-blow man is like the captain of the broadcast. So, not having your captain around was very odd."
Charles' return bout is the Jan. 29 card featuring bantamweight Chris Avalos against Jose Nieves at the Tingley Auditorium in Albuquerque, N.M.
For Charles, it has been a long road to Albuquerque.
"I've seen Nick at his lowest point emotionally," said Farhood. "I've spent time with him in Atlanta during this battle. The only time he ever really got down emotionally was when he thought about his four-year-old daughter [Giovanna]. But he fought through this and he has tremendous faith. That faith helped him a lot. Am I surpised he's back? Not at all."
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