***
Hogan took on Canseco on July 9 at the ballpark of minor league baseball's Arkansas Travelers, in front of over 6,000 fans. It was not Hogan's first experience as a pugilist. "I was sports director at the CBS affiliate here in Little Rock from 1977 to 1985 and the TV consultants wanted the TV guys to go out there and get involved in the community," Hogan says. "I just took it to another level."

That level has included a bout with former WBF heavyweight champion and Olympic medalist John Tate, a pair of exhibitions with light-heavyweight title contender Mike Quarry--who had a 63-13-6 professional record and 17 knockouts--and a wrestling match with Paul Orndorff, a former WWF wrestler known as "Mr. Wonderful."

Hogan wasn't fighting these men when they were past their prime, either. His fight with Tate in October of 1981 came less than two years after Tate was heavyweight champion. And Quarry's professional career lasted for three years past the pair's second exhibition. If anything, the fight with Canseco was probably Hogan's easiest match.

The seeds for the Canseco bout were first planted in March of last year. Hogan had been working out in a gym and doing some boxing when Pete Lavin, general manager of the Travelers, asked him about fighting Canseco.

"Pete hung it out there for me to think about, and it was kind of the carrot in front of my nose," Hogan says. "I like getting in shape for things and getting up for the challenge, and I knew Jose was a good name who would draw a crowd, so I said, 'yeah, let's do it.'"

Hogan's family was supportive of his decision. "My wife said to me, 'Is your insurance paid up?'" he laughs. "She was used to all this stuff. She was there when I fought Quarry the second time, and I'm kind of an off-the-wall guy anyway. I have that type of personality where I can't sit still, so she knows it's not going to work for me to say no."

Even though Hogan prides himself on staying in shape, he knew he was going to need to step up his training if he was going to go toe-to-toe with Canseco. Thankfully, Hogan has friends who are more than willing to give him a hand. Ray Rodgers, the cutman for middleweight Jermain Taylor, is a long-time friend of Hogan and owns a gym in Little Rock where Hogan honed his craft.

"Walt Woods, who's a coach in the gym, and his son John got me in great shape," Hogan says. "Walt wanted me to work out three times a week, but because I'm 60, we went down to two. One night a week I would go in and do 23 to 26 rounds of drills, footwork and hitting the heavy bag. Then, on the other day, I would spar with Johnny, who probably hits the hardest in the gym and we'd do six three-minute rounds."

While Hogan was getting in shape, the event began to pick up steam in the press. Lavin ran some short ads on TV with video of Hogan's fight against Quarry. Additionally, a year-old hip replacement commercial featuring a sparring Hogan was being run by Baptist Health in the months leading up to the bout. But that local publicity was nothing compared to the media firestorm that was about to erupt once the national media caught wind of the impending fight.

"Let me tell you, it was way beyond my imagination," Hogan says. "There were some articles and posters around town, and then all of a sudden, Jim Rome and ESPN is on it and Yahoo! Sports has it on their front page. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would come about."

As the date drew closer, Hogan tried to formulate a strategy to take on the younger and bigger Canseco. Physically, it was no contest. Although he bulked up 10 pounds for the fight, Hogan estimates he probably gave away 60 pounds to his opponent. So instead of trying to overpower Canseco, he focused on the little things.

"My game plan was number one, to stay on my feet, and number two, to throw a lot of punches," Hogan says. "Jose is huge, and he rocked my world two or three times, but he was class in the ring. He didn't follow up his punches and kind of let me dictate the way things went in the ring."

In fact, Hogan says his best memory from the fight is how classy and accommodating Canseco was. "He's nothing like his persona," Hogan insists. "He made a lot of fans of the people in our office who came in contact with him."

Hogan is also pleased that proceeds from the event went to a good cause. Rodgers runs a GED center next to his gym in Little Rock and Hogan gave away tickets to the event in exchange for a check made out to the center. Hogan estimates the fight raised $3,000.

And although he gave Canseco and the fans a good show, Hogan admits that might have been the last of such endeavors, even though he still plans to stay in shape. "I'm retired from all this off-the-wall stuff," he says. "But I'm still going to go to the gym and work out and spar. My mentality is still that I'm 60 going on 30.

"The numbers you put up in years are just numbers," he continues. "It's all in your mind and how you go about what you do. And my mindset is that nothing's going to beat me. Just because you turn 50 or 60 doesn't mean you've got to prop up on the couch and eat potato chips."

Patrick Bohn is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management.