[Blarg]

The brain damage thing would be the thing -- if that comes with, the deal's off.

But otherwise, I think being the boxing world champion would be more satisfying on a lot of levels. There are far fewer of them around, they get paid better, their macho-ness is extremely sexy to women and pretty damn impressive to guys, being in fantastic shape is not something you have to try to fit into your life somehow but actually part of your job and something you get PAID to do.

And, as someone once remarked, boxing is like "chess with muscles." There's something very deeply satisfying about even being able to go one on one with someone for the highest possible stakes(injury, pain, brain damage, even death). An entry into the WSOP is only an entry fee away for any slob on the planet. You have to actually have something rare and strong and commendable inside you to take your chances in the ring.

And if you win even a portion of the fight, even an exchange or two, it can be astoundingly satisfying on the deepest level to have given your all and come out ahead just for that brief moment of time. There is no all-out competition like fighting, nothing as frighteningly intense and powerful. Even someone who loses, on a national level, can be part of something remembered for generations. People will be watching, drawing lessons from, and being compelled by Ali's fights hundreds of years from now.

Being a poker champion is fine, but you probably didn't win it last year and probably won't win it next year, and many people make as much money as the champ does, and many champions are better know. It's not nearly so much a triumph over the whole world as being the world boxing champion. The stakes aren't as high in any way whatsoever, it isn't nearly as hard, and the champ in poker probably isn't anywhere nearly as truly exceptionally skilled and rare a human being as the champ in boxing.