Handling Things Like Gentlemen - In Easton

Please see attached photo, which Robert Hobaica ( ’82), vice president of, posted, along with commentary, on Monday on his Facebook page.  I was immediately intrigued. 

Robert Hobaica’s post generated considerable response and interest.

Represented in the photo, and this will be explained below – is the intended resolution of a corporate personnel conflict.  You see, human resources operations can take on many forms. 

Sometimes peculiar remedies are employed to get workers back on board and in line with the company mission. 

So, it is the late 1980s, during the summer, and Easton Pool & Spa, one of the premier pool and spa companies – for construction, maintenance, and supplies – in the region, was having itself a bit of personnel problem, and it needed to be resolved. 

Two of the guys on the construction crew, Dana and Linc, did not like each other, at all.  In fact, they had gotten into a fistfight on the job, which was bad enough – but, worse, it was witnessed by customers.  Hard animosity remained between the two.

David Kane (OA ’83), a supervisor of the crew – and one who obviously needed harmony and cooperation among his workers – suggested that a boxing match be arranged between the men.  The bout would serve a dual purpose:  entertainment, and just maybe get rid of the bad blood the guys harbored for one another. 

“Yes, it was Dave’s idea – a boxing match – and we got Dana and Linc to agree to it,” said Robert Hobaica.  “The match was set for about three weeks out, on a Friday afternoon, after work.  Dave Kane was assigned to be Dana’s coach and trainer – and the Grandy brothers – Scott (OA ’83) and Gary (OA ’84), who both worked that summer for Easton Pool & Spa – took on the coaching and training of Linc.”

It was decided that the combatants would wear six-ounce gloves.  There would be three three-minute rounds.  The ring would be a marked off (spray paint was used) space of macadam behind the Easton Pool & Spa offices on Washington St./Rte. 138 in South Easton. 

Dave Kane would be the referee, the third man in the ring.

“At first, I thought it wasn't really fair to have Dave as the ref since he was Dana's trainer” said Gary Grandy.  “I protested, but it was too no avail.  Then again, in the end, Dave was fair in his reffing duties." 

Gary Grandy says that Linc was not the most cooperative or dutiful trainee. 

So the day came.  And it was on.  An Easton Pool & Spa employee sat atop a huge storage box next to the ring to videotape the battle. 

Dana and Linc were about to settle things like gentlemen.   Both men, stripped to the waist, in baggy shorts, and wearing sneakers and tube socks, walked into the ring and received their instructions from Dave Kane. 

(Oh, yes, to clarify, in the photo, Dana is the guy on the left, in the fuchsia pink colored trunks; Linc is on the right, in the hybrid robin egg blue and white colored trunks.  Yep, Dave Kane – aka David Hasselhoff – is the dude in the tee shirt and gold sweat pants.)

There were about 20 spectators at the fight. 

It seems the bout was fairly lacking in excitement and telling blows delivered and received.

That Linc outweighed Dana by about 20 lbs. and had a six-inch reach advantage did not result in him getting much to Dana.  

Like it often does, hype of the event – and the event – were not in synch. 

“It was a scuffle and they banged around for three rounds, but no one really had much of an advantage,” said Robert Hobaica.  “Dave Kane ruled the fight a draw.”

Alas, it is not known where one can find the tape of the bout, or even if the tape still exists. 

“Linc got his hands on the tape, and never returned it,” said Robert.

So, did the boxing match put the issues between Dana and Linc behind them? 

“They didn’t become friends,” said Robert Hobaica.  “But they didn’t keep up their feuding either; that ended.”

At the end of the summer, Dana and Linc left Easton Pool & Spa and did not return.