Classic American West Coast Boxing

[dagosd2000]

Birria, carne asada, brandy, tequila and beer, man! mexican's know how to eat and drink better then most people, I guess the Wops are right there with the Mexican.

There ain't that many of us Dagos here. And besides you have to cross an ocean to get to where my ancestors are from. Besides the Italian girls here are mas o menos como las gringas. Capice? So I married a Mexcan. Got a country next door to go with it.

[Bobbin & Weavin]

Hey Guys, I'm a NorCal guy who did some amature boxing in San Francisco in the 70s and was totally infactuated by the whole boxing scene and I have been completely hooked on this blog since you started and have throughly enjoyed learning about the rich boxing history of SoCal. A few names pop into my head as I'm reading, mostly guys that fighters from up here fought, one that comes to mind that fought a couple heaveyweights I trained with is Joey Obrillo what do you know about him?

[kikibalt]

Hey Guys, I'm a NorCal guy who did some amature boxing in San Francisco in the 70s and was totally infactuated by the whole boxing scene and I have been completely hooked on this blog since you started and have throughly enjoyed learning about the rich boxing history of SoCal. A few names pop into my head as I'm reading, mostly guys that fighters from up here fought, one that comes to mind that fought a couple heaveyweights I trained with is Joey Obrillo what do you know about him?

I seen Obrillo fight a few times, seen his fight with Jerry Quarry at the Olympic, he later join the LAPD, after that I lost track of him, Rick can tell you more about him then I.

[kikibalt]

Eddie Chavez

A real good fighter from San Jose that fought in the early 1950's

[dagosd2000]

There used to be a Mexican featherweight by the name of Sigfredo Rodriguez. Saw him fight in Mexico and San Diego . This kid looked very strong when I saw him. Beat a good veteran fighter Aurelio Muniz in San Diego and overpowered Mike Mayan at the Auditorium in Tijuana. I looked at his BoxRec records,and like many of the Mexican fighters,his record is incomplete. Frank,Rick,do you remember him?

[dagosd2000]

You're probably familiar watching a fight between two fighters who because of age and wear and tear,a drinking problem,a lack of conditioning,and a lack of enthusiasm shouldn't be fighting anymore. Usually it's only one of the fighters. This time it was two guys that should have hung it up a long time ago. A couple of light heavies, Ronnie Wilson and Jesse Island.

At one time Ronnie was showing some promise,but he couldn't get past Mike Quarry. His cuts were getting worse. He was fighting and losing too often. A fighter who once trained hard would hardly make it to the gym. If you wanted to buy him a drink in the morning,he wouldn't give it a second thought. He was broke,but I think that didn't bother him as much as what he was going to do when the Commision finally yanked his license. Maybe that's why he'd take you up on that offer for the eye opener. They wouldn't put him in a main event anymore.

Jesse Island seemed like he never got started. I remember reading once that he lived in Tijuana. I think his wife was Mexican. I know when he finished up ,he had more losses than wins and was knocked out as many times as he won. I don't think he was ever in a main event.

Wilson and Island were on an undercard in a fight in the South Bay outside at a park. I can't remember what the main event was,but I remember this fight because I had seen these two before. Ronnie was married with a bright future and enthusiasm for marriage and fighting once. I 'd lost contact with him since he was training with Burke Emery at the Coliseum. Like I said ,Quarry had his number ,and Ronnie couldn't move up. He only went down. Someone said he wasn't married anymore either.

Jesse Island seemed like he was living his last name. On an island,alone in a way. A black fighter living in Mexico,not very popular nor successfull,never a main eventer. He was a guy that you could fight and more than likely record a victory. If you lost to Island,well,there were other things you could do that were better for your health at least.

Before the fight I looked at both of them. They knew each other. Had worked out together many times. They were friends. Not real close I don't think,but friends just the same. They had to know that neither of them should be doing this anymore,but they didn't know what to do if they weren't fighting. A win would only be something typed in a record book.

The fight wasn't very good. Wilson's cuts opened up again. I think the cuts were really demoralizing to him now. No matter how good he was,his cuts would open up. The cuts took away his hope. Island jabbed away at the cuts around Ronnie's eyes,but Ronnie still had enough left in him to prevent a fighter like Island to knock him out. The ref might stop it,but Ronnie knew that Island couldn't put him away. I don't think Jesse wanted to put him away. Island didn't have the heart Ronnie had. Ronnie would bleed to death in there if that was the case. But Ronnie was losing the fight because of those cuts. Ronnie knew it and Island knew it ,and that was enough for him. After 8 rounds, Island had his hand raised.

Like I said,a win didn't mean anything besides maybe another fight somewhere else at another park . A loss was the same. A win and a loss meant nothing for those two anymore.

Island continued fighting losing nine of his remaining eleven fights. Wilson instead of retiring fought three more times bleeding and losing. I looked at his record recently. I saw he tried a comeback after a 15 year layoff and was stopped by a fighter who had a 3 and 12 record in one round somewhere in Washington.

The last time I saw Burke Emery, who used to train Wilson,I asked him how Ronnie was doing. Burke paused a moment ,then smiled.
"Last time I heard he was back home in Canada. You know they have free health care there."

[Rick Farris]

The good Dr. Bernhart S. Schwart

Rick did you ever go to Dr. Schwart office? I'm sure you did. remember how clutter his desk was, how he ever found his files is beyond me, I used to take fighters to him for their boxing lic. exam, and he would tell me " take'em in that room and give them the eye exam", when we walk back out of the room he would ask me "did they pass?" I of course would say "yes"

He would be in his office at 4AM, he would be gone by 11AM

One day I ask him, "why?" he said that he works while the crooks in the 'hood are still asleep, when they get up "I'm gone".

Frank, I drove there a couple years in a row to get my annual licensing exam. I really liked Dr. Schwartz, he made things easy, and he was a kind man. You are right, the place was just off of Main St. near 101st. or something like that. Right in South Central, on the border of Watts. The place was a mess, and when his nurse took blood, I wondered where that needle had been? I could smell a little booze on her breath, and she smiled and told me I reminded her of some bull fighter she once saw in TJ. I might have been flattered, but I was too concerned about the unusual way my blood vein was swelling up around where the needle had been stuck.

I remember one of my fights, it was on the undercard of the Mando Muniz-Emile Griffith match in Anaheim. I was really sick and should not have been fighting, however, before I weighed, the doctor did a brief exam, checked the eyes, blood pressure and he took my temp. He looked at the thermometer, looked me directly in the eyes, checked it again, and said, "OK . . . you can jump on the scale, Ricky".

Dr. Schwartz was a special man. A played a big role in a great era of Los Angeles boxing

-Rick Farris

[Expug]

Hey Pug,Quit making snowmen and talk to us. Dagos

Im here gents.
Just reading and learning.
Been real busy with work the last couple weeks.
Ive got some more to throw on here thats for sure.
Right now I gotta hit the rack.
Back soon.

[dagosd2000]

I teach school in the South Bay in this little beach town called Imperial Beach. It's on the West side of the freeway wedged in a corner next to the Mexican border. For a beach town, it's relatively quiet. There's a Navy helicopter base there,but the helicopters flying around make more noise than the sailors. No fancy hotels or restaurants,and just recently the first bank opened its doors. I keep asking how this town got the name"Imperial" because I don't see anything regal about the place. HBO filmed a series there called "John From Cincinnati",and to be perfectly honest I don't think anyone from Imperioal Beach watched it,let alone knew it was being filmed there. The series was cancelled.

One of the P.E. teachers where I work was talking to me about a "smoker" that he liked going to on Friday nights. He said "smokers" are like "ultimate fighting"and that it's growing in popularity. The matches were at an "ultimate fighting gym" by the beach. My colleague said that "smokers" were more popular in Los Angeles and that there were more venues in LA. to put on these shows. He hoped "smokers" would catch on here. I said I'd go with him.

The gym was crowded with mostly younger people. The "fighters" wore headgear,athletic cups,and mouthgards for protection. The fighters also wore training gloves. The owner of the gym was taking money at the door. The bouts were on a wrestling mat.

The first bout was between two teenagers around the same weight. A referee told them the rules at the mat's center. All I could make out was something about not thumbing the eyes of your opponent. The ref put his hand between the teenagers and then let out a yell. The match had begun.
The two teens were cautious ,slowly circling to the right. They were barefooted and held their hands low near their sides. The crowd was shouting encouragement,but after a minute neither kid had engaged the other. Finally one of the kids swooped low on his opponent. The other kid fell on top of him and wouldn't let him up. The ref pulled him off and the kids continued circling each other as before. The crowd was still yelling,but the yelling sounded contrived. I couldn't figure what they were yelling about. Some guy shouts "time" and each kid goes to a corner. Each teenager has a coach who's shouting and moving his arms gesturing instructions.

"Fight" is shouted to start the next round. One teen runs out and leaps in the air and does a "spin kick". He missed his opponent by three feet. They lock up and fall to the mat. The ref pulls one guy off,and then they lock up again and fall.It looked like they mutually wanted this "lock up" and "fall" routine to suffice for the action. Everyone is still screaming. I asked my friend how much experience these kids had and he answered,"Very little. They just go at it."

Funny thing about the first bout. After a decision was reached, the "loser" ranted and screamed and threw down his gloves. His coach had to restrain him,but I don't think the kid wanted to retaliate against anyone.

The participants for the next match were two little girls. They looked to be around 5 years old. Their hair was put up in pigtails. Their parents grabbed them by the shoulders shouting at them to "kick ass". I asked my friend if these bout were sanctioned by a Commission.
"No,but the government wants to butt in and regulate things."

The ref yelled"fight" and these two little girls smashed into each other kicking and swinging like tiger cats. Their parents are screaming at them to kill the other girl. The crowd this time has a reason to go ballistic. The round ends and I can see one of the little girls had a bloody nose. Her head is down and her mother and father are yelling at her calling her a "sissy". The next round saw one of the girls kick the other one in the stomach. The little girl doubled over groaning, and slumped to the mat. Her parents are yelling at her to get up and show some"guts". The little girl was lying on the mat doubled up . She began to cry. Her mother,who was bigger than me, was shouting at her to get up. The mother was wearing a shirt that said,"Take No Prisoners."
"Don't be a sissy",she yelled. "Get up and kick her ass."

The little girl was unable to get up. The other little girl who did the kicking looked like she was in shock. She stared out at nothing. Her father ran onto the mat and picked her up and lifted her high in the air.
"That's my fighter",he said. He was beginning to choke up."You kicked her ass. Good girl."

I turned to my friend and said that I had to take my granddaughter to dance class. As we walked out to the parking lot my friend asked me what I thought about the "smoker."
"There doesn't seem to be much structure to it,"I said.
"Can you believe the government wanting to control it?"
"I wouldn't worry,"I said. "It will probably grow in popularity regardless of what the government does."

[bennie]

Bruce Curry

Nice shot of Curry. This guy was in deep from the start but he loved anything to do with boxing. Apparently, he used to traipse the streets waiting for the gym to open.
I hear he's in a bad way.

[Ambling Alp]

Loy came over here and destroyed a decent Scot in 1979. He looked hot right up until he ran into the super-featherweight version of Hector Camacho (ouch) and was stopped in seven. He essentially drifted from the sport after that. Shame. Losing to a young, ambitious Camacho was no disgrace.

I remember watching that fight. I think it was the first time that I had seen Camacho. He was very impressive. He was extremely fast, had decent power, and was very aggressive offensively. He looked great in his next few fights. He was pretty much a regular in network TV for a few years in the early 80's.

His career really became a disappointment when he stopped being aggressive. For anyone that has only seen the older Camacho, they would be very surprised if they saw him when he was younger.

I always wondered what happened to Loy. I never saw him fight again.

[kikibalt]

Cops investigate the best eats on their beats

Gabriel Rendon and Raymonn Rocha, detectives with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's East L.A. station, can be seen having their lunch at Teresita's restaurant in East L.A. usually twice a week.
Photo Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

staffBy Elina Shatkin

Kojak has his lollipop. Agent Cooper has his cherry pie. Chief Wiggum has his pink doughnut.

They make piquant character details, but these iconic foodstuffs hardly mirror the cravings of Los Angeles law enforcement officers. Amid the culinary smorgasbord of L.A., the equally diverse police officer palate runs the gamut from savory to sweet, spanning nearly every cuisine and culture. Who knows better than a cop the ins and outs of a neighborhood? The best taco stand, the $5 lunch deal that's actually worth eating, the culinary gem hiding in a humble strip mall? Just don't mention doughnuts.

"Contrary to popular belief, we don't live on doughnuts," says Sgt. Chris Cognac, a 16-year South Bay police veteran. "Partially it's because they're really bad for you, but there's the stigma of it as well."

In addition to his full-time job as a police officer, Cognac, who calls himself "the foodiest of food cops," hosts a half-hour Food Network show aptly titled "The Hungry Detective." Using deductive skills and gut instinct (no pun intended), he spends 48 hours in a new city tracking down five off-the-beaten-path restaurants. Often, he'll use his "cop network" for intel. "Go anywhere in America, ask the cops where to eat and they'll tell you the best places," Cognac says, "the ones where the cooks aren't drug addicts and [the restaurants] aren't crooked."

For the show's Las Vegas episode, Cognac dove into a fried Twinkie at Mermaid's, a hot dog stand he discovered eight years ago when he and his partner had to pick up a child molestation suspect from a Vegas county jail and return him to Los Angeles. "It's a total dive, but the hot dogs are Nathan's dogs and they're a buck! And we never would've gone there if the [Vegas] cops hadn't told me about it."

Cognac himself has discovered more than a few hidden gems on the job. One night about 15 years ago, he answered a disturbance call at a Middle Eastern restaurant: two men arguing whether the meat was halal (prepared in accordance with Islamic law). "So they call the white guy," Cognac recalls wryly. He couldn't resolve their dispute, but he began a love affair with Al-Watan, a legendary Pakistani restaurant where long, fragrant skewers of meat and freshly baked rounds of nan are pulled from the tandoori oven and brought directly to the table.

Al-Watan is easy to miss. Sitting on a nondescript block of Inglewood Boulevard, the restaurant hides behind a beige facade and inconspicuous sign that give no hint of its mirrored, well-scrubbed interior. As any foodie can tell you, you can't judge a book by its cover.

Gabriel Rendon and Raymonn Rocha, detectives with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's East L.A. station, favor Teresita's, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Mexican restaurant that's beloved by locals for its authentic Zacatecas-style food. Rocha likes the enchiladas (a house specialty) or the ensalada de nopales, a salad of marinated cactus slivers and sun-dried tomatoes that's drizzled with crema and served with nachos. Rendon prefers the soups, either the cocido or the albondigas, "except in an occasional moment of weakness when I order the chicken molé," he says.

Like most of us, Rendon is watching his weight. In fact, the stereotype of the lardy police officer is being whittled away along with the department's collective waistline. These days, most new recruits are gym rats who eat lean and work hard to stay in shape. "That's the difference between old and new school. Deputies now are more conscious of eating healthy food. Many of them only eat energy bars and water during their shifts," says Cesar Romero, a deputy with the sheriff's STAR Unit, a drug-, gang- and violence-prevention unit targeted to elementary and middle-school students.

Contrast that with the tales of gluttony told by Tony Manfree, a 27-year veteran of the Sheriff's Department who retired in August: "My old partners and I used to have prime rib eating contests," says Manfree. "I think the record was eight slabs. And the guys in the department, we'd all go to Chroni's to see who could eat the most hot dogs. The record on hot dogs was maybe a dozen."

These days, he frequents T Quilea's, a Mexican restaurant and bar near what will eventually be the final stop on the Gold Line Eastside extension. From the outside it looks like a seedy bar, but inside, owner and chef Rudy Lopez -- who looks quite a bit younger than his 72 years -- dishes out tacos, paella, enchiladas, pork stewed with green chiles and Puerto Nuevo-style lobster tacos grilled with butter and a hint of garlic. Lopez estimates that 60% of his business depends on law enforcement and county personnel, who often hold office celebrations there. In fact, T Quilea's will host Rocha's upcoming retirement party.

After the generational divide, how and where cops eat tend to split along lines of rank and office duty. Detectives have plenty of leeway as to when and where they eat. Patrol officers, on the other hand, generally can't leave their beat, and they rarely have enough time for a sit-down meal. "Mostly we park our cars and eat on the hood," says John Hatfield, a 33-year-old deputy with the West Hollywood sheriff's station. "Two bites into your meal you might get a call from a deputy requesting assistance. You don't even think about how fast you can pack up or what you've got left to eat. You just go."

"We sometimes have to race out on calls, so we become taco stand connoisseurs," Cognac says. "If you want to know the best taco stands, ask a cop who works the night shift." Cognac's a fan of the carne asada at Acosta Taco, a divey stand on an even divier stretch of Imperial Highway. Unlike other taco stands nearby, Acosta often draws a late-night crowd.

Later, in Rosy's Bakery & Cuban Cafe chatting about the finer points of mojo de ajo, Cognac gets a radio call for a 415. He drops his medianoche racing out the door to answer a call about a group of Lennox 13 gang members using a two-by-four with a nail stuck through it to beat a man senseless. Later, he's looking through the window of a pupuseria when a "baby not breathing" call comes in. When that happens, "everybody drops what they're doing. We're all dads," Cognac explains. True to his word, four cruisers and a firetruck respond, but by then the baby is breathing -- and crying -- with gusto. Cradling her child and surrounded by shaken family members, the mother cries with gratitude and relief.

When he has the luxury of choosing where to eat and if it's before 9 p.m. (the closing time for most restaurants in his area), Cognac has his pick of cuisines. He points out restaurants of almost every imaginable ethnicity: Tongan, Hawaiian, African, Vietnamese, Salvadoran, Mexican, Cuban, Pakistani, Turkish, Italian, Chinese, Peruvian. "You could name any place on Earth and I could get you there in five minutes," Cognac says. "About the only thing you can't get down here are kosher delis."

More than anything else, food is a cultural ambassador that gives Cognac another way into the myriad communities he serves, enabling him to visit them as a customer, not as a cop.

"Most people stay within their comfort zone," he says, "like if they can't read the sign on the door, they won't go in. As police officers, we're required to go out of our comfort zones and into other peoples' societies. A lot of times we'll go in because of the job -- then we realize there's a lot of great stuff here."

[email protected]

[scartissue]

Bruce Curry

Nice shot of Curry. This guy was in deep from the start but he loved anything to do with boxing. Apparently, he used to traipse the streets waiting for the gym to open.
I hear he's in a bad way.

I remember a funny but troubling story about Bruce Curry a number of years back. Apparently he got into a squabble towards the end of his career with Jesse Reid when he showed up at the gym and Reid threw him out and locked the door. Well this gym had one of those old style key locks with the large opening and the highly insulted Curry got a gun and when he couldn't get in he shoved the gun through the lock and began firing aimlessly. I know he was taken away and evaluated. I think the last time I actually saw him was after a Donald Curry fight and there he was in the background making faces at the camera. Wayyy out there!

Scartissue

[bennie]

Bruce Curry

Nice shot of Curry. This guy was in deep from the start but he loved anything to do with boxing. Apparently, he used to traipse the streets waiting for the gym to open.
I hear he's in a bad way.

I remember a funny but troubling story about Bruce Curry a number of years back. Apparently he got into a squabble towards the end of his career with Jesse Reid when he showed up at the gym and Reid threw him out and locked the door. Well this gym had one of those old style key locks with the large opening and the highly insulted Curry got a gun and when he couldn't get in he shoved the gun through the lock and began firing aimlessly. I know he was taken away and evaluated. I think the last time I actually saw him was after a Donald Curry fight and there he was in the background making faces at the camera. Wayyy out there!

Scartissue

Yes, Jesse Reid had told Curry he wanted him to retire and Curry wasn't having it.

[dagosd2000]

I remember when Jimmy Heair was going great guns in the Southland. When he was undefeated he was getting quite a following. He fought some good fighters at the Coliseum like Mike Mayan and Lobito Montoya. He also scored victories over Tury Pineda and Chango Carmona. Then I read that he lost his first fight to Rudy Barro in LA. I remember Barro,I thought, was used as a way up for promising fighters. I saw Hedgemon Lewis KO him. But after that loss Barro beat Andy Price and Quincy Daniels. Looking at the record,his next fight beats Jimmy Heair. But then he started losing again. I saw him towards the end of his career lose a fight to a veteran fighter by the name of Bert Lee. Barro had moved up in weight. He lost on cuts. His face looked pretty beat up and I think cuts were affecting his perfomances . He was a tough guy. Because of his name and his looks I thought he was Mexican. He was Phlippino. Another of the tough club fighters of my era.

You guys have anything to add on him?

[scartissue]

I remember when Jimmy Heair was going great guns in the Southland. When he was undefeated he was getting quite a following. He fought some good fighters at the Coliseum like Mike Mayan and Lobito Montoya. He also scored victories over Tury Pineda and Chango Carmona. Then I read that he lost his first fight to Rudy Barro in LA. I remember Barro,I thought, was used as a way up for promising fighters. I saw Hedgemon Lewis KO him. But after that loss Barro beat Andy Price and Quincy Daniels. Looking at the record,his next fight beats Jimmy Heair. But then he started losing again. I saw him towards the end of his career lose a fight to a veteran fighter by the name of Bert Lee. Barro had moved up in weight. He lost on cuts. His face looked pretty beat up and I think cuts were affecting his perfomances . He was a tough guy. Because of his name and his looks I thought he was Mexican. He was Phlippino. Another of the tough club fighters of my era.

You guys have anything to add on him?

I was really surprised when Jimmy Heair lost to him, dago. And then I saw the fight, which is about the only time I saw Barro fight. He did well, survived a late rally by Heair who was really trying to take him out and deserved the decision. But I really thought Heair was missing something. I know he was having problems with the nose and management but I felt he should have taken Barro. Of course, then he went to Australia and lost widely to Hector Thompson (No shame, Thompson was outstanding) but then lost to Mike Mayan, a man he had already beaten twice. After that I knew Heair was done.

Scartissue

[dagosd2000]

="scartissue"]

I remember when Jimmy Heair was going great guns in the Southland. When he was undefeated he was getting quite a following. He fought some good fighters at the Coliseum like Mike Mayan and Lobito Montoya. He also scored victories over Tury Pineda and Chango Carmona. Then I read that he lost his first fight to Rudy Barro in LA. I remember Barro,I thought, was used as a way up for promising fighters. I saw Hedgemon Lewis KO him. But after that loss Barro beat Andy Price and Quincy Daniels. Looking at the record,his next fight beats Jimmy Heair. But then he started losing again. I saw him towards the end of his career lose a fight to a veteran fighter by the name of Bert Lee. Barro had moved up in weight. He lost on cuts. His face looked pretty beat up and I think cuts were affecting his perfomances . He was a tough guy. Because of his name and his looks I thought he was Mexican. He was Phlippino. Another of the tough club fighters of my era.

You guys have anything to add on him?

I was really surprised when Jimmy Heair lost to him, dago. And then I saw the fight, which is about the only time I saw Barro fight. He did well, survived a late rally by Heair who was really trying to take him out and deserved the decision. But I really thought Heair was missing something. I know he was having problems with the nose and management but I felt he should have taken Barro. Of course, then he went to Australia and lost widely to Hector Thompson (No shame, Thompson was outstanding) but then lost to Mike Mayan, a man he had already beaten twice. After that I knew Heair was done.

Scartissue[/quote]Scar,Thanks for sharing that story about the Heair/Barro fight. I've got to take my wife for her medicine,but when I get back I'll tell you about the time I saw Jimmy get stopped in TJ by a fighter named Bull Dog Soberanes,a fighter who had never won a fight.

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

greginboise) wrote,

memories

Every now and then, an image or an idea bring back recollections of times past or even actual childhood experiences. A few nights ago, I sat down, flipped through the cable channels, and landed on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) just as Fat City was starting. The movie seemed familiar although I cannot recall seeing it, but the era, the cinematography, or the vaguely familiar story took me back into my memories. My trip down memory lane is not specifically about the movie but about a happening in my childhood sometime after 1971. First, to bring things into perspective, here is the Amazon review to help frame Fat City:

Jeff Bridges stars as an amateur boxer on a brief rise who catches the eye of an aging pugilist (Stacy Keach) heading downward in this 1972 film by John Huston and based on the novel by Leonard Gardner. Keach becomes the younger man's mentor, and the two hit central California's tanktown circuit of small matches for small money, interspersed with visits to smoke-filled bars and hellish gyms. Theirs is a cut-rate dream, all right, but as real and driving--and finally just as punishing--as the mythical black bird itself in Huston's The Maltese Falcon. The cast is outstanding, the cinematography by Conrad Hall stunning, and the climax one of Huston is most painfully memorable. The story is filled out by surrounding detail that never leaves the memory: boxers and trainers who whisper of injuries that could put them out of business for good; a lone fighter who takes a bus into town, bides time in a crummy motel room, takes a beating in the ring, then leaves on the next bus with a few dollars in his pocket. This film helped re-establish Huston's reputation as a major filmmaker. It was followed by the likes of The Man Who Would Be King. --Tom Keogh

My memory:
I was six in 1971 and in between the first grade and second grade, for me a very impressionable age. As I recall it was summer and returning from some boyhood activity one day, I noticed an unfamiliar truck in our driveway. I ran through the front door into the living room, which was occupied by my mother and two men. The men, I learned were the husband of my mom’s first cousin from Mississippi, Elkin, and their son Jimmy (something like my second cousin). They had driven in from Ignacio, Colorado where they were running a ranch. Their purpose for coming out to Los Angeles was to pursue Jimmy’s pugilistic endeavors. Jimmy was 19 or 20 and I suppose he had amateur bouts either back in Mississippi or in and around Ignacio. Therefore, the natural next extension was to turn pro. As I recall, they stayed with us for a few nights, at least, and then ended up getting a room somewhere. During that time I recall walking with Jimmy to one of the local supermarkets and getting Buddig lunchmeat, we ate it right from the bag. Jimmy told me “he needed it for the protein” and “this is what fighters eat when training,” or at least that is how I recall it. Regardless, I was enthralled with the “boxing” “fighter” concepts I was being exposed to during his stay but I am sure I was also influenced by the matches I watched on the weekend network sport shows.


Eventually, nearing the end of the summer, my mother, brother, and I tagged along when Jimmy and Elkin returned to Colorado. We spent a few weeks on the ranch in Ignacio, met the rest of our relatives, and experienced as much country life as a city kid could in that amount of time. Over the next few years, we traveled back to Ignacio on our summer vacations and Jimmy actually moved out with his brother Larry and stayed in a small rented apartment in Glendale while he continued his career.

News of Jimmy’s career was followed through the mid 70s by my parents and the relatives on my mom’s side of the family. We were quite proud at times of the strides he made in his career but I was disappointed not to be old enough to attend his matches. I suppose my age had something to do with it but by the late 70s, Jimmy fell off my radar until I thought of him in regards to Fat City.

At this point you may say, “Quaint story but what’s the tie in?” “Who’s Jimmy?”

In hindsight, Jimmy was quite accomplished but not without the turmoil and struggle that accompanied many fighters. Most notable was his string of undefeated fights, placing him as one of the top contenders for the WBA lightweight title. At one point, he was 33 wins with no losses. Injuries seemed to cut into his prime and circumstance postponed the fight for the title. Losses started to come and even though he scrapped back and was always within a few wins of being in contention, the biggest opportunity was the anti-climactic loss to the former holder of the title, Roberto Duran. Historically, Jimmy did as well against Roberto as could be expected; he fought Roberto to a 10 round loss by decision.

[kikibalt]

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
By Per-Ake Persson

The Retired Boxers Foundation is honored to ave esteemed European writer, Ake Persson writing about

retired prizefighters and where they are today. The first series of columns will be about European based professional

boxers. Please let us know what you think, and tell us WHO you want to hear about. We also want to thank the RBF

European Representative, Marcel Neissen for asking Ake to write the column "WHERE ARE THEY NOW?" for the RBF website!

Name: "Irish" Jimmy Heair

DOB: July 14, 1952, Houston, MS.

Amateur: about a 100 fights, three time Mississippi champ, Southern champ, AAU runner up 69. "I was a big sports fan as a kid, football, basketball, and then boxing, when I started boxing I weighed about a 100 lbs", says Jimmy.

Pro: 96-32-1 in a career that lasted from 1972 and effectively ended a decade later although his last fight was in 1984.
prospect & contender: Jimmy Heair arrived to Los Angeles in 71 by way of Ignacio, Colorado where his family had moved. "I had met Jerry Moore at the national championhsips and L A in those days was the best place to be a for a lightweight. Jerry was a very good man, he took good care of me. I won my first 33 fights" says Jimmy.
Heair turned pro, managed by Jerry Moore and trained by Henry Blouin. He wasn´t a natural but had talent, worked hard and learned quickly. He won his first nine fights on points which indicates a non-puncher but developed a sharp left hook that was especially effective to the body. In less than a year Jimmy was fighting ten rounders at the Inglewood Forum and became popular with his busy style, good skills and big heart - the Irish heritage probably didn´t hurt either. At the end of 1972 he beat Miguel Mayon and Angel Mayoral, two fringe contenders and in March of 73 he outscored a true contender in Chango Carmona and was world ranked.
A shot at then World lightweight champ Roberto Duran was talked about and expected before the end of the 73. However, against Carmona Heair suffered a broken nose that sidelined him for a few months, he then rebroke it sparring with then WBC 135 lb champ Rodolfo "Gato" Gonzales.
"Gato" was probably even better than Duran" says Jimmy but downplays the broken nose incident. "I can´t recall how many times I had my nose broken, at times it was so sore it brought tears to my eyes as I touched it and it was never fixed right."
But then Heair adds: "If you give a young man, a small town kid, a few bucks, have him in a big city and a pretty girl by his side he will get in trouble! I felt like I was the champ of the world but I was only a contender."

Jimmy came back - probably too soon - and but kept winning and in the fall of 73 he stopped another hot prospect and contender in Arturo "the Fury" Pineda. "My two best fights were against Pineda and Carmona." The nose injury continued to be a problem (and affects Jimmy to this day). In May of 74 he took on Rudy Barro, a tough, decent fighter but the kind a world ranked fighter should be able to beat, and lost a ten round decision in a huge upset. Heair bounced back with three straight wins and accepted a fight with highly ranked Australian Hector Thompson in August of 74 - a win there and Heair would have been back in the picture. Jimmy lost though: "I think if Hector and I had thought three times I would have won two but on this night he was the better man."

Back home Jimmy lost an upset split decision to Arturo Leon, whom he previously had beaten twice, moved up to jr welter, relocated to El Paso, Texas. Heair also left Jerry Moore and his first wife. "My new manager was Ron Weathers and he had no clue about boxing. I thought I knew a lot about boxing but I didn´t know enough."
The result was a very busy schedule with fights against topnotchers all over the world at lightweight, jr welter and welter. Jimmy scored some good wins - for instance in stopping Laudiel Negron and Gerardo Ferrat and there were some tough losses like the one to Argentinian great Nicolino Locche in Buenos Aires. "They raised his hands when it was over but he didn´t win that one", says Jimmy.

But there were also upset losses and Heair went 0-2-1 against Arturo Leon, a short, stocky, clubfighter: "He just had my number" states Jimmy but a better reason for the off performances could be that there were no time to recuperate. Heair fought one tough fight after the other giving his all every time. Just three weeks after fighting Thai contender Tongta Kiatvayupakdi in Bangkok - "a close one, could have gone either way" - Heair fought world class welter Armando Muniz in El Paso. "Muniz was a full fledged welter, he was just too strong for me."

Jimmy Heair´s days as a contender was about over now, he gave Brit Dave Green and New Yorker Harold Weston very tough fights on their respective turfs but lost clearly to both. A very good win over then unbeaten Rudy Hernandez proved Jimmy still had a lot left.

Journeyman and hometown hero: Heair relocated again, this time to almost home in Memphis, Tennessee. "I became a hometown fighter and beat a lot of not so good fighters, you know how it is in boxing, they can build you up just as easy as they can take you down."
His Memphis debut was a minor disaster though as he was outscored by the unknown Freddie "the Stepper" Harris. However a tko win over Rudy Hernandez in Tuscon, Arizona, put Heair back in the picture and he became one of the biggest drawing cards in the region as boxing was revived in Tennessee and Mississippi. Jimmy, now up to welter, was popular and the fans knew they would get their money´s worth when he was headlining. He got revenge over Harris, won something called the Southern welterweight title and came close to be ranked again with a stoppage win over Jimmy Corkum. Then the came the wrong kind of opponent, a slick, southpaw from Miami, Adriano Marrero and Jimmy lost a decision. Very tough fights against Pete Ranzany in a NABF titlefight and Roberto Duran followed - " Duran is the best guy I ever fought, he would do anything to win."

Jimmy fought his heart out but was a clear loser to both. "Jimmy Heair is like a Rolex" stated one reporter. "he takes a lickin´ but keeps on tickin". His best days behind him Jimmy got into a welterweight tournament in Orlando, Florida, but was upset by Richard House, the kind of fighter he would have licked a few years earlier. A bad ko loss to Sal Lopez July 1, 1980, appeared to be the end for Jimmy, who according to the Ring´s reporter was in a daze ten minutes after the fight had ended. But less than three months later Jimmy headlined at home in Memphis and was a popular winner over Maurice Quillen, which set up another long string of wins as headliner in Memphis, Tupelo and even his birthtown Houston. He stopped Johnny Copeland in a Southern title defence and won the Texas title at welter. But all reports from the fights indicate a very tough fighter past his best. A loss in Chicago to young upstart Roosevelt Green in August of 81 ended his journeyman days.

The trialhorse: Jimmy suffered back to back losses to Mike Senegal and future champ Mike McCallum - a second round stoppage (on his feet and protesting but he was pretty much outclassed). From now on Heair lost many more fights than he won, his record the last three years reads 4-8 and even the wins came hard. Stoppage losses to Nino La Rocca and Don King (the fighter) in Atlantic City spelled the end for a very brave fighter´s fighter. Jimmy stepped in as a very late sub in 83 against Jim Pixley and was outclassed, gave local hero Danny Ferris a tough fight the first time they fought but was stopped - and stopped a lot easier the second time. Finally Heair went out against Adam George on a second round knockout. "One of the toughest thing for a fighter to do is to know when to go out" says Jimmy with hindsight. "One shouldn´t fight past 30, as a young man you can absorb punishment but as you get older it catch up on you."

After boxing: Jimmy moved to Hamilton, Alabama, not so far from either Houston, MS, or Memphis. He contiuned to work in boxing as a trainer, opened a gym, held down the odd job but remained in boxing. "Out here we don´t have much boxing though, this is football country, or basketball. I trained a lot of kids, some were pretty good but all in all it´s tough to get kids to stick with boxing."
He had married in El Paso with Carol had two kids, divorced, remarried and had a daughter. A bad back, the result of a long and hard career eventually led to that Jimmy got on disability. "I still love boxing and watch whenever I can but again, we don´t have much boxing out here."

Jimmy Heair never became a champion - and even if all cards had been played right he might have failed. The lightweights in the 70´s on the West Coast and in the world were loaded with talent. Heair was sparring with reigning WBC champ Rodolfo Gonzales, the fearsome Roberto Duran was the universially recognized World champ. However, all in all in his career he achieved more than most champions ever do. "I might have been a champion, we will never know, but I´m sure my career had been very different had I stayed with Jerry Moore."

[Rick Farris]

Hey Guys, I'm a NorCal guy who did some amature boxing in San Francisco in the 70s and was totally infactuated by the whole boxing scene and I have been completely hooked on this blog since you started and have throughly enjoyed learning about the rich boxing history of SoCal. A few names pop into my head as I'm reading, mostly guys that fighters from up here fought, one that comes to mind that fought a couple heaveyweights I trained with is Joey Obrillo what do you know about him?

Bobbin- I haven't seen Joey Orbillo in years, however, occasionally former lightweight champ Mando Ramos runs into him down in the Harbor area. Orbillo has been recognized in other posts on this thread, and I'll get back with you on Joey. I have to call Mando today, so I'll ask about these heard regarding Joey.

-Rick Farris

[Expug]

Nice shot of Curry. This guy was in deep from the start but he loved anything to do with boxing. Apparently, he used to traipse the streets waiting for the gym to open.
I hear he's in a bad way.

I remember a funny but troubling story about Bruce Curry a number of years back. Apparently he got into a squabble towards the end of his career with Jesse Reid when he showed up at the gym and Reid threw him out and locked the door. Well this gym had one of those old style key locks with the large opening and the highly insulted Curry got a gun and when he couldn't get in he shoved the gun through the lock and began firing aimlessly. I know he was taken away and evaluated. I think the last time I actually saw him was after a Donald Curry fight and there he was in the background making faces at the camera. Wayyy out there!

Scartissue

Yes, Jesse Reid had told Curry he wanted him to retire and Curry wasn't having it.

What a fight Curry had with Monroe Brooks though.
I remember this one was on National TV on I believe a Friday night.
It was so good I remember exactly where I was .
Sittin in Military school with a couple buddies .
1978 everybody else was out doing whatever it was folks back in the 70s did on Friday nights.
But not me.
I was watchin the fights.
I was better off.

[kikibalt]

http://rodolfo.890m.com/rodolfo.html
Rodolfo "Gato" Gonzalez link.

[BoxBuzz]

I'm truly not sure anyone could claim a Boxing forum thread with greater content than this gem. I continue to drop in and read each new chapter and though I don't have much to contribute myself I do truly appreciate what I'm reading here.

Judging from the sheer numbers it is clear I'm not alone.

Threads typically have a three or four day shelf life with perhaps several contributions and a few dozen readers. We are past a month here and approaching a thousand readers a day. That''s not taking into account the bit of surgery that took place on this thread in the early going.

It has the feel of a book being published in real time on line.