Classic American West Coast Boxing

kikibalt · Post by **kikibalt** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:28

bennie wrote:Do you know how Limon is these days?

No, not really, I seen where some one on one of the forums said that he was not doing to good, after the wars he had, I would think that he would not be doing to good.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:32

kikibalt wrote:
bennie wrote:Do you know how Limon is these days?
No, not really, I seen where some one on one of the forums said that he was not doing to good, after the wars he had, I would think that he would not be doing to good.

Yeah, the question was a bit of a 'no-brainer'. He went on way too long. Navarette is also in a bad way. He recently got beaten up by a woman.

kikibalt · Post by **kikibalt** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:34

Alan Minter

Thie one is for Bennie

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:39

kikibalt wrote:
Alan Minter

Thie one is for Bennie

Minter was a top fighter - better than many people give him credit for.
He ducked nobody.

kikibalt · Post by **kikibalt** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:43

bennie wrote:
kikibalt wrote:
Jack Kent Cook, Ruben Olivares and Ricardo Montalban
Cracking shot of Olivares. He destroyed our own Alan Rudkin in two rounds - and Rudkin could fight.

Ruben Olivares vs Alan Rudkin

Another one for Bennie.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:46

Cheers, by the way, Frankie. Minter went through a bad time when his career came to an end (after a bad knockout at the hands of a fired-up Sibbo in 1981). His marriage fizzled out and he was on the beer for years. One day, in a bar, someone mentioned how well his son was doing as a boxer (Ross). Minter didn't even know his son was boxing. He cleaned up his act, got back in touch with his family and supports Ross at every fight.

kikibalt · Post by **kikibalt** » 29 Mar 2008, 12:48

dagosd2000 wrote:
kikibalt wrote:diego dude,

Are we going to see you on the father & son luncheon on April 12?
Yeah,

I told you I'd be there. I thought my wife was going to Michoacan,but she said she's going to be here. That means I have to tell my girlfriend she can't go. It's me and my wife's wedding anniversary,so I told her I'd take her to a real romantic spot. Like a place full of ex prizefighters. I figure it's better than buying her some ring she won't wear.

Do as Art Aragon used to do, he had his wife and girlfriend at his fights.

The sportswriter Jim Murray, reporting in Sports Illustrated on Aragon’s fight with Basilio, wrote: “When he met Basilio at the weighing in, Carmen asked him idly how things were going. ‘Not so good,’ groaned Art. ‘Both my wife and my girlfriend are here.’ ”

scartissue · Post by **scartissue** » 29 Mar 2008, 13:08

bennie wrote:Cheers, by the way, Frankie. Minter went through a bad time when his career came to an end (after a bad knockout at the hands of a fired-up Sibbo in 1981). His marriage fizzled out and he was on the beer for years. One day, in a bar, someone mentioned how well his son was doing as a boxer (Ross). Minter didn't even know his son was boxing. He cleaned up his act, got back in touch with his family and supports Ross at every fight.

Bennie, Buchanan was one I always followed and had the pleasure of meeting him and his Dad Tommy a couple of years back. I knew about his hotel venture going bust causing that ill-fated comeback, but the wife left him and then I heard he was estranged from the family as well. I watched an excellent documentary on Buchanan on youtube that was first shown on the BBC which is well worth watching. When I met him he and Tommy had some funny stories. What happened with him? Was he a bit of a Jack the lad with the babes? He spoke fondly of his kids but is he still estranged?

Scartissue

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 29 Mar 2008, 13:22

scartissue wrote:
bennie wrote:Cheers, by the way, Frankie. Minter went through a bad time when his career came to an end (after a bad knockout at the hands of a fired-up Sibbo in 1981). His marriage fizzled out and he was on the beer for years. One day, in a bar, someone mentioned how well his son was doing as a boxer (Ross). Minter didn't even know his son was boxing. He cleaned up his act, got back in touch with his family and supports Ross at every fight.
Bennie, Buchanan was one I always followed and had the pleasure of meeting him and his Dad Tommy a couple of years back. I knew about his hotel venture going bust causing that ill-fated comeback, but the wife left him and then I heard he was estranged from the family as well. I watched an excellent documentary on Buchanan on youtube that was first shown on the BBC which is well worth watching. When I met him he and Tommy had some funny stories. What happened with him? Was he a bit of a Jack the lad with the babes? He spoke fondly of his kids but is he still estranged?

Scartissue

Kenny hit 60 quite recently but - get this - still weighs in at lightweight; Tommy has sadly passed on. Ken was in brilliant form when I spoke to him about 18 months ago but may still be estranged from his kids, given he hasn't lived in Edinburgh for years. He lives in Glasgow, which is on the other side of Scotland to Edinburgh.
I have heard that Kenny has bad spells with alcohol, but I certainly wouldn't have known it from speaking to him. He looked great: smartly-dressed and smiling. Whatever his vices (and we all have at least one of those), he is certainly a survivor. And a great fighter.

Rick Farris · Post by **Rick Farris** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:08

Message from "El Gato" . . .

Hey guys, just spoke with Rodolfo Gonzalez and he informed me that he spent 3 1/2 hours last night answering everybody's questions. When he submitted his copy it appeared briefly on the thread, and then suddenly disappeared. The same thing happened to me the night before.

After several hours of writing, the champ was too tired to retype his answer post, but said he will do so this evening. I look forward to seeing Gato, and his lady friend Barbara, at tomorrow's WBHOF event.

-Rick Farris

Rick Farris · Post by **Rick Farris** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:19

Eder Jofre . . .

This coming June, I'll be spending a few weeks in Brazil, with my wife Monica. Monica is from Bahia, and speaks several languages fluently. The language of Brazil is Portugese, and I would like to interview Eder Jofre, when we are in the country. Jofre, is the mayor of Sao Paolo. If Jofre speaks English, great, howver, if not, Monica can interpret for me.

I have a lot of questions for Jofre, who is one of the greatest PFP all-time greats. If anybody here can think of anything they would like me to ask Eder Jofre ( depending on my getting the interview), let me know. We all have different experiences and knowledge, I'm for anything that will enrich the interview.

-Rick Farris

Rick Farris · Post by **Rick Farris** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:30

bennie wrote:
scartissue wrote:
bennie wrote:Cheers, by the way, Frankie. Minter went through a bad time when his career came to an end (after a bad knockout at the hands of a fired-up Sibbo in 1981). His marriage fizzled out and he was on the beer for years. One day, in a bar, someone mentioned how well his son was doing as a boxer (Ross). Minter didn't even know his son was boxing. He cleaned up his act, got back in touch with his family and supports Ross at every fight.
Bennie, Buchanan was one I always followed and had the pleasure of meeting him and his Dad Tommy a couple of years back. I knew about his hotel venture going bust causing that ill-fated comeback, but the wife left him and then I heard he was estranged from the family as well. I watched an excellent documentary on Buchanan on youtube that was first shown on the BBC which is well worth watching. When I met him he and Tommy had some funny stories. What happened with him? Was he a bit of a Jack the lad with the babes? He spoke fondly of his kids but is he still estranged?

Scartissue
Kenny hit 60 quite recently but - get this - still weighs in at lightweight; Tommy has sadly passed on. Ken was in brilliant form when I spoke to him about 18 months ago but may still be estranged from his kids, given he hasn't lived in Edinburgh for years. He lives in Glasgow, which is on the other side of Scotland to Edinburgh.
I have heard that Kenny has bad spells with alcohol, but I certainly wouldn't have known it from speaking to him. He looked great: smartly-dressed and smiling. Whatever his vices (and we all have at least one of those), he is certainly a survivor. And a great fighter.

I worked briefly with Buchanan, as a sparring partner, for his 1971 title defense with my stablemate, Ruben Navarro. I also fought on the undercard of the fight, and saw about 100 Scots wearing kilts, playing bag pipes and challenging any of the locals who dare laugh at their attire. Full of ale and ready for action, the normally out-of-control fans of Navarro, stayed clear of the Buchanan loyalists, and gave them plenty of room when they walked by. It was a tough crowd, but the L.A. trouble makers seemed tame in the company of these guys.

-Rick Farris

Boxingnut · Post by **Boxingnut** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:40

El Gato and Frank (kikbalt)

Sadly I could not find out too much information about Allan Syres. His record on BoxRec is listed as 8-3-2 (2KO's). I couldn't find much after doing a Google search nor was he listed in any books I own. Great that he is being inducted into the Californian Boxing Hall of Fame, who would have thought a Scouser would do that? (A Scouser, by the way, is a slang term for someone who comes from Liverpool, England).

Boxingnut · Post by **Boxingnut** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:43

kikibalt wrote:
bennie wrote:
kikibalt wrote:
Jack Kent Cook, Ruben Olivares and Ricardo Montalban
Cracking shot of Olivares. He destroyed our own Alan Rudkin in two rounds - and Rudkin could fight.

Ruben Olivares vs Alan Rudkin

Another one for Bennie.

Speaking of Alan Rudkin, years ago I used to work with someone who's dad was a bit of a crook. This lad's dad used to drink in the same bar as Alan Rudkin, who sadly had fallen on hard times.

This crook offered Alan £10,000 for his Lonsdale belt. Thankfully Alan turned it down.

Boxingnut · Post by **Boxingnut** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:44

bennie wrote:Verderosa got plenty of press as a boxing punk rocker - but he could fight. In fact, looking at his record, Boza was the only one to really turn him over.
Boza was a bloody good super-featherweight.

I remember Verderosa being referred (rather unfairly I thought) as a "gym champ" in Boxing Illustrated.

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 29 Mar 2008, 15:46

Rick Farris wrote:
bennie wrote:
scartissue wrote: Bennie, Buchanan was one I always followed and had the pleasure of meeting him and his Dad Tommy a couple of years back. I knew about his hotel venture going bust causing that ill-fated comeback, but the wife left him and then I heard he was estranged from the family as well. I watched an excellent documentary on Buchanan on youtube that was first shown on the BBC which is well worth watching. When I met him he and Tommy had some funny stories. What happened with him? Was he a bit of a Jack the lad with the babes? He spoke fondly of his kids but is he still estranged?

Scartissue
Kenny hit 60 quite recently but - get this - still weighs in at lightweight; Tommy has sadly passed on. Ken was in brilliant form when I spoke to him about 18 months ago but may still be estranged from his kids, given he hasn't lived in Edinburgh for years. He lives in Glasgow, which is on the other side of Scotland to Edinburgh.
I have heard that Kenny has bad spells with alcohol, but I certainly wouldn't have known it from speaking to him. He looked great: smartly-dressed and smiling. Whatever his vices (and we all have at least one of those), he is certainly a survivor. And a great fighter.

I worked briefly with Buchanan, as a sparring partner, for his 1971 title defense with my stablemate, Ruben Navarro. I also fought on the undercard of the fight, and saw about 100 Scots wearing kilts, playing bag pipes and challenging any of the locals who dare laugh at their attire. Full of ale and ready for action, the normally out-of-control fans of Navarro, stayed clear of the Buchanan loyalists, and gave them plenty of room when they walked by. It was a tough crowd, but the L.A. trouble makers seemed tame in the company of these guys.

-Rick Farris

It must have been great working with Ken , Rick.
I played a couple seasons with the Chicago Griffins Rugby Club after my boxing days.
We played three matches in Scotland and it was a great time.
Glasgow, Edinburgh, and a team in The Highlands Elgin.
Those guys were very tough. But also alot of fun ...afterwards that is.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 29 Mar 2008, 16:23

I have heard that Jofre was a vegetarian.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 29 Mar 2008, 16:25

Boxingnut wrote:
bennie wrote:Verderosa got plenty of press as a boxing punk rocker - but he could fight. In fact, looking at his record, Boza was the only one to really turn him over.
Boza was a bloody good super-featherweight.
I remember Verderosa being referred (rather unfairly I thought) as a "gym champ" in Boxing Illustrated.

Great night for a slow time in Brit boxing when Boza blasted out John "The Heat"

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 29 Mar 2008, 16:39

What I remember of Johnny The Heat was he was a banger.
And the problem with that style is ya cant drag everybody ya fight into the trenches.
Eventually you are gonna find a guy better at it.
In other words its not a real good idea to go toe to toe with Corny.

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 29 Mar 2008, 16:52

Expug wrote:Sean fought here in Chicago on the Collins-Lapaglia card in 83.
He fought Johnny "the heat" Verderosa. Sean went toe to toe with him and got stopped.
I was a little surprised at that one.
He fought Johnnys fight I guess.
I think it was Seans last fight.

There was also a guy who fought on that card named David Sears.
He stopped his opponnent early but later on he was belted out by Mike Spinks in a title fight and later by Bobby Czyz.
But I think he was best known for being managed by Rocky Balboas brother in Law Paulie.
Burt Young.

kikibalt · Post by **kikibalt** » 29 Mar 2008, 17:47

Bert Gilroy

kikibalt · Post by **kikibalt** » 29 Mar 2008, 17:52

Joe Bugner & George 'Scrap Iron' Johnson...1970

Rick Farris · Post by **Rick Farris** » 29 Mar 2008, 18:09

bennie wrote:
scartissue wrote:
bennie wrote:Cheers, by the way, Frankie. Minter went through a bad time when his career came to an end (after a bad knockout at the hands of a fired-up Sibbo in 1981). His marriage fizzled out and he was on the beer for years. One day, in a bar, someone mentioned how well his son was doing as a boxer (Ross). Minter didn't even know his son was boxing. He cleaned up his act, got back in touch with his family and supports Ross at every fight.
Bennie, Buchanan was one I always followed and had the pleasure of meeting him and his Dad Tommy a couple of years back. I knew about his hotel venture going bust causing that ill-fated comeback, but the wife left him and then I heard he was estranged from the family as well. I watched an excellent documentary on Buchanan on youtube that was first shown on the BBC which is well worth watching. When I met him he and Tommy had some funny stories. What happened with him? Was he a bit of a Jack the lad with the babes? He spoke fondly of his kids but is he still estranged?

Scartissue
Kenny hit 60 quite recently but - get this - still weighs in at lightweight; Tommy has sadly passed on. Ken was in brilliant form when I spoke to him about 18 months ago but may still be estranged from his kids, given he hasn't lived in Edinburgh for years. He lives in Glasgow, which is on the other side of Scotland to Edinburgh.
I have heard that Kenny has bad spells with alcohol, but I certainly wouldn't have known it from speaking to him. He looked great: smartly-dressed and smiling. Whatever his vices (and we all have at least one of those), he is certainly a survivor. And a great fighter.

Thanks, Bennie. I wasn't aware of Buchanan's life since he retired from boxing. Always hope to hear something positive, but life is sometimes difficult to deal with for retired champions. When I think of Ken Buchanan, I think of the guy who easily took apart defending lightweight champ, Ismael Laguna. Just months previous, Laguna had regained the lightweight title by slicing up Mando Ramos.

We saw the Duran fight, however, if I could put together a "dream fight" scenerio, it would pit the "Tartan Titan" with our "El Gato". Buchanan, a master boxer with a pumping left jab & mega cajones, and Gonzalez, his bobbing, weaving, shifting, stalking, hooking, slipping & sliding his way inside Kenny's piston-like jab, digging gonchos into the body, forcing his will.

Rodolfo Gonzalez was the strongest lightweight boxer I ever saw. Ken Buchanan, one of the most talented of his era, not to mention courageous.

We saw how Buchanan stood in with Duran, how he dominated Laguna, and others. We watched "El Gato" bring the lightweight title back to Los Angeles, when he destroyed Chango Carmona, who was at his best following his brutal KO of Mando Ramos, for the WBC title. There was something about Rodolfo Gonzalez that was just overpowering, he walked thru lightweights like a middleweight. My friend, Ruben Navarro, won't attest to Gonzalez walking over him, in a 1973 title defense. However, that's what the fans remember.

Buchanan vs. Gonzalez . . . now that would be a great fight!!

-Rick Farris

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 29 Mar 2008, 18:15

kikibalt wrote:
Azumah Nelson

Great fighter, and very underrated I think... anyone know how he is these days and what he's up to?....

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 29 Mar 2008, 18:19

Rick Farris wrote:
bennie wrote:
scartissue wrote: Bennie, Buchanan was one I always followed and had the pleasure of meeting him and his Dad Tommy a couple of years back. I knew about his hotel venture going bust causing that ill-fated comeback, but the wife left him and then I heard he was estranged from the family as well. I watched an excellent documentary on Buchanan on youtube that was first shown on the BBC which is well worth watching. When I met him he and Tommy had some funny stories. What happened with him? Was he a bit of a Jack the lad with the babes? He spoke fondly of his kids but is he still estranged?

Scartissue
Kenny hit 60 quite recently but - get this - still weighs in at lightweight; Tommy has sadly passed on. Ken was in brilliant form when I spoke to him about 18 months ago but may still be estranged from his kids, given he hasn't lived in Edinburgh for years. He lives in Glasgow, which is on the other side of Scotland to Edinburgh.
I have heard that Kenny has bad spells with alcohol, but I certainly wouldn't have known it from speaking to him. He looked great: smartly-dressed and smiling. Whatever his vices (and we all have at least one of those), he is certainly a survivor. And a great fighter.

Thanks, Bennie. I wasn't aware of Buchanan's life since he retired from boxing. Always hope to hear something positive, but life is sometimes difficult to deal with for retired champions. When I think of Ken Buchanan, I think of the guy who easily took apart defending lightweight champ, Ismael Laguna. Just months previous, Laguna had regained the lightweight title by slicing up Mando Ramos.

We saw the Duran fight, however, if I could put together a "dream fight" scenerio, it would pit the "Tartan Titan" with our "El Gato". Buchanan, a master boxer with a pumping left jab & mega cajones, and Gonzalez, his bobbing, weaving, shifting, stalking, hooking, slipping & sliding his way inside Kenny's piston-like jab, digging gonchos into the body, forcing his will.

Rodolfo Gonzalez was the strongest lightweight boxer I ever saw. Ken Buchanan, one of the most talented of his era, not to mention courageous.

We saw how Buchanan stood in with Duran, how he dominated Laguna, and others. We watched "El Gato" bring the lightweight title back to Los Angeles, when he destroyed Chango Carmona, who was at his best following his brutal KO of Mando Ramos, for the WBC title. There was something about Rodolfo Gonzalez that was just overpowering, he walked thru lightweights like a middleweight. My friend, Ruben Navarro, won't attest to Gonzalez walking over him, in a 1973 title defense. However, that's what the fans remember.

Buchanan vs. Gonzalez . . . now that would be a great fight!!

-Rick Farris[/quote

I remember he was badly assaulted by someone a few years back and suffered bad back injuries but he seems t have turned his life around a bit recently and is more in the public eye than he used to be... going to memorbilia fayres and the like... he looks in good shape too... there was a big story a while back when he met up again with Roberto Duran...