Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Maybe another Len Harvey?

[kikibalt]

No Len Harvey on Duke's record.....

Have to talk to Don Fraser, as he was the one that used to write all that stuff.

[bennie]

Maybe another Len Harvey?

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

[kikibalt]

Maybe another Len Harvey?

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

Bennie; you remember Gorgeous Georges!?

[kikibalt]

[bennie]

Maybe another Len Harvey?

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

Bennie; you remember Gorgeous Georges!?

The wrestler?

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

Bennie; you remember Gorgeous Georges!?

The wrestler?

Yes!

[bennie]

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

Bennie; you remember Gorgeous Georges!?

The wrestler?

Yes!

I must admit, Frankie, I was referring to The Orchid Man.
I also know Gorgeous George, the wrestler, from the fact Ali copied him.

[dagosd2000]

My wife went with her sister and her niece to the Tiangis,the Mexican name for Swao Meet. The little girls went with. My grandson,however, went with his uncle to feed the roosters. Chelis has the best fighting roosters in the area. Makes good money fighting them and selling the young ones.

None of that interested me. I got in the car and went for a drive. I said Jiquilpan is my ¨Rinconcito¨,but there are little corners that are so little that you think that the only people who ever see them are the people that live there.

A minute up the road from town and I´m in the country. Pastures and hills. Everyting is green in the rainy season. The lakes fill up. You can go for miles on the winding roads and not see a soul. Every so often you see a sign with an arrow pointing. A towns name and how many kilometers. After an hour I saw a sign that read,Quitupan 10. I turned off and right away the road turned to dirt. Bumpy and rocky. Made sure I didn´t drive into any holes. A broken axle were I was,they might not find me before the coyotes ate me. After a slow ride,I saw Quitupan. A small aborrotes and a taller mechanico. I guess that was all that was required. A little store and a garage.

I parked in front of the store. An old man was sitting in a chair in front. He had a cane and I could see how the sun had dried his face over the years. The only sounds were of the birds chirping in the tree beside the store and the mooing of a cow. The garage looked closed. There was a house behind the garage and I could see kids playing in front of the house. Across the road up on a hill was a small church and courtyard.

I went inside the store and went to the cooler. I grabbed a Coke and went to the counter. A young girl was behind the counter. She was very Morena,Indian like. Black hair worn in braids. I put my money down. She gave me back some change.
¨Gracias chuia. Eres muy bonita.¨
The Morena girl smiled sheepishly. Her smile was wide. She had a large mouth. I saw her gold tooth in front. I think she wanted me to see it.
¨Gracias. Vaya con Dios.¨
As I walked to the car the church bell started to ring Äve Maria¨,very slowly and very beautifully.

I got back home. The females had returned from shopping. My wife asked were I had gone.
¨Fui a Quitupan.¨
My wife and her sister gave a little laugh.
¨What´s so funny,? I asked my wife. ¨Seems like there´s nothing there.¨
¨Sabes¨, she ¨said. ¨They make the best cream in the world.

[kikibalt]

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

Bennie; you remember Gorgeous Georges!?

The wrestler?

Yes!

I must admit, Frankie, I was referring to The Orchid Man.
I also know Gorgeous George, the wrestler, from the fact Ali copied him.

Georges Carpentier?

[bennie]

Yes, Frankie.

[bennie]

My wife went with her sister and her niece to the Tiangis,the Mexican name for Swao Meet. The little girls went with. My grandson,however, went with his uncle to feed the roosters. Chelis has the best fighting roosters in the area. Makes good money fighting them and selling the young ones.

None of that interested me. I got in the car and went for a drive. I said Jiquilpan is my ¨Rinconcito¨,but there are little corners that are so little that you think that the only people who ever see them are the people that live there.

A minute up the road from town and I´m in the country. Pastures and hills. Everyting is green in the rainy season. The lakes fill up. You can go for miles on the winding roads and not see a soul. Every so often you see a sign with an arrow pointing. A towns name and how many kilometers. After an hour I saw a sign that read,Quitupan 10. I turned off and right away the road turned to dirt. Bumpy and rocky. Made sure I didn´t drive into any holes. A broken axle were I was,they might not find me before the coyotes ate me. After a slow ride,I saw Quitupan. A small aborrotes and a taller mechanico. I guess that was all that was required. A little store and a garage.

I parked in front of the store. An old man was sitting in a chair in front. He had a cane and I could see how the sun had dried his face over the years. The only sounds were of the birds chirping in the tree beside the store and the mooing of a cow. The garage looked closed. There was a house behind the garage and I could see kids playing in front of the house. Across the road up on a hill was a small church and courtyard.

I went inside the store and went to the cooler. I grabbed a Coke and went to the counter. A young girl was behind the counter. She was very Morena,Indian like. Black hair worn in braids. I put my money down. She gave me back some change.
¨Gracias chuia. Eres muy bonita.¨
The Morena girl smiled sheepishly. Her smile was wide. She had a large mouth. I saw her gold tooth in front. I think she wanted me to see it.
¨Gracias. Vaya con Dios.¨
As I walked to the car the church bell started to ring Äve Maria¨,very slowly and very beautifully.

I got back home. The females had returned from shopping. My wife asked were I had gone.
¨Fui a Quitupan.¨
My wife and her sister gave a little laugh.
¨What´s so funny,? I asked my wife. ¨Seems like there´s nothing there.¨
¨Sabes¨, she ¨said. ¨They make the best cream in the world.

Is that ice cream, Dagos?

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[Rick Farris]

Rick & Bennie, thank you.

No Frank, thank you! I've said this before but must once again say that your taking the time to post these GREAT KO clips is a Godsend to us. Reading the little articles written by Don Fraser when he was a very young man takes us right into Orner's Main St. Gym, the training camp, etc. Written in the "old school" fashion, these stories or news flashes takes us into the world of Los Angeles boxing in the post WW2 era, which seems to have been far more compelling back in the day. I get that feeling I used to get as a kid in the mid-60's, when I'd jump on the bus in the valley, with my boxing equipment, and head down to the Main St. Gym for my sat. & sun. morning workouts. The bus would drop me off in front of the L.A. Times building at 2nd & Spring Sts. then I'd walk around the block to the Gym at 3rd & Main St.

I weighed about 75 pounds at the time, and was fascinated by all the things Main St. was. It was like a world from a time gone by. Across the street from the gym was a very old Burlesque house, with pictures of strippers from the 20's & 30's fading on the wall below the marquee. Next to the strip joint was a greezy chicken and fish stand, where I'd buy a soft drink before jumping on the bus and heading home after my workout. Below the gym was a barber college, a pawn shop and a boarded up bar. The gym was once the Adolphus Theatre and on the first floor, the front & back walls of the theatre were knocked out, to make a tunnel so that cars could drive thru to the parking lot behind. I rememebr walking thru that tunnel and could still see the old burlesque house lighting fixtures rusting on the ceiling. The gym, of course, was upstairs, and at one end had a little cut out area that was once a stage. In front of that area were the two rings. To get an idea of how the gym looked, just check out the first or second Rocky movies, that was the gym as it looked in 1976, eight years before it fell to a wrecking ball in 1984. Today it is a parking lot.

Of course, Main St. was and still is "skid row", however, it's changing. Yuppies have converted abandoned office buildings into high end lofts, and the derelicts have been pushed out by the police. Money wins over everything in this world, and although change is good, it isn't always for the best. There was always a lot of tragedy & despair on Main St. but today there is also Starbucks. It's just different. Women of stature can now walk the streets at all hours, walking there dogs where the winos and junkies used to be curled up on the sidewalk.

Frank & Randy know how it was, the pawn shops, strip joints, cheap bars, greasy food stands, the paddy wagon making it's rounds every hour to scrape bums off the street, the Midnight Mission, etc. Your postings take me back to when I was a kid Frank, some good memories. By the way, I needed a day off from long work days & nights, and played hookie yesterday. My Brazilian wife insisted I get out of the house in the evening, so I headed around the corner to my favorite watering hole, the Sportsman's Lodge and was happy to see two of my favorite patrons, Joe & Tino. Joe is in his late 60's and knows boxing like we do here. And Tino, he's in his 70's and was born in Mexico, where he ran a successful small business for years before heading north for his retirement. Tino KNOWS boxing, and was a part of our era in Mexico. How great to be able to talk with these guys about the same fighters we talk of here. The three of us watched the friday night fights and reminised of times gone buy, Napoles, Pimentel, Olivares, Raton Macias, Beccera, Hamili, Aragon, Mando Ramos, "El Gato" Gonzalez, Chacon, and a couple brothers from ELA and the San Gabriel Valley named Baltazar.

I wanted to call Frank and introduce him to these guys, they loved Frankie Jr. & Tony, their great action fights. But I knew at 7:30pm Frank was sawing logs and didn't need to hear from us. So I tried to call Gato, he always enjoys talking to his fans. We weren't drunk, I think I had three Dos Equis to wash down my sandwich while watching the fights. Before 9pm, the main event was over and me and my two compadres were ready to leave, the band was starting to play and we weren't there for that. I headed home and jumped on this thread, dropped in a couple posts and watched some TV with Monica before drifting off to sleep.

It was a great day to take off and just flake out. Thank God for Joe, Tino and mi amigos aqui, and of course, Monica who knows what I need to be happy.

-Rick

[Rick Farris]

An other name on Dukes record, Jack Snapp, rung a bell in my mind. Mel Epstein, who trained Mike Nixon, Randy De La O and myself, used to promote Snapp in the late 40's up in the Pacific Northwest. Mel mentioned the name several times to me and told me the guy could fight a bit. Not a world beater, but a a guy who usually won. I know he beat and lost to Al Hostak, and that Mel had promoted his losing match to Milo Savage.

Hey Pug, speaking of Milo Savage, you may be aware that Savage fought Gene LeBell in a boxer vs. wrestler type match. I have the details, but for now I'll just say that Gene chocked-out the middleweight contender with his "sleeper hold".

-Rick Farris

[Expug]

Rick & Bennie, thank you.

No Frank, thank you! I've said this before but must once again say that your taking the time to post these GREAT KO clips is a Godsend to us. Reading the little articles written by Don Fraser when he was a very young man takes us right into Orner's Main St. Gym, the training camp, etc. Written in the "old school" fashion, these stories or news flashes takes us into the world of Los Angeles boxing in the post WW2 era, which seems to have been far more compelling back in the day. I get that feeling I used to get as a kid in the mid-60's, when I'd jump on the bus in the valley, with my boxing equipment, and head down to the Main St. Gym for my sat. & sun. morning workouts. The bus would drop me off in front of the L.A. Times building at 2nd & Spring Sts. then I'd walk around the block to the Gym at 3rd & Main St.

I weighed about 75 pounds at the time, and was fascinated by all the things Main St. was. It was like a world from a time gone by. Across the street from the gym was a very old Burlesque house, with pictures of strippers from the 20's & 30's fading on the wall below the marquee. Next to the strip joint was a greezy chicken and fish stand, where I'd buy a soft drink before jumping on the bus and heading home after my workout. Below the gym was a barber college, a pawn shop and a boarded up bar. The gym was once the Adolphus Theatre and on the first floor, the front & back walls of the theatre were knocked out, to make a tunnel so that cars could drive thru to the parking lot behind. I rememebr walking thru that tunnel and could still see the old burlesque house lighting fixtures rusting on the ceiling. The gym, of course, was upstairs, and at one end had a little cut out area that was once a stage. In front of that area were the two rings. To get an idea of how the gym looked, just check out the first or second Rocky movies, that was the gym as it looked in 1976, eight years before it fell to a wrecking ball in 1984. Today it is a parking lot.

Of course, Main St. was and still is "skid row", however, it's changing. Yuppies have converted abandoned office buildings into high end lofts, and the derelicts have been pushed out by the police. Money wins over everything in this world, and although change is good, it isn't always for the best. There was always a lot of tragedy & despair on Main St. but today there is also Starbucks. It's just different. Women of stature can now walk the streets at all hours, walking there dogs where the winos and junkies used to be curled up on the sidewalk.

Frank & Randy know how it was, the pawn shops, strip joints, cheap bars, greasy food stands, the paddy wagon making it's rounds every hour to scrape bums off the street, the Midnight Mission, etc. Your postings take me back to when I was a kid Frank, some good memories. By the way, I needed a day off from long work days & nights, and played hookie yesterday. My Brazilian wife insisted I get out of the house in the evening, so I headed around the corner to my favorite watering hole, the Sportsman's Lodge and was happy to see two of my favorite patrons, Joe & Tino. Joe is in his late 60's and knows boxing like we do here. And Tino, he's in his 70's and was born in Mexico, where he ran a successful small business for years before heading north for his retirement. Tino KNOWS boxing, and was a part of our era in Mexico. How great to be able to talk with these guys about the same fighters we talk of here. The three of us watched the friday night fights and reminised of times gone buy, Napoles, Pimentel, Olivares, Raton Macias, Beccera, Hamili, Aragon, Mando Ramos, "El Gato" Gonzalez, Chacon, and a couple brothers from ELA and the San Gabriel Valley named Baltazar.

I wanted to call Frank and introduce him to these guys, they loved Frankie Jr. & Tony, their great action fights. But I knew at 7:30pm Frank was sawing logs and didn't need to hear from us. So I tried to call Gato, he always enjoys talking to his fans. We weren't drunk, I think I had three Dos Equis to wash down my sandwich while watching the fights. Before 9pm, the main event was over and me and my two compadres were ready to leave, the band was starting to play and we weren't there for that. I headed home and jumped on this thread, dropped in a couple posts and watched some TV with Monica before drifting off to sleep.

It was a great day to take off and just flake out. Thank God for Joe, Tino and mi amigos aqui, and of course, Monica who knows what I need to be happy.

-Rick

Beautiful post Rick.
Because we speak the same language, your post made my day.
Its great to have friends that really know what boxing is all about , and be able to sit and have a couple cold ones with.
Thats what I love about coming to this thead and reading the posts put out by all of the guys here.
But there is a touch of saddness to it also.
For me, there are very few people that I know personaly who can relate to boxing at all.
I dont know why that is.
I will talk about an old gym story or a boxing experience and its always the same thing.
They laugh smile and placate me, but the truth is deep down I think they think Im a little crazy.
There is to me a real beauty in the descriptions of certain gyms and there surrounding neighborhoods.Its an atmosphere of toughness that is totaly missing in todays culture.
Not many people see things this way.
Thank God you guys do.

[Rick Farris]

Yeah, has to be. Our own Len Harvey really was a special fighter. It defies belief that he only got one shot at a major world title: John Henry Lewis outscored him for the light-heavyweight title.
Harvey fought in every division (in the days of eight), like Gorgeous Georges, of course.

Bennie; you remember Gorgeous Georges!?

The wrestler?

Yes!

I must admit, Frankie, I was referring to The Orchid Man.
I also know Gorgeous George, the wrestler, from the fact Ali copied him.

Gorgeous George got his nickname from Aileen Eaton back in the late 40's. As we know, wrestler George Wagner used to grow his hair long, would curl it and dye it blonde. One day, Eaton saw the wrestler in her office at the Olympic and told him, "you look absolutely gorgeous George." The tag stuck. I rememebr as a kid, in 1965, hearing that Gorgeos George had died destitue, and was buried in a paupers grave at Valhalla Cemetery in Burbank, not far from where the old Jeffries Barn had once stood. Being the strange kinda kid I was, feeling a connection with ring stars from before my time, I rode my bike to the cemetery and visited his grave, which at the time was still unmarked. I do believe there is a small headstone today. My paternal grandfather whom I never knew, was buried shortly afterward in a grave nearby.

Rick Farris

[Rick Farris]

Rick & Bennie, thank you.

No Frank, thank you! I've said this before but must once again say that your taking the time to post these GREAT KO clips is a Godsend to us. Reading the little articles written by Don Fraser when he was a very young man takes us right into Orner's Main St. Gym, the training camp, etc. Written in the "old school" fashion, these stories or news flashes takes us into the world of Los Angeles boxing in the post WW2 era, which seems to have been far more compelling back in the day. I get that feeling I used to get as a kid in the mid-60's, when I'd jump on the bus in the valley, with my boxing equipment, and head down to the Main St. Gym for my sat. & sun. morning workouts. The bus would drop me off in front of the L.A. Times building at 2nd & Spring Sts. then I'd walk around the block to the Gym at 3rd & Main St.

I weighed about 75 pounds at the time, and was fascinated by all the things Main St. was. It was like a world from a time gone by. Across the street from the gym was a very old Burlesque house, with pictures of strippers from the 20's & 30's fading on the wall below the marquee. Next to the strip joint was a greezy chicken and fish stand, where I'd buy a soft drink before jumping on the bus and heading home after my workout. Below the gym was a barber college, a pawn shop and a boarded up bar. The gym was once the Adolphus Theatre and on the first floor, the front & back walls of the theatre were knocked out, to make a tunnel so that cars could drive thru to the parking lot behind. I rememebr walking thru that tunnel and could still see the old burlesque house lighting fixtures rusting on the ceiling. The gym, of course, was upstairs, and at one end had a little cut out area that was once a stage. In front of that area were the two rings. To get an idea of how the gym looked, just check out the first or second Rocky movies, that was the gym as it looked in 1976, eight years before it fell to a wrecking ball in 1984. Today it is a parking lot.

Of course, Main St. was and still is "skid row", however, it's changing. Yuppies have converted abandoned office buildings into high end lofts, and the derelicts have been pushed out by the police. Money wins over everything in this world, and although change is good, it isn't always for the best. There was always a lot of tragedy & despair on Main St. but today there is also Starbucks. It's just different. Women of stature can now walk the streets at all hours, walking their dogs where the winos and junkies used to be curled up on the sidewalk.

Frank & Randy know how it was, the pawn shops, strip joints, cheap bars, greasy food stands, the paddy wagon making it's rounds every hour to scrape bums off the street, the Midnight Mission, etc. Your postings take me back to when I was a kid Frank, some good memories. By the way, I needed a day off from long work days & nights, and played hookie yesterday. My Brazilian wife insisted I get out of the house in the evening, so I headed around the corner to my favorite watering hole, the Sportsman's Lodge and was happy to see two of my favorite patrons, Joe & Tino. Joe is in his late 60's and knows boxing like we do here. And Tino, he's in his 70's and was born in Mexico, where he ran a successful small business for years before heading north for his retirement. Tino KNOWS boxing, and was a part of our era in Mexico. How great to be able to talk with these guys about the same fighters we talk of here. The three of us watched the friday night fights and reminised of times gone buy, Napoles, Pimentel, Olivares, Raton Macias, Beccera, Hamili, Aragon, Mando Ramos, "El Gato" Gonzalez, Chacon, and a couple brothers from ELA and the San Gabriel Valley named Baltazar.

I wanted to call Frank and introduce him to these guys, they loved Frankie Jr. & Tony, their great action fights. But I knew at 7:30pm Frank was sawing logs and didn't need to hear from us. So I tried to call Gato, he always enjoys talking to his fans. We weren't drunk, I think I had three Dos Equis to wash down my sandwich while watching the fights. Before 9pm, the main event was over and me and my two compadres were ready to leave, the band was starting to play and we weren't there for that. I headed home and jumped on this thread, dropped in a couple posts and watched some TV with Monica before drifting off to sleep.

It was a great day to take off and just flake out. Thank God for Joe, Tino and mi amigos aqui, and of course, Monica who knows what I need to be happy.

-Rick

[Rick Farris]

Rick & Bennie, thank you.

No Frank, thank you! I've said this before but must once again say that your taking the time to post these GREAT KO clips is a Godsend to us. Reading the little articles written by Don Fraser when he was a very young man takes us right into Orner's Main St. Gym, the training camp, etc. Written in the "old school" fashion, these stories or news flashes takes us into the world of Los Angeles boxing in the post WW2 era, which seems to have been far more compelling back in the day. I get that feeling I used to get as a kid in the mid-60's, when I'd jump on the bus in the valley, with my boxing equipment, and head down to the Main St. Gym for my sat. & sun. morning workouts. The bus would drop me off in front of the L.A. Times building at 2nd & Spring Sts. then I'd walk around the block to the Gym at 3rd & Main St.

I weighed about 75 pounds at the time, and was fascinated by all the things Main St. was. It was like a world from a time gone by. Across the street from the gym was a very old Burlesque house, with pictures of strippers from the 20's & 30's fading on the wall below the marquee. Next to the strip joint was a greezy chicken and fish stand, where I'd buy a soft drink before jumping on the bus and heading home after my workout. Below the gym was a barber college, a pawn shop and a boarded up bar. The gym was once the Adolphus Theatre and on the first floor, the front & back walls of the theatre were knocked out, to make a tunnel so that cars could drive thru to the parking lot behind. I rememebr walking thru that tunnel and could still see the old burlesque house lighting fixtures rusting on the ceiling. The gym, of course, was upstairs, and at one end had a little cut out area that was once a stage. In front of that area were the two rings. To get an idea of how the gym looked, just check out the first or second Rocky movies, that was the gym as it looked in 1976, eight years before it fell to a wrecking ball in 1984. Today it is a parking lot.

Of course, Main St. was and still is "skid row", however, it's changing. Yuppies have converted abandoned office buildings into high end lofts, and the derelicts have been pushed out by the police. Money wins over everything in this world, and although change is good, it isn't always for the best. There was always a lot of tragedy & despair on Main St. but today there is also Starbucks. It's just different. Women of stature can now walk the streets at all hours, walking there dogs where the winos and junkies used to be curled up on the sidewalk.

Frank & Randy know how it was, the pawn shops, strip joints, cheap bars, greasy food stands, the paddy wagon making it's rounds every hour to scrape bums off the street, the Midnight Mission, etc. Your postings take me back to when I was a kid Frank, some good memories. By the way, I needed a day off from long work days & nights, and played hookie yesterday. My Brazilian wife insisted I get out of the house in the evening, so I headed around the corner to my favorite watering hole, the Sportsman's Lodge and was happy to see two of my favorite patrons, Joe & Tino. Joe is in his late 60's and knows boxing like we do here. And Tino, he's in his 70's and was born in Mexico, where he ran a successful small business for years before heading north for his retirement. Tino KNOWS boxing, and was a part of our era in Mexico. How great to be able to talk with these guys about the same fighters we talk of here. The three of us watched the friday night fights and reminised of times gone buy, Napoles, Pimentel, Olivares, Raton Macias, Beccera, Hamili, Aragon, Mando Ramos, "El Gato" Gonzalez, Chacon, and a couple brothers from ELA and the San Gabriel Valley named Baltazar.

I wanted to call Frank and introduce him to these guys, they loved Frankie Jr. & Tony, their great action fights. But I knew at 7:30pm Frank was sawing logs and didn't need to hear from us. So I tried to call Gato, he always enjoys talking to his fans. We weren't drunk, I think I had three Dos Equis to wash down my sandwich while watching the fights. Before 9pm, the main event was over and me and my two compadres were ready to leave, the band was starting to play and we weren't there for that. I headed home and jumped on this thread, dropped in a couple posts and watched some TV with Monica before drifting off to sleep.

It was a great day to take off and just flake out. Thank God for Joe, Tino and mi amigos aqui, and of course, Monica who knows what I need to be happy.

-Rick

Beautiful post Rick.
Because we speak the same language, your post made my day.
Its great to have friends that really know what boxing is all about , and be able to sit and have a couple cold ones with.
Thats what I love about coming to this thead and reading the posts put out by all of the guys here.
But there is a touch of saddness to it also.
For me, there are very few people that I know personaly who can relate to boxing at all.
I dont know why that is.
I will talk about an old gym story or a boxing experience and its always the same thing.
They laugh smile and placate me, but the truth is deep down I think they think Im a little crazy.
There is to me a real beauty in the descriptions of certain gyms and there surrounding neighborhoods.Its an atmosphere of toughness that is totaly missing in todays culture.
Not many people see things this way.
Thank God you guys do.

Thank you, Pug. I know what you mean. Just for the record, I know that Chicago is a long way from L.A., but you too are welcome to Join, Frank, Dagos, Randy, Scar, John Bardelli, the wives and a few other's of our type at this years WBHOF banquet on Nov. 15th. If there is any way you can come, let me know and I'll see you have two tickets at our tables (I have two tables). I would be honored to have you as my guest.

-Rick

[kikibalt]

The world of boxing laments the tragic death of former Lightweight contender and Mexican Champion Babe Vasquez who died on last Saturday in a car accident in Mexico.

Vasquez fought for over 24 years (1950-1974) and was in and out of the lightweight rankings in the 50s. Vasquez fought various world champions and beat boxers like Ralph Dupas, Paolo Rosi, Teddy Davis. His final tally was 102-40-4 (34 KOs). Boxing will miss these great warrior. may he rest in peace.

Our thoughts and prayers goes out to his family and friends.