Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Frankie Baltazar

Is this Canastota?

Are you kidding? its downtown La Puente, Ca., in other words the Barrio.....

[kikibalt]

[bennie]

Frankie Baltazar

Is this Canastota?

Are you kidding? its downtown La Puente, Ca., in other words the Barrio.....

What do I know? Man, this photo is cool!

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[elmersalsa]

Did you see that fight kiki?

[kikibalt]

Did you see that fight kiki?

No, I didn't elmer, I just seen the fights that Jofre had in L.A.

[kikibalt]

I said I wouldn't do any more updates, but because of the number of
calls and emails, here is the latest:

It's Tuesday morning and Alex had his second physical therapy session
this morning. As I told you earlier, he cannot walk. He can feel his
feet, but he cannot make them move like he wants to. I know for a
fact that Alex is a fighter: In spite of the fact that he has severe
gout in both feet (new development) and his right arm is as big as his
thigh (swollen from all the IV'), he worked with the PT to stand with
a walker. The therapist wanted two tries, but he did 4. The
therapist was very happy, but Ramos wanted three more, which he did.
He is going to walk come hell or high water. He is in great physical
condition since he has been going to the gym on a regular basis.
Stong heart and strong will. I could see that he worked through a lot
of pain and he worked up a sweat! He is definitely motivated.

Alex will have a lot of work to do to get back his legs and it is
encouraging to him to know how many people prayed for him and who care
about him. If anyone wants to do something, I would suggest that you
send him a note or a card. He will not be on the computer for at
least a week, but if you want to leave him a message, I print them out
and take them to the hospital. If you are in the Los Angeles area, he
welcomes visitors. He is at Simi Valley Hospital, 2175 Sycamore, Simi
Valley, CA 93065. He is in the Telemetry unit, Room 272.

Thank you again for all your love and support and for your prayers.
It makes a difference!

Jacquie

[Randyman]

Frank, they just keep getting better and better. I'll bet the boxing museum in Riverside doesn't have as good as fight programs as you do. These are classic!

Randy

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[kikibalt]

Frank, they just keep getting better and better. I'll bet the boxing museum in Riverside doesn't have as good as fight programs as you do. These are classic!

Randy

I don't know about that, Randy.... :)

[Lausse]

You guys remember a lightheavyweight fighter by the name of Jimmy Lester? he fought out of San Fran back in the day and was an all out action fighter apparently who scored some good wins during his career. I`ve heard he fought Andy Kid Heilman twice and one of those two bouts was a great, great fight, think it was the first one but I`m not so sure anymore.... anyone got any stories or thoughts to share about Jimmy?

Yes, I remember Jimmy Lester, but I don't think I ever seen him fight, live anyway.
Nothing stick out in my mind about him or his career.

Thanks anyway Frank

[kikibalt]

Saludos, KiKi

The photo of Artie and Rooney was taken during the filming of "Off Limits" a movie dealing with boxing and the military (1953).

Art was an extra in the film as was Jackie McCoy and they were both kayoed by Rooney in the script, of course. Stanley Clements was also in the picture and he and Jackie became friends through that association

Jackie introduced me to Clements at the Legion fights one night and we hit it off nicely. According to McCoy Stanley could have taken Rooney easily, but he also had to lose in the movie.

Kiki, that Legion program you posted was the last one that I designed for the club even after I had been named matchmaker. So the programs from 1948 through 1959 were all designed by me and in fact edited by me until Don Fraser came into our staff as a publicity man, in 1953.

One of these days I'll have my Didi scan some stuff for you to enjoy......all California, of course. Okay?

My best to you and yours, Cuate.

hap navarro

[Lausse]

Courtesy of Bruce Smith




Jimmy Lester was actually a middleweight who fought out of S.F. from 1963-1973, ending with a record of 41 wins with 31 KOs 20 losses 2 by KO and 2 draws. I read a quote once that said, "Nobody comes out of a Lester fight unmarked."
Jimmy, known as the Bayview Blaster was the son of Jimmy "Top Row" Allen who also fought under the name Vernon Lester during the years 1943-1952, he lost a split decision to Jake LaMotta and ended his career with a KO loss to Sugar Ray Robinson. The nickname "Top Row" has two stories behind it, one is that he hit so hard that you could hear it from the "Top Row" and the other was that is was a certain position he held in a local jail. Since "Top Row" only had eight KOs in fifty fights you can come to your own conclusion.
Jimmy Lester Vs. Denny Moyer was the first professional fight I ever attended and at the age of nine I was hooked on boxing for life. I later met Jimmy while training at Newman and Herman's Gym in S.F. he was one of those people with a naturally muscular build and always looked good training and was good to us younger guys, a real gym favorite.
Jimmy fought many contenders and a couple of champions, I believe he was once ranked as high as number 4 or 5 middleweight by The Ring. Amongst his opponents were Curtis Cokes, Luis Rodriguez, Bennie Briscoe, Nate Collins (cross town rival), Charlie Shipes who he drew with, Lonnie Harris, Stan Harrington, Rafael Gutierrez, Art Hernandez, Charlie Austin and of course Andy Heilman twice.
The first bout with Heilman was the fight of the year in the Bay Area, promoter Don Chargin said it was one of the best fights ever in the Bay Area and poet Tom Smario wrote this about the fight;
"Heilman threw punches like a claustrophobic madman with a baseball bat and Lester was; like a man swinging an axe in wide arcs and roundhouse that tear meat from the bone."
Jimmy's biggest win was over Florentino Fernandez who had koed future light-heavyweight champ Jose Torres, Lester Koed Fernandez in the second round and the buzz in the crowd was "fix" but in the morning paper they read that Fernandez had a broken jaw and Lester had a broken hand.
I last ran into Jimmy in a seedy part of San Francisco he was standing at a residential hotel where he lived and I stopped to say hi to him, he would never have recognized me even if he hadn't suffer several strokes but when I told him that I had seen him fight many times he pulled me into the lobby and told everyone sitting around that I recognized him, he was very happy that someone had stopped to say hi, and I told everyone there what a great fighter he had been, I slipped him twenty bucks and told him thanks for some great memories.
Jimmy died of a heart attack in 2006

Bobbin & Weavin

Thank you for sharing those stories B&W. I recently read an old SI article on Jimmy of which you quoted a small part of it in your post, and this is what made me ask the question as to wether anyone here saw him fight as he seemed like a helluva crowd pleaser by all accounts.

[Randyman]

Bennie,Oliver Hardy just wanted to try something different. By the 50's the two had lost a lot of their popularity. Martin and Lewis were the item. There wasn't an argument,but Stan said he would not work again without his partner. Ollie did some bit parts in some Westerns. Serious roles that were practically forgotten. Hardy later died of complicatios from over dieting.

Interesting, Rog. Man, Laurel and Hardy were the best!

Roger, I remember seeing Oliver Hardy in a western when I was a kid. I recall the scene had him sitting on the back of a horse under a tree, with a hangman's noose around his neck. I believe it was an episode of "Wagon Train". Remember that series star, Ward Bond? Bond along with John Wayne, (Marion Morrison) were USC football stars in the 20's, and it was USC alumni that ran the film industry in Hollywood for years. That was what led these two college football stars (Wayne & Bond) to a career in acting.

Oliver Hardy loved horses and invested a lot of money in thoroughbreds, losing his fortune. Stan Laurel died broke, as well. Like Hardy, Stan Laurel had his own passions, and he married all eight of them. I never fault a man for loving the ladies, but as I know, it can be an expensive proposition.

-Rick

Rick. I know that Hardy appeared with John Wayne in the Fighting Kentuckians, a "Western" more or less, but set in early Louisiana. It was a good movie. I'm a John Wayne fan, so I think all his movies are good,...great really. I'm a big fans of westerns as well.

Rick, I have been with my wife since 1974. It hasn't always been easy, what marriage is? But somehow we have stuck it out. We met in 1974, lived together for years, and married in 1984. Mel had it easy with me in that way, but it still wasn't good enough for Mel. I came to the conclusion years ago that Mel was in fact, a misogynist. He hated, distrusted and generally had no use for women. Trust me, a fighter with one woman or a one with a hundred, it was all the same to Mel. Mel had his heart broken once, years ago, and that was enough for him. He honestly couldn't understand the attraction. As far as he was concerned, they're more trouble than they're worth. (I'll give him that one) Still you gotta love the guy, however set in his ways that he was.

Randy

[Lausse]

Glad to hear Alex Ramos is on the road to recovery... I have a few of his fights among my collection and he was a fun guy to watch win or lose, his fight against Curtis Parker is an underrated slugfest and one I enjoy watching every now and then.

[Randyman]

Saludos, KiKi

The photo of Artie and Rooney was taken during the filming of "Off Limits" a movie dealing with boxing and the military (1953).

Art was an extra in the film as was Jackie McCoy and they were both kayoed by Rooney in the script, of course. Stanley Clements was also in the picture and he and Jackie became friends through that association

Jackie introduced me to Clements at the Legion fights one night and we hit it off nicely. According to McCoy Stanley could have taken Rooney easily, but he also had to lose in the movie.

Kiki, that Legion program you posted was the last one that I designed for the club even after I had been named matchmaker. So the programs from 1948 through 1959 were all designed by me and in fact edited by me until Don Fraser came into our staff as a publicity man, in 1953.

One of these days I'll have my Didi scan some stuff for you to enjoy......all California, of course. Okay?

My best to you and yours, Cuate.

hap navarro

Mr. Navarro, thanks for taking the time and for clearing that up. This fan appreciates it! Incredible work. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work, as I'm sure everyone else here is as well.
Thank you and stay healthy!
Randy

[Randyman]

I have that card Frank.

[kikibalt]

I have that card Frank.

I had to buy mine....

[Expug]

Glad to hear Alex Ramos is on the road to recovery... I have a few of his fights among my collection and he was a fun guy to watch win or lose, his fight against Curtis Parker is an underrated slugfest and one I enjoy watching every now and then.

Glad to hear Alex is doing better.
He fought Johnny Collins here in Chicago in a good fight in I believe 84.
Collins had him down, but I thought Alex should have gotten the nod.
It was a 10 round draw.

[Randyman]

Rick,

I don't put to much stock on those numbers, especially the ones from the Olympic, the Aragon/Carter title fight for instance list 7,251 fans and $74,462 gate, I was there that night and the place was pack to the rafters, over 10,400 fans for sure, there were people outside that couldn't get in, the reason that those low numbers were put out was that the fighters were working on a % of the gate, so the lower the numbers, the less they had to pay the fighters.

I know it happened to us!!...... :x

It happened to all the guys who fought mains at the Olympic and sold out the house. Armando Muniz was another who bitched about Aileen Eaton's accounting. As you say, numbers are meaningless, all I go by is the boxer's ability to excite fans in such a way that they are never forgotten, and that when guys like us recount our memories, we still get that chill of excitement when we share them. Some fighters are great in the ring, they win fights, titles, etc. and then there are those who have an undeniable charisma, guys like you listed and, of course, Mando Ramos. Mando had that "L.A. Charisma" that guys like DeLaHoya and today's group lack. Oscar is box-office gold today, no doubt, but he doesn't leave his audience with clean sense of energy that a Bolanos, Aragon, or Ramos gave us. Today, it's all about the buck. In the old days, money was a big factor as well, but there was also an honor that is lacking in today's world. We here all know and understand exactly what I'm trying to say.

-Rick

Maybe, just maybe Rick, one of today's fighters will wander into this thread and learn a little something. Honor, integrity, keeping your word are a big thing with me. A few of the young guys still have it, it's not completely gone, but they are getting scarce. The guys we talk about. They have big shoes to fill. They were men.

[Lausse]

Glad to hear Alex Ramos is on the road to recovery... I have a few of his fights among my collection and he was a fun guy to watch win or lose, his fight against Curtis Parker is an underrated slugfest and one I enjoy watching every now and then.

Glad to hear Alex is doing better.
He fought Johnny Collins here in Chicago in a good fight in I believe 84.
Collins had him down, but I thought Alex should have gotten the nod.
It was a 10 round draw.

Expug,

Do you know if this fight was televised? If it was I`ll try and track down a copy of it.

[Randyman]

Wouldn't it be great if that publication (written as it was) still existed. Of course, we'd have to have the talent to fill it's pages, so I guess it's an impossible dream, huh?

-Rick

It just occured to me, aren't we kinda blowing wind into the sails of a dead vessel? Are we not pulling up a ship from the sea, one that had sank, fixing the rudder, refitting it's masts, maybe making it sea-worthy once again? Can we resurrect the dead? Popular opinion may believe not, but we are a special group, and, there are really no rules in life or limitations beyond one's own mind. This is OUR world, and we can do what we want, make dreams come true, and so on. If we like it, want it, if it is good in nature and positive, why can't it happen? Guys, I've got an idea and it won't cost a penny, or disrupt daily life in any way, no risk involved, but there will be a lot of fun and it will likely be personally satisfying. I know I'm being vague, so I apologize for that. Let me think this out a bit, and I'll get back to you. Randy, we have to talk.

-Rick

Okay, you piqued my interest. We'll talk. Randy

[Lausse]

I don`t know if the following question is in poor taste or not and I hope it isn`t, but can anyone here think of a reason why anyone would have wanted Howie Steindler murdered? I know his death remains unsolved to this day unfortunately, but I always wondered why anyone would want to have him killed in the first place.

[Expug]

Glad to hear Alex Ramos is on the road to recovery... I have a few of his fights among my collection and he was a fun guy to watch win or lose, his fight against Curtis Parker is an underrated slugfest and one I enjoy watching every now and then.

Glad to hear Alex is doing better.
He fought Johnny Collins here in Chicago in a good fight in I believe 84.
Collins had him down, but I thought Alex should have gotten the nod.
It was a 10 round draw.

Expug,

Do you know if this fight was televised? If it was I`ll try and track down a copy of it.

It was, my guess would be NBC.I think it was 84.
I watched it on the tube.In a bar called Streeters.
I dont know how I remember this stuff, I cant even find my car keys half the time.