Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Sonny Liston


"Sonny"

By Diego

[kikibalt]

Randy,


Thats me on the left, "1952"

No-Cal

Frank, that is a classic photo. I'm saving a copy for myself. You've been around man.

Randy

Yeah! I guess I been here and there a few times in my life.

Shit!, man!, can you imagine, its been 56 years since that pic, was shot, damn!!

[dagosd2000]

Randy,


Thats me on the left, "1952"

No-Cal

Frank,Randy,Rick
I'm serious as hell on this. Very few outsiders understand the tenacity and struggle the farm workers endured in California. Most were Mexican. That's why I have such a reverence for people on farms on ranches. The work is hard. The field workers worked the hardest. It was Chavez who outlawed the use of the "short handled" hoe. Farm owners wanted to see the workers on their hands and knees. That was proof they were working.So many mexicans today worked in the fields under terrible conditions. They still do. I have respect for what they did. They put food on my table. Gracias amigos.

The Mexicans who worked in those fields are somewhat forgotton. Say Cesar Chavez,and they think of the fighter. But they are thinking of the wrong fighter. Cesar Chavez was a humble man who loved his family and wanted rights for the farm worker. I think Julio Cesar Chavez was ducking this guy. He knows he would have been turned inside out. i will never forget Cesar Chavez.

[kikibalt]

I got some pics of the girls I met back in those years, I'll post'em.

[Randyman]

Cesar Chavez


"Cesar"

By Diego

It's a good thing Chavez became a Union Leader. If he'd been a boxer,he would have kicked some ass. This guy was tough. Soft spoken,but wouldn't budge on his principles.He's up there with MLK.

Rog, as I'm sure all of us on this thread have learned by now, there are different kinds of tough. In all seriousness, I have no idea if Chavez (despite that great fighting name) would or could have been a fighter in the physical sense. His was a different arena. In that arena he was a tireless, hard fighting champ. I wrote a few days ago about a guy I knew from school named Kerry Riley. Wasn't a fighter in way we know it but there weren't too many tougher. I admire courage, real courage in all it's forms.

[kikibalt]

A couple of pics. from my time working up north.
I don't remember the girls names.

[Rick Farris]

Randy,


Thats me on the left, "1952"

No-Cal

Great picture. I was born in 1952.

[dagosd2000]

SPRAYING FOR TULES

After gorging ourselves at Denny's we finally decided we should go to work. We climbed into the spray truck and drove up to Escodido. The plan was to spray one of the big flood control canals for "tules'. They're a reedy type weed that chokes off the water flow in the ditches. They grow high and fast. We had water in the 500 gallon tank. All we did was pour the herbicde in. We were supposed to wear our masks,but we never did. Shit,we were a part of regulating the Agricultural Codes,but we were always violating them. Who's going to give us a ticket? We were the law.

We parked the truck next to the flood control canal. It was a big one. It stretched for miles. And it was wide as a four lane freeway. It was choked with tules. We were a crew of three. Two pulled hose and the third guy sprayed. It was July ,and Escondido in July is horrible. No water,bugs,walking in rubber boots and wearing coveralls. But shit,we were the law. We weren't going to stay out there too long.

The motor on the tank was cranking away. We figured one load and then back to the warehouse. All of a sudden I hear a stir in the bushes. Who in the hell could that be? It must be an animal. I opened a hole in the vegetatation and could see two human figures. It was an old man and a young boy. I'd say around ten years old. They saw me and began to run. I saw they were Mexican.
"Alto .Esperate. No soy la migra."
I think they thought I was the Immigration Officer.
"No ,Soy tu amigo."
They stopped running. I looked at the old man. I never saw skin that was so weather worn from the sun. Wrinkled and dark. But the thing that stood out was his hands. Thick and calloused with thick hard fingernails. There were splits in his hands where the callouses cracked. The boy was frightened. The old man was too,but didn't want to show it in front of the boy.
"Donde van?"
The old man stammerd . "Corona."
"Corona California?"I asked in amazement.
"Si senor. Donde esta Corona?"
They were over a hundred miles away. Two lost souls in a ditch. No food. No water. And later I find out no money. I gave the old man twenty dollars and we drove them to the Greyhound bus station in Escondido. They didn't say anything. I told them to buy a ticket to Corona. Someone would speak Spanish.in the station. The old man thanked me. I watched their backs as they walked into the station.

We drove back to the warehouse early,but I didn't feel good about it.

[Randyman]

A couple of pics. from my time working up north.
I don't remember the girls names.

Hey, not bad Frank but I thought you were sent up there to work!

[dagosd2000]

Frank . . . I'm not feeling well and don't plan to return to work until monday. In the mean time, I'm going to get some rest and focus on this forum. I have an idea, a short series of memories related to fighting at the Olympic. I already chronicled my memories of the dressing room, and actually stepping into the ring, but I'd like to expand on this for the guys. Just random thoughts, as they pass thru my mind, as they have quite a bit lately, since you began this thread. I have a great photo of the Olympic "as we knew it", taken by the great Theo Eret, official Olympic Auditorium photographer from the 60's thru the 70's. I'll get it off to you, and under that photo, I'll begin a short series of memories.

The Olympic was very special to us L.A. Boxing afficianados. It was kinda like the Madison Square Garden of the West, only more exclusive. In it's heyday, the Olympic catered only to Boxing, Wrestling & the Roller Derby, Tuesday thru Thursday. Aside from occasional "fund raisers", etc. it basicly sat dark the rest of the week. Unlike the Garden, you didn't see The Ringling Bros. Circus at the 18th & Grand arena, nor Pavoratti and the other two tenors, or indoor track meets, etc The Olympic catered only to the rough side of entertainment, and she did it with her own sense of class.

You know, the Olympic had a special following, an audience made up of a mixture of blue collar workers, celebrites, gangsters, etc. I'll never forget Johnny Flores and I standing in the corner of the ring, before Jimmy Lennon's introductions on December 10, 1970. Johnny would try to take the edge off by pointing out various personalities at ringside, Ryan O'Neal, Bill Cosby, Connie Stevens, Chuck Connors and others. One night, as I stood in the ring as a prelim fighter, in the opening bout to a sold-out house that had come to see Mando Ramos take on his old stablemate Raul Rojas, in a grudge match, Johnny pointed down to a short, stocky, well dressed old man wearing an expensive hat.

"That's Mickey Cohen", Johnny informed me. As the old gangster stared up toward me, his lady friend, B-movie actress Edie Williams, smiled from ear-to-ear, waving to the crowd, dipping forward to deliberatly expose her clevage. The crowd went crazy, and when Williams tore off her top, exposing her bare boos, Aileen Eaton ran over and personally tossed the actress out. "Sorry Mickey, but she's outta here", Aileen told Cohen. One thing was certain, there was enough electricity flowing thru that audience to light up the entire City of L.A. on that night . . . Mando Ramos was fighting! That was all it took.

After I won a hard fought decision in the opening four rounder, Armando Muniz KOed Cipriano Hernandez in the scheduled six, followed by Ramos' stablemate Frankie Crawford, who KOed Jose Luis Martinez with a whistling left hook that landed a couple seconds after final bell. When TV announcer Jim Healy asked Crawford why he punched his opponent after the bell had rang, Frankie cocked his head to the side, blinked and answered, "What bell?" Typical Frankie Crawford.

After weeks of drama promoting the Ramos-Rojas affair, the former lightweight champ, who'd just turned 22, iced Raul Rojas with a picture perfect left hook to the chin, in the sixth round, I believe, thus settling a fued that had raged for a couple of years. I have pics of the weigh-in, and I'll get them off to Frank, so he can post them here for the world to see.

Like Randy said, "better it's being managed by God at the moment, than transformed into parking lot." I'll give you that, Randy.


-Rick Farris

Great writing Rick, If this is how you write when you aren't feeling well............

Rick
I don't want to sound negative either,but whenever you feel like writing I got a bottle of water from Tijuana.

[kikibalt]

A couple of pics. from my time working up north.
I don't remember the girls names.

Hey, not bad Frank but I thought you were sent up there to work!

Yeah! But I could play too.....

[dagosd2000]

Joey Giardello died . Everytime I think of Giardello,I think of a guy who looked at fighting as an easy way to make a living. Yeah,an easy way. I say that because he liked fighting.It was no big deal. He wasn't scared of anyone,and wanted to fight everybody. The more he fought,the more money he made.

When my father moved out to San Diego,the Outfit would come out to visit. What was discussed probably had something to do with gambling or skimming from the casinos in Vegas. I know they fronted my father a lot of money once to open up the book in Mexico. The deal fell through when the Mexican officials started getting greedy. One sfternoon some of the Outfit guys came to San Diego to set something up with my father. My father pointed out Jackie"The Lackey" Cerone and Frank LaPorte . He introduced them to me. With them that day was Joey Giardello. I don't think Giardello was mixed up with those guys. He was a friend. Italian mob guys liked hanging around fighters. Italian fighters. Not to bask in their limelight,but because they were all greaseball to some degree. When they "got down" ,it was greaseball Italian. Giardello fit the mold. It was like the old neighborhood. It was like when he fought. So what? I ain't afraid. An easy way to make a buck. Don't even think about it. Yeah,Joey blended in with that crew all right. Those Outfit guys were afraid of nothin' too.

Now Joey's dead. He probably punched the coroner in the face before he checked out.

I forgot to mention. Everytime these wiseguys would come out for a visit,the FBI would be over in a half hour. They were pretty nice fellas. The Special Agent In Charge was a guy named Jack Armstrong. Yeah,Jack Armstrong.Armstrong and my father became good friends. After Armstrong retired,my father and him would often have lunch. Armstrong liked hearing stories about Al Capone and the rest of Chcago's mob guys.When my father died,Armstrong felt real bad.Sometimes I think he wished he was on the other side. Only sometimes. Funny,when my father would make contact with Armstrong ,my father used an alias,"Joe Brazil".

Now that's real grease ball.

[Rick Farris]

Frank . . . I'm not feeling well and don't plan to return to work until monday. In the mean time, I'm going to get some rest and focus on this forum. I have an idea, a short series of memories related to fighting at the Olympic. I already chronicled my memories of the dressing room, and actually stepping into the ring, but I'd like to expand on this for the guys. Just random thoughts, as they pass thru my mind, as they have quite a bit lately, since you began this thread. I have a great photo of the Olympic "as we knew it", taken by the great Theo Eret, official Olympic Auditorium photographer from the 60's thru the 70's. I'll get it off to you, and under that photo, I'll begin a short series of memories.

The Olympic was very special to us L.A. Boxing afficianados. It was kinda like the Madison Square Garden of the West, only more exclusive. In it's heyday, the Olympic catered only to Boxing, Wrestling & the Roller Derby, Tuesday thru Thursday. Aside from occasional "fund raisers", etc. it basicly sat dark the rest of the week. Unlike the Garden, you didn't see The Ringling Bros. Circus at the 18th & Grand arena, nor Pavoratti and the other two tenors, or indoor track meets, etc The Olympic catered only to the rough side of entertainment, and she did it with her own sense of class.

You know, the Olympic had a special following, an audience made up of a mixture of blue collar workers, celebrites, gangsters, etc. I'll never forget Johnny Flores and I standing in the corner of the ring, before Jimmy Lennon's introductions on December 10, 1970. Johnny would try to take the edge off by pointing out various personalities at ringside, Ryan O'Neal, Bill Cosby, Connie Stevens, Chuck Connors and others. One night, as I stood in the ring as a prelim fighter, in the opening bout to a sold-out house that had come to see Mando Ramos take on his old stablemate Raul Rojas, in a grudge match, Johnny pointed down to a short, stocky, well dressed old man wearing an expensive hat.

"That's Mickey Cohen", Johnny informed me. As the old gangster stared up toward me, his lady friend, B-movie actress Edie Williams, smiled from ear-to-ear, waving to the crowd, dipping forward to deliberatly expose her clevage. The crowd went crazy, and when Williams tore off her top, exposing her bare boos, Aileen Eaton ran over and personally tossed the actress out. "Sorry Mickey, but she's outta here", Aileen told Cohen. One thing was certain, there was enough electricity flowing thru that audience to light up the entire City of L.A. on that night . . . Mando Ramos was fighting! That was all it took.

After I won a hard fought decision in the opening four rounder, Armando Muniz KOed Cipriano Hernandez in the scheduled six, followed by Ramos' stablemate Frankie Crawford, who KOed Jose Luis Martinez with a whistling left hook that landed a couple seconds after final bell. When TV announcer Jim Healy asked Crawford why he punched his opponent after the bell had rang, Frankie cocked his head to the side, blinked and answered, "What bell?" Typical Frankie Crawford.

After weeks of drama promoting the Ramos-Rojas affair, the former lightweight champ, who'd just turned 22, iced Raul Rojas with a picture perfect left hook to the chin, in the sixth round, I believe, thus settling a fued that had raged for a couple of years. I have pics of the weigh-in, and I'll get them off to Frank, so he can post them here for the world to see.

Like Randy said, "better it's being managed by God at the moment, than transformed into parking lot." I'll give you that, Randy.


-Rick Farris

Great writing Rick, If this is how you write when you aren't feeling well............

Rick
I don't want to sound negative either,but whenever you feel like writing I got a bottle of water from Tijuana.

How about a shot of Mescal instead? You know Rog, after Dwight Hawkins flattened Jose Beccera in L.A., a rematch was scheduled in Beccera's hometown of Guadalajara. Beccera was close to challenging Halimi for the bantam crown when the 17-year-old Hawkins upset him, on the undercard of the Halimi-Macias title fight at the L.A. Sports Arena. This time, they wanted the future champ to have all the edges and this is why the rematch took place in his hometown.

I'll never forget sitting on the edge of the ring at Johnny Flores Gym in the mid 60's, listening to Johnny tell a few of us what happened to Dwight upon arriving in Mexico for the fight. The promoter assigned Hawkins & Flores an aide, somebody who could get them anything they needed as the boxer prepared for the match a few days later. One requirement that Flores insisted on was fresh bottled water for his fighter and it was the aide's job to get the water. The first few days all was fine, fresh water in a sealed five gallon bottle. The day before the bout, the water ran out an Johnny instructed the aide to retrieve more. After loosening up in the gym, Hawkins returned to the hotel and drank a large glass of water from the bottle. Shortly thereafter, the boxer became violently ill, in a way that Johnny had seen before. Flores dumped the rest of the bottle and summoned the aide, asking him to get more. When the aide left the room with the bottle, Flores followed him down the street a block and into an alley. When he turned into the alley, he saw the aide filling the bottle directly from a water spicket.

Dwight Hawkins had been stricken with a case of "Montezuma's Revenge" and he was in great pain, not to mention severly dehydrated. There was no way to call off the bout, not and expect to leave Guadalajara alive. Hawkins went into the ring the next evening to face one of the greatest bantams ever, sick as a dog. I believe the Hawk was stopped in the 7th round.

This was typical of the bad luck that followed Dwight Hawkins thru his career. As for your offer of TJ-H20, I'll pass amigo, but the Mescal? I'm right with you.


-Rick

[kikibalt]

Two Joeys, Giardello and Giambra

[Rick Farris]

Two Joeys, Giardello and Giambra

Giambra whipped Giardello in two of three bouts. The one time he lost was a highly disputed decision. Unlike Giardello, Giambra's manager refused to play along with the mob. The result was no title shot for one of the best middleweights of his era. Giambra lived a spartan life, never drank or smoked, his vice was women, but he "never let a broad interfere with his training", he told me a few years back in Las Vegas. Joey was at the end of his career when his back was severly injured in a car wreck. Even so, he climbed into the ring with a deadly hitting Cuban named Florentino Fernandez, and was listed a heavy underdog. Giambra cut the Cuban to ribbons, stopping him in a major upset.

Joey married a show girl, had two kids, Joey Jr. and daughter Rose, named for his mother. The wife ran off, and Joey raised the kids himself, kinda spoiling them, if I do say so myself. However, Joey did the right thing, and I helped those kids get extra roles on a movie I did in Vegas, "Con Air". When the car accident forced Joey's retirement in the early 60's, he was taken care of by Las Vegas mobsters, who made sure he had a good casino job, dealing blackjack, or working as a pit boss. Of course, like everything else in the world, Las Vegas changed. When the "boys" were run out by the corporations, Joey was laid-off and ended up driving a cab.

Joey always carried a box of books in his cab's trunk, his biography "The Uncrownded Champ is Joey Giambra". Joey Finally got a little bit of credit for all his success in the ring, when in 2003, the WBHOF inducted him. I hadn't seen Joey for several years while I was in Arizona, and after years of exchanging phone calls, it was great to see Giambra again. By the way, it'll be a long time before the grim reaper claims Giambra (God willing), as he still puts himself thru a boxer's workout several days a week. He is fit, clean and fun to speak with. Aside from a full head of silver hair, Joey Giambra looks like he's in his forties. Last month, he turned 77.

-Rick Farris

[Rick Farris]

Randy,


Thats me on the left, "1952"

No-Cal

Frank,Randy,Rick
I'm serious as hell on this. Very few outsiders understand the tenacity and struggle the farm workers endured in California. Most were Mexican. That's why I have such a reverence for people on farms on ranches. The work is hard. The field workers worked the hardest. It was Chavez who outlawed the use of the "short handled" hoe. Farm owners wanted to see the workers on their hands and knees. That was proof they were working.So many mexicans today worked in the fields under terrible conditions. They still do. I have respect for what they did. They put food on my table. Gracias amigos.

The Mexicans who worked in those fields are somewhat forgotton. Say Cesar Chavez,and they think of the fighter. But they are thinking of the wrong fighter. Cesar Chavez was a humble man who loved his family and wanted rights for the farm worker. I think Julio Cesar Chavez was ducking this guy. He knows he would have been turned inside out. i will never forget Cesar Chavez.

There is a little barrio in Oxnard, known as "La Colonia". For more than twenty years, there has been a little boxing gym in that barrio, and this is the club that produced World Champs Fernando Vargas and Robert Garcia. Garcia's pop Eddie is the chief trainer. I would visit the gym in the 80's, while living in the Thousand Oaks area of Ventura County, volunteer to help out with the kids, tying gloves, tuning up a kid's jab, etc. Thru my gym visits in this gang infested little barrio, I'd learn from the old guys about how the community started. "Stoop Laborers" was what Hap Navarro told me they were called, they are the people who work in the fields picking strawberries, etc. They needed a place to live, and found it literally on the other side of the railroad tracks that run thru downtown Oxnard. During the early days of the barrio, Cesar Chavez would come to the area, to fight for the workers, and while in town, he'd sleep on the sofas or floors of La Colonia residents. He was their hero, one person on their side, one person facing the masses of beurocrats, just trying to get his people a better deal.

I may be a "Gabacho", but I respect a fighter, and Cesar Chavez was as tough as they came. May he rest in peace, finally.

-Rick

[bennie]

The Olympic today...

The Olympic Today . . .

Ironically, I passed by the Olympic Auditorium very early this morning, about 2am on my way home from work. I was tired, but hadn't seen it since it's conversion to a church, so I pulled off the freeway and circled the place. It was kinda sad. On the west wall, A huge sign had been painted that reads, "Jesus Saves Lives!" On the north wall, a big electric sign is exposed to those passing on the freeway, advertising it as a Christian church, in both English and Korean. The walls looked scrubbed clean. Of course, the Olympic of old had lost it's original luster to me in the early 90's, when it's new owner Jack Needleman renovated the old girl, removing seats, painting over the huge mural of a boxer that had adorned it's walls since it's opening in 1926.

It had been renamed, "The Grand Olympic Aud." about 15-years-ago. Grand??? Hell, we know it was grand, anybody who ever sat ringside on thursday nights didn't need to be reminded of that reality. Also removed in the '90's renovation was that legendary marquis, the one that used to have the names of the weeks boxing wrestling main-eventers. However, no longer a "girl", the old broad almost looked as if she were laughing, as if enjoying a bad joke society was trying to play on it. Something kept going thru my mind, like, the building was saying, "You can paint me, change me, call me what you want, but I know who I am, I'm the Olympic, America's last great boxing venue . . . and one day, when somebody comes to their senses, I'LL BE BACK!"

I hope you are right, baby. Damn, I miss you!

-Rick Farris

A church! Even JC would double-take a little at that.

[bennie]

Joey Giardello has died,

RIP, Joey....

My condolences to his family. Rest in peace Champ!

Joey, even as a boxer, always had one of those 'old' faces; consequently, it seems like he lived for a thousand years, to me.
Good old Joey. You know, I'm pretty sure every man and woman, of a certain generation, knows the name Joey Giardello, even if they don't know too much else about him.
He had one of those names, one of those faces.

[Rick Farris]

Joey Giardello has died,

RIP, Joey....

My condolences to his family. Rest in peace Champ!

Joey, even as a boxer, always had one of those 'old' faces; consequently, it seems like he lived for a thousand years, to me.
Good old Joey. You know, I'm pretty sure every man and woman, of a certain generation, knows the name Joey Giardello, even if they don't know too much else about him.
He had one of those names, one of those faces.

I agree Bennie, you certainly hit the nail on the head when you referred to Joey having an "old face". Like you, I saw it when I first started out and it seems he was always there, even long after he retired and no longer was seen much in the public eye. Even so, that "old face' was alwas around, at least in my mind. I feel the same away about Carlos Ortiz.

-Rick

[Expug]

The Olympic today...

The Olympic Today . . .

Ironically, I passed by the Olympic Auditorium very early this morning, about 2am on my way home from work. I was tired, but hadn't seen it since it's conversion to a church, so I pulled off the freeway and circled the place. It was kinda sad. On the west wall, A huge sign had been painted that reads, "Jesus Saves Lives!" On the north wall, a big electric sign is exposed to those passing on the freeway, advertising it as a Christian church, in both English and Korean. The walls looked scrubbed clean. Of course, the Olympic of old had lost it's original luster to me in the early 90's, when it's new owner Jack Needleman renovated the old girl, removing seats, painting over the huge mural of a boxer that had adorned it's walls since it's opening in 1926.

It had been renamed, "The Grand Olympic Aud." about 15-years-ago. Grand??? Hell, we know it was grand, anybody who ever sat ringside on thursday nights didn't need to be reminded of that reality. Also removed in the '90's renovation was that legendary marquis, the one that used to have the names of the weeks boxing wrestling main-eventers. However, no longer a "girl", the old broad almost looked as if she were laughing, as if enjoying a bad joke society was trying to play on it. Something kept going thru my mind, like, the building was saying, "You can paint me, change me, call me what you want, but I know who I am, I'm the Olympic, America's last great boxing venue . . . and one day, when somebody comes to their senses, I'LL BE BACK!"

I hope you are right, baby. Damn, I miss you!

-Rick Farris

A church! Even JC would double-take a little at that.

In a perfect world, Gene Lebell buys the place and starts promoting Boxing and Wrestling following in his Moms footsteps.
One can dream right?
Heck he has to have a strong attachment to that place also.
He grew up there and won The National Judo championship there in 54.

[bennie]

Randy,


Thats me on the left, "1952"

No-Cal

Frank looks exactly the same now. And who left that car door open?

[kikibalt]

Randy,


Thats me on the left, "1952"

No-Cal

Frank looks exactly the same now. And who left that car door open?

My buddy Juvie (R) did, he was in a hurry to get in the pic........

[bennie]

A couple of pics. from my time working up north.
I don't remember the girls names.

Hey, not bad Frank but I thought you were sent up there to work!

Yeah! But I could play too.....

OK, Frankie, which one was yours?

[kikibalt]

A couple of pics. from my time working up north.
I don't remember the girls names.

OK, Frankie, which one was yours?

Well, if you must know Bennie, I messed around with the one on the right, but damn, I can remember her name.

[bennie]

She's the best-looking, too. As we say over here: you jammy git.