Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Expug]

After finding out Kenny Lane had four fights after he turned 50, I started thinking, Hmmmm. What if? Okay, so I'm about 220 right now and getting grayer by the minute. I fought at welterweight but maybe I can make 175. I mean anything's possible, right. So at dinner last night night I said to my wife Jeri "Honey, do you think I'm to old to fight again?" After she stopped choking, or maybe she was laughing, I couldn't quite tell, she said "Don't even think it!" followed by "The look". So just like that my dreams of boxing immortality were shattered, by my own wife no less! Am I the only guy that still thinks like that?

You arent the only one who thinks like that Randy.
Fighting is hard to get out of your system.
I think once you are a fighter you are always one at heart.
Its a good thing. A great thing.I think about fighting all the time.
Go to the gym Randy. Spend some time hitting the bags , get on the rope , a couple months in , jump in the ring and spar a little.
See how you feel.If you feel good, take a four rounder.
See, Im the wrong guy to ask. Age doesnt mean anything to me.

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[Chuck1052]

In regards to Dave "Boy" Green, it is great to know that he is doing so well in his post-boxing career. I wish that every former fighter was in the same boat.

I remember seeing a tape of Green's bout with Carlos Palomino. It is true that Green did give Palomino a very tough time of it before being pole-axed with a beautiful left-hook. In his televised bout with Sugar Ray Leonard, Green appeared to be overmatched and was pole-axed again by a left-hook. But Green did have a fine boxing career, one that he has every right to be proud of.

- Chuck Johnston

[kikibalt]

Manuel Ortiz vs Harold Dade

[dagosd2000]

Good point Randy.
A person who doesnt care at all about their health probably aint interested in preserving a landmark.

Lucky for boxing and the country there are guys like us that still believe in old fashioned values, morality and hard work. No joking, I see it as all being related. Symptomatic of what's wrong with the country and so many people. It has somehow become all about image, or the obsession with money, or and don't laugh, the preoccupations of the Britney Spears and Paris Hiltons of the world. No one wants to contribute. They just want to reap the benefits of someone else's hard work. I could go on and on but you get the picture. It's not a lot of little problems, it's one big problem. Lot's of apathy.

Hey Randy
I don't know about the morality part. I guess i'm getting a little better at it. But I remember the day 30 years ago when they tore down the Blue Fox. Since we're talking about tearing down National treasures,I'll never forget when the bulldozers smashed down the most notorious "cat house" in the world. The neon sign read "The Green Note',but there was one of those big sandwich boards out side the door with a painting of a sly old fox in a tux smoking a cigarette and holding a martini glass..He's saying,"Eat At The Blue Fox."Use your imagination on that one.

The thing was you always wanted to sneak in without paying the 75 cents for a long neck Tecate. You'd always tell the doorman,"Free look. I want a free look."
But if you were going inside they'd steer you to the bar and it was the long neck.

The place was big inside. Two floors with shows top and bottom. Plenty of girls,not bad lookin' either. What I also liked was the music. They had these old musicians that played "La Cucaracha" and "Mama Inez" with a jazz/latin beat so the girls who came out on stage could get to dancin'. A cornet,sax,upright piano,and timbales. These guys were real good musicians and new how to swing it. Hell jazz came from the Red Light District in Storyville. This was a natural for them. Then the girl would come out. The big stars were Georgina and Septiembre. They were drop dead in the looks department,but I think they spent all their money on "nose candy". They'd dance two,then the lights would dim. The doorman would give the signal. The emcee(Enos the Penis)would then ask all the horny animals if you wanted to "eat"Georgina,you'd have to clap your hands. Well let me tell ya' Ruth or Dempsey never heard so much clapping in their careers. Then it was just the bongos. Well you couldn't see too well and everybody is leanig backwards over the rail. Don't ask me how I behaved in there,but afterwards when I'd go to the Kentucky Diner,I swore those cat tacos had hair in them.

Rick and Randy
That was just good fun.
Something you could look back on and laugh about with the guys. It's funny,for the woman who works in a place like that,it's shamefull. A woman of ill repute,to put it nicely. For the Latino male...Well boys will be boys. The cantina is a part of Latin culture. There are "novelas" that take place in the cantina. Whether it's the posh "Zona Rosa" in Mexico City or the Coahuila in TJ..sooner or later they're frequented by the men. In a way it makes the marraige better. When the wife starts to nag or gives orders or doesn't want to put out,there's
always the cantina. The prostitutes understand why a man is in there.The girls don't give it away. Relationships are not formed. I knew a gal that was one of those"fallen flowers". When she got too old to peddle her hips anymore,she showed me her scrap book of her history at the Blue Fox. Just about every Mexican movie star and fighter had their picture taken with her as well as "bedding" her.. "Asi es Mexico."

[dagosd2000]

After finding out Kenny Lane had four fights after he turned 50, I started thinking, Hmmmm. What if? Okay, so I'm about 220 right now and getting grayer by the minute. I fought at welterweight but maybe I can make 175. I mean anything's possible, right. So at dinner last night night I said to my wife Jeri "Honey, do you think I'm to old to fight again?" After she stopped choking, or maybe she was laughing, I couldn't quite tell, she said "Don't even think it!" followed by "The look". So just like that my dreams of boxing immortality were shattered, by my own wife no less! Am I the only guy that still thinks like that?

You arent the only one who thinks like that Randy.
Fighting is hard to get out of your system.
I think once you are a fighter you are always one at heart.
Its a good thing. A great thing.I think about fighting all the time.
Go to the gym Randy. Spend some time hitting the bags , get on the rope , a couple months in , jump in the ring and spar a little.
See how you feel.If you feel good, take a four rounder.
See, Im the wrong guy to ask. Age doesnt mean anything to me.

Pug
You'll like this. One of my first teaching assignments was at a high school that had a lot of bused in kids from South East San Diego. Well my assignment was the "O" Class. "O" stood for Opportunity. In other words,it was a class for all the kids that the school didn't want to suspend,but put with me they could collect money for them "being" in school. But it wasn't much of a class. The old metal shop room with the windows blacked out. They wanted those kids to sit there for 6 hours and not talk. There were no books. Nothing for them to do.

Well I used to tell them my stories like the ones I post on the Thread. After a while,kids were getting thrown out of class so they could be in my "O" Class. I used to keep a couple of pairs of boxing gloves nailed to the wall. One time a kid asks,"What's up with the boxing gloves?"
I answered that it was my "discipline policy."

Well I'd always get the wise guy who wanted to go with me. Hell the room was in the "boon docks". No one gave a shit. Hell Esty is with them. He'll take care of things. When some dude wanted to test me,we'd clear the desks to the wall,and me and Mr. Wise Guy would lace them up. What I'd usually do is let the kid get some in on my gloves and elbows,then WHAM. A few nice combinations and I'd have him doubled over.

But here's the thing Pug. It always turned out all right. It was almost like a real boxing match. The kids were impressed ,and I never hurt a kid. They knew I could,but I never went that far. It got to the point that just about all the big kids wanted to spar with me in that"O" Class. I made a lot of friends with those kids. They were always getting in trouble,but I looked at them as being regular kids who didn't have the advantages of most of the others that went to that school.

Then the Principal found out what was going on and shut things down. He chewed me out. I told him that the class was a form of counseling and it was working. He told me if those kids needed counseling,he'd send them to a psychiatrist.

You know,that Principal needed to see the shrink.

[Bobbin & Weavin]

After finding out Kenny Lane had four fights after he turned 50, I started thinking, Hmmmm. What if? Okay, so I'm about 220 right now and getting grayer by the minute. I fought at welterweight but maybe I can make 175. I mean anything's possible, right. So at dinner last night night I said to my wife Jeri "Honey, do you think I'm to old to fight again?" After she stopped choking, or maybe she was laughing, I couldn't quite tell, she said "Don't even think it!" followed by "The look". So just like that my dreams of boxing immortality were shattered, by my own wife no less! Am I the only guy that still thinks like that?

Randy a couple years ago & I'm weighing 220 I figure i'm 50 it's time to take better care of myself so I join a gym, my friend on the other hand is a gym freak, belongs to three gyms, into martial arts, & was now taking a boxing class in another gym that at the end of the 6 week class they pair them off & have bouts. He's 48 & everyone else in the class is 35 & under so he talks me into showing him some stuff in a little back area where they have a speedbag & a heavy bag. After working out there with him for a couple of weeks I'm starting to feel like you're saying if I could drop down to 175 and find some other 5'8" 175 pounders I could do alright.Then one day my buddy says theres some sparring gloves with the velcro on them how about you & I put them on so I can get a better feel for this, one thing leads to another & I agree to spar with him a couple of two minute rounds so he can get the "feel" for it. The buzzer sounds & he comes out, I'm giving him instructions but he can't hit me with a "handfull of rocks in a hallway" & I'm tapping him just about anywhere I want for two rounds! Hell I'm Joe Louis! He's stunned tells me he was shocked becasue I stood right in front of him for the most part & he couldn't hit me! So here's the two problems! 1 - lungs...OMG my lungs! I thought someone had started a fire in them & put it out with a pick-ax. 2 - I go home & brag to my wife & daughter about it & they practically disown me! There goes my dreams! But tell me truthfully what would you give to have the knowledge, the moxie & everything else that goes with being in your 50s & your body back in the best shape of your life! I give my left nut! Bet our wives wouldn't be pissed then! :P

Bobbin & Weavin

[Rick Farris]

Posthumous WBHOF Inductees . . .

This year's two Posthumous WBHOF Inductees are forme light-heavyweight contender "Young Firpo" (Guido Bardelli) and former welterweight champ, Luis Rodigue of Cuba. The reason I post this is to let you guys know that Rodriguez has no known family to accept the award on his behalf. We were searching fo a proper recipient for the boxer, and finally came up with somebody whom was not only a stablemate of Luis, but also a close fiend and fellow Cuban World Champ from his era. Sugar Ramos will be on hand to accept Luis Rodiguez WBHOF Induction Bronze. Ramos has already been inducted.

Also on hand for the event will be current welterweight champ Antonio Margarito, as well as Israel Vasquez and Raphael Marquez, who will receive 2008 "Fight of the Year" honors for their second war from earlier this year. I know it isn't the "end of the year" yet, however, the WBHOF considers all bouts held from one banquet to another, so a full year does pass.

-Rick

[bennie]

A wise man, your father, Randy. Get that loss out of the way, then settle down and show everyone what you can do. It helped Monzon, Duran and, as you say, Margarito to lose. This obsession with unbeaten records is a curse on the modern game.

Bennie, I believe that the current obsession with remaining undefeated can be traced back to Julio Cesar Chavez. Through no fault of his own, Chavez' quest began a slew of fighters chasing that elusive perfect record. But the quest for the perfect record pales in comparison to the quest to be the "Pound for Pound" best. Which again, was resurrected by Chavez during his reign as "Pound for Pound" champ. I'm not blaming Chavez but I believe that set the precedence.

Whatever happened to just fighting because you are a fighter? What is even more amazing is that all these fighters want that recognition without fighting each other. By the way, in my opinion, it's not up to a fighter to determine if he is the "Pound for Pound" best, that's up to the fans and writers, in other words, anyone but them.

Randy

Yeah, and TV companies love the '0'. I swear Breidis Prescott was picked for Khan simply because of his unbeaten record. It's a risky business, of course. Most fighters have unbeaten records these days because they are protected; just some, because they are good.

[bennie]

In regards to Dave "Boy" Green, it is great to know that he is doing so well in his post-boxing career. I wish that every former fighter was in the same boat.

I remember seeing a tape of Green's bout with Carlos Palomino. It is true that Green did give Palomino a very tough time of it before being pole-axed with a beautiful left-hook. In his televised bout with Sugar Ray Leonard, Green appeared to be overmatched and was pole-axed again by a left-hook. But Green did have a fine boxing career, one that he has every right to be proud of.

- Chuck Johnston

Yeah, he was a soft touch for Leonard in 1980. "Boy" Green had already been sparked by Jorgen Hansen in Denmark (the sight of Green saying "I'm all right!" as the referee holds him up after the stoppage is another typical Green moment). Leonard sparked Green just prior to the Duran clash in Montreal. Silly move. Get Leonard in there with a Harold Weston, a Palomino - a long, hard test, before you get him in there with Roberto Duran. Instead, they went for the spectacular-looking win over Green, and Leonard wasn't 'rounded' enough as a fighter to beat Duran in June 1980.

[bennie]

After finding out Kenny Lane had four fights after he turned 50, I started thinking, Hmmmm. What if? Okay, so I'm about 220 right now and getting grayer by the minute. I fought at welterweight but maybe I can make 175. I mean anything's possible, right. So at dinner last night night I said to my wife Jeri "Honey, do you think I'm to old to fight again?" After she stopped choking, or maybe she was laughing, I couldn't quite tell, she said "Don't even think it!" followed by "The look". So just like that my dreams of boxing immortality were shattered, by my own wife no less! Am I the only guy that still thinks like that?

You arent the only one who thinks like that Randy.
Fighting is hard to get out of your system.
I think once you are a fighter you are always one at heart.
Its a good thing. A great thing.I think about fighting all the time.
Go to the gym Randy. Spend some time hitting the bags , get on the rope , a couple months in , jump in the ring and spar a little.
See how you feel.If you feel good, take a four rounder.
See, Im the wrong guy to ask. Age doesnt mean anything to me.

Pug, I'm glad you were smart enough NOT to cite George Foreman. If I heard one ex-fighter cite the successful Foreman comeback as a reason for returning, I heard a thousand.
George was BAD for boxing.

[enrique]

I know Luis Rodriguez' sister here in Miami. I haven't seen her in a couple of years but I can try to locate her if you wish.

[Rick Farris]

I know Luis Rodriguez' sister here in Miami. I haven't seen her in a couple of years but I can try to locate her if you wish.

Enrique, I was thinking of you when I heard them say they we having difficulty finding Rodriguez family. A lot has to do with the disorganiation of the WBHOF. When I spoke up and said I had contact with you, the Pesident Adolpho Pere said that he had contacted Sugar Ramos in Mexico to accept the award. Now I want to let them know he has a sister. Thank you for that information. I will pass it on to Mr. Perez. I may contact you on this.

-Rick

[kikibalt]

De la Hoya y Pacquiao generarían las mayores ganancias en la historia boxística

agregar cerrar delete close Menú de Anotaciones Salvar en mi perfíl Enviar a un amigo Ayuda Cerrar (FOTO: ImpreMedia) Manny Pacquiao. Cantante y boxeador filipino, conocido como ‘el devorador de mexicanos’, está listo para enfrentar a Óscar de la Hoya. (FOTO: Chiquilín García ) (FOTO: ImpreMedia) 1/3 Ya es un hecho. En tres meses presenciaremos el duelo de los boxeadores Pacquiao-De la Hoya, o De la Hoya-Pacquiao, como prefieras llamarle.

El mexicoamericano Óscar de la Hoya y el filipino Manny Pacquiao, de 29 años, confirmaron la semana pasada que se enfrentarán el próximo 6 de diciembre en Las Vegas, Nevada.

De la Hoya lo supera en casi cuatro pulgadas de estatura, varios años más de experiencia y también en unas libras.

El combate sin duda será el más millonario en la historia del boxeo. Se estima que entre el seis veces campeón del mundo en distintos pesos, El "Golden Boy", y el mejor púgil libra por libra, "Pacman", generarán sólo en el sistema Pago por Evento (Pay per View) unos 100 millones de dólares, pues la pelea sería comprada en dos millones de hogares.

Una fuente reveló que el filipino se llevará el 35%, mientras que Óscar el otro 65% de las ganancias.

Pacquiao, verdugo de púgiles mexicanos, tendrá de sueldo garantizado entre 10 y 15 millones de dólares. Óscar, al ser además promotor del combate, se embolsaría una cantidad —ya con sueldo y ganancias— superior a 70 millones de billetes verdes.

Las pláticas para esta pelea comenzaron hace más de un mes y finalmente las promotoras Golden Boy Promotions y Top Rank aseguraron que se llevará a cabo en Grand Garden Arena del Hotel MGM.

"Será una gran pelea que estará esperando todo el mundo", dijo en conferencia Richard Schaefer, cabeza de la promotora del Golden Boy.

Pero, ¿por qué Manny Pacquiao, el púgil de moda?

Antes de contestar, el "Golden Boy" se acomoda la corbata y sonríe.

"Será una pelea interesante; lo que sí puedo asegurarles es que no será aburrida, porque una pelea donde esté Manny Pacquiao es imposible que sea aburrida. Hay mucho trabajo que hacer, y estamos ya tratando de asegurar esa pelea".

Es un honor
A su vez, Pacquiao comentó que era un honor enfrentar a De la Hoya.

"Estoy agradecido porque Óscar me eligió para su pelea, y puedo decirles desde ahora que no será una pelea dispareja", añadió el asiático.

El pleito se realizará en las 147 libras, peso wélter, división en la que De la Hoya no pelea desde hace ocho años, mientras que Pacquiao, lo más alto que ha combatido es en peso ligero, casi cinco kilos menos que wélter.

Las pláticas duraron varias semanas y hubo un tira y afloje de ambas partes por varios millones de dólares.

"Le dije a mi gente que me consiga la pelea, y el evento más grande posible, porque es probable que sea mi última pelea; quiero irme con broche de oro, estando en un evento que impacte no sólo a la comunidad boxística, sino a todo el mundo. Que todos digan: ‘¡Wow!’, y que digan: ‘¡Fue la mejor pelea que pudimos ver!’", añadió Óscar. "Además, esto es personal, quiero vengar a México; Pacquiao le ha ganado ya a muchos mexicanos".

Por su parte, Manny comentó desde Filipinas: "Pienso que soy más rápido que Óscar. No estoy preocupado porque me vaya a noquear".

Los dos boxeadores se enfrentarían en 147 libras, peso wélter, mismo en el que Óscar no pelea desde 2001, y en el que el asiático jamás ha combatido. Lo más que ha subido Manny es a ligero (135 libras). Los guantes pactados serían de 8 onzas a pesar de ser en wélter.

El combate para fin de año podría no ser el último en la carrera del también promotor de boxeo, quien ya tiene 35 años de edad.

¿Será realmente la pelea del adiós?, le preguntamos a Óscar.

"Yo no voy a concentrarme en que mi carrera ya está llegando al fin; me voy a preparar mental y físicamente para pelear, no me quiero concentrar en que será mi última pelea, uno nunca sabe, ¿verdad? Obviamente, todavía puedo seguir, dependiendo de esta pelea en diciembre", afirmó ante esta pregunta.

[kikibalt]

This could every well be me....

Husbandly duty busies a lazy day
Al Martinez, LATimes

In the arena of human indolence, the male of the species has no equal.

It's why he invented the couch, television, underwear and holidays, all of which combine to allow him to lie on his primary creation wearing only boxer shorts and watching other primates bat, kick, pass or lob balls of varying sizes for his delight and edification.

What man considers both comfort and enjoyment can be achieved on any weekend day, but tradition has a special tug when it's a national holiday, an occurrence that he feels has been created especially for him to laze.

The ideal is not always achieved. This past Labor Day, for instance, I saw an opportunity to lounge about and conduct myself in a manner that has characterized the post-Mesozoic male since TV arrived and football gained a prominence equal to the coronation of a queen.

I was prepared that holiday weekend to join millions of others in watching whatever required a minimum need for synaptic connections, among which sports looms large. That's when I heard about the UCLA-Tennessee game. It turned out to be a contest created by the sweetest of angels. The boys on the field crunched, tackled, smashed, ran and passed through a series of ups and downs that finally ended in two kicks, one good, the other bad, that gave our local guys the game. Even this early, it is likely to emerge as game of the year.

And I missed it.

My Cinelli, who is usually a veritable explosion of energy, has been laid low by a post-surgical bout of colitis. The surgery itself, required to correct a knee problem, was a snap by her standards; had they let her, she'd have danced her way out of the O.R. At St. John's Hospital, she was treated with smiles and efficiency by nurses and their assistants who seemed to have converged from all of the continents on Earth, such was the variety of their ethnic origins.

But once home, she had only me, a dour street kid from the continent of Oakland, who found it all too much for him. Increasingly active as the knee healed, she was suddenly bed-bound again by stomach problems, with all of their gloomy implications.

I could bring her applesauce or a wet washcloth, but dealing with bedpans is a job for the perfect mate, and God only knows I have never been that. Not even close. I write. That's it. Bedpans are a foreign country.

And it wasn't just that. Ice packs had to be filled and applied; cold water had to be furnished; Jell-O, sugar-free Popsicles and more applesauce were required at different times to soothe the devils in her stomach. At one point I offered her a sponge bath for my own amusement, but she replied in a weak but determined voice, "I'm sick, for God's sake! Don't touch me!"

A caring daughter-in-law and generous neighbors kept me from starvation with casseroles and a roast because the kitchen is a mystery to me. Finding anything beyond the sink posed challenges that no man on Labor Day should have to face. Where's the bread, where's a fork, where's the microwave, what do its buttons mean, where's the ice, where's the . . . everything?

I charged up a pair of walkie-talkies we utilize for such occasions, and although it was better than a yell or a moan, it added to the chores needed to be performed to fill her needs.

"This is Patient One, come in, Elmer."

"Not the bedpan again!"

"Roger that, Elmer. Over."

It was as I enjoyed the company of a friendly martini one evening after the day's nursing chores that I began to realize I was less than the caretaker the situation required.

If my efforts were judged by the 12-point Boy Scout Law, I would have failed on the three points of helpful, friendly and cheerful during her ordeal.

She had come from the care of the happy and uncomplaining nurses at St. John's into the cruel hands of the antichrist. But then it's not easy going from writing a column to emptying bedpans, however one might strain for a connection.

But finally it became time as Cinelli improved to have a little satisfaction of my own. To remind her that not all of the treatment at St. John's was longingly to be desired, I sneaked into the downstairs bedroom where she was ensconced, shook her awake at 3 a.m. and announced cheerfully, "Time to take your vitals!"

She understood the joke, but it was the only moment in more than half a century of marriage that I was truly afraid of her smile.

[email protected]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

Britain's Amir Khan lies on the canvas after being knocked out by Colombia's
Breidis Prescott during their WBO Intercontinetal lightweight title boxing match
at the MEN arena in Manchester, northern England, September 6, 2008.
REUTERS/Nigel Roddis (BRITAIN)

[bennie]

Britain's Amir Khan lies on the canvas after being knocked out by Colombia's
Breidis Prescott during their WBO Intercontinetal lightweight title boxing match
at the MEN arena in Manchester, northern England, September 6, 2008.
REUTERS/Nigel Roddis (BRITAIN)

Frankie, as a trainer, what advice would you give Khan at this point?

[kikibalt]

Britain's Amir Khan lies on the canvas after being knocked out by Colombia's
Breidis Prescott during their WBO Intercontinetal lightweight title boxing match
at the MEN arena in Manchester, northern England, September 6, 2008.
REUTERS/Nigel Roddis (BRITAIN)

Frankie, as a trainer, what advice would you give Khan at this point?

Don't know Bennie, as I only seen him fight one time and he gets ko, but look at the pic.
above and you can see that his hands are very low and his chin up in the air, he might
have been hurt at that point, but never the less it is something that he is going to have
to work on if he is going anywhere in the game, I always taught my boys to keep their
elbows close to their rids, hands close to their face. he does look like he has the basic fundamentals, the chin I don't know.

[kikibalt]

Bennie, look at Tony (L) at a young age, see where his right hand is?
That by the way is at the El Monte Legion.

[kikibalt]

Caption by Diego

I've just been notified by The Museum Of The Living Artist in Balboa Park,San Diego that my portraits of Joe Louis have been selected to be exhibited at the gallry for the month of September. I want to thank Joe Louis for the inspiration.

[enrique]

Reading the post on boxing in the classroom reminded me of how I got into boxing.

When I was a kid in Cuba before and during the beginning of the transition to Castro, I attended a private school in Havana that was located next to a big gym that had gymnastics, judo, bodybuiling and a boxing gym where several amateurs and pros trained, one being a handsome black teen named Angel Robinson Garcia.

I will not digress. It was the policy of my school that all male high school students took boxing lessons as part of their curriculum, taught by a little Spaniard named Fillo Echevarria, who had fought four world champs including Kid Chocolate.

For sixth graders like me, when a sandlot fight would break out, Fillo would take us to the gym next door and put on big training gloves. Nobody got hurt and all the kids enjoyed the show.

Now, I was a skinny -120 pound- sixth grader with glasses who would rather be reading a Sherlock Holmes novel than doing anything physical.
One fateful day I got into a shoving match with a kid named Jorge Luis and ... Voila! Next thing I know I'm at the Villar Kelly ring and Fillo is lacing me up. A dozen or more classmates cheered either one.

I scored my first victory and lost my boxing virginity. Caught the bug. It was very cool.

Boxing is now being taught at the high school level in the Bahamas. They have a population of less than a quarter million but boxing has a tradition -Obed, Yama Bahama, Andros Ernie Barr etc- and the islands have a developing amateur program and a few pro cards every year.
The school system in the Bahamas even hired some former fighters to coach in six different schools. I believe Bert Perry -a competent journeyman in his day- is the ex pug in charge of the program.

[kikibalt]

Enrique,

Do you know Pedro Laza?

[Expug]

After finding out Kenny Lane had four fights after he turned 50, I started thinking, Hmmmm. What if? Okay, so I'm about 220 right now and getting grayer by the minute. I fought at welterweight but maybe I can make 175. I mean anything's possible, right. So at dinner last night night I said to my wife Jeri "Honey, do you think I'm to old to fight again?" After she stopped choking, or maybe she was laughing, I couldn't quite tell, she said "Don't even think it!" followed by "The look". So just like that my dreams of boxing immortality were shattered, by my own wife no less! Am I the only guy that still thinks like that?

You arent the only one who thinks like that Randy.
Fighting is hard to get out of your system.
I think once you are a fighter you are always one at heart.
Its a good thing. A great thing.I think about fighting all the time.
Go to the gym Randy. Spend some time hitting the bags , get on the rope , a couple months in , jump in the ring and spar a little.
See how you feel.If you feel good, take a four rounder.
See, Im the wrong guy to ask. Age doesnt mean anything to me.

Pug
You'll like this. One of my first teaching assignments was at a high school that had a lot of bused in kids from South East San Diego. Well my assignment was the "O" Class. "O" stood for Opportunity. In other words,it was a class for all the kids that the school didn't want to suspend,but put with me they could collect money for them "being" in school. But it wasn't much of a class. The old metal shop room with the windows blacked out. They wanted those kids to sit there for 6 hours and not talk. There were no books. Nothing for them to do.

Well I used to tell them my stories like the ones I post on the Thread. After a while,kids were getting thrown out of class so they could be in my "O" Class. I used to keep a couple of pairs of boxing gloves nailed to the wall. One time a kid asks,"What's up with the boxing gloves?"
I answered that it was my "discipline policy."

Well I'd always get the wise guy who wanted to go with me. Hell the room was in the "boon docks". No one gave a shit. Hell Esty is with them. He'll take care of things. When some dude wanted to test me,we'd clear the desks to the wall,and me and Mr. Wise Guy would lace them up. What I'd usually do is let the kid get some in on my gloves and elbows,then WHAM. A few nice combinations and I'd have him doubled over.

But here's the thing Pug. It always turned out all right. It was almost like a real boxing match. The kids were impressed ,and I never hurt a kid. They knew I could,but I never went that far. It got to the point that just about all the big kids wanted to spar with me in that"O" Class. I made a lot of friends with those kids. They were always getting in trouble,but I looked at them as being regular kids who didn't have the advantages of most of the others that went to that school.

Then the Principal found out what was going on and shut things down. He chewed me out. I told him that the class was a form of counseling and it was working. He told me if those kids needed counseling,he'd send them to a psychiatrist.

You know,that Principal needed to see the shrink.

Those kids were learning important lessons from you Rog.Including respect.
Its natural for boys to learn these lessons through boxing, wrestling, football , etc.
Were males, this is the way we are programed.
I bet that principal wouldnt remind anybody of John Wayne.