Pacific Northwest: Amateur Boxing, Yesterday & Today

[Zelley]

The important link in the past was the four key Golden Gloves Tournaments in
British Columbia, Tacoma & Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

I had the opportunity to compete in five Golden Gloves tournaments in 1967 and 1968.

In the Fall 1983 issue of the "Vancouver Island Amateur Boxing Newsletter" a flashback on the history of the Newcastle Boxing Club of Nanaimo BC briefly touched on my 1967
performance in the Golden Gloves in Vancouver as following:
Bout one: Brian Zelley win over Vern Fouth (Calgary)
Bout two: win over Steve Flajole (Seattle)
Bout three: loss to Wayne Boyce (Vancouver)

In 1968, two of my bouts were against Portland's own Ray Lampkin
including the Tacoma Golden Gloves and the finals of the Seattle Golden Gloves.

Over the years there were many fine boxers to compete in the Golden Gloves action.

And who could forget the likes of Chuck Lincoln and Portland's Knot Street Boxing Club
with excellent boxers such as Mike Colbert, Lampkin and Thad Spencer.
Or, the Tacoma Boxing Club with the likes of Sugar Ray Seales and Leo Randolph
under the likes of Joe Clough. Then there was Seattle with scores of boxers such as
Wes Craven and Boone Kirkman.

At one time there was even a Vancouver Island Golden Gloves such as 1954 which was
co-sponsored by the "Victoria Daily Times" and the Greater Victoria Amateur Boxing Association. The various winners included Trent Ketchison of the Royal Canadian Navy.
The Golden Boy award went to Bert Wilkinson of Victoria. The trophies were presented
by Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Clarence Wallace.

[Monique]

Hi, I was wonderig if you know where/how I can find a full list of Golden Gloves recipients. I am looking for a recipient by the name of Gordon Lawson/Larson. He was a recipient of the golden gloves award in the 60's. He was living in the Vancouver area at the time. If you or anyone else would be able to help me that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Monique

[DCAmateurBoxing]

Hi, I was wonderig if you know where/how I can find a full list of Golden Gloves recipients. I am looking for a recipient by the name of Gordon Lawson/Larson. He was a recipient of the golden gloves award in the 60's. He was living in the Vancouver area at the time. If you or anyone else would be able to help me that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Monique

The National GG Champs are listed here, but I don't see that name: http://www.goldengloves.com/history/ Maybe he was a local champion.

[boxmel]

He was a recipient of the golden gloves award in the 60's. He was living in the Vancouver area at the time.

DCA - she was asking about a Canadian Golden Gloves winner - not one who competed in the U.S. So his name wouldn't be on the listing of US Golden Gloves champions. Canada has their own Golden Gloves in B.C. and anyone who boxed in the Tacoma or Seattle GG would not have advanced to the U.S. GG championships. And, IF they did, (yes, Canadians did compete until some years ago - mostly those from the east coast), they never won a championship.

[Zelley]

Hi, I was wonderig if you know where/how I can find a full list of Golden Gloves recipients. I am looking for a recipient by the name of Gordon Lawson/Larson. He was a recipient of the golden gloves award in the 60's. He was living in the Vancouver area at the time. If you or anyone else would be able to help me that would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Monique

I remember Gordie Lawson from 1969 when we both belonged to the the Firefighters
Boxing Club in Vancouver, BC. As editor of the BC Amateur News in 1984, I prepared a "Flashbacks" article in the May 1984 issue concerning the years 1970 to 1974. In the listing of
boxers from British Columbia, I have Gordie Lawson listed.

The Five Golden Boys in the BC Golden Gloves were Canadians Buzz Montour, Willie Benalli,
and Lorne Daigneault, and USA boxers Dale Grant and John Sullivan. In 1972, Willie Benalli was a relative unknown 'First Nations boxer from Creston in the light-middleweight division.
Willie earned the Golden Boy award with convincing wins over well known boxers
George Angelomatis (Northwest Eagles) and Gordie Lawson (Firefighters).
In the two day competition, the BENALLI vs LAWSON bout was selected as the best bout.

Another interesting slice of boxing trivia, is in 1984 Canadian Boxer Dale WALTERS would win
a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. At the time, George Angelomatis was one
of his coaches. Also, before the Canadian team left for LA, they were training at the
Training Centre in Burnaby, BC. One of those boxers was LENNOX LEWIS.

Monique, I welcome hearing about your interest in my old teammate Gordie Lawson.

[boxmel]

At the time, George Angelomatis was one of his coaches.

Hey, Zelley - nice to see the name of BC coaches I know pop up. George, and Alex, used to bring Astoria boxers to the Blue & Gold when I was the tournament coordinator. I met many of your Sask and west coaches and athletes over the years. And don't see them any more since the demise of the B&G. If you run into George, please tell him Melanie and Rick said hello!

[Zelley]

At the time, George Angelomatis was one of his coaches.

Hey, Zelley - nice to see the name of BC coaches I know pop up. George, and Alex, used to bring Astoria boxers to the Blue & Gold when I was the tournament coordinator. I met many of your Sask and west coaches and athletes over the years. And don't see them any more since the demise of the B&G. If you run into George, please tell him Melanie and Rick said hello!

Recently, a former amateur ring official Rick Brough died on Vancouver Island.
He had reported on some boxing activity in our former "Sportscaster" weekly sports
newspaper. One related to a 1980's event.
Not sure, but it may have been in February 1982 at Alturas, California
when Boxers from Victoria's Jaycee Boxing Club and the Victoria Athletics
boxing club participated in a boxing show hosted by the Alturas' Rotary Club.
Victoria coaches of the two clubs included Orr, DeLuca, Caird and Ballendine.
The Tournament Director was Joe Dees.

One of the bouts included Victoria's Gary Robinson and Nevada's Thurman Dressler.
In a featherweight bout, Avery Lopez (California) faced Victoria's Cliff Ballendine.

[boxmel]

Victoria coaches of the two clubs included Orr

That was before I got into boxing, but Donnie and his dad did come to the Blue & Gold one year where Donnie won the 165 Lb. championship and promptly celebrated by getting quite happy at the hotel bar.

[Zelley]

Although I didn't compete in Golden Gloves Action until 1967, I have the list of champions
in the 1966 Tacoma, Portland and Vanvouver (BC) Golden Glove Tournamentss Of the various champions, I had defeated Bobby Kacer in a club show in 1965.

Champions (Hopefully, the names are spelled correctly):
Tacoma: Robert Dixon, Ken McDonald, Bob Kacer, Tommy Boyce,
Ralph Ungricht, Ernie Ivery, Jim Spracher, Hugh Lindsay, Larry Davidson, and L J Wheeler.

Portland: John Cowan, Ken McDonald, Roger Adolph, Tommy Boyce, Fred Fuller,
Tony Jacob, John Howard, Bill Cross, Wes Craven and Andy Nacosti.

Vancouver: Frank Scott, Ken McDonald, Fred Wellman, Tommy Boyce, Dick Findlay,
Fred Desrosiers, Bill Dye, Hugh Lindsay, Wes Craven and L J Wheeler.

In the February 1984 issue of BC Amateur Boxing News in a section called "Coaches' Corner"
there was a piece by Bob Decker, coach of Vancouver's Shamrock Boxing Club)
He was reporting on a club show in Seattle held at the Norway Center

In a closing comment, Bob stated: "I would encourage all BC coaches to seek out
competition south of the border to develop their boxers. In the Sixties, Decker was involved in Boxing in Seattle. I had the opportunity to face his boxer Neil Knight in a special bout
In 1968, Knight was selected as the 1969 BC Golden Boy.

For very old PNW amateur boxers or fans, some earlier BC Golden Boys
1939: Phil Vickery, 1947: Eddie Haddad 1958: Harold Mann and 1960: Al Curtis.

[Monique]

Hi Zelly ! Thanks so much for replying to my post, this is very exciting for me, you have no idea. Do you have any idea where Gordie is now? How is he doing and if there's some way I can get ahold of him? I would absolutely appreciate anything that you can help me with :) thanks so much, you have given me hope !

Waiting in anticipation...
Monique

[Zelley]

Hi Zelly ! Thanks so much for replying to my post, this is very exciting for me, you have no idea. Do you have any idea where Gordie is now? How is he doing and if there's some way I can get ahold of him? I would absolutely appreciate anything that you can help me with :) thanks so much, you have given me hope !

Waiting in anticipation...
Monique

Monique

Sorry, I don't know where he is today.
My understanding is he turned pro and had a number of bouts including the Eighties.

I have posted a new thread on Gordie. Hopefully somebody may know
more details. Wondering what your connection to Gordie is :??

In an early post, I mention the Golden Boy for the 1960 BC Golden Gloves was
Victoria Boxer Al Curtis. The show was hosted by the Vancouver Optimists
and was held at Vancouver's Garden Auditorium.
Champions include: Tommy Black, Tony Lalich, Mickey Mazur,
Winnie Schelt, Bill Tsuchia, Bill (Curley) Adams, Bob Ginnetti,
Al Curtis, Lindy Lindmoser and Paddy Clark.

Some of the other folks that I knew that competed were Skimp Williams, Gordie McGaw,
Gordon Rabey, Mike Caird, and Danny McDonald.

In 1964,I won my division in a Vancouver Island tournament. My head cornerman
for my two bouts in the same night was Skimp Williams. To this day, Skimp was
my best ever cornerman, in that he told me what styles to use for each bout,
and between rounds he provided the perfect winning strategies.
In the 1960 Golden Gloves, Williams won two special trophies including
Most Aggressive and Best Bout in a contest against Frank Jordison.

[Monique]

Hi Zelly, wow I'm learning a lot about boxing :) My interest in finding Gordie stems from another angle, I was hoping though that if I follow this angle I may be able to find/contact him somehow. If you like you can e-mail me and I will tell you why,([email protected]) I don't want to leave certain info on any public topic board. I absolutely appreciate all your help so far and I am hoping that one day I/we can find him. Have a great day, and thank you so much.
Monique

[Zelley]

Hi Zelly, wow I'm learning a lot about boxing :) My interest in finding Gordie stems from another angle, I was hoping though that if I follow this angle I may be able to find/contact him somehow. If you like you can e-mail me and I will tell you why,([email protected]) I don't want to leave certain info on any public topic board. I absolutely appreciate all your help so far and I am hoping that one day I/we can find him. Have a great day, and thank you so much.
Monique

Monique
I'm pleased that you are learning a little bit about BC Amateur Boxing.

It is a shame Boxing BC doesn't include a detailed history section on their web site.
Likewise, some of the boxing clubs have websites, but it is primarily about
the hear and now.
And the CABA site is another that has very little history on their site.

Sad thing is that many organizations have thousands of unsung heroes.
It seems only a select few are recognized. while thousands of stories
remain untold or are quickly forgotten.

[Monique]

Yes Zelly, that really is a shame....hopefully that will one day be rectified!! Everyone deserves to be recogonized for their accomplishments!

Have a nice evening
Monique

[Dancin' Dan]

Speaking Pac Northwest - yesterday and today...

Gotta mention Bulldog Boxing in Medford, Oregon. Small rural town has developed a multiple National Super Heavyweight champ in Mike Wilson, Olympic Mexican heavyweight Javier Torres and nationally rated Troy Wohosky. Still waiting to hear news of Mike Wilson turning pro. Not the biggest guy but very talented (he beat several of the current "upcoming pros" including Travis Kaufman and Travis Walker (among many others) if memory serves me right. Wish someone would promote these guys professionally in Southern Oregon.

[jessi dawg]

This is Javier Torres him self and i just wanted to thank you for the postive comments

[Dancin' Dan]

Javier - PMed you. Good luck to the Bulldog boxing guys!

Other great amateurs who turned pro that were mentioned on another thread...

Moyer Brothers, Leo Randolph, James "Baby" Manning, Joey Leblinc (who beat Pernel Whitaker as a amateur), Greg Haugen, Brett Summers - sure there are many more ('er I'm too young to know)

[Zelley]

Javier - PMed you. Good luck to the Bulldog boxing guys!

Other great amateurs who turned pro that were mentioned on another thread...

Moyer Brothers, Leo Randolph, James "Baby" Manning, Joey Leblinc (who beat Pernel Whitaker as a amateur), Greg Haugen, Brett Summers - sure there are many more ('er I'm too young to know)

Yes there were many more from Oregon to British Columbia including Sugar Ray Seales.
After an excellent amateur record, he turned pro in 1972. In his first year he had 13 fights from
Tacoma to San Fransisco. On his victories was a victory over Dave Coventry, Dave was from England, but moved to Canada. In 1968, Dave assisted in the corner of one of my bouts
in the Portland Golden Gloves

Denny Moyer was one of the best PNW boxers. How many remember his three fights with Emile Griffith. Of the three, Denny defeated Emile in the 1960 bout in Portland, Oregon.

Some names to remember from the Sixties: Thad Spencer, Eddie Cotton, Boone Kirkman
and Ritchie Sue. Then there were those many Golden Glovers such as
the 1950 British Columbia Golden Gloves' champions including:
Mike McMurtry, Bob McGiven, Leo Logan, Don Codville, Barnie Grace,
Tom Palmer,Bob Shires and Billy Stone, or Billy Pinkus, the 1951 Diamond Boy
in British Columbia.

[babyhuey]

Javier - PMed you. Good luck to the Bulldog boxing guys!

Other great amateurs who turned pro that were mentioned on another thread...

Moyer Brothers, Leo Randolph, James "Baby" Manning, Joey Leblinc (who beat Pernel Whitaker as a amateur), Greg Haugen, Brett Summers - sure there are many more ('er I'm too young to know)

Yes there were many more from Oregon to British Columbia including Sugar Ray Seales.
After an excellent amateur record, he turned pro in 1972. In his first year he had 13 fights from
Tacoma to San Fransisco. On his victories was a victory over Dave Coventry, Dave was from England, but moved to Canada. In 1968, Dave assisted in the corner of one of my bouts
in the Portland Golden Gloves

Denny Moyer was one of the best PNW boxers. How many remember his three fights with Emile Griffith. Of the three, Denny defeated Emile in the 1960 bout in Portland, Oregon.

Some names to remember from the Sixties: Thad Spencer, Eddie Cotton, Boone Kirkman
and Ritchie Sue. Then there were those many Golden Glovers such as
the 1950 British Columbia Golden Gloves' champions including:
Mike McMurtry, Bob McGiven, Leo Logan, Don Codville, Barnie Grace,
Tom Palmer,Bob Shires and Billy Stone, or Billy Pinkus, the 1951 Diamond Boy
in British Columbia.

ALSO-
steve 2pound forbes, ray lampkin, dick wagner, andy minsker, guy villagas, david banks

[Zelley]

Some names to remember from the Sixties: Thad Spencer, Eddie Cotton, Boone Kirkman
and Ritchie Sue. Then there were those many Golden Glovers such as
the 1950 British Columbia Golden Gloves' champions including:
Mike McMurtry, Bob McGiven, Leo Logan, Don Codville, Barnie Grace,
Tom Palmer,Bob Shires and Billy Stone, or Billy Pinkus, the 1951 Diamond Boy
in British Columbia.

ALSO-
steve 2pound forbes, ray lampkin, dick wagner, andy minsker, guy villagas, david banks

Thanks for remembering Ray Lampkin. I had the privilege of facing Lampkin
in the 1968 Tacoma Golden Gloves and the finals of the 1968 Seattle Golden Gloves
(for the USA boxers it served as the Pacific Northwest AAU Chmpionship.

Lampkin was from the former Knott Street Boxing Club in Portland.
Some other names include Michael Colbert, Bill Cross, Johnny Howard,
Pete Gonazlez and many more. Sadly, Johnny Howard died young,
but that is a story for the tragic stories in boxing.

Some of the BC Golden Gloves champions in 1939 and 1940 include:
Ken Lindsay, Phil Vickery, Alan Dunn, Jack Patterson and others.
then there were some interesting champions of 1948:
Elio Ius, Jerris Jamel, Jim Langston, Sammy May, Eddie Haddad, Ken McPhee,
Ray Baxter and Len Walters.

[babyhuey]

Some names to remember from the Sixties: Thad Spencer, Eddie Cotton, Boone Kirkman
and Ritchie Sue. Then there were those many Golden Glovers such as
the 1950 British Columbia Golden Gloves' champions including:
Mike McMurtry, Bob McGiven, Leo Logan, Don Codville, Barnie Grace,
Tom Palmer,Bob Shires and Billy Stone, or Billy Pinkus, the 1951 Diamond Boy
in British Columbia.

ALSO-
steve 2pound forbes, ray lampkin, dick wagner, andy minsker, guy villagas, david banks

Thanks for remembering Ray Lampkin. I had the privilege of facing Lampkin
in the 1968 Tacoma Golden Gloves and the finals of the 1968 Seattle Golden Gloves
(for the USA boxers it served as the Pacific Northwest AAU Chmpionship.

Lampkin was from the former Knott Street Boxing Club in Portland.
Some other names include Michael Colbert, Bill Cross, Johnny Howard,
Pete Gonazlez and many more. Sadly, Johnny Howard died young,
but that is a story for the tragic stories in boxing.

Some of the BC Golden Gloves champions in 1939 and 1940 include:
Ken Lindsay, Phil Vickery, Alan Dunn, Jack Patterson and others.
then there were some interesting champions of 1948:
Elio Ius, Jerris Jamel, Jim Langston, Sammy May, Eddie Haddad, Ken McPhee,
Ray Baxter and Len Walters.

ray is still around doing his thing, ray is a good guy, the bad news is his son little ray lampkin had what his dad said was, "more talent then i did", big ray said he had to work hard for what he had, little ray was just born with talent,
ray jr. just lost making the olympic team and the final fight was lost on the scale,
ray had less then 30 amateur fights but was south paw had tons of talent,
he just dident seem like he could get his head together.... however ray nephew marcus pernell had the heart but not quite the talent as little ray,
but marcus is a real stand up guy.
too bad there is not a way to merge little rays talent with marcus's head and work ethic,
i have been around big ray quite a bit at various boxing events,
the last time i saw big ray was at a amateur show at chinook winds in lincoln city beach,
roberto duran was also there signing autographs,
roberto and ray were hanging out, so duran not knowing that i already knew ray said to me,
"meet my friend ray lampkin"... "i think ray beat me in a fight once"..."but i cant remember" and they were both laughting...lol....
zelley, are you involved in the amateur scene at all ?

[Zelley]

ray is still around doing his thing, ray is a good guy, the bad news is his son little ray lampkin had what his dad said was, "more talent then i did", big ray said he had to work hard for what he had, little ray was just born with talent,
ray jr. just lost making the olympic team and the final fight was lost on the scale,
ray had less then 30 amateur fights but was south paw had tons of talent,
he just dident seem like he could get his head together.... however ray nephew marcus pernell had the heart but not quite the talent as little ray,
but marcus is a real stand up guy.
too bad there is not a way to merge little rays talent with marcus's head and work ethic,
i have been around big ray quite a bit at various boxing events,
the last time i saw big ray was at a amateur show at chinook winds in lincoln city beach,
roberto duran was also there signing autographs,
roberto and ray were hanging out, so duran not knowing that i already knew ray said to me,
"meet my friend ray lampkin"... "i think ray beat me in a fight once"..."but i cant remember" and they were both laughting...lol....
zelley, are you involved in the amateur scene at all ?

At the present time, I am not involved in amateur boxing.
My main time period spanned 1963 to 1986, and 1990 to 1992.

I like the Duran comment about Lampkin beat me in a fight once. Of course,
in the actual fight, Ray was winning the fight, but being from the Pacific Northwest
it was tough to deal with the Panama sun and heat. It is case of, if only. If only
the fight was held in-doors, it is likely Lampkin would have defeated Duran.
But, then again, who knows how the judging would have played-out.

Back in his days as an amateur, in 1968 Lampkin was fast and relied on
counter punching. In my first bout with Ray at Tacoma in 1968, I remember
being on the receiving end of a well timed left hook preceded by a perfect
right hand feint. He feinted, and I weaved into a thumping left hook.
For some reason, he didn't follow-up with a right hand after the left hook.

In 1983, I prepared two Vancouver Island Amateur Boxing newsletters as part of an attempt
to get the various clubs working together with the Island ring official. The end result
was a Vancouver Island Championship that had last been done in 1964. The next think
I was elected to the position of BC newsletter editor that lasted a few years. One of the
editions was a special issue following the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. In the issue, I mentioned 36 folks that provided help in the 1983/1984 seasons newslettersé
Some key well known names in amateur boxing cirles included
Bert Lowes, Jerry Shears J and Joe Webb.

My last major written piece in amateur boxing was an op-ed piece titled
"Counterpunch for boxing" in 1992" it was a comeback piece following
criticism of the sport of boxing in the lead-up to the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

In the 11 th. and final paragraph I closed with a moral statement:
"Some of the negative images of professional boxing will guarantee
that the call to ban boxing will continue. However, the violence of boxing
is a controlled and socially acceptable activity. The anti-boxing zealots would
better serve society by putting their negative energy into building society
by reducing poverty, racism, and crime." - Zelley, 1992.

In the Winter 1984/1985 special edition, I payed tribute to 120 past and present
ring official involved in amateur boxing. Some of the names that should be remembered
on a North American or International basis include the late Fred Fuller Sr., Ron Whalley,
Bert Lowes, and Dave Brown. One of the best ring officials was the late Rick Brough.
He should have been an AIBA officials, but sadly the politics of boxing denied him the chance.
I guess he wasn't one of the good old boys from the Greater Vancouver area.

[babyhuey]

i have zero interest in getting involved in usa boxing other then as a local boxing coach,
even just the limited expierence i have witnessed in reguards to the politics have left enuff of a bad taste in my mouth that i want nothing to do with it,
all i know is i love the sport and enjoy working with the pee wees in the gym.
zelley, with all your knowlegde i would be nice to have you around again, even if its a local boxing coach, not every kid is going to make the olympic team, but every kid who works in the gym leaves with something they can fall back on later in life,
one of my first pee wees boxers joined the army and is fighting in afganistan right now,
he stays in contact and gives the boxing program credit for getting his life together and doing something hes proud of.
so ya, i leave the politics for the politicians, i do my thing with the kids.

[jrow72]

I have been thinkin about joining grand avanue gym in portland as my new gym. David Banks was a friend of mine before he went big time and he tried to get me to join, I was just more into mma at the time and was training for it. Now my focus has switched over after training with the great Andy Minsker. Who in my mind is one of the best ever to come out of portland period.

[babyhuey]

I have been thinkin about joining grand avanue gym in portland as my new gym. David Banks was a friend of mine before he went big time and he tried to get me to join, I was just more into mma at the time and was training for it. Now my focus has switched over after training with the great Andy Minsker. Who in my mind is one of the best ever to come out of portland period.

i had my pro fights under fred and george at the grand, george is my dude and a great trainer,
i sparred with david banks back in my day, and hes only gotten better,
this was a promo video i did for a friend to get david some attention, it worked because after he fought manfredo fred said he emailed this video to everyone in boxing and the contender oppertunity came up soon after...
heres the link- oviously im the white guy interviewing david
LINK- CUT AND PASTE-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCDYpg3lqMU

there are alot of good boxers and sparring at the grand, i met andy minsker for the first time earlier this year, you must be doing the mma thing at braveheart, my friend and myself were training nate coy for his fight with mike pierce for the sport fight title,
andys plan was for mike to box nate as they were both wrestlers,
we dident know andy was training nate and his plan....andy also dident know ours,
we also thought we would take the advantage using nate to box, so thats what we trained him to do,
i dont know if you were there at sportfight and saw the fight or not, but both these wrestlers boxed on there feet for 5-5 minute rounds, it ended up being a good stand up fight with our guy getting the win and the title, so later after the fight we see andy down in the locker room
now andy knew my friend clayton hires from there old boxing days,
but i dont believe andy knew nate had 2 boxing coaches training him,
so when i introduced myself to andy i gave him my card from my gym and he just laughted because he thought he was coming to the fight to fight nate the wrestler, not nate the boxer...
andy seemed like a cool cat, and your right... he was one of the best boxers to come out of oregon,
andy is the last (male) boxer from oregon to win the national golden gloves,
(female boxer molly mcconnell won a few yrs back)
andy lost in the finals to the great meldrick taylor for the olympic team spot,
andy would have had a great pro career but a consistant right hand injury set him back.