Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Randyman]

I was speaking to Don Fraser yesterday and he told me that Gwen Adair call him to invite him to go to the WBHOF as her guest (date?), but, he too is not feeling too good, he told her that he would let her know later on in the week, then he told something that I found very interesting, he said that us old guys are sitting in "God's waiting room", how true.....

Frank, I called your house this morning. No answer. I'm concerned about you my friend. I'll be calling again. As with the rest of the guys, I'm disappointed that you won't be attending but more importantly Frank, we all just want you to take care of yourself and get better.

And no more talk about "God's waiting room" from you or Don!!

I also want you to know we are all keeping you in our prayers!!

[Expug]

Funny how when I met Floyd at a concert I was working backstage at,(Beyonce) he wasnt quite as friendly and accomadating.
Cant figure that one out.
I actually thought I was gonna have a problem with him and his security/posse.

[Expug]

I was speaking to Don Fraser yesterday and he told me that Gwen Adair call him to invite him to go to the WBHOF as her guest (date?), but, he too is not feeling too good, he told her that he would let her know later on in the week, then he told something that I found very interesting, he said that us old guys are sitting in "God's waiting room", how true.....

Frank, I called your house this morning. No answer. I'm concerned about you my friend. I'll be calling again. As with the rest of the guys, I'm disappointed that you won't be attending but more importantly Frank, we all just want you to take care of yourself and get better.

And no more talk about "God's waiting room" from you or Don!!

I also want you to know we are all keeping you in our prayers!!

Yes indeed.Im sad I wontbe able to meet you at the banquet Frank.But most importantly I hope you feel better.

Oh wait, Uncle John said hes coming over.I guess I'll tag along with him. ;;-)

[kikibalt]

In this April 27, 2006, file photo, British boxing promoter
allegedly seen at a press conference in London.
Lennox Lewis has advised the unbeaten Joe Calzaghe
to quit after beating Roy Jones Jr. while allegedly,
the Welshman's former promoter, believes he will fight on.

[raylawpc]

delete

[Randyman]

Which one is Sweden, Ray?

Apparently, I am not the only geographically challenged member on this thread.

Randy

[raylawpc]

Albert Griffiths (Young Griffo) claimant to the world feather title. Was once reputed to have stood in ring centre and not moved during the round. His opponent didn't land one punch. He was drunk at the time. Doc Kearns paid for his funeral to save him from being buried in a pauper's grave


It was actually Tex Rickard who paid for his funeral.

Its an amusing story: In the last years of his life, Griffo made his way in life by begging outside theaters in NYC, and living on a mattress in somebody's basement.

When he died, people just assumed he was penniless. Rickard paid for his funeral, and got some good press for his benevolence. Then it was discovered that Griffo had a couple of thousand dollars squirreled away in a bank account. Rickard filed a claim against Griffo's estate to try and get his money back.

I'm sure Griffo would have gotten a kick out of putting it over on a promoter one last time.

What would two thousand dollars be worth back then?[/quote]

It would have been worth $2,000.

But $25,000 today is the equivalent in value of $2,000 then. (Griffo died in 1927.)[/quote]

[kikibalt]

Arthur stops Marquez to retain IBF middleweight title
Published by BoxingInsider
Sunday, November 9th.

King Arthur Abraham cruised to an uncontested seventh-round TKO victory over Raul Marquez in Bamberg on Saturday night. The undefeated IBF middleweight champion (28-0, 23 KOs) used his explosiveness and punching power to wear the mandatory challenger down. After absorbing numerous heavy shots throughout, Marquez quit on his stool after the sixth round. “That was another great performance by Arthur,” coach Ulli Wegner lauded. “He fought very cleverly. There is nobody in the middleweight division who can beat him.”

Abraham could count on some special support this time out as he was fighting in front of a ferocious sell-out crowd in his home city. With 6.000 fans in the arena and famous German TV entertainer Oliver Pocher, who carried the IBF belt, in his corner, King Arthur put on a show from the first bell on. Unlike in other fights when he used to start slowly, he rocked Marquez with a couple of big hands in the first round. “That was our game plan,” Abraham revealed. “I wanted to make my presence known to Marquez. I wanted to impress him early for him to stay on the back foot.”

The tactics worked, with Abraham continuously firing in heavy combinations in the following. Soon Marquez´ face was badly marked, and after King Arthur landed two punishing rights, a cut opened above the challenger’s right eye. The 37-year-old tried to fight back but most of his shots were absorbed by Abraham´s defense. In the sixth, King Arthur turned it on and caught his opponent in the ropes with a few heavy combinations. It was too much for the brave challenger (41-4, 29 KOs), who would not come out for the seventh round. “There was no need to continue,” he explained. “My family is in my corner and they did not want me to get further punishment. I hit him with my best shots but he is a very strong guy. He punches very hard and very precisely. He really is a great champion.” While Abraham admitted he was “disappointed not to grant his home fans a more spectacular ending”, Wegner praised Marquez´ corner for their decision. “It was the right thing to do,” he said. “Marquez would have been knocked out badly very soon.” Abraham was full of praise for his opponent, who announced his retirement in the ring. “He is a great fighter and a great person and it would be nice if there were more boxers like him out there.”

Next up for King Arthur could be a unification clash with either Felix Sturm or Kelly Pavlik. “We are still very interested in making the Sturm fight happen,” manager Wilfried Sauerland said. “But it would have to happen either in February or March because Arthur wants to fight Kelly Pavlik next summer to determine the super-champion. After winning that fight Arthur will then move up to super-middleweight.” King Arthur even stated he would fight Sturm for free. “Everybody in Germany wants to see the fight. I am ready. Money does not matter. This is about the honour.” Asked about how the all-German showdown would end, Marquez said: “Abraham will win by KO.”

On the undercard, Enad Licina (15-1, 9 KOs) clinched the IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight Title with a third-round KO victory over Otis Griffin (19-4, 7 KOs). The 28-year-old German fired in heavy combinations to dust his opponent twice, with a strong left hook sealing the American´s fate. “I am very pleased with my performance, today was my day,” Licina smiled afterwards. “I have worked very hard with my coach Manfred Wolke and it paid off today. I expected a tougher fight but I am happy about the outcome.” Added Wolke: “He has a lot of potential and I have no doubts Enad will make his way to the top.” Also on Saturday night, middleweight hopeful Dominik Britsch (11-0, 4 KOs) scored an uncontested points victory over Amar Amari.

[kikibalt]

Tom Sharkey

By Diego

Men of Iron: Tom Sharkey
Published by BoxingInsider

By L.L. Roberts

Tom Sharkey was born and raised in Ireland of the 1880’s. Already a hard lad, a stint in the U.S. Navy toughened him still further, and prepared him for the prize ring, an even more brutal career in 1893 than now. Managed by Dan Lynch, and equipped with a strong left and battleship-steel chin. Sharkey started out in Hawaii knocking over whatever competition presented itself. In 1894 he invaded California with a record of fourteen straight KO’s against mostly mediocre opponents and inside two years added five more, one over the tough veteran, Australian Billy Smith.

In ‘98, after a tuneup fight with Sailor Brown, he was matched with 28-year-old Joe Choynski, a clever boxer who had not suffered a loss since 1891. It proved to be a terrible mismatch as Choynski dominated the action from the opening bell, attacking the stocky sailor without mercy. But try as he might, the battle-wise San Franciscan could not stop Tom Sharkey. At one point he managed to drive him through the ropes with a flurry of blows, but the Irishman merely clenched his teeth and climbed back in. When he could bore in close to the taller man, Sharkey would flail away at his lean mid-section with savage lefts and rights, but Choynski would push away and smash him at long range. Joe hit him with every ounce of strength he possessed, and it was considerable, but Sharkey would not yield. Blows which had finished other iron men like Jack Fallon and Mike Boden failed him now. Finally, the bell sounded and the bout was awarded to the bloody ex-seaman as per contract.

There followed a draw with the boxing master, Jim Corbett, and a three-round show with old John L. Sullivan that ended in a no-decision. Then came the match with top contender Bob Fitzsimmons, in which Tom was given a hard lesson. For seven rounds he strove mightily to plow through Fitzsimmons’ defense, once he managed to hurt the Cornishman, but as usual the punishment was one-sided and in the eighth Sharkey went down from a terrific blow to the lower midsection. Many claimed the blow to have been below the belt, and the referee, Wyatt Earp, awarded the bout to Tom on a foul, though he was unaware of it at the time.

A draw with fellow Irisher Peter Maher, in New York, four quick knockouts in Britain and a six-round stoppage of the Barrier champion, Joe Goddard, put him near the top of the heap and set up a rematch with Joe Choynski, who had been aching for a chance to remove a blot from his reputation. The match proved nothing, ending in a draw. Again the hard-punching Californian had been unable to administer a finishing stroke, and this time he had taken as much as he had dished out. It was Sharkey’s 34th bout without a loss, and only one man stood in his way - Jim Jeffries!

The twenty rounds in San Francisco with Jim Jeffries firmly established Tom Sharkey’s reputation as an iron man. Outweighed by moe than twenty pounds, he took the fight to the Boilermaker in the early going and even managed to bull Jeff around the ring. For sixty minutes, broken at intervals of three minutes, Tom Sharkey and Jim Jeffries fought toe-to-toe at ring center. It was a battle of attrition; two great iron-clad warships hurling explosive shells at each other without thought of surrender. Through the last few rounds the tide turned in Jeff’s favor as he landed again and again with murderous left hooks and right uppercuts to the smaller man’s rock-like head. The remaining seconds expired with both men in a state of complete physical and mental exhaustion. When the referee called the two battlers to his side, it was big Jeff’s thick right arm that was raised in victory amidst cries of protest from Sharkey’s supporters.

Tom was more determined than ever to win the heavyweight title, especially when he saw Jeffries go on to win the crown from his old foe, Bob Fitzsimmons. So he set about establishing himself as the number one contender, stopping big Gus Ruhlin in one round, winning against Jim Corbett, and knocking out wily Kid McCoy and Jack McCormick. But all of his efforts were to prove futile. Jeff still stood in his way.

Jeffries always considered his second battle with Tom Sharkey the hardest fight of his entire career. It went a full twenty-five rounds in near unbearable heat, melted fifteen pounds or more off each of them, and ended once again with Jeff’s arm raised. Sharkey, his entire face covered with blood, his jaw broken and several ribs shattered, was helped into a waiting ambulance and rushed to the hospital.

Although he survived the beating, Tom was just about through as a fighter. He managed to KO Joe Goddard again and finally won clearly against Choynski via KO in two, but ended the year in disaster with losses to Ruhlin and Fitz.

For all intents and purposes his career came to a halt on June 25, 1902 when Gus Ruhlin, on the comeback trail since losing to Jeffries the previous year, performed a workmanlike demolition job on him in a London ring, knocking him out in the initial seconds of the eleventh round. he retired for good in 1904, after a six-round draw with Canada’s Jack Munroe.

[raylawpc]

Three mistakes that popped out with this story:

1. Sharkey did not bull Jeffries around the ring in the first fight. Jeffries was the aggressor.

2. Jeff did not break Tom's jaw in the second fight.

3. Sharkey's fight with Munroe was a 5-round ND bout. Munroe administered a beating on Sharkey, by all accounts.

[dagosd2000]

Guys, my daughter Meranda was in Las Vegas recently and ran into Floyd Mayweather Jr. I thought yo might enjoy the photo. My daughter Meranda is on the right, her friend Jesse ids on the left, and that's what's his name in the middle.

I wonder about Mayweather. He's wearing a shirt with Che Guevarra on it. A Communist in a countery that outlawed pro boxing. Is he trying to make a statement?

[dagosd2000]

A BIGGER MAN


My son weighed 150 pounds and played center on the high school football team. he was our only center, so if he went down we'd probably forfeit. He was tough as nails. In the 9th grade he could bench press over 300 pounds. There wasn't an once of fat on him. He was born with a fissure on his spine. He played 3 sports. Football,wrestling,and ran the low hurdles on the track team. He made all league in all three sports. But Ramon wasn't a jock. He went out there to please me,reluctantly.

I told this before ,but 10 years ago he and his friend were kidnapped at gun point by some gang members. They wanted Ramon's car and they were going to kill him and his friend. Ramon disarmed both gang members,but was shot 4 times in the process. He never told his parenrs about what happened until he fully recovered. We thought he'd gone on a vacation.

I remember we played a big footbal game that was going to determine the league title. Ramon during the week had injured his knee. He suited for the game with a "soft" cast that went from his thigh down to his ankle. Then before the game,he came down with an allergy problem. His temperature was 103. Ramon still wanted to play. All this with a painfull back. We didn't have another center.

That night Ramon played the whole game. He was on defense also. At halftime his face was swollen and he sprawled on the locker room floor. I was scared.
"Ramon,you don't have to play. Honest son,don't do thios for me."
Ramon opened his swollen eyes.
"I'm not doing this for you."

Ramon went back out there. He played magnificantly. After the the game we went home and he slept for 2 days.

I often think about my son. He had guts when he knew he had to come through.. He saved his friend's life that night when those gang bangers wanted to kill them,and he snapped the ball on every play the night we won the league champoinship.

If you ever meet Ramon,you'll have to ask him about the kidnapping and the game. But I doubt he'll talk about it much.

[Randyman]

Rick, I emailed you. I have had trouble before with my email not going through. Let me know if you got it.

Randy

[Randyman]

A BIGGER MAN


My son weighed 150 pounds and played center on the high school football team. he was our only center, so if he went down we'd probably forfeit. He was tough as nails. In the 9th grade he could bench press over 300 pounds. There wasn't an once of fat on him. He was born with a fissure on his spine. He played 3 sports. Football,wrestling,and ran the low hurdles on the track team. He made all league in all three sports. But Ramon wasn't a jock. He went out there to please me,reluctantly.

I told this before ,but 10 years ago he and his friend were kidnapped at gun point by some gang members. They wanted Ramon's car and they were going to kill him and his friend. Ramon disarmed both gang members,but was shot 4 times in the process. He never told his parenrs about what happened until he fully recovered. We thought he'd gone on a vacation.

I remember we played a big footbal game that was going to determine the league title. Ramon during the week had injured his knee. He suited for the game with a "soft" cast that went from his thigh down to his ankle. Then before the game,he came down with an allergy problem. His temperature was 103. Ramon still wanted to play. All this with a painfull back. We didn't have another center.

That night Ramon played the whole game. He was on defense also. At halftime his face was swollen and he sprawled on the locker room floor. I was scared.
"Ramon,you don't have to play. Honest son,don't do thios for me."
Ramon opened his swollen eyes.
"I'm not doing this for you."

Ramon went back out there. He played magnificantly. After the the game we went home and he slept for 2 days.

I often think about my son. He had guts when he knew he had to come through.. He saved his friend's life that night when those gang bangers wanted to kill them,and he snapped the ball on every play the night we won the league champoinship.

If you ever meet Ramon,you'll have to ask him about the kidnapping and the game. But I doubt he'll talk about it much.

Rog, I'd like to shake that kid's hand someday.

[Rick Farris]

I will, Bennie, not that I have much choice....

We're all pulling for you, Frankie. I'm still adamant about finally meeting you this coming weekend. Let's keep the faith.

Scartissue

Dan, Unfortunately, I will not be there to meet you guys, just not up to getting out of the house. I gave my tickets to Orlando De La Fuente, he and one of his brothers will be there in my place.

Frank, Hope you feel better. This gives me a good excuse to do it again next year, eventually we'll all get together. By the way, this is really going upset Uncle John, can we send him over to visit you after the event?

-Rick

[Randyman]

I will, Bennie, not that I have much choice....

We're all pulling for you, Frankie. I'm still adamant about finally meeting you this coming weekend. Let's keep the faith.

Scartissue

Dan, Unfortunately, I will not be there to meet you guys, just not up to getting out of the house. I gave my tickets to Orlando De La Fuente, he and one of his brothers will be there in my place.

Frank, Hope you feel better. This gives me a good excuse to do it again next year, eventually we'll all get together. By the way, this is really going upset Uncle John, can we send him over to visit you after the event?

-Rick

Have Uncle John bring Frank a big steaming hot bowl of Menudo con Patas. That'll fix him up!

[Rick Farris]

I was speaking to Don Fraser yesterday and he told me that Gwen Adair call him to invite him to go to the WBHOF as her guest (date?), but, he too is not feeling too good, he told her that he would let her know later on in the week, then he told something that I found very interesting, he said that us old guys are sitting in "God's waiting room", how true.....

Frank, I called your house this morning. No answer. I'm concerned about you my friend. I'll be calling again. As with the rest of the guys, I'm disappointed that you won't be attending but more importantly Frank, we all just want you to take care of yourself and get better.

And no more talk about "God's waiting room" from you or Don!!

I also want you to know we are all keeping you in our prayers!!

You have some good friends here Frank, I'm honored to be one of them.

-Rick

[Rick Farris]

RIP

Eduardo Guerrero

Alias Lalo
Country Mexico
Global Id 20199
Division Featherweight


Career Record © http://www.boxrec.com

Date Opponent Location Result
1965-06-01 Howard Winstone Wembley, United Kingdom L TKO 5
1965-03-20 Mario Diaz Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 10
1964-06-20 Antonio Herrera Barranquilla, Colombia L PTS 10
1964-04-04 Vicente Saldivar Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 12
Mexico Featherweight Title
1964-02-20 Hiroshi Kobayashi Japan W PTS 10
1964-01-26 Akio Furuki Japan W KO 7
1963-08-25 Ismael Laguna Panama City, Panama L UD 10
1963-06-09 Don Johnson Guadalajara, Mexico W PTS 10
1963-02-01 Jose Toluco Lopez Monterrey, Mexico W KO 8
1962-12-18 Margarito Tacuba Uribe Ciudad Juarez, Mexico D PTS 10
1962-10-06 Juan Ramirez Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 12
Mexico Featherweight Title
1962-08-18 Jose Toluco Lopez Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 10
1962-05-25 Harold Gomes Los Angeles, USA L UD 10
1962-03-08 Yukio Katsumata Japan L PTS 10
1962-02-10 Jose Toluco Lopez Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 10
1961-10-01 Juan Ramirez Mexico City, Mexico W KO 3
Mexico Featherweight Title
1961-06-25 Ramon Sarmiento Mexicali, Mexico W KO 4
1961-05-01 Ike Chestnut Tijuana, Mexico W DQ 6
1961-03-11 Jose Luis Cruz Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 10
1960-10-03 Kenji Yonekura Tijuana, Mexico W PTS 10
1960-09-10 Jose Toluco Lopez Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 10
1960-08-15 Ward Yee Tijuana, Mexico W KO 4
1960-07-25 Danny Kid Tijuana, Mexico W PTS 10
1960-06-24 Benny Casing Stockton, USA W TKO 8
1960-05-30 Pulga Serrano Tijuana, Mexico W KO 4
1960-03-05 Jose Toluco Lopez Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 10
1959-11-14 Jose Toluco Lopez Mexico City, Mexico D PTS 10
1959-10-10 Goyo Flores Mexico City, Mexico W KO 6
1959-08-08 Chiquis Rosales Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 10
1959-06-20 Felix Gutierrez Havana, Cuba W DQ 8
1959-01-17 Eloy Sanchez Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 10
1958-12-13 Miguel Lazu Mexico City, Mexico L KO 7
1958-10-11 Jose Medel Mexico City, Mexico L KO 6
1958-08-16 Pedro Jose Gonzalez Mexico City, Mexico W KO 7
1958-06-21 Carlos Cardoso Mexico City, Mexico W KO 6
1958-04-05 Chuy Rodriguez Mexico City, Mexico W KO 10
1958-02-08 Raul Leanos Monterrey, Mexico W PTS 10
1958-01-11 Jose Medel Mexico City, Mexico L PTS 10
1957-11-27 Reynaldo Tavio Mexico City, Mexico W KO 1
1957-10-25 Manuel Rodriguez Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 10
1957-09-28 Kildo Martinez Mexico City, Mexico W KO 4
1957-09-04 Raul Leanos Mexico City, Mexico W KO 10
1957-08-17 Kid San Martin Mexico City, Mexico W KO 6
1957-07-27 Chiquis Rosales Acapulco, Mexico L PTS 10
1957-07-03 Chiquilin Torres Mexico City, Mexico W KO 4
1957-05-29 Jorge Baby Salazar Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 10
1957-05-01 Chiquis Rosales Mexico City, Mexico W KO 9
1957-03-30 Heriberto Saucedo Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 6
1957-02-23 Chiquilin Torres Mexico City, Mexico D PTS 8
1957-01-23 Manuel Rojas Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 8
1956-11-07 Chico Garcia Mexico City, Mexico W KO 7
1956-10-13 Americo Rodriguez Mexico City, Mexico W KO 3
1956-08-22 Jose Gutierrez Mexico City, Mexico W PTS 6
1956-07-14 Fili Martinez Mexico City, Mexico W KO 1
1956-06-06 Jeronimo Palomo Mexico City, Mexico W KO 3

Record to Date
Won 37 (KOs 21) Lost 15 Drawn 3 Total 55

Frank . . . Thanks for the info. Another boxer whom I recall hearing about when I was a kid, I will add his name to a long list of boxers who have passed this year. Lalo Guerrero will be acknowledged at the WBHOF event this coming saturday. Just look at his record, who he fought, where and when. That's a fighter.

-Rick

[Randyman]

Hey Frank, here's a pot of Menudo con Patas.

[Bobbin & Weavin]

Vic Grupico was a fixture around Newmen & Herman's Gym in San Francisco after his career, he was always helping out with some young guy or another and worked a lot of corners, I'm not sure what he did for a living though he may have been a teamster. Vic was one of those guys everyone liked and he always had a story to tell; the funny part about that is somewhere during his career he took a punch in the throat and his voice never recovered, he sounded like either someone trying to yell in a wisper or someone doing a bad imitation of the Godfather.

In 1944 Vic boxed an exhibition with former middleweight champ Fred Apostoli in a "round ring."
The ring was build at the shipyards in San Francisco and was said to be the first round ring in the United States. The ropes were replaced with aluminum tubing covered with heavy velvet cloth.
Bobbin & Weavin

[Chuck1052]

I don't think that the Australian boxers get enough credit for being so influential during the early days of the Marquis of Queensberry Rules. Moreover, so many of boxers from "Down Under" (club fighters, journeymen and world-class fighters) came to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, much like Filipino boxers did during the 1920s and 1930s.

- Chuck Johnston

[Rick Farris]

Vic Grupico was a fixture around Newmen & Herman's Gym in San Francisco after his career, he was always helping out with some young guy or another and worked a lot of corners, I'm not sure what he did for a living though he may have been a teamster. Vic was one of those guys everyone liked and he always had a story to tell; the funny part about that is somewhere during his career he took a punch in the throat and his voice never recovered, he sounded like either someone trying to yell in a wisper or someone doing a bad imitation of the Godfather.

In 1944 Vic boxed an exhibition with former middleweight champ Fred Apostoli in a "round ring."
The ring was build at the shipyards in San Francisco and was said to be the first round ring in the United States. The ropes were replaced with aluminum tubing covered with heavy velvet cloth.
Bobbin & Weavin

Hey B&W . . . Thanks for the Northern Cal info. I love these old publications. On the cover, another reference to a mgr. who worked out of Dempsey's old 6th Street Hotel, "The Barbara". By the way, I saw a photo of that "round ring" Bruce.

-Rick

[bennie]

Guys, my daughter Meranda was in Las Vegas recently and ran into Floyd Mayweather Jr. I thought yo might enjoy the photo. My daughter Meranda is on the right, her friend Jesse ids on the left, and that's what's his name in the middle.

All that glitters is not gold (Mayweather, that is).

[bennie]

Hey Frank, here's a pot of Menudo con Patas.

Christ almighty! It looks like the chef's hand in there.

[kikibalt]

South African singer Miriam Makeba dies in Italy


Kim Ludbrook / EPA
'MAMA AFRIKA': Miriam Makeba performs Sept. 26, 2005, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who wooed the world with her sultry voice but was banned from her own country for 30 years under apartheid, died early Monday after a concert in Italy. She was 76.

The Pineta Grande Clinic, a private clinic near the southern city of Naples, said the singer died after being brought there. The ANSA news agency reported that Makeba apparently suffered a heart attack after performing for 30 minutes at a concert against organized crime.

The death of "Mama Afrika," as she was known, plunged South Africa into shock and mourning.

"One of the greatest songstresses of our time has ceased to sing," Foreign Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a statement.

"Throughout her life, Mama Makeba communicated a positive message to the world about the struggle of the people of South Africa and the certainty of victory over the dark forces of apartheid and colonialism through the art of song."

Makeba wrote in her 1987 memoirs that friends and relatives who first encouraged her to perform compared her voice to that of a nightingale. With her distinctive style combining jazz with folk with South African township rhythms, she was often called "The Empress of African Song."

She first started singing in Sophiatown, a cosmopolitan neighborhood of Johannesburg that was a cultural hotspot in the 1950s before its black residents were forcibly removed by the apartheid government.

She then teamed up with South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela -- later her first husband -- and her rise to international prominence started when she starred in the anti-apartheid documentary "Come Back, Africa" in 1959.

When she tried to fly home for her mother's funeral the following year, she discovered her passport had been revoked. It was 30 years before she was allowed to return.

In 1963, Makeba appeared before the U.N. Special Committee on Apartheid to call for an international boycott of South Africa. The South African government responded by banning her records, including hits like "Pata Pata," "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika."

Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording in 1966 together with Harry Belafonte for "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba." The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.

Thanks to her close relationship with Belafonte, she received star status in the United States and performed for President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party in 1962. But she fell briefly out of favor when she married black power activist Stokely Carmichael and moved to Guinea in the late 1960s.

After three decades abroad, Makeba was invited back to South Africa by anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela shortly after his release from prison in 1990 as white racist rule crumbled.

"It was like a revival," she said about going home. "My music having been banned for so long, that people still felt the same way about me was too much for me. I just went home and I cried."

She insisted that her songs were not deliberately political.

"I'm not a political singer," she insisted in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper earlier this year. "I don't know what the word means. People think I consciously decided to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. No! I was singing about my life, and in South Africa we always sang about what was happening to us -- especially the things that hurt us."

Makeba announced her retirement three years ago, but despite a series of farewell concerts she never stopped performing. When she turned 75 last year, she said she would sing for as long as possible.

Graham Gilfillan, Makeba's longtime business manager, said the family was holding a meeting in South Africa and would release a statement later Monday.

Arts and Culture Ministry spokesman Sandile Memela described Makeba as an international icon.

"It's a monumental loss not only to South African society in general but for humanity," he said.

Tributes poured in on morning radio talk shows, with many callers in tears as they recalled her humor and her unrelenting spirit.

"She had been part of my life for a long time. It is a great loss," singer P.J. Powers told local radio station 702. "She had a huge soul."