Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Jimmy Florite



I remember seeing Florite do battle against Lou Filippo
back in the early 1950's (54?), at the Olympic Auditorium,
I believe Don Jordan fought Freddie "Babe" Herman in the main

[Randyman]

I'll be at my daughter Lori's house in Yorba Linda, today. She's a good cook. She knows what I like to eat and puts her heart into it. However, my son in law Tom always cooks the turkey on the rotisserie outside on the BBQ. He's mastered it. Needless to say, I am going to hurt myself today.


Lori and Tom, with my grandkids Sydney and Trevor.

[Randyman]

Time to start getting ready. Happy Thanksgiving!
Randy

[Rick Farris]

test

What's "test?"

I think Hap was testing his sign in procedure? Maybe he'll join us?

[dagosd2000]

WHAT I WANT TO DO ON THANKSGIVING

Now I can start drinking egg nog. They only sell it in the stores around the holidays so now I have to guzzle the stuff for the next two months. If I were in legislature I'd enact a law saying you have to make it all year long.

Eat turkey at my sisters' with my wife,my loud mouth son in law,my daughter who will bust his balls everytime he opens his mouth bum rapping Barak Obama,my other daughter coming down from Irvine who's on the rebound looking for a husband ,and my grandchildren. Adam and Amanda from my daughter Patty and her husband the Polack big mouth son in law who thinks about nothing but shooting his guns and bum rapping Barak Obama. And my grandchildren Anthony and Kalina from my daughter Carmela from Irvine who's on the prowl. My daughter in TJ won't be coming because she'll be taking care of my five great grandchildren from my three grandaughters who are in a continual state of pregnancy.

So after listening to all this phony baloney,I'll retire to the back room,turn on the TV and try to find The Twilight Zone Marathon with my glass of egg nog. Only this time I'll spike it with a little Jim Beam.

Diego, you have quite an interesting family, to say the least, I would love to be a fly on wall when all you guys get together...

My wife just got off the phone. Our son Ramon is coming down with our daughter in Irvine. My wife's happy and I'm glad my wife's happy. We don't see Ramon much. Everyone will make a big fuss over him. He's a nice kid. Good to his mother, and all the little ones love to be around him. Me and Ramon don't talk too much . The Boom Boom Club was a lot of fun for me,but he didn't think it was so funny hearing from everyone that I was in there so much they thought I was a part of the furniture. Better double up on the Jim Beam.

[Rick Farris]

THANKSGIVING

All the darkened arenas where fighters bled and poured their sweat to pay the rent. All the punches they dealt and received to buy food for their families. This was how they made their living. A human body that wasn't prepared for that kind of life despite all the road work and sit ups and sparring partners that readied them to step into the ring to fight another like him.

Now he's old beyond his age and doesn't remember the fights he had in all those arenas that don't exist anymore. Like the old fighter,those smoky coliseums have been broken down so the new faces can never tell what they once were or who the battlers were that made the crowds roar.

Explain to the youth who the Golden Boy was ,or The Olympic where he made his living ,and you'll get a puzzled smile. But we can put it together ,if only from memory. We're thankfull that we lived there once,and now we can see it in a dream that can never be lost.

They say men don't cry, well I just shed a tear or two after reading this.

Thanks Diego, for putting your thoughts in print.

I want to thank the great writers we have here in this great thread, Bennie, Rick, Diego, Randy, Hap, et al, for all the great memories you have share with us....

Roger . . . Another well written piece. I have come to appreciate all of you beyond words. Life is life, sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but I can caome here and find peace and friendship. Real people, real friends and most important- real boxing. You guys are the best. Thank you!

-Rick

[kikibalt]

We're having thanksgiving dinner at my daughter, Linda, and her family's home, Linda and Connie are cooking two Turks, the whole familia will be there, we'll eat and drink, wine for me, the boys will have a beer or two, they don't like my wines, (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot).

[Rick Farris]

Frank . . . A special prayer for your health my friend. Thanks for giving me the heads up on this thread. It's the only place I can escape these days. It's kinda like that favorite watering hole without the booze, just a lot of great conversation from guys who KNOW boxing! At the WBHOF banquet, you were present in spirit, Frank. I also thought about Hap Navarro, although I have never met him. Meeting Randy, Rog, Brian, Chuck Johnston, reuniting with my brother Dan Hanley and his Pop. That was my thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all of you.

tu amigo,

Rick

[kikibalt]

Frank . . . A special prayer for your health my friend. Thanks for giving me the heads up on this thread. It's the only place I can escape these days. It's kinda like that favorite watering hole without the booze, just a lot of great conversation from guys who KNOW boxing! At the WBHOF banquet, you were present in spirit, Frank. I also thought about Hap Navarro, although I have never met him. Meeting Randy, Rog, Brian, Chuck Johnston, reuniting with my brother Dan Hanley and his Pop. That was my thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all of you.

tu amigo,

Rick

Thanks, Rick, you like all the other dudes on the thread are true carnales, and special friends.

[Expug]

Hey guys, Happy thanksgiving to some great friends.
Randy, Rog,Rick, Frank, Dan, Pops, Bennie,Ed, Maria, Jeri,. Im thankful for all of you.
Thank all of you for your stories, wisdom and most of all your friendship.

Your Pal,
Brian

[Expug]

Photo and caption by Dan


Pops with George Chuvalo

For a guy who nearly had his eyeball punched out by Frazier, Chuvalo looks incredibly unmarked. George always says he blocked and slipped most of the punches coming his way, and this proves it. "Are you nuts or something!" he barked at Arthur Mercante after Mercante stopped him against George Foreman.
It was a bad stoppage.

For that time in his career, George Foreman was fighting pretty smart. Usually he was just winging his punches and nothing else. He was certainly, no Louis, Ali or a Holmes (one of the best) in the Jab department , but when he did jab, it was a pole axe. He should have boxed a little like this when he fought Ali.

I agree about the stoppage. I don't know that Chuvalo was really hurt. He seemed to me to still be in the game. What else could Mercante do? Chuvalo's own corner was about to climb into the ring. However, looking at what was going on in the ring. I can't see what would have been different in the later rounds. Chuvalo might have been knocked out. He might have been hurt. I can understand Chuvalo's corner wanting to keep their fighter safe. Frustrating but understandable.

Chuvalo is one of those guys we talk about when we talk about big hearts. Their courage, stamina and endurance exceeded their skill level. That's what they are remembered for. Heart, I can't say that word enough when I'm talking about certain fighters. On those certain occasions when it is on full display it is enough to make a man misty eyed. It is the quality in a fighter that I admire more than any other. Chuvalo had it in spades. Heart! I just had to say it one more time. Heart!

Randy

I agree Randy.
You and I talked about this quite a bit at the banquet.
Heart is the most important quality in a fighter.
The reason why is because that quality can spill over into everyday life.
Who do we want to surround ourselves with?pretty boys with talent? or the guy with heart.
Who cares about talent?
Hell, there are lots of talented people out there.
Too many try to just get by on talent.Half the time it breeds laziness.
Show me the guy who has heart.Thats the guy I want on my team.

[Expug]

THANKSGIVING

All the darkened arenas where fighters bled and poured their sweat to pay the rent. All the punches they dealt and received to buy food for their families. This was how they made their living. A human body that wasn't prepared for that kind of life despite all the road work and sit ups and sparring partners that readied them to step into the ring to fight another like him.

Now he's old beyond his age and doesn't remember the fights he had in all those arenas that don't exist anymore. Like the old fighter,those smoky coliseums have been broken down so the new faces can never tell what they once were or who the battlers were that made the crowds roar.

Explain to the youth who the Golden Boy was ,or The Olympic where he made his living ,and you'll get a puzzled smile. But we can put it together ,if only from memory. We're thankfull that we lived there once,and now we can see it in a dream that can never be lost.

They say men don't cry, well I just shed a tear or two after reading this.

Thanks Diego, for putting your thoughts in print.

I want to thank the great writers we have here in this great thread, Bennie, Rick, Diego, Randy, Hap, et al, for all the great memories you have share with us....

Wonderful, heartfelt writing as usual Rog.

[kikibalt]

Photo and caption by Dan


Pops with George Chuvalo

For a guy who nearly had his eyeball punched out by Frazier, Chuvalo looks incredibly unmarked. George always says he blocked and slipped most of the punches coming his way, and this proves it. "Are you nuts or something!" he barked at Arthur Mercante after Mercante stopped him against George Foreman.
It was a bad stoppage.

For that time in his career, George Foreman was fighting pretty smart. Usually he was just winging his punches and nothing else. He was certainly, no Louis, Ali or a Holmes (one of the best) in the Jab department , but when he did jab, it was a pole axe. He should have boxed a little like this when he fought Ali.

I agree about the stoppage. I don't know that Chuvalo was really hurt. He seemed to me to still be in the game. What else could Mercante do? Chuvalo's own corner was about to climb into the ring. However, looking at what was going on in the ring. I can't see what would have been different in the later rounds. Chuvalo might have been knocked out. He might have been hurt. I can understand Chuvalo's corner wanting to keep their fighter safe. Frustrating but understandable.

Chuvalo is one of those guys we talk about when we talk about big hearts. Their courage, stamina and endurance exceeded their skill level. That's what they are remembered for. Heart, I can't say that word enough when I'm talking about certain fighters. On those certain occasions when it is on full display it is enough to make a man misty eyed. It is the quality in a fighter that I admire more than any other. Chuvalo had it in spades. Heart! I just had to say it one more time. Heart!

Randy

I have to put my two cent here about a fighter showing heart, my son Frankie showed me more heart that I thought he had when he fought Juan Escobar, you that have seen that fight, I think would agree with me.


Frankie after the Escobar fight...

[dagosd2000]

Happy Thanksgiving to all the BoxRec boys on our thread.

When my father was alive we never got to eat turkey on Thanks giving. I really enjoy eating turkey. Since I was brought up in an Italian house everything we ate was just about made Italian. If it was eggs,they had to be cooked in olive oil and made into a frittata. If it was chicken,it was chicken cacciatore. If it was a ham sandwich,it was cappicola.

When Thanksgiving came around,my father would say to me,"You want turkey? When you can have lasagna and spaghetti with the way I make meatballs(he made them with parsley and raisins--very tasty) ?
"Yeh,"I would come back,"but we had that last Sunday."
"WE'RE HAVING LASAGNA AND SPAGHETTI ,UNDERSTAND!!!"
No comment from me.
"What the hell did I raise?"my father would then say. "A 'gavone'".(Italian for idiot)

[kikibalt]

Bobby and his wife Kathy and their daughter Breanne just arrived, their other daughter Jordan, had to stay home as she has to work, same for Anthony, Bobby and Kathy's son, Ryan, and his wife, Dennie, are in Chicago visiting Dennie's grandparents.

[scartissue]

I just picked up Pops and have him downstairs watching fights I taped over the years. Man, I'm so glad I did that. He has just watched Lewis-Klitschko, Calzaghe-Byron Mitchell and now is watching Vernon Forrest-Ricardo Mayorga II. He's forgotten seeing them so it's like he's seeing them happening now. My wife is slaving by the stove, Tom is in the oven, I've just made my killer stuffing and now it's time to crack open a bottle of suds. My boys are hovering around seeing how the prep is going, waiting with bated breath. Bennie, you asked about Thanksgiving. It's like Rick said in his post about being thankful for something, not to mention this board and all you guys we can have a hash session with. Take your pick of something that's going well in your life, and give Thanks.

Scartissue

[bennie]

I'll be at my daughter Lori's house in Yorba Linda, today. She's a good cook. She knows what I like to eat and puts her heart into it. However, my son in law Tom always cooks the turkey on the rotisserie outside on the BBQ. He's mastered it. Needless to say, I am going to hurt myself today.


Lori and Tom, with my grandkids Sydney and Trevor.

Lori looks like one of Charlie's Angels.

[kikibalt]

Angelo Dundee

By diego

[kikibalt]

Photo by Dan


Terrble Terry Norris

[kikibalt]

Jess Willard

By Diego

[kikibalt]

Photo and caption by Dan


After I snapped this I told Yaqui and Bobby, "I think you guys need to get a room!" Both good guys.

[bennie]

Photo by Dan


Terrble Terry Norris

Did anyone chat to Norris at the event, and if so, how is his speech?

[kikibalt]

Thats Bobby for you, if you're not careful, Bobby will plant a big wet one on you...

[bennie]

Antonio Margarito, one of the world's leading pound-for-pound fighters, takes on Los Angeles veteran Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on January 24.
At stake is Margarito's WBA welterweight title.
The rugged Mexican won the title with a dazzling 11-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas in the summer, showing all his renowned strength and stamina to walk through the talented, prolific-punching Puerto Rican until Cotto, who went in unbeaten in 32 fights, could punch no more and dropped to his knees, the very picture of defeat.
Margarito has a fantastic chin, probably boxing's best since Marvin Hagler, but his iron-jawed, iron-willed, iron man reputation took a knock in recent months with his refusal to face Paul Williams on the Mosley date, the slick American southpaw who outsmarted him over 12 rounds last year and has built on his win impressively. Margarito, 30, no doubt wants a couple of easier fights first but he needs to face Williams - and soon - if he is to retain the respect of the boxing world and his own Tijuana people. Beating Mosley, a 37-year-old who lost to Cotto last November, is not going to do that.
Mosley proved competitive against Cotto in Madison Square Garden, before conceding a close but unanimous decision. He came back with a knockout of Nicaraguan wild man Ricardo Mayorga with one second remaining of their 12-rounder a few months ago (shades of Galindez-Kates), to make sure of a fight in which one judge had him behind at the finish. Sounds good, but the Mayorga affair lacked quality - both men looked wide open, both men looked their years (a combined 71). It was a maul.
There were inevitable calls for Mosley to retire.
"Sugar" Shane first made his name in sparring sessions with Julio Cesar Chavez in the late 1980s and proved he was no flash in the pan when he twice edged past Oscar De La Hoya in major world title fights, although the second win came five years ago and marked the very pinnacle of Mosley's long career. Since then, Mosley has been largely climbing down and lost twice to fellow 37-year-old Winky Wright at light-middleweight. Mosley is a muscular fellow, quick, clever and powerful. Like Margarito, he is huge for welterweight and possesses a great chin. Mosley copped plenty of right-handers from the heavy handed Mayorga in September without budging and has never been stopped in 51 fights, although Vernon Forrest, another of his bogeymen, floored him twice and nearly stopped him in their January 2002 encounter (Forrest has licked him twice in the pros and also licked him in the 1992 US Olympic trials).
The struggle with Mayorga, however, a crude braggart of a fighter outclassed and embarrassed by De La Hoya two years ago, is probably the worst we have seen of Mosley, even in victory, while Margarito's pounding of Cotto is probably the best we have seen of the champion. He looked remorseless.
The difference says it all. Margarito looks too big, too strong - too fresh - for the challenger.

[kikibalt]

Louie Armstrong

By Diego