Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Ron C]

What is Mando Ramos' nationality? Is he Mexican? I see that he was born and raised in California but what's running through his blood?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mando_Ramos


I see this at the bottom of his Wikipedia profile:


"This biographical article related to a Mexican boxer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
This biographical article related to an United States boxer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it."


Were his parents born in the USA too?

Ron . . . Mando Ramos is an American of Mexican ancestory (Mexican-American) and was born in East Los Angeles, and raised in Long Beach, Cal. He was living in San Pedro with wife Sylvia at the time of his death. His father, Ray Ramos, was also born in the U.S. but I'm not sure where. I don't know Mando's mother's birthplace.

As a kid, Mando worked at his grandmother's Mexican restaurant in Long Beach and became a very good Mexican chef, according to his former stablemate and friend, former lightweight champ Rodolfo Gonzalez. When Gonzalez came to this country from Mexico, he became close to the Ramos family and would also work in the restaurant. "El Gato" fondly remembers he and a teenage Mando working late each night, into the early morning, cleaning up the restaurant after closing. Afterwards, the two boxers would do roadwork and Rodolfo tells of how great a distance runner Mando was. "His legs were so long, I'd have to run two steps to every one of Mando's." This was in the early 60's, and a few years later Mando would become the youngest boxer to win the World Lightweight title (20yrs. 3mos.), a record that still exists forty years later. Three months after losing the title to Chango Carmona in 1972, Rodolfo Gonzalez would avenge his friend's loss and knockout Carmona, bringing the title back to Los Angeles and the Jackie McCoy stable.

I need to call Sylvia Ramos this week and will ask her for more info regarding Mando's parents, etc.

-Rick Farris

Thank you for the great post! Answered a lot of my questions! Thanks again.


I was just watching some of Mando Ramos' Fights when the questions came up in my head.

[bennie]

The Flower of Scotland and the Filipino Rose: Ken Buchanan Vs Manny Pacquiao, Part I
By Peter “The Emperor” Stitt
Ringside Report

Ken Buchanan was born on June 28th, 1945, in the beautiful city of Edinburgh and, in a career that spanned seventeen years, established himself in many people’s minds as the greatest boxer ever to hail from my homeland of Scotland. He was a graceful stylist and a true sportsman whose class and silky skills often distracted the viewer from recognizing the grittiness of the man’s spirit because Buchanan was a fighter first and foremost. It is ironic, given the clichés about wildly drunken Scottish warriors and English slurs about the barbarity of the people “north of the border”, the rugged terrain and the fearsome climate, that Scotland historically produced exceptional legal, educational and health care systems, writers, poets, musicians, scientists and engineers, then produced soccer sides that English teams felt were vastly superior in terms of skill, and then developed a style of boxing that relied upon brain rather than brawn. Paradox or God smiling on an awesome but unkind landscape, on an indomitable people and their poetic spirit?

Buchanan is a complex personality, largely outgoing and friendly but occasionally introspective, sometimes even greedy and resentful, a man who finds it hard to forget long past slights and injustices. He started boxing at the age of eight and was known as the most diligent trainer at the Sparta Amateur Boxing Club in Edinburgh. As Ken often explains, boxing was all he had ever known since such an early age and this led to severe problems in later life. His biggest support and inspiration was his mother and she died before he won his world title, a regret that lives within him still. As an amateur, Buchanan frequently represented Scotland at fight meets around the world and got very used to the idea of fighting in “the lion’s den” as it were and this would serve him well in his future professional career.

Ken Buchanan’s style would have been perfect for a long and illustrious amateur career but it’s pinnacle came in him winning the British ABA featherweight title in 1965 and he turned professional that very year, winning his debut with a 2nd round TKO against Brian “Rocky” Tonks that September. Many people had suspected that Ken’s classical stand-up style, working behind his majestic left jab, would not transfer to the pro ranks but, as Reg Gutteridge put it: “He turned into a real hard pro” as he ran up a 23 fight winning streak, competing mainly in London, before challenging for his first major belt, the British Lightweight title. On February 19th 1968 Buchanan beguiled and bedazzled the unfortunate Maurice Cullen and put him down a total of five times in scoring an 11th round KO, announcing his arrival as a serious contender on the world stage.

In those bygone times fighters still took on risks and our Ken bravely took on the excellent Spaniard Miguel Velasquez in Spain in a challenge for the European title in January 1970. Buchanan was 33-0 and Vasquez was 38-1-1 so it was a very even looking fight but Velasquez, the future WBC Light-Welterweight Champion, did enough to win a 15 round points decision. It was very noticeable that Ken was fighting mainly foreign opposition and didn’t appear terribly interested in defending the domestic title he picked up or in challenging again for the EBU title, he seemed to realise he was good enough for the world and his rankings reflected this aspiration. He didn’t have to wait long for the chance to prove the point.

After three more fights and three more wins, Ken Buchanan was matched with two-time world champion Ismael Laguna from Panama to fight for the world title in Puerto Rico on September 26th 1970. Unfortunately the WBC had withdrawn recognition from Laguna when he failed to defend against their No.1 contender, Mando Ramos, from whom he had taken the title with a 9th rounds cuts stoppage. Because of this alphabet chicanery Ken was challenging for only the WBA title and that, in itself, brought problems because the British Boxing Board of Control were in dispute with the WBA and were, at the time, refusing to recognize WBA title holders.

The result was that, when Ken Buchanan won the title from Laguna via a split decision over 15 rounds, he knew that he was going to be a travelling champion. In overcoming Laguna in Puerto Rico Buchanan had become the first Celt to win a world title in a climate in which Celts normally melt and struggle (remember the complaints after Cruz-McGuigan?). The temperature ranged between 100 and 120 degrees and Laguna’s team had shrewdly taken the corner of the ring that was in the shade whilst the potato-white Scot took his between rounds breaks in the full glare of the sun. The fight itself was a master class of boxing contested between two excellent champions and Ken managed to shake Ismael late in the fight which probably clinched the judges’ verdict. After the result had been announced, Ken turned to his father in the ring and said ruefully: “I wish my mum were here.”

He returned to Edinburgh and was met at the airport by a crowd of five people! Ken knew that, by being forced to fight away from home, his chances of being recognized as a national icon in his homeland were being severely limited and Edinburgh had never been the centre of boxing Glasgow had been so there was little “hometown” support for the lightweight king. The recognition would, however, come in time and, in 1971 Ken received an MBE from the Queen and was voted British Sports Personality of the Year following his unification of the title. Eventually, many years later, Scotland came to realize what a gem we had had in Ken Buchanan but only when he was elected into the Boxing Hall of Fame and our man could then, finally, lay to rest some of the seething resentment that had stemmed from being largely ignored by his own people whilst he was champion.

Ken made two successful defenses of the WBA Title, beating the highly respected Ruben Navarro to also pick up WBC honors via a points decision in Los Angeles in February 1971 and winning stylishly on points in a rematch with Laguna in a Madison Square Garden appearance in September 1971. Buchanan had been stripped of his WBC Title prior to the Laguna rematch for failing to sign to fight Pedro Carrasco who was an over-protected if possibly underrated Spanish fighter. Carrasco got his chance later and won the WBC title via an outrageously officiated fight in Spain but the result was voided and he lost the rematch with the ever-present Mando Ramos. A study of this period in the lightweight division gives the student a headache with alpahabet interference at every turn!

During this time Buchanan also managed to fit in four non-title fights in order to stay busy, an approach today’s stars might wish to consider. Despite being primarily a stylist, Ken Buchanan’s regular fighting in the States had established him as a popular fighter with US fight fans who appreciated the skills and grit of the Scottish hero. Sadly, all wonderful stories have a horrible ending and they do not come more horrible than this one. Dear reader, in your worst nightmare, who would you least like to see at the other side of a boxing ring when the referee has gone on mental vacation and there are no boxing rules? I think that most sane and knowledgeable boxing people would answer that question with the two chilling words “Roberto Duran.”

On the 26th June 1972 the great Scottish stylist accepted the challenge of the unbeaten Roberto Duran at Madison Square Garden. For thirteen rounds Buchanan tried to hold his own against the future Panamanian legend in spite of the endless stream of head-butts, elbows to the face and low blows that referee Johnny LoBianco almost completely ignored (one warning for low blows in the 13th round). The New York crowd was aware of the fouling but, in one of boxing’s most notorious episodes, the rule breaking went without punishment. Disqualification would have been a moderate punishment and that was before the final insult. The fight had started badly for the Scot who slipped as he dodged a punch, went down and took a count as the chime of the opening bell was still fading but it simply went from bad to gruesome.

An exchange towards the end of round 13 continued beyond the bell and the significant strike was (according to some accounts Duran used his knee!) a sickening low blow that left Buchanan writhing in agony (even though he clearly told the referee that he wished to continue) so Duran won the title in one of the most foul filled title fights in history. Duran never wished to give Ken Buchanan a rematch and bitterness festered within the Scot for years though Duran’s subsequently stellar career was some consolation to Ken. And, should anyone doubt the brutality of the fouling throughout that fight, Buchanan was hospitalized and actually needed surgery following the disgusting abuse of the rules on display that night. (Turn away now the more squeamish readers) Buchanan actually suffered a burst testicle and still suffers related pains to this day. Oh, and that final blow to the gonads that was clearly delivered after the bell to end the round? Referee LoBianco ruled that whatever had landed was a “legitimate punch.” How? It was low and launched and delivered after the bell? There can be no argument. I have deep admiration for the great Roberto Duran but his performance that night against Buchanan was a total disgrace to the sport of boxing. Significantly, the bout was Referee LoBianco’s first world title fight, it was also his last….

Following the loss of his world lightweight title Ken fought on and beat former champ Carlos Ortiz with a 6th round retirement in 1972, again in New York, and also managed to beat future WBC champ and fellow Scot Jim Watt over the distance in 1973 to retain his British title and he also picked up the EBU title in this period. Interesting points relating to these fights give some glimpse into Buchanan’s enigmatic character. Whilst he held the world title he had jealously refused to relinquish his British title so Jim Watt entered their fight a very angry young man having been denied the opportunity to challenge for the domestic title for two years. There was a great deal of bad feeling surrounding that fight although the two are now great friends, perhaps because of Watt’s generous and forgiving nature.

When fighting Ortiz at Madison Square Garden, Ken received a visit in his dressing room from Angelo Dundee as Ali was fighting Floyd Patterson on the same bill. Angelo meekly asked “Ken, do you mind if Ali shares your dressing room?” and an amazed Buchanan (who adored Ali) replied in disbelief “Ah, away with you! Don’t be daft.” Angelo went on to explain that it was not a joke and that Ali really did need a dressing room so Ken said “No problem.” When Muhammad arrived in the room he found Buchanan drawing a chalk line on the floor so he asked Ken what he was doing. Buchanan replied “That’s your side and this is my side and if you cross this line you’ll get this.” (Ken pointed to his fist). Ali’s entourage went silent, anticipating trouble, but Muhammad got the joke and just burst into laughter with the sardonic Scot. Another noteworthy result from this period was Ken’s 2nd round stoppage of the excellent Chang Kil Lee in 1972 because Lee was the OPBF Light Welter Champ from 1970 to 1975 and also challenged Antonio Cervantez for the WBA title in the higher weight class in 1974. That’s the level Ken Buchanan was fighting at and still Duran didn’t return his calls.

In spite of lighter moments and continuing success in the ring, Ken Buchanan was not having a great time of it and split with his long-time manager and mentor Eddie Thomas, taking on his father instead, and Ken’s eyebrows were becoming increasingly prone to cutting, not a good sign for a future in boxing. Travelling to opponents’ countries, Buchanan remained unbeaten until he challenged Guts Ishimatsu for the WBC Lightweight title in Japan in February 1975 when he lost a unanimous decision. Ken took the logical and sensible option and retired but then found life outside the ring more difficult than the fighting. He was simply missing boxing and then his wife decided to file for divorce and Ken started drinking heavily. Finding that he was going broke, he reached out for the easiest source of money he knew and the place he had been happiest and returned to the boxing ring.

Eventually he started to suffer permanent damage to his sight and the British Boxing Board of Control revoked his boxing license. Ken’s desperate situation drove him to participate in three unlicensed and illegal fights before he finally realized that the magic had gone and quit permanently in 1982. The modest Scotsman returned to the profession he had entered after leaving school and could be found working happily as a joiner in Edinburgh to pay the bills.

Ken Buchanan was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the year 2000 and this really launched his legend in Scotland. His record when he finally, belatedly, retired was 61-8, 27 KO’s, and Scotland slowly began to realise that her greatest ever fighter was gone. He had only ever been stopped once and then it was down to Roberto Duran’s “out of hours” whack to the gonads and that result can therefore be discounted as something that should never occur in a boxing match. What we have in Ken Buchanan is a master boxer who can also take whatever the opposition throws at him without flinching and he was a natural born lightweight. When asked who was the best fighter he ever faced in his career, Roberto Duran answered immediately and with absolute conviction: “Buchanan.” Consider the man’s results against the men he fought. The boxrec all-time lightweight rankings show the following results: 1. Roberto Duran, 2. Carlos Ortiz, 12. Ismael Laguna, 16. Ken Buchanan.

This is the man that Manny Pacquiao faces in this article.

What need I say about Manny Pacquiao because his stellar career is still ongoing and, deservedly, he is the biggest news in boxing right now with an outstanding record of 47-3-2, 35 KO’s. Manny is more than a national hero in the Philippines, he is an icon and a national treasure and his influence has spread the length and breadth of Asia.

In short, Pacman inspires people and discussion of this phenomenal fighter is often couched in almost religious solemnity which can sometimes lead to the neglect of objectivity. Whilst most Manny fans are aware of (and openly discuss) such limitations as he displays in the ring, there are a minority of others who would back their man to KO King Kong and Godzilla if those fights could be made (and I’m sure Freddie Roach has tried!). As a writer whose words often attract criticism and praise from readers, I cannot afford to lose sight of objectivity so the second part of this article is unlikely to please everyone.

I am either going to upset a lot of people in the Philippines or I am going to infuriate the folks back home in Scotland but no boxing fan will ever doubt the courage of RSR writers in the future. Tune in for Pac two of this article, same Pac-time, same Pac-channel tomorrow…

The writer goes overboard on Kenny at times. He also says that John LoBianco never refereed another world title fight after Duran-Buchanan, which is cobblers.
LoBianco was still reffing world title fights in the 1980s, such as Juan Meza against Jaime Garza.

[bennie]

Quote from DeLaHoya /Pacquiao 24/7

Freddie Roach:I've worked with Osacr. He's not a real confident guy."

Freddie has done a helluva lot of talking before this one.

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

Seated: Alex Ramos, Terry Norris and LeeRoy Murphy. Standing: John Montes and Danny Lopez

[kikibalt]

'El Gato' Gonzalez and the Champ

[bennie]

Bobby got a bit unlucky against Williams in their first fight. Off the top of my head, he really hurt Williams and the ref (Padilla) messed up by giving Williams a count when the challenger had not actually gone down. Williams came back to hammer Bobby.
This is the rematch, and Williams dished out a boxing lesson to clear up the situation.
Andries-Harding was a classic. Andries pasted the Aussie for 11 rounds, ran out of steam and was halted in the last. Tyson and Jeff Fenech were at ringside, both right at the top of their game and revelling in their reputation as iron men. Fenech had apparently chinned a few Atlantic City doormen. Fenech is right next to Tyson and spends the whole fight on his feet, roaring Harding on, while Tyson sits there, motionless and emotionless.

[kikibalt]

Freddie Roach to get ringside support from family


Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images
Manny Pacquiao poses with trainer Freddie Roach following his knockout victory over Erik Morales on Nov. 18, 2006 in Las Vegas. Roach is hoping he and his family will witness a similar scene after Pacquiao's fight with Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday.
The trainer's brothers, all boxers, will be rooting for Freddie, who has been training Manny Pacquiao for the big fight against Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas.

Bill Dwyre
LATimes

Five members of the family of the late Paul Roach will be at ringside Saturday night in Las Vegas for the big fight.

Everybody else will be there to see Manny Pacquiao versus Oscar De La Hoya. The Roach family will be there to see their brother, Freddie, who will be in the trainer's spot in Pacquiao's corner.

They might be hard to spot, unless you look for the people who have their chests puffed out the most. And oh, how they have earned that pride.

Much of their lives were spent in the projects of Dedham, Mass., a Boston suburb. "Lots of hard-working, poor white people," Roach says.

And their existence was dominated by a tough Irish father who was the New England featherweight champion in 1947. There were seven children, five of them boys. All five boxed at one time or another, two through the amateur ranks and three into the pros.

"Pepper was the best amateur," Freddie says. "He won five Golden Gloves titles and lots of people thought he was going to be the next Willie Pep.

"I fought him one time. He was older, and he beat me up so bad my dad had to beat him up."

If you were to pick a Roach family logo in those days, it might have been a fist surrounded by frightened faces.

"If we did something wrong, we got a beating. My dad was a physical guy. If it wasn't one of us, my mother would get it," Freddie says.

Roach is 48, one of the more famous people in his sport, as well as one of the more honest and direct. When he says his father beat his mother, he says it with the emotionless conviction of somebody who has long ago dealt with that and tucked it away somewhere safe.

Paul Roach dominated his family, bullied them. If you weren't tough, you were out. "My oldest brother, Al, quit boxing at age 16," Freddie says. "So he got tossed out of the house for good. We found out early that life was easier when we made dad happy."

Still, there come moments of grudging props from the family's third-oldest son. "If he were around today," Freddie Roach says, "I hope he'd say he was proud of me." Freddie Roach won the 1979 New England featherweight title. That was 32 years after his father.

He then had 53 professional fights, winning 39 of them. His best fighting weight was 122. The most he ever made for a fight was $13,000, a loss to Hector (Macho) Camacho. To train De La Hoya for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year, Roach was paid $1.3 million and likely will make something similar for training Pacquiao against De La Hoya.

He fought once for a title shot, taking on No. 6 Mario Chavez. "I hit him with a right in the second round," Roach says. "I knew as soon as I hit him I had broken my hand."

Roach went the full 10 rounds, won a decision and then gave up the title shot because his hand was broken and he would not have been able to acquit himself well. Others would have taken the title fight, hung on for a couple of rounds and made a nice trip to the bank. That wasn't Freddie Roach. He had started his career 26-1, then went 13-12. The right hand never healed completely.

He lost his last pro fight in 1987 and his father came to the dressing room and asked how he had been so good at one time and now was so bad. "I threw him out," Roach says. "That was the last time I talked to him."

Well, almost.

Paul Roach died at age 62 in 1992 of Alzheimer's disease. About a year before that, Freddie called him at a nursing home. "They got him on the phone and I told him it was Freddie, his son," Roach says. "He said he didn't remember any son and he hung up."

After his final pro fight, and his confrontation with his father, Freddie Roach wanted nothing to do with boxing. He worked in telemarketing for a while, was terrible at it and quickly quit. But not before he got his brother involved, and now Joey Roach is a wealthy man with a successful telemarketing business in Las Vegas.

Soon, Freddie Roach gravitated back into boxing, worked alongside legendary trainer Eddie Futch, learned the ropes and now owns his own gym, the Wild Card, in Hollywood where Pacquiao, the pride of the Philippines, has polished his craft and become one of boxing's current superstars.

The ravages of boxing have caused, or at least contributed to, Freddie Roach's Parkinson's disease. He battles it with diet and exercise and still spends hours in the ring with Pacquiao, well padded but taking some of Pacquiao's best shots as they drill for fights. "It's getting harder," Roach says, "because I have arthritis in both elbows, but I'm not quite ready to give up being right there in the ring for the training."

So the success of Freddie Roach continues, but that's not the end of the story. There is another hero. Make that heroine.

Barbara Roach lives in Las Vegas now, in the house purchased for her by her son, Freddie. When her youngest son turned 18, Barbara moved out, got her driver's license, got her high school diploma and eventually her nursing degree. For years, she ran one of the toughest psychiatric wards in the Boston area.

"My dad said his biggest mistake," Freddie Roach says, "was letting her get that driver's license."

In her spare time, Barbara Roach became a ringside boxing judge in Massachusetts, a rarity for a woman.

"She did it because she said she had seen so many bad decisions in her life," Freddie says. Barbara Roach eventually moved west to avoid the New England winters and now has most of her family living close by. But she won't be among those in the crowd at the MGM Grand on Saturday night. Her son says she doesn't like the big crowds.

He also says that, while the highlight of his trip would be a Pacquiao victory, a close second is just staying with his mother for a couple of days and having breakfast with her every morning.

"She and I didn't get along when I was a kid," Freddie Roach says. "I didn't understand then.

"Now, she's my best friend."

[Randyman]

Rick,
A pic. of Deports Viking, courtesy of Diego.

Thanks to both Roger and Frank. To be honest Rog, back in the 60's Viking Deportes really didn't have a lot to choose from either. I expected they would have more. I used to find what I wanted and needed, but I ended up getting a better deal and selection on equipment from a guy who would bring up it up from Mexico. He lived in South L.A. and I could get Casanova training gloves for $10 a pair, so why drive to TJ?

Hey Frank, do you remember a lady named Margo who sold equipment near the gym. For awhile she sold equipment out of a gym on Washington Blvd. then she got her own store. Randy might remember her, she started her business around the time he was fighting.

-Rick

Rick, yes I remember Margo, I also remember how she got the store, the store was on the left side of the entrance to the Main St. Gym, that store was own by a guy named Cesar Perez who also had a fighter or two, Margo used to work for Perez and after a while they had a thing going, they started talking about getting married, but Margo wouldn't married Perez unless he sign the store over to her first, he was in love so he did, the ink wasn't dry on the papers when she threw him out. He later had the Olympic Gym that was on Hope St. behind the Olympic Aud., he also lost that one, to Jimmy Montoya, Perez always used to tell me that he was a business man, not a very one good, methink.


This the luggage store that Margo got from Cesar Perez, Perez used to
sell boxing equipment out of this store, as did Margo after she took the
store from Cesar, after the store was closed down she was selling from
some where out of South LA, then she opened another store downtown.

I bough a pair of 12 oz Ortiz training gloves from that store. I also bought hand wraps and a wallet. That store had a little of everything. I don't remember Margo.

Those Ortiz gloves were really good. I left them with Larry Soto for a while and he sold them. Never got the money either. Whatever happened to Ortiz gloves?

[Randyman]

Seated: Alex Ramos, Terry Norris and LeeRoy Murphy. Standing: John Montes and Danny Lopez

What a great photo. Good to see everyone smiling and laughing.

[Randyman]

Quote from DeLaHoya /Pacquiao 24/7

Freddie Roach:I've worked with Oscar. He's not a real confident guy."

He thought Oscar was confident enough when he was training him.

[Randyman]

"Ahhhhh the Irish"

An armed and hooded robber bursts into the Bank of Ireland and forces the tellers to load a sack full of cash.
On his way out the door with the loot, one brave Irish customer grabs the hood and pulls it off revealing the robber's face.
The robber shoots the guy in the head without hesitation! He then looks around the bank to see if anyone else has seen him. One of the tellers is looking straight at him and the robber walks over and calmly shoots him in the head also. Everyone by now is very scared and looking down at the floor.
'Did anyone else see my face?' calls the robber.
There is a few moments silence than one elderly Irish gent, looking down, tentatively raises his hand and says:
'I think me wife may have caught a glimpse….'

Aye

Here another.
An Irishman is walking through the hills of Galway when he comes upon a half mile long funeral procession.
At the front of the long line of walkers is a guy with a fierce looking bulldog on a leash and behind him is the pall bearers with a casket , behind them must have been five thousand mourners walking along.
The guy strolls up to the front and asks the guy with the leash, "who died?"
The guy with the dog says "My Mother in Law"and this is the dog that bit her resulting in her death.
The guy listens and starts scheming.
"Do you think I might be able to borrow that dog?'
The guy with the dog says "get in line".

Funerals are big in Ireland. I once had the misfortune to time a drive through a village (actually in Galway), just as a casket was being removed from a house and loaded on to a hearse. Next thing, everybody came out of the other houses and the street was flooded with people.
I was barely able to get through.

Man, you gotta love the Irish! In the ring or out, they have always epitomized heart.

[Randyman]

Marvin Johnson accepting induction into the class of 2008

I thought ol' Marvin showed a lot of class praising his wife the way he did. He was dead serious.

[dagosd2000]

1964

They drug a bunch of old buildings onto some land that was next to the poor peoples' cemetary on the hill overlooking the ocean. The Mexican government allowed the businessmen to set up a facility to provide assistance for the poor people in the area. i remember seeing the shacks that were in the canyon and also ran up along the hillsides. I never thought that one day I would be living in a canyon like that in Tijuana. I never liked looking into that canyon.

The facility was called"Project Amigos." There were workshops where the men were taught how to work with wood and metal. Women were instructed in cooking and sewing classes. There was even a clinic where the sick could come to get medicine and treatment. My father was the athletic director.

The athletics was a baseball team my father had put together on the U.S. side. The team was called "The Gringos." Aside from the minor league Padres,we gould probably beat anyone in the city. Bobby Cluck and the Murillo brothers was our pitching staff. Bo Watkins was behind the plate. Larry Bradford covered center. They way he could run he could of taken care of left and righr field as well. Dave Johnson was on first,Bobby Carroll played short,and my wide body was planted on third base. Come to think of it,we might have beaten those minor league Padres on the right day. We'd play teams from the Tijuana Police Departments and the Fire Stations. We never had a problem beating them. We played on the local beat up rocky dirt fields.

Even though we could handle any team down there,I didn't do so good. Mexican pitchers didn't have strong arms. They liked to throw a lot of junk. Curves,drops,inshoots,forkballs,change speeds. I hated that stuff. The Mexicans went in for that tricky pitching. I never saw a fast ball and never got a hit. I remember Larry Bradford going back on a fly ball in center field. All of a sudden he disappeared. He had fallen into a hole. He didn't hurt himself.Everone got a good laugh at Larry's expense. After the games,the Mexicans would make carne asada for everyone.

I remember the day it ended. I drove with my father to the facility. It was in the morning. A foggy mist ran through the cemetary so you could hardly see. The word was that there was a rabid dog running inside the cemetary. There wasn't any grass in the cemetary and many of the crosses you could tell were handmade. In the distance behind the fog we could hear the dog barking non stop. When the barking got louder we knew he was getting close to the compound.I could hear the animal's snorting and fast breathing. My father had his service .45 inside the game room. He brought it outside. The dog's barking was getting louder. I could even hear his paws stepping rapidly on the dust. But the fog made it impossible to see him.Then in front of one of the graves his image became clear.He was a big reddish brown Rottweiler.The dog's eyes were glazed. He was huge and covered with dirt. I'll never forget what my father did then. The dog took a run at him.He was about 50 feet from my father. My father stood sideways holding the gun over his head. He brought his arm down slowly and let go a round. The report was thundering through the canyon. The dog let out a burst of a yelp and dropped over on his side. His legs spasmed and it was over. My father shot him right between the eyes.

Some Mexicans came out from behind the buildings. They thanked my father for killing the dog. We got back to business when about an hour later a police car pulled in through the gate. A big Tijuana cop wearing a beige uniform and a high brimmed cap got out of the car. He had an envelope in his hand. He walked towards my father.
"Amigo,"said the cop. "I come with a letter from the government of Mexico. Your facility is to be closed down immediately."
By this time some of the other volunteer businessmen had gathered around.
"Amigo,the doctor here gives the pills so the women do not have babies. That is not the way here. Your facility is closed by order of the government."
The businessmen protested. My father even tried to bribe the guy. The cop wanted nothing of it. It was over.

As me and my father loaded what we could into the van and then started out towards the drive away,I looked at my dad.
"We sure had a lot of fun here."
He didn't say anything.
"I sure was looking forward to playing the team from Ensenada."
"That won't happen now,"said my father.
"Didn't they realize we were helping these people?"
"Maybe that's the reason we have to leave,"said my father.
As he drove out the gate, I looked at the dead dog beside the grave.

[Rick Farris]

Marvin Johnson accepting induction into the class of 2008

Tom Kelley is saying,"Marvin took my microphone."

And the guy on the right, WBHOF President Adolpho Perez, appears to be sleeping. :??

[Rick Farris]

'El Gato' Gonzalez and the Champ

Two of my all-time favorite boxing personalities.

-Rick

[Expug]

I fought on the same card with Ramzi Hassan in Chicago in 83.
He was a good boxer. Pretty slick if I remember correctly.I dont know what happened to him.
If he got a tite shot or what.
I also fought in the National Judo Championships at the Riviera Hotel in Vegas
It was 2003, 10 years after the two guys here fought there.They are marketing the Hotel as a premiere venue on that poster, but by 03, it had really slipped.
I think Chicago built that place. Rog would know more about that.Anyway, I guess the Riviera, The Stardust, The Flamingo,etc, were old Vegas.
The newer joints are lavish to say the least.

[bennie]

Marvin Johnson accepting induction into the class of 2008

I thought ol' Marvin showed a lot of class praising his wife the way he did. He was dead serious.

I can remember a pic of Marvin kissing his wife in the ring after he stopped Mate Parlov to win the world light-heavyweight title in Belgrade in 1978.

[bennie]

I fought on the same card with Ramzi Hassan in Chicago in 83.
He was a good boxer. Pretty slick if I remember correctly.I dont know what happened to him.
If he got a tite shot or what.
I also fought in the National Judo Championships at the Riviera Hotel in Vegas
It was 2003, 10 years after the two guys here fought there.They are marketing the Hotel as a premiere venue on that poster, but by 03, it had really slipped.
I think Chicago built that place. Rog would know more about that.Anyway, I guess the Riviera, The Stardust, The Flamingo,etc, were old Vegas.
The newer joints are lavish to say the least.

He did get a title shot against a scary Michael Moorer and was stopped in five. I remember they showed it over here and Hassan certainly had a go before he was overpowered. Hassan was a world class fighter, but Moorer was a monster at light-heavy. Not long afterwards, Moorer came to London with Manny Steward and walked right past me at this boxing 'do', glum-looking and mute.
He looked like The Mummy.

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[bennie]

In a clash of punchers on the Steve Cunningham-Tomasz Adamek bill in Newark on December 11, Ghana's Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko finally defends his IBF bantamweight title against Nicaraguan southpaw William Gonzalez. These two have been scheduled to meet FOUR times in the 15 months since Agbeko won the title. Blame the champ's shock-haired promoter (to hide the horns), Don King, who doesn't care about anyone under 17 stone.
Anyway, the New York-based Agbeko has stopped 22 of his 25 victims (one loss) and the rangy Gonzalez, 19 of his 21 (two defeats).
Bombs away.


American sharpshooter Kendall Holt and Colombian puncher Ricardo Torres battle it out for the third time in just over a year on December 13 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
At stake is the WBO light-welterweight title.
The two bitter rivals first clashed in Barranquilla, Colombia, in September 2007 when Holt was stopped in the 11th round - on his feet and circling the ring - after suffering a knockdown. It looked like a real case of hometown refereeing, especially as Holt was ahead on two of the scorecards, but the referee was American Genaro Rodriguez and the rematch in Las Vegas earlier this year proved just as controversial when Holt - down again - knocked Torres 'cold' with an accidental headbutt as the Colombian moved in for the kill. Holt was down twice, in fact, before the freakish, 61-second finish.
Yes, it all lasted 61 seconds.
Torres is a quick, prodigious puncher but Holt looks to have the fundamental survival skills, and the boxing skills, to trouble him every night of the week. Even those two knockdowns in the rematch saw Holt bounce up, ready to rally.
Hopefully this one will finally decide things.


The lights are dimming for chubby, brooding, 40-year-old James Toney as he squares up to Tony Thompson in a 'crossroads' clash of American heavyweights over 12 rounds in California on December 13.
Toney struggled to outscore New York clubfighter Danny Batchelder on a split decision two fights ago and then his contest with old rival Hasim Rahman turned into a no-contest when Rahman picked up an early cut from a clash of heads and was ruled out by the doctor. Toney was winning, at least.
He will find it much tougher against Thompson, a 6ft 5ins southpaw from Washington D.C. who went 11 rounds with Wladimir Klitschko in his last outing in July in a world title crack (he was never really in it) and has some decent recent wins over Luan Krasniqi, Timor Ibragimov and Dominck Guinn.
Thompson is hardly the second coming of Nino Valdes but he is big, strong, durable and capable - and much the fresher man of the two - and his winging left-handers should be enough to force Toney into his shell, and a rather disappointing decision.


Dominican bad boy Joan Guzman takes on Panamanian puncher Ameth Diaz in a good lightweight 12-rounder in the Dominican Republic on December 20.
Guzman makes his way home following the stigma of his aborted showdown with Florida's Nate Campbell last September in America. Guzman pulled out four hours before the fight, claiming he felt unwell. The fighter known as "Lil' Tyson" certainly acted like the boorish former heavyweight champ (in fairness to Tyson he usually turned up on the night) and was three-and-a-half pounds over at the weigh-in for Campbell, a triple belt world champion, who then graciously agreed to meet him in a non-title affair, only to be let down a second time.
The unbeaten Guzman can fight - but does he want to fight? This is a man who held WBO titles at super-bantamweight and super-featherweight - there is no way in the world he should fail to make lightweight.
Anyway, enough. The 32-year-old Guzman has a chance to put it all behind him against Diaz, who can whack but doesn't hold a shot so well and was stopped in four rounds by lanky Frenchman Souleymane MBaye up at light-welterweight last year. We know all about MBaye, who is, of course, fairly uninspiring and certainly not a huge puncher.
Diaz looks like one of those fighters who wins OR loses by knockout, and the slick, iron-jawed Guzman, on home turf (if he turns up), looks likely to force an exciting stoppage.


Former IBF light-middleweight champion Roman "Made in Hell" Karmazin looks to get back on track against American veteran Bronco McKart in a 12-rounder in California later this month (December 20).
Karmazin must have been through Hell in recent months in the wake of a disastrous and wholly unexpected defeat to Alex Bunema at Madison Square Garden at the start of the year. The usually dangerous, body-punching Russian copped one on the chin from the strong African in the 10th round, and that was basically that. Karmazin had appeared a bit shaky throughout, although he was ahead on points at the stoppage.
Trained by Freddie Roach out of Los Angeles, Karmazin is now 35 and faces a tough road back. He had dropped his IBF belt to St Louis southpaw Cory Spinks on a majority decision in 2006, then took apart two decent opponents last year prior to the decent Bunema, a durable, rugged type and nothing really more. Karmazin made him look like a million dollars.
At his best Karmazin has quick hands and really digs in those body punches - his punches are sharp. He is big for a light-middleweight yet he came in surprisingly light for Bunema. You wonder if he panicked in the final days leading up to the fight? Either way, this is one of those 'must win' fights for Karmazin.
To his opponent, the tall McKart who probably has weightmaking issues of his own, although "Superman" is one of those lean types and he certainly knows his way round a boxing ring at 37 and 51-8-1 (31). McKart comes off a decent draw with Raul Marquez (originally announced as a win for Marquez) and - get this - holds a win over that man Bunema, on a split decision after 12 hard rounds way back in 2001. He beat the man who beat the man.
McKart is tough, experienced and canny, with pretty good reflexes for a man of 60 fights, a southpaw, but he lacks pop in his punches and Karmazin does not.
Unless Roman is slipping fast, one can expect him to force a hard-earned decision.

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