Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Oscar De La Hoya vs Fernando Vargas

[Rick Farris]

The name Tommy Garland caught my attention. I know that Tommy was a Culver City fighter who was a big favorite at the Ocean Park Arena back in the 40's. Back in the mid 1980's, when I was working for Michael Landon, we shot a couple scenes for a "Highway To Heaven" episode at what was then a Venice dive bar called, "Babe Brandelli's Brig". As Hap Navarro and I have discussed in the past, Babe had been a Venice club fighter and had opened his bar after retiring and today, years after his death, the place is now a very trendy West L.A. night spot, still called the "The Brig". However, back in the 80's it was kind of crusty and a favorite watering hole for a few former pugs from the era. One of them was Tommy Garland, who at the time was in his late 60's. I struck up a conversation with Garland and he told me that he had done a few movies himself after retiring, and played a ref in the 1952 Paul Newman feature, "Somebody Up There Likes Me". I guess his biggest win came over Freddie Beshore, however, maybe Hap can tell us more about Tommy. I read that he passed away in 2001, at age 81.

Rick

[Rick Farris]

Friend Rick"

I finally posted an answer to your question about the Escobar brothers at the end of Page 470.

regards

hap navarro

Thank you, Hap! I didn't know there had been another Alfredo Escobar prior to Andy's brother. Thanks also for the info on Sinatra and Gambina, it was Cisco Andrade I was thinking of, not Alfredo Escobar.

-Rick

[Dongee]

Tommy Garland was one of the most popular fighters to ever show at the beach venue of Ocean Park back in my day. In fact, Garland preceded Artie Aragon as the local press nominee for the "Golden Boy" label in California. Of course, that sobriquet had been foisted on many others beginning with heavywelight Jack de Mave in the late 1920s, to be followed by Artie Levine, Gus Lesnevitch, the De Johns, etc.

Garland had an interesting feud going with the incomparable Hogue twins, my all-time favorite tandem of fighting sibs. The Hogues had a personal fetish......if a fighter whipped one of them, that guy could sure as hell expect to be challenged by the other Hogue twin. Sometimes the loss was avenged, but that didn't matter much . The Hogue high was in getting in a few licks in reprisal and they usually did.

When Tommy Garland won over Shorty Hogue, the better of the two brothers Big Boy Hogue spotted him several pounds and defeated Tommy even before Shorty got his own revenge over Garland.
If memory serves, Garland met and beat San Fancisco's Hal Fieberling, who went on to become a busy movie and tv actor when he quit boxing using the name Hal Faber.

hap navarro

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Frank Sinatra with Cisco Andrade

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[dagosd2000]

THE GYM IN COLONIA OBRERA

Before me and the wife got officially married in Mexico.she used to live in Colonia Obrera. It was one of the first colonias that started stretching to the outskirts of the city. Not much infrastructure. Dusty streets that got gutted out when the rains came. No running water. A few electrical lines. No telephone poles. Squatters settling in. A lot of make shift dwellings. Garage doors were a big thing that people used for a wall for the outside of the house.

Dark settled in fast and hard. You could hear people talking and feel them milling around,but it was hard to see anybody. Not far from where my wife was living was a small boxing gym on the corner. All it said above the door was the word"Box".There were no windows. I imagined what it looked like inside. Most of the time when I was up there,the gym was closed. It looked like it had been closed for quite some time,but people in the neighborhood said it was open.
"Si vienes a las tres,esta abierta. Llegan los boxeadores,"said someone.
So one day I waited till 3 o'clock for the place to open and the fighters to arrive. I sat across the street in front of the abarrotes drinking a strawberry soda. At three thirty an old man came to the front and unlocked the padlock on the door. He was wearing a white T shirt. He carried an worn leather bag. I noticed a slight limp when he walked inside.

I walked across the street and stopped at the open door. I peered inside.
"Pasale amigo," I heard the old man say. I couldn't see him. My eyes hadn't yet adjusted from the sunlight. I walked in slowly.
"Estas abierto?",I asked.
"You American?"
"Si"
"We open friend."
The old man started to sweep around the small ring that was lying flat on the floor. The ropes sagged. I could see the film of dust over the ring through the sunlight.
"Cuando llegan los fighters?"
"My friend they come soon. They train for fight in auditorio."
The old man said that he had a stable of young fighters that would be fighting on next week's card at the Civic Auditorium.
"Theez buys train real hard. Tienen ganas."
I asked the old man if he was a fighter once.
"Oh si amigo. I fight in Mexico. I fight Malacara and Baby Casanova. "
The old man's face looked like leather that was stretched to the point that it drooped on his face. I could see the cartilage was gone in his nose. There was a lot of scar tissue above his eyes.
"You train the fighters?"
"Si amigo. I train them and I manage too. I am todo."
I looked at my watch. It was past 4 o'clock.
"Cuando llegan los fighters?" I asked again.
"A las tres."
"Son las cuatro y medio." I said . I moved my arm to show him my watch.
"No see good amigo. I have the cataractas."
The old man continued cleaning around. At 5 o'clock my patience ran out.
"No llegan yo creo. I come back another time."
"No amigo,"the old man said smiling. "They come. They have fight in the auditorio."
After saying good by I walked out the door. In the middle of the street I looked over my shoulder inside the gym. I couldn't see the old man. I could only hear him whistling.

[Expug]

Frank Bruno & "Laughing" Larry Frazier
December 4, 1985, Wembley, London

I may have mentioned this before.
Frank Bruno fought here in Chicago back in83.
He was training for the fight in the gym I was training at .
I will never forget what a polite , nice guy he was. I was banging the speed bag and he walked up and said, "excuse me mate, may I borrow your speed bag when you are finished?"
Of course I loaned it to him.
That same day, he went a few rounds sparring with James Tillis.
I didnt really know who Frank was . It was fairly early in his career.He got the better of Tillis in the sparring session,and a few years later he stopped "Quick" in a actual fight.
He fought a few days after I met him at the old Davinci Manor in Chicago.
He kod Mike Jamesson.
Barry McGuigan also fought on the card.

[Rick Farris]

When I consider all the boxers from the post WW2 era that I'd like to have seen in action, the name Fabela Chavez is right at the top. Bolanos, Aragon, Ortiz and Fabela Chavez top my list. I have a lot of questions for Hap regarding Chavez, which I shall post in due course. Thru Hap Navarro, the legends of L.A.'s Golden Era come to life. The funny thing is, with the exception of Manuel Ortiz, I've met them all. I met Enrique Bolanos and was in his company several times in the early 70's thru George Parnassus, Art Aragon I would run into many times over the years thru both boxing and the film industry and I was introduced to Chavez several years before his death. Hap's posting takes us back in time, right into the offices of the Hollywood Legion Stadium and beyond.

This is no longer just a thread in an internet boxing forum . . . it's a time machine! Enjoy it guys, it's a true gift.

-Rick Farris

[bennie]

Frank Bruno & "Laughing" Larry Frazier
December 4, 1985, Wembley, London

I may have mentioned this before.
Frank Bruno fought here in Chicago back in83.
He was training for the fight in the gym I was training at .
I will never forget what a polite , nice guy he was. I was banging the speed bag and he walked up and said, "excuse me mate, may I borrow your speed bag when you are finished?"
Of course I loaned it to him.
That same day, he went a few rounds sparring with James Tillis.
I didnt really know who Frank was . It was fairly early in his career.He got the better of Tillis in the sparring session,and a few years later he stopped "Quick" in a actual fight.
He fought a few days after I met him at the old Davinci Manor in Chicago.
He kod Mike Jamesson.
Barry McGuigan also fought on the card.

Bruno nearly decapitated Jameson when he nailed him with an uppercut as Jameson was on his way down to the canvas in the second round. Stopping Jameson so early was actually a decent performance, given the big, bearded Jameson later went five rounds with a rising Tyson, but quick wins like this did Bruno no favour on the way up and nearly cost him against Jumbo Cummings.

[kikibalt]

When I consider all the boxers from the post WW2 era that I'd like to have seen in action, the name Fabela Chavez is right at the top. Bolanos, Aragon, Ortiz and Fabela Chavez top my list. I have a lot of questions for Hap regarding Chavez, which I shall post in due course. Thru Hap Navarro, the legends of L.A.'s Golden Era come to life. The funny thing is, with the exception of Manuel Ortiz, I've met them all. I met Enrique Bolanos and was in his company several times in the early 70's thru George Parnassus, Art Aragon I would run into many times over the years thru both boxing and the film industry and I was introduced to Chavez several years before his death. Hap's posting takes us back in time, right into the offices of the Hollywood Legion Stadium and beyond.

This is no longer just a thread in an internet boxing forum . . . it's a time machine! Enjoy it guys, it's a true gift.

-Rick Farris

Rick...Lou Bernal ,pictured in that back page of the knockout was a fixture at the Teamsters Gym back in the days when I ran the jr program, we used him a lot as a referee, I'm sure he ref some of your fights, as he did some of my boys fights, in fact I have a pic. of Tony as a 3 year old fighting at the Teamsters with Bernal as the ref, you can't see Bernal's face too good on the photo, I'll post it if I can fine it.

[kikibalt]

Big fite nite at the Teamsters...
Lou Bernal refereeing Tony's fight.

[bennie]

Oscar De La Hoya vs Fernando Vargas

Nice win for Oscar; one of the few 50-50 fights he entered, in my opinion.

[kikibalt]

Rick...do you remember Tommy Cocon? he was Lou Bernal's manager, he used to bring kids to the jr. fights, he had a set of bad legs, his legs were all bend out of shape, he was also always in a bad mood, and was always argumentative.. , funny, but for years I always thought him to be Mexican, then I founded out he was Greek..... .

[kikibalt]

[scartissue]

Frank Bruno & "Laughing" Larry Frazier
December 4, 1985, Wembley, London

I may have mentioned this before.
Frank Bruno fought here in Chicago back in83.
He was training for the fight in the gym I was training at .
I will never forget what a polite , nice guy he was. I was banging the speed bag and he walked up and said, "excuse me mate, may I borrow your speed bag when you are finished?"
Of course I loaned it to him.
That same day, he went a few rounds sparring with James Tillis.
I didnt really know who Frank was . It was fairly early in his career.He got the better of Tillis in the sparring session,and a few years later he stopped "Quick" in a actual fight.
He fought a few days after I met him at the old Davinci Manor in Chicago.
He kod Mike Jamesson.
Barry McGuigan also fought on the card.

Brian, I think we did talk about this once - there's been so many subjects broached I can't remember them all - that was the "British are coming" card that would have been impossible to put on a scant one or two years later. Man, Lloyd Honeyghan, Barry McGuigan, Frank Bruno. Even Quick Tillis fought on the card as well as Jeff Sims, who one boxing magazine audaciously referred to once as 'the second coming of Sonny Liston'. It was a great card with personalities all over the place. I met Angelo Dundee, I met McGuigan and Barney Eastwood. I was like a kid in a candy store.

Scartissue

[bennie]

It's funny, even after all the bitterness between them, Barry stilll refers to Eastwood as "Barney".

[Dongee]

Fabela Chavez will always have a niche in my memory bank for several reasons. First of all, he was one of those amateur wonders, too good for the average simon pure, and too young to turn pro. So he did most of his boxing in old Main street gym workouts with more experienced, established main eventers, going all out to score heavily, even with the heavy gloves.

As someone pointed out earlier, Johnny Villaflor, who discovered and developed Chavez, would have to call "time" when the sparring got too rough for his youngster.

Early in the 1950s Bakersfield Promoter Steve Strelich asked me to put on a couple of shows for him at his cozy arena. I chose Fabela for the opening card, pitting him with a young hopeful, JImmy Dunn in ten rounds.

Fabela traveled to Bakersfield with me in Legion Matchmaker Cal Working's car---mine was being repaired. Strelich's popularity in the town helped make that show a success, as Steve raffled off a dozen turkeys plus other goodies as a bonus for his loyal fans.

The long drive from L.A. gave us a chance to exchange views on just about everything that was relevant to us. Mainly, Fabela came across as a serioius and intelligent young man who knew exactly what he wanted out of life. I think I got to know him through that experience and the bouts I signed him for later when I became the Legion's matchmaker.

hap navarro

[Rick Farris]

Fabela Chavez will always have a niche in my memory bank for several reasons. First of all, he was one of those amateur wonders, too good for the average simon pure, and too young to turn pro. So he did most of his boxing in old Main street gym workouts with more experienced, established main eventers, going all out to score heavily, even with the heavy gloves.

As someone pointed out earlier, Johnny Villaflor, who discovered and developed Chavez, would have to call "time" when the sparring got too rough for his youngster.

Early in the 1950s Bakersfield Promoter Steve Strelich asked me to put on a couple of shows for him at his cozy arena. I chose Fabela for the opening card, pitting him with a young hopeful, JImmy Dunn in ten rounds.

Fabela traveled to Bakersfield with me in Legion Matchmaker Cal Working's car---mine was being repaired. Strelich's popularity in the town helped make that show a success, as Steve raffled off a dozen turkeys plus other goodies as a bonus for his loyal fans.

The long drive from L.A. gave us a chance to exchange views on just about everything that was relevant to us. Mainly, Fabela came across as a serioius and intelligent young man who knew exactly what he wanted out of life. I think I got to know him through that experience and the bouts I signed him for later when I became the Legion's matchmaker.

hap navarro

Johnny Villaflor was a fixture at the Main Street Gym during my era. I saw him daily for many years, and he even worked my corner with Mel Epstein for a bout I had in 1972. Must have been an interesting ride to Bakersfield with Cal and Fabela. I can remember such long drives to boxing events, both as an amateur and pro. It's one of those experiences where you really get to know those your riding with and has been the foundation of several stories that appear on this thread. Wish I could have seen Fabela fight, I have heard a lot about Fabela over the years and nothing bad. Hap, didn't Jackie McCoy fight Fabela? What happened in that one?

-Rick

[Rick Farris]

Rick...do you remember Tommy Cocon? he was Lou Bernal's manager, he used to bring kids to the jr. fights, he had a set of bad legs, his legs were all bend out of shape, he was also always in a bad mood, and was always argumentative.. , funny, but for years I always thought him to be Mexican, then I founded out he was Greek..... .

Frank, I do remember Cocon, thanks to your reminder, however, I'm still trying to place Bernal. It'll come to me.

-Rick

[Dongee]

The first thing that I noticed about Fabela Chavez as a boxer was a uniquely different style of in-fighting. In the beginning he had great hand speed so that it was a simple matter for him to pump both fists to his opponent's midsection in close quarters or just before breaking from a clinch. He did that so well that the opposition was usually caught flat-footed and unable to counterpunch.

I had never really noticed that in other fighters, or at least, not done so successfully as Chavez----who got away easily with those flurries to pile up points in the scoring.

It was that rapid rat-a-tat banging to the body that endeared him to his fans, and in fact brought the rooting audience to its feet. In time, Fabelita lost the knack as part of the attrition from years of fighting.

hap navarro

[kikibalt]

Fabela Chavez and I worked at the same place in the late 1950's-early 60's, I got to know him fairly well in those years, we were working for Oscar Meyers, he, driving a truck, I was working inside the plant, days that he was in the plant we would have lunch together and talk boxing, I lost track of him when I left Oscar Meyers, around the late 80's-early 90's I received a phone call from Fabela, he inform me that he was running a boxing program for the city of Carson,Ca., and asked me if I had kids that I was training, and that if I did, would I take them to his shows that he was having monthly, I wasn't training kids at the time, but I did go to a couple of his shows just to say hello and reminisce about our days working at Oscar Meyers, I found Fabela to be a very kind and unassuming kind of guy.

[kikibalt]

Rick...In DVD#4 that I send you is a couple of rounds of Fabela Chavez's fight against Willie Pep.

[Dongee]

Rick:

I've got to jump in here, hoping our guys will bear with us, because the question ;you asked about Jackie MCoy and Fabela rings a hell of a familiar bell with me.

As you know, Jackie and I were very close during my day. Pals, you might say, even when I left the game sand moved down south to the border town of Calexico. Jackie was a true friend who never stopped drving those long miles to visit with me.

I don't know why he never took a poke at me for kidding him about the fight with Chavez. It happened in a highly-anticipated semi-windup on the outdoor show when Enrique Bolanos stopped John Thomas for the Pacific Coast Lightweight Title. Jack Dempsey refereed the Chavez-McCoy bout which ended very suddenly and sensationally. The two hot prospects boxed on even terms for a spell when Chavez caught Jackie with a vicious right hand shot to the jaw, flooring him for the knockout.
I always thought it was a mistake to pit the two kids so early when they could have sold out an arena as headliners. I remember that Jackie frowned every time ww spoke of that fight.

hap navarro

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