raylawpc wrote:Rick Farris wrote:Hi Rick. I was brought in at the last minute to work in Memphis Al Jones’ corner against Kirkman. I never met him before that night. He showed up in Dallas without a cornerman and, when that happened, I generally had to work the corner. Al, of course, was just an opponent for Kirkman that night, and I remember Pat O’Grady telling me to do my best to get Al into the fifth round. Kirkman dropped Al twice in each of the first two rounds, as I recall, and when I sent Al out for the third, I thought it would be the last round. That turned out to be a correct prediction, but not in the way I imagined.
If memory serves, Kirkman decked Al early in the round. But as Kirkman moved in for the finish, Al landed the hardest punch I have ever seen in person – an absolutely devastating right hand. It was like the punch Bob Foster landed on Mike Quarry, except a right instead of a left. And the effect on Kirkman was the same as Foster’s punch on Mike – out cold for about 5 minutes and another 10 or 15 minutes before they could get him out of the ring. When he first went down, I thought the punch had literally killed him. I specifically remember thinking, “My God, I’ve actually seen a man killed in the ring.”
Not long ago, Kirkman gave an interview in which he stated that he was only knocked off balance against Al, and really knocked out when his head hit the canvas. With all due respect to Kirkman, that is just complete and total bull shit. I was there, sitting not 10 feet away in Jones’ corner. I saw what happened. Kirkman’s head did hit the canvas, but he was out before he ever got there.
Despite his record, Jones actually had some natural ability and a few skills. (In 1969, for example, he stopped a good young fighter named Tony Longoria in LA, but I don’t know the circumstances of that win. Maybe Frank remembers.) And, of course, Al had that right hand. But he was thrown to the wolves so often early in his career that he had absolutely no self-confidence. If he had gotten off to the right start, I think he could have been a pretty good fighter.
Oh, one more thing - Jones may have been listed somewhere at 6' 5" But he was really about 6' 3".
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Tom . . . Thanks for the info on Memphis Al Jones and I agree that he was much better than his record indicates. You really brought back a personal memory of Jones KOing Pat O'Grady's Texas heavyweight, Tony "Kid" Longoria. I was at the fight which took place at the Forum on a card that featured Ruben Olivares. Longoria was unbeaten and a KO hitter, favored to whip Jones, just like Kirkman had been. I'd been reading about Longoria for a couple of years and was wondered how he would fare against some of our L.A. heavyweights. However, after seeing him easily KOed by Jones, I realized that Longoria would have been killed if matched with the likes of Jerry Quarry and company. Never saw Longoria again.
The reason Yank Durham was so concerned over Frazier facing a very tall heavyweight was Joe's '64 Olympic Trials loss to Buster Mathis, who was about 6'3" and nearly 300 lbs. when he defeated Frazier in the Olympic trial finals. Mathis broke his thumb before the Tokyo games, thus putting team alternate Joe Frazier as our heavyweight rep and the rest is history. Thanks for the heads up on Al Jones incorrectly being listed at 6'5". I can understand Durham's concern, but Eddie Futch had Frazier primed to bomb Memphis Al's body before leveling him with a "cherry picker" left hook to the chin.
-Rick
Hi Rick: I can tell you a bit about Longoria, whom I heard a lot about through my association with the O’Gradys. Longoria was Pat O’Grady’s hope for a world champion, and Pat really believed Longoria would make it to the top. Longoria was like a son to O’Grady. Tony came from a bad family situation, and actually lived with the O’Gradys from the time Longoria was about 14 or 15-years-old until he lost to Jones. Pat was his legal guardian.
On one occasion, O’Grady set up the 8 mm film projector and showed me several films of Longoria in action. On film, he appeared to have a lot of potential. He was not a terribly big heavyweight, but he looked quick and appeared to have good power with both hands. He had very good fundaments. On film, it looked like he took a good punch. Frank, who saw him live, confirmed to me a year or so ago that Longoria appeared to be the real deal, and was a potentially good fighter. (I hope I'm quoting you correctly, Frank.) Pat thought so much of Tony’s chances that he moved the whole family to LA for the sole purpose of advancing Tony’s career.
Something happened before the Jones fight that soured Longoria on boxing; what it was I either don’t remember or O’Grady never told me. But Pat always said Longoria’s head wasn’t right for the fight, and he made a very poor effort. After the loss, Longoria quit boxing and moved back to Texas. He also severed all contact with the O’Grady’s, which deeply hurt both Pat and Jeannie on a personal level.
Over the first several years that I knew him, O’Grady kept track of where Longoria was and what he was doing. Remember, Longoria was only about 20-years-old when he lost to Jones, and Pat hoped Longoria would decide to get back into boxing but, of course, he never did.[/quote]
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Tom . . . I didn't see Longoria's earlier fights in L.A. and have to admit I forgot he had fought in L.A. prior to Jones. The Jones KO was the only fight I saw. I took some time to dig up a little on Tony Longoria and it's said that he fell in love before the Jones fight and was distracted? After one loss, he packed it in. It's not the first time I've seen big KO punchers get flattened and their careers suddenly go south. If it was a woman, I totally understand that they kill fighters.
Ironically, a few years ago when I was working on "Desperate Housewives", I asked Eva Longoria if she was related to, or had ever heard of, a heavyweight boxer named Tony Longoria. Eva was also from Texas so I thought there might be some connection. The actress just smiled and said, "No. There are a lot of Longoria's in Texas."
-Rick
Rog
