Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

For my late best friend, John Martinez, his favored rola.
John, I'm sure is lookin' down on us and wishing he could be here with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJmwUYoJtVY
"De Colores"

[raylawpc]

My California buddies will forgive me if I share some Oklahoma facts:

Love The Summer?
Poolville, Oklahoma
Sunray, Oklahoma

Want Something To Eat? Corn, Oklahoma
Grainola, Oklahoma
Hominy, Oklahoma
Olive, Oklahoma
South Coffeeville, Oklahoma
Sweetwater, Oklahoma
Cookietown, Oklahoma

Why Travel To Other Cities? Oklahoma Has Them All!
Cleveland, Oklahoma
Orlando, Oklahoma
Miami, Oklahoma
Pittsburgh, Oklahoma
Santa Fe, Oklahoma
St. Louis, Oklahoma
Chattanooga, Oklahoma
Peoria, Oklahoma
Burbank, Oklahoma
Fargo, Oklahoma

Don't Forget The Wildlife!
Wolfe, Oklahoma
Eagle, Oklahoma
Buffalo, Oklahoma
Fox, Oklahoma
Bison, Oklahoma
Deer Creek, Oklahoma
Elk City, Oklahoma

We Have A Town Named After A Number...
Forty-One, Oklahoma

And A Town Who's Letter's Don't Spell Anything....
IXL, Oklahoma

And For The Sportsman Who Wants To Get Away
From It All...
Fisherman's Paradise, Oklahoma

We Even Have A City Named After Earth's Only Satellite!
Moon, Oklahoma

And A City Named After Our State!
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Feeling A Bit Chilly?
Snow, Oklahoma
Slick, Oklahoma
Cold Springs, Oklahoma

Oklahoma Is Full Of Love!
Lovedale, Oklahoma
Loveland, Oklahoma
Lovell, Oklahoma
Bigheart, Oklahoma
Loyal, Oklahoma

Like To Read About The Presidents?
Adams, Oklahoma
Taylor, Oklahoma
Fillmore, Oklahoma
Grant, Oklahoma
Taft, Oklahoma
Johnson, Oklahoma
Lincoln, Oklahoma
Jefferson, Oklahoma
Reagan, Oklahoma
Wilson, Oklahoma
Roosevelt, Oklahoma
Carter, Oklahoma
Clinton, Oklahoma
Washington, Oklahoma

Other City Names In Oklahoma To Make You Smile.....
Frogville, Oklahoma
Loco, Oklahoma
Bushyhead, Oklahoma
Bugtussle, Oklahoma
Hooker, Oklahoma
Slaughterville, Oklahoma
Bowlegs, Oklahoma
Slapout, Oklahoma

And Regardless What Side Of The Fence You're On...
Gay, Oklahoma
Straight, Oklahoma

Here Are Some Little Known But Very Interesting Facts About Oklahoma.

1. The bread twist tie was invented in Maysville.

2. The shopping cart was invented in Ardmore in 1936.

3. The nation's first parking meter was intalled in Oklahoma City in


1935.

4. The first Girl Scout Cookie was sold in Muskogee in 1917.

5. Cimarron County, located in the Oklahoma Panhandle, is the only
county in the U.S. bordered by 4 separate states...Texas, New
Mexico, Colorado & Kansas.

6. The Oklahoma State Capital is the only capital in the U.S. with
working oil wells on its grounds. (TR Note: Not anymore. The derrick remain, but the wells are dry.)

7. Boise City, Oklahoma was the only city in the United States to
be bombed during World War II. On Monday night, July 5, 1943, at
12:30 a.m., a B-17 Bomber based at Dalhart Army Air Base, Texas,
dropped six practice bombs on the sleeping town, mistaking the city
lights as target lights.

8. WKY Radio in Oklahoma City was the first radio station
transmitting west of the Mississippi River.

9. The nation's first 'Tornado Warning' was issued on March 25,
1948 in Oklahoma City minutes before a devastating tornado. Because
of the warning, no lives were lost.

10. Oklahoma has the largest Native American population of any state
in the U.S.

11. The name 'Oklahoma' comes from two Choctaw words...okla meaning
'people' and humma meaning 'red'. So the name means, 'Red People.'
The name was approved in 1890.

12. Oklahoma produced more astronauts than any other state.

13. Oklahoma has more man made lakes than any other state.

14. During the 'Land Rush', Oklahoma City went from a vast, open
prairie to a city of over 10,000 in a single day.

15. The nation's first traffic 'Yield' sign was erected in Tulsa on
a trial basis.

16. Pensacola Dam is the longest multi-arched dam in the world at
6,565 feet.

17. The 'Port of Catoosa' (just north of Tulsa) is the largest
inland port in America.

18. The aerosol can was invented in Bartlesville.

19. Per square mile, Oklahoma has more tornadoes than any other
place in the world.

20. The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth was in Moore,
Oklahoma on May 3rd. 1999 during the Oklahoma City F-5 tornado.
Wind speed was clocked at 318 mph.

21. The 'Will Rogers World Airport' and the 'Wiley Post Airport'
are both named after two famous Okies....both killed together in an airplane
crash!!!

Tom
I'm submitting your name to Jeopardy. I'm betting everything I have on you. Hope one of the categories is Oklahoma.

With all this in Oklahoma, I can't figure why my Grandfather left Oklahoma in 1910, at the age of ten. He ended up in Redlands, California until the outbreak of WW1. When the U.S. Army told him he was too young to serve, he hitchhiked to Canada and joined the Royal Canadian Army. He was a half-breed of Cherokee/English blood, raised on a reservaton in Bartlesville, OK. After fighting the war in Europe, he met my Grandmother in London on his way home. Back in the states, he boxed smokers while working in the Oklahoma oil fields, before taking his young family west to California. He ended up working in the film industry for nearly forty years. In 2004, I visited Oklahoma for the first time, briefly, on a film location for the Kirsten Dunst movie, "Elizabethtown". We were at the Capitol, where he shot scenes at a tree that survived the devistation of the Timothy McVey terrorist bombing. It was a nice location tour that also included Memphis, where we filmed at the hotel where Martin Luther King was shot. My grandfather settled his family in Burbank, California. Seems they have a Burbank in Oklahoma, as well. However, Warner Brothers chose to build there studio in the California version of Burbank,

Intersting post, Tom.


-Rick Farris

That tree is now probably the most famous tree in Oklahoma. The bombing touched everyone in Oklahoma City. You either knew someone who died in the bombing, or knew somebody that knew someone. My wife and I lost a very dear friend in the bombing.

I used to work in downtown Oklahoma City just a few block from the Murrah Building, and walked past it (and sometimes took a shortcut through the lobby) on my way to the YMCA everyday for my lunchtime workout. My Dad's concrete company supplied the materials for the building. When my oldest son was an infant, I took him to "water baby" classes at the YMCA, and I parked in front of the Murrah building in the exact same spot that McVeigh parked his explosive-laden truck.

Enough sentimentalism. Oklahoma City was a pretty good place to grow up, but I'm glad I live in St. Louis now.

[kikibalt]

delete

[Chuck1052]

While watching the Charlie Chaplin silent movie, City Lights, the other night, I noticed that there was a large black man who had an uncredited role as a superstitious boxer in the boxing dressing room scenes. Looking on the movie website, IMDb, I found that the black man was Victor Alexander. There was a black heavyweight named Vic Alexander who was active in Southern California during the 1920s.

- Chuck Johnston

[Dongee]

You are right Chuck;

Frank B. posted a photo of Vic Alexander some time ago on the CBZ. Vic and George Godfrey topped the very first outdoor show held in California after the law of 1924 had been passed. They fought at Wilmington sometime in March, 1925.

take care

hap navarro

[kikibalt]

You are right Chuck;

Frank B. posted a photo of Vic Alexander some time ago on the CBZ. Vic and George Godfrey topped the very first outdoor show held in California after the law of 1924 had been passed. They fought at Wilmington sometime in March, 1925.

take care

hap navarro

Hap, Chuck, here is Vic Alexander


Vic Alexander shadow-boxing in ring, circa 1920

[kikibalt]

For my late best friend, John Martinez, his favored rola.
John, I'm sure is lookin' down on us and wishing he could be here with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJmwUYoJtVY
"De Colores"

My late Best friend, John Martinez

In mid-1994 John was diagnose with cancer (Leukemia), at that time Connie and I were living in San Diego, one day I received a phone call from John's wife Bea, she told me about John having cancer and that the doctors had told John that he had less then a year to live, we invited John and Bea to come down to San Diego and spent some weekends with us, (They were living in Lake Elsinore), which they did, one weekend in late 1993 we drove down to Puerto Nuevo in Baja, so that John, Bea and Connie could have lobster (Not me, don't like seafood), while we were eating I ask John if he would like a beer or a drink, he told me the doctors told him not to drink alcoholic beverages, I then asked John,
"What else did the doctors tell you?"
"Not to smoke and to kiss my ass goodby" said John
"John" I said "the doctors told you not to smoke and you're still smoking like a train, so have a drink"
He did, then had another one, after that we hire a mariachi for the rest of the day and nite, John had the mariachi sing "De Colores" more times that I can remember, we had a good time reminiscing about our boxing travels.

John died in May of 1994.

See you later, dude...

[Dongee]

A couple of trivial notes on Vic Alexander:

(1) In a bout with El Centro's Kid Savage, staged across the border at Mexicali, Baja, back on Sunday, August 10, 1924, Alexander won a 20 round decision. After the bout it was discovered that Savage had worn gloves that contained plaster of paris, for which he was fined by the local authorities.
(2) Alexander scored one of the quickest knockouts on record when he stopped Jim Jeffries' protege Big Mitch in 15 seconds of the first round at Bakersfield, during 1926.

hap navarro

[Randyman]

For my late best friend, John Martinez, his favored rola.
John, I'm sure is lookin' down on us and wishing he could be here with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJmwUYoJtVY
"De Colores"

My late Best friend, John Martinez

In mid-1994 John was diagnose with cancer (Leukemia), at that time Connie and I were living in San Diego, one day I received a phone call from John's wife Bea, she told me about John having cancer and that the doctors had told John that he had less then a year to live, we invited John and Bea to come down to San Diego and spent some weekends with us, (They were living in Lake Elsinore), which they did, one weekend in late 1993 we drove down to Puerto Nuevo in Baja, so that John, Bea and Connie could have lobster (Not me, don't like seafood), while we were eating I ask John if he would like a beer or a drink, he told me the doctors told him not to drink alcoholic beverages, I then asked John,
"What else did the doctors tell you?"
"Not to smoke and to kiss my ass goodby" said John
"John" I said "the doctors told you not to smoke and you're still smoking like a train, so have a drink"
He did, then had another one, after that we hire a mariachi for the rest of the day and nite, John had the mariachi sing "De Colores" more times that I can remember, we had a good time reminiscing about our boxing travels.

John died in May of 1994.

See you later, dude...

Frank, sorry about your friend John. I'm glad that you were able share that time with him. I lost one of my best friends as well, so i know how you feel.

Randy

[Randyman]

A couple of trivial notes on Vic Alexander:

(1) In a bout with El Centro's Kid Savage, staged across the border at Mexicali, Baja, back on Sunday, August 10, 1924, Alexander won a 20 round decision. After the bout it was discovered that Savage had worn gloves that contained plaster of paris, for which he was fined by the local authorities.
(2) Alexander scored one of the quickest knockouts on record when he stopped Jim Jeffries' protege Big Mitch in 15 seconds of the first round at Bakersfield, during 1926.

hap navarro

Now where have I heard that before?

Randy

[Randyman]

For my late best friend, John Martinez, his favored rola.
John, I'm sure is lookin' down on us and wishing he could be here with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJmwUYoJtVY
"De Colores"

[kikibalt]

Boys Club Benefit


Fidel LaBarba, Hank Metheny & W.H. Hutchinson

[kikibalt]

For my late best friend, John Martinez, his favored rola.
John, I'm sure is lookin' down on us and wishing he could be here with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJmwUYoJtVY
"De Colores"

My late Best friend, John Martinez

In mid-1994 John was diagnose with cancer (Leukemia), at that time Connie and I were living in San Diego, one day I received a phone call from John's wife Bea, she told me about John having cancer and that the doctors had told John that he had less then a year to live, we invited John and Bea to come down to San Diego and spent some weekends with us, (They were living in Lake Elsinore), which they did, one weekend in late 1993 we drove down to Puerto Nuevo in Baja, so that John, Bea and Connie could have lobster (Not me, don't like seafood), while we were eating I ask John if he would like a beer or a drink, he told me the doctors told him not to drink alcoholic beverages, I then asked John,
"What else did the doctors tell you?"
"Not to smoke and to kiss my ass goodby" said John
"John" I said "the doctors told you not to smoke and you're still smoking like a train, so have a drink"
He did, then had another one, after that we hire a mariachi for the rest of the day and nite, John had the mariachi sing "De Colores" more times that I can remember, we had a good time reminiscing about our boxing travels.

John died in May of 1994.

See you later, dude...

Frank, sorry about your friend John. I'm glad that you were able share that time with him. I lost one of my best friends as well, so i know how you feel.

Randy

Thanks, Randy, there is a story about how John and I became best friends, I have to put it in words and post it here someday soon.

[Randyman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0StHF1u ... annel_page

An interesting video with Jerry Quarry from 1967.

Randy

[Randyman]

Thanks, Randy, there is a story about how John and I became best friends, I have to put it in words and post it here someday soon.

I would like to read that Frank. Looking forward to it. I'm a guy that places great value on friendship. I get the sense that the guys on this site are the same way.

I think you posted a photo of him a while back.

Here's to old (and new) friends.

Randy

[Randyman]

Time to get back to work :(

Randy

[kikibalt]

How I met and became best friends with John Martinez

In the early summer of 1968 I was holding a meeting at the Teamsters Gym to plan our Jr Golden Glove tournament, a new group of guys, John was among them, came to our meeting, said they were with the AAU, their leader, Tony Cerda told us that we needed to have the AAU sanction our Jr GG tournament and that they, the AAU, would run the tournament, John was one of the guys pushing hard to get me out as tournament director, I told them that they were welcome to enter their boys in the Jr. GG tournament if they liked, (they did) but, I told them I was running the tournament, that I had been running it for the last four years, their ploy didn't worked, I run the tournament in 1968 and did so for another six years after that. After that I would see John around town, he lived close to me at the time, he had a youth boxing club and he was having a benefit dance for the club at the local handball club, Connie and I decided to go to the dance, when John seen me there he looked at me like,
"what are you doing here?"
After a beer or two we started talking, after that everytime we would run into each other we would talk, soon we were visiting each others home, going out to dinner with the wives, one time during dinner John started laughing and he tells me,
"You know I didn't like you before I met you" through the years John, Bea and Connie and I became best friends.

[Randyman]

How I met and became best friends with John Martinez

In the early summer of 1968 I was holding a meeting at the Teamsters Gym to plan our Jr Golden Glove tournament, a new group of guys, John was among them, came to our meeting, said they were with the AAU, their leader, Tony Cerda told us that we needed to have the AAU sanction our Jr GG tournament and that they, the AAU, would run the tournament, John was one of the guys pushing hard to get me out as tournament director, I told them that they were welcome to enter their boys in the Jr. GG tournament if they liked, (they did) but, I told them I was running the tournament, that I had been running it for the last four years, their ploy didn't worked, I run the tournament in 1968 and did so for another six years after that. After that I would see John around town, he lived close to me at the time, he had a youth boxing club and he was having a benefit dance for the club at the local handball club, Connie and I decided to go to the dance, when John seen me there he looked at me like,
"what are you doing here?"
After a beer or two we started talking, after that everytime we would run into each other we would talk, soon we were visiting each others home, going out to dinner with the wives, one time during dinner John started laughing and he tells me,
"You know I didn't like you before I met you" through the years John, Bea and Connie and I became best friends.

Frank, thanks for sharing that story. That you cared for John comes through loud and clear. I'm sure he appreciated your friendship. It would make him proud to know that he hasn't been forgotten. You're a good friend Frank.

Randy

[kikibalt]

How I met and became best friends with John Martinez

In the early summer of 1968 I was holding a meeting at the Teamsters Gym to plan our Jr Golden Glove tournament, a new group of guys, John was among them, came to our meeting, said they were with the AAU, their leader, Tony Cerda told us that we needed to have the AAU sanction our Jr GG tournament and that they, the AAU, would run the tournament, John was one of the guys pushing hard to get me out as tournament director, I told them that they were welcome to enter their boys in the Jr. GG tournament if they liked, (they did) but, I told them I was running the tournament, that I had been running it for the last four years, their ploy didn't worked, I run the tournament in 1968 and did so for another six years after that. After that I would see John around town, he lived close to me at the time, he had a youth boxing club and he was having a benefit dance for the club at the local handball club, Connie and I decided to go to the dance, when John seen me there he looked at me like,
"what are you doing here?"
After a beer or two we started talking, after that everytime we would run into each other we would talk, soon we were visiting each others home, going out to dinner with the wives, one time during dinner John started laughing and he tells me,
"You know I didn't like you before I met you" through the years John, Bea and Connie and I became best friends.

Frank, thanks for sharing that story. That you cared for John comes through loud and clear. I'm sure he appreciated your friendship. It would make him proud to know that he hasn't been forgotten. You're a good friend Frank.

Randy

Thanks, Randy, John was a true friend, the kind of friend that would do anything for you, his wife Bea was the same way, great people both of them, John and I had some wild times during our boxing travels....

[Randyman]

How I met and became best friends with John Martinez

In the early summer of 1968 I was holding a meeting at the Teamsters Gym to plan our Jr Golden Glove tournament, a new group of guys, John was among them, came to our meeting, said they were with the AAU, their leader, Tony Cerda told us that we needed to have the AAU sanction our Jr GG tournament and that they, the AAU, would run the tournament, John was one of the guys pushing hard to get me out as tournament director, I told them that they were welcome to enter their boys in the Jr. GG tournament if they liked, (they did) but, I told them I was running the tournament, that I had been running it for the last four years, their ploy didn't worked, I run the tournament in 1968 and did so for another six years after that. After that I would see John around town, he lived close to me at the time, he had a youth boxing club and he was having a benefit dance for the club at the local handball club, Connie and I decided to go to the dance, when John seen me there he looked at me like,
"what are you doing here?"
After a beer or two we started talking, after that everytime we would run into each other we would talk, soon we were visiting each others home, going out to dinner with the wives, one time during dinner John started laughing and he tells me,
"You know I didn't like you before I met you" through the years John, Bea and Connie and I became best friends.

Frank, thanks for sharing that story. That you cared for John comes through loud and clear. I'm sure he appreciated your friendship. It would make him proud to know that he hasn't been forgotten. You're a good friend Frank.

Randy

Thanks, Randy, John was a true friend, the kind of friend that would do anything for you, his wife Bea was the same way, great people both of them, John and I had some wild times during our boxing travels....

Memories...... No one can't take that away.

[kikibalt]

How I met and became best friends with John Martinez

In the early summer of 1968 I was holding a meeting at the Teamsters Gym to plan our Jr Golden Glove tournament, a new group of guys, John was among them, came to our meeting, said they were with the AAU, their leader, Tony Cerda told us that we needed to have the AAU sanction our Jr GG tournament and that they, the AAU, would run the tournament, John was one of the guys pushing hard to get me out as tournament director, I told them that they were welcome to enter their boys in the Jr. GG tournament if they liked, (they did) but, I told them I was running the tournament, that I had been running it for the last four years, their ploy didn't worked, I run the tournament in 1968 and did so for another six years after that. After that I would see John around town, he lived close to me at the time, he had a youth boxing club and he was having a benefit dance for the club at the local handball club, Connie and I decided to go to the dance, when John seen me there he looked at me like,
"what are you doing here?"
After a beer or two we started talking, after that everytime we would run into each other we would talk, soon we were visiting each others home, going out to dinner with the wives, one time during dinner John started laughing and he tells me,
"You know I didn't like you before I met you" through the years John, Bea and Connie and I became best friends.

Frank, thanks for sharing that story. That you cared for John comes through loud and clear. I'm sure he appreciated your friendship. It would make him proud to know that he hasn't been forgotten. You're a good friend Frank.

Randy
Thanks, Randy, John was a true friend, the kind of friend that would do anything for you, his wife Bea was the same way, great people both of them, John and I had some wild times during our boxing travels....

Memories...... No one can't take that away.

Yeah! if nothing else, we'll always have memories....

[Rick Farris]

How I met and became best friends with John Martinez

In the early summer of 1968 I was holding a meeting at the Teamsters Gym to plan our Jr Golden Glove tournament, a new group of guys, John was among them, came to our meeting, said they were with the AAU, their leader, Tony Cerda told us that we needed to have the AAU sanction our Jr GG tournament and that they, the AAU, would run the tournament, John was one of the guys pushing hard to get me out as tournament director, I told them that they were welcome to enter their boys in the Jr. GG tournament if they liked, (they did) but, I told them I was running the tournament, that I had been running it for the last four years, their ploy didn't worked, I run the tournament in 1968 and did so for another six years after that. After that I would see John around town, he lived close to me at the time, he had a youth boxing club and he was having a benefit dance for the club at the local handball club, Connie and I decided to go to the dance, when John seen me there he looked at me like,
"what are you doing here?"
After a beer or two we started talking, after that everytime we would run into each other we would talk, soon we were visiting each others home, going out to dinner with the wives, one time during dinner John started laughing and he tells me,
"You know I didn't like you before I met you" through the years John, Bea and Connie and I became best friends.

Frank . . . I appreciate learning of your friendship with John Martinez. Also interesting is what went on "behind the scenes" of the '68 Jr. GG's, in which I won the 96-105lb Open class championship, my last year in the juniors. I'm glad you held your ground. That's what Johnnie Flores would have done. Nobody pushed Johnnie around, and nobody pushed you around. I have to say, Frank, for some reason when I see you, I always think of Johnnie. You two were cut from the same piece of cloth, and that's about as high a compliment as I could pay a man.

-Rick Farris

[dagosd2000]

Frank
Losing buddies like John Martinez along the way as we get older is a natural way of things. When we go, I wonder how many of our friends will keep us in mind? With fondness of course. Rog

Randy
Interesting snapshot of Quarry. The more I learn from you guys about him,I find him to be one of the most interesting figures of the boxing world. Rog

[Rick Farris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0StHF1u ... annel_page

An interesting video with Jerry Quarry from 1967.

Randy

Randy . . . This video brought back a lot of great memories. For one, watching Jerry sparring in the gym. Another was watching him flatten Billy Daniels in one round. I was ringside for that fight, as I was for all of Jerry's L.A. fights. That one was at the Sports Arena, and I was with my dad & grandfather. Recently we discussed Tony "Kid" Longoria on this thread. Longoria was featured in a ten rounder right before the Quarry-Daniels blowout. I expected to watch the hard-hitting Texan score a KO, however, he was disappointing in a rather dull ten round draw with a mediocre opponent. However, Jerry Quarry was a dragon that night. Daniels was a tall, slender heavyweight, 6'4" & less than 190 lbs. It was bad luck for anybody with such a long torso to deal with Mr. Q's hook to the body. On that night, Jerry Quarry was at his best! Thanks for the memories, amigo.

-Rick Farris

[Rick Farris]

Jack Dempsey

Rog . . .