Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Rick Farris]

The Power and the Passion of Dwight Hawkins (Part II)
By Rick Farris



By the time Dwight Hawkins turned twenty-three, he'd been a professional boxer nearly eight years. Hawkins had engaged in over 40 pro fights, many in the hometowns of some of the greatest boxers of the era. In order to get fights the Hawk had become a globe trotter and had traveled to Scotland, Venezuela and, of course, Mexico.

Mexico has always produced the finest of lower weight boxers and this was especially true during the years Dwight was active. The tough part about fighting in Mexico is that it was hard to win there. Even if you were good enough to beat the exceptional Mexican talent, the officials would find a way for the Mexican boxer to win. Boxing is serious business in Mexico and it's more important to Mexican boxers to be the champion of Mexico than it is to hold a world title.

Dwight Hawkins couldn't get important fights in his hometown because nobody wanted to risk suffering the effects of a match with the Hawk. So, Hawkins would face the best fighters that Mexico had to offer in places such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Juarez, Tampico, Mexicali and Tijuana.

Less than three weeks after the death of Davey Moore, the Hawk traveled to Monterrey, Mexico to take on one of the greatest featherweights in history. Vicente Saldivar was, without question, one of the best 126 pound champions to ever lace on a glove. He retired unbeaten in 1967 after defending the featherweight title eight times and then came back to recapture the crown three years later.

If facing a great fighter such as Saldivar in Mexico was not enough, Hawkins would do so just days after the death of his closest friend. The cards were not stacked in Dwight's favor. Of course, they never were.

After losing to Saldivar on April 19th, the Hawk would remain inactive thru the rest of 1963. The following year I would enter the world of boxing and as luck would have it, I would meet Dwight Hawkins. Not only would it mark the beginning of my boxing career, it would also be the start of a winning streak for Hawkins.

I'll never forget the way Johnny Flores would speak of Dwight Hawkins. Flores had a number of top fighters such as heavyweight contender Jerry Quarry and lightweight Ruben Navarro, however, when he spoke of Dwight Hawkins it was with the greatest of respect and I would soon learn why.

I'd train at the Johnny Flores Gym during the week, but would take the bus into downtown Los Angeles on the weekends to workout at the legendary Main Street Gym. Amateurs were allowed to work out until 11 am. on weekends but then would have to clear the floor for the pros.

I'd always hang around the gym for a couple of hours to watch some of the greatest professional boxers of the era workout. One of them was Dwight Hawkins. To this day I have never seen a more devistating body puncher than the Hawk. Dwight's body punches were so brutal his sparring partners had to wear a padded water ski vest to protect their ribs from the impact. I'm not talking about amateurs, but highly regarded main eventers who knew better than to risk their health for the sake of a workout with Hawkins.

I'll never forget the Saturday I saw Hawkins batter a rough featherweight contender named David Sotelo in the gym. Sotelo had hung in with Dwight for four rounds, however, as the fighter stepped out of the ring he was literally talking to himself. Sotelo was obviously incoherent after the beating he had taken.

A few weeks later, something happened that hit Hawkins almost as hard as the loss of Davey Moore: The Watts Riots.

If you had any idea how much Dwight Hawkins had put into the youth of Watts, the kids who struggled daily living in the projects of Imperial Courts and Jordan Downs, you'd understand.

Upon hearing the news of the trouble in Watts, Hawkins immediatly jumped into his car and headed for Imperial Courts, hoping he could diffuse some of the tension. However, the police had that part of the city barracaded and would not let Dwight enter the war zone. As he turned to leave he saw a group of young men take a trash can and toss it thru the window of a men's store. Hawkins parked his car and confronted the youth's as they attempted to loot

the building.

As a couple of the young men came out of the building with a stack of clothes, Hawkins asked them, "Hey man, why are you doing this? Don't you think this is dumb"? One of the bigger young men dropped the clothes he was carrying and took a step toward Hawkins, as if to start a fight. However, one look into the serious eyes of Dwight Hawkins told the youth that he best not take another step closer. Instead, he picked up the clothes and ran off with the other boys laughing.

A year later, after the riots were long over, Hawkins continued his work at Imperial Courts. He organized another boxing program and would spend his own money to provide boxing equipment for the kids at the project.

By 1966, Hawkins had remained unbeaten since the loss to Saldivar two years previous. During that time, Saldivar kayoed Sugar Ramos to win the World Featherweight title. In his first defense of the crown, Saldivar scored a 15th round knockout over a tough Los Angeles contender named Raul Rojas.

Rojas was a talented West Coast featherweight and was managed by Jackie McCoy. McCoy had been a top bantamweight back in the 40's and was one of the most respected manager-trainers in boxing. Jackie was not only a great teacher, but a well connected handler, whose boxers automatically became "house fighters" at the Olympic Auditorium. Promoter Aileen Eaton and Jackie McCoy had an unofficial alliance. McCoy's job was to provide the talent and Eaton would use her power to promote the talent into a world championship.

In 1966, Rojas was 24-years-old and after losing to Saldivar, had run up a string of victories that kept him at the top of the world ratings. Dwight Hawkins wanted nothing more than a chance to fight Rojas and was not afraid to make his desire known in public. After one of Hawkins' spectacular KO's at the Olympic, Dwight openly challenged Rojas in a televised post-fight interview. "Hey Raul, I know you're not chicken, so why don't you fight me right here at the Olympic to prove who is the best featherweight in Los Angeles". Hawkins' plea fell on deaf ears. Jackie McCoy was not a fool and neither was Aileen Eaton. The following year Rojas would defeat Enrique Higgens of Columbia to win the WBA Featherweight Title. Once again, Dwight Hawkins was left out in the cold.

Johnny Flores and Hal Benson took Dwight back down to Mexico where he would take on Mexican Featherweight Champ Aurileo Muniz in Tampico. At this point, Dwight Hawkins was at his absolute best, in his "prime" as boxing people say.

Muniz was rated in the top ten by The Ring Magazine and was second only to Saldivar among Mexican featherweights. In the seventh round, Hawkins knocked out the Mexican Champ. After the referee counted ten over Muniz, Flores grabbed Hawkins' robe and climbed up the steps into the ring. The local fans were upset that their fighter had been flattened and began to throw debris. As Hawkins and Flores awaited the decision they could see that there was some sort of commotion going on across the ring and Flores went to investigate.

The ring announcer grabbed the microphone and declared the fallen Muniz the winner on a technicality. The Mexican officials at ringside told Flores that he had violated the rules by entering the ring before the decision was announced. Now how's that for stretching it?

Flores was irate and filed a grievence with the Mexican Boxing Commission. About a week later the Commision changed the final verdict to a "draw." Today, the record reads that Hawkins and Muniz fought to a ten round draw on Arpril 7, 1967. However, the truth is Muniz never made it out of the seventh round.

Three weeks later, Hawkins scored a tenth round knockout over Jose Garcia in Las Vegas. This took place exactly a month before The Hawk would engage in one of the greatest fights in the history of Los Angeles boxing.

On June 1, 1967, Hawkins would fight top rated featherweight Bobby Valdez before a near capacity crowd at the Olympic Auditorium. It was promised that the winner of this bout would get a shot at Vicente Saldivar's world title before the end of summer. I'll never forget this fight. I was sitting with my dad and grandfather, about three rows from the ringside.

Both Valdez and Hawkins were hungry for a shot at the crown and went toe-to-toe in the most brutal prize fight I've ever seen. In the end, both fighters were bloody and had tasted the canvas. Valdez got off to a quick start and had the edge in the early rounds but Hawkins' vicious body attack started to take it's toll in the second half. Dwight had Valdez reeling in the final round but the courageous former Navy champ, from San Diego, hung on to the final bell. The bout was rightfully declared a draw and would be voted as Los Angeles' Fight of the Year for 1967.

Although the scorecards showed an even fight, the greater damage was done by Hawkins. The fight took everything out of Bobby Valdez and he was never the same again. Dwight just seemed to get better. Aileen Eaton sought an immediate rematch but Valdez's manager, Wes Wombold, said "no way". Since Hawkins was ready to fight and Valdez could'nt, he believed that he might finally get a shot at the title. However, Aileen Eaton told Flores, "no winner, no title shot". A few months later, Bobby Valdez retired.

Hawkins won his next four fights, two by KO, before leaving the country one more time to take on another unbeaten future world champ. This time, The Hawk would be headed for Tokyo, Japan.

Kiniaki Shibata is perhaps the best Japanese featherweight of all-time. On March 27, 1968, just two days before his twenty-first birthday, Shibata climbed into the ring with number three rated Dwight Hawkins at Tokyo's Kurokuen Hall. The unbeaten young Japanese contender had a record of 21-0 (15 KO's) and was looking past Hawkins to a match with his countryman, the great Fighting Harada. Harada had just lost the bantamweight title to Lionel Rose and was moving up to the featherweight division.

Unfortunatly for Shibata, he would have to get past The Hawk first. It was'nt going to happen. Hawkins beat the Japanese boxer to a pulp before putting him to sleep midway thru the seventh round. Shibata was unconcious so long that he had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher. A couple of years later, Kiniaki Shibata would knock out Vicente Saldivar and win the World Featherweight championship.

I'll never forget the night Johnny Flores walked into his backyard gym after returning from Japan with Hawkins. He was carrying the front page of a Japanese newspaper and there was a huge picture of Shibata being carried out of the ring on a stretcher. Flores was very happy because the Japanese loved Hawkins and were offering big money for him to fight there.

A few weeks later Hawkins would return to Japan and take on another world rated Japanese featherweight, Rokuro Ishiyama. Hawkins flattened the Japanese featherweight champ in two rounds.

More popular than ever, Dwight Hawkins was once again invited back to Tokyo. In his next bout, Dwight Hawkins would be matched with the greatest Japanese boxer ever, former two-time World Champion, Mashiko Fighting Harada.

On June 5, 1968, Dwight Hawkins would step into a Tokyo boxing ring for the third time in just over two months. Fighting Harada was more than a former world champ, he was a Japanese legend. Hawkins and Harada went toe-to-toe in the center of the ring for ten rounds. Neither fighter would take a backward step and thruout the bout their heads crashed together opening cuts over the eyes of both boxers. At the end of the fight, Harada's white satin boxing trunks were red with blood. An American reporter in attendence told Flores that he'd counted more than eighty head butts during the fight.

The fight had been close but it appeared as if Dwight Hawkins had once again defeated a Japanese boxer. However, Harada was'nt just any Japanese boxer and the hometown officials were not going to allow their national hero to lose. Harada was awarded a split-decision win over Hawkins and was now in line for a shot at the new featherweight title holder, Johnny Famechon. Famechon had won the title following Vicente Saldivar's sudden retirement the previous year. However, ten rounds with Hawkins had taken a lot out of the Japanese great and Harada would lose twice to Famechon in two attempts to win the 126 pound title.

Despite the loss to Harada, Dwight Hawkins remains a celebrity in Japan to this day. It would be in Japan where Dwight would meet and marry his current wife of more than thirty years.

Back in Los Angeles, Jack Kent Cooke opened a beautiful new sports venue right next door to the Hollywood Park race track. Cooke named his state-of-the-art arena "The Fabulous Forum" and would use it to showcase the two professional teams he owned, The Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and his hockey team, the Los Angeles Kings.

The Forum was one of the finest sports arenas on earth and could hold more than 18,000 fans for a boxing match. Legendary boxing promoter George Parnassus would take on the responsibility of promoting boxing matches at The Forum and Johnny Flores hoped this might offer his fighter Dwight Hawkins a chance to fight for a world title. There was no hope of Hawkins getting a title fight thru Aileen Eaton, who refused to allow any of her Olympic Auditorium "house boxers" to fight The Hawk.

After scoring a unanimous decision over a Filipino-Hawaiian named Jet Parker in Honolulu, Dwight Hawkins would face another tough Los Angeles based featherweight in his Forum Debut. On November 4, 1968, Dwight Hawkins and "Irish" Frankie Crawford would headline an all-start card that also featured the U.S. debut of future Welterweight Champ Jose Napoles and Dwight's stablemate, Ruben Navarro, the "Maravilla Kid" from East L.A.

This was a fight that had Hawkins concerned. I remember that all of the boxers fighting on the card would train daily in a boxing gym set-up in the ball room of the Alexandria Hotel in downtown L.A. George Parnassus' office was at the Alexandria and on weekends I'd finish my workouts at the Main Street Gym and then hurry over to the Alexandria to watch Hawkins, Crawford and the rest of the fighters on the upcoming Forum card workout.

I was sixteen at the time and remember sitting next to Hawkins as he wrapped his hands prior to one of the workouts. Hawkins was not worried about defeating Crawford but he was concerned about Frankie's dirty style. Crawford was one of the dirtiest fighters in the sport and I overheard Hawkins tell Navarro that if Frankie tried any of his garbage he would get it back worse. Dwight Hawkins did'nt need illegal tactics to win, but was well versed in the art of dirty fighting, if necessary. At the time Crawford was being managed by televison star Robert Conrad, whose TV series "The Wild, Wild West" was number one in the ratings. Conrad was a "wanna be" boxer who lived vicariously thru Crawford and took great pleasure in working his fighter's corner.

Crawford was a legitimatly tough world class contender whom had defeated lightweight champ Mando Ramos among others during his career. I remember attending the fight with my father and was a bit disappointed that our seats were not a little bit closer. However, thanks to a pair of binoculars, I had a very good view of what went on in the ring that night. In the first round Crawford hit Dwight with an uppercut below the belt and Hawkins landed on the seat of his pants. My binoculars were focused right in on the face of Hawkins and I knew that Crawford was about to pay dearly for this. Hawkins jumped to his feet and, from that moment on, handed Frankie Crawford the worst beating of his career. In the eighth round, Crawford was literally knocked thru the ropes and nearly fell out of the ring. If it were not for the ringside press who put there hands out to catch Frankie, he'd have rolled to the floor. Crawford struggled to get to his feet but could'nt beat the count of ten. Hawkins not only KO'ed Frankie Crawford, but did so in spectacular style. I would have to say that the funniest thing about this was the look on the face of Robert Conrad's -- the actor was in shock.

Hawkins would win several more times after defeating Crawford, however, was getting no closer to a title fight. Nearly thirty years old, time was running out on Dwight Hawkins. He'd been fighting professionally for nearly half his life and had more than eighty fights undr his belt.

The Ring magazine rated Hawkins number one in the world and an elimination match was set up to determine the next challenger for World Featherweight champ Johnny Famechon. Once again, Dwight Hawkins would be matched with yet another unbeaten future world champion. This time Hawkins would fight Venezuela's Antonio Gomez in a ten round title elimination bout on the undercard of the Lionel Rose-Ruben Olivares bantamweight title bout at The Forum.

While training for the Gomez fight, Hawkins sparred with bantamweight champ Lionel Rose one afternoon at the Alexandria Hotel. However, it would be a one time experience because The Hawk's devastating body shots bruised the Austrailian's ribs. As a result, Rose was forced to miss sparring for the next couple of days to allow his ribs to heal.

Before a packed house at the Fabulous Forum, Dwight Hawkins would fight his heart out for the very last time. At the end of nine rounds Hawkins had a slight edge on the scorecards of all three officials. It looked like Dwight Hawkins was just one round away from the title fight that had been alluding him for more than a dozen years. However, in the tenth and final round, Dwight Hawkins went down from a solid left hook to the chin. The Hawk struggled to his feet by the count of eight and told referee Dick Young he was "OK". However, Hawkins was not OK and Gomez battered Dwight against the ropes. Hawkins took a number of solid shots but refused to go down. The leg that Dwight had almost lost as a child was still supported by the elastic band he'd used so many years before when he began boxing as a child. The Hawk's legs were unsteady, but he was on his feet and trying to fight back.

With less than a minute remaining in the fight, Hawkins long time manager Johnny Flores, threw in the towel. Flores would later tell us that it was the hardest thing he ever had to do during the half century he had worked with boxers.

A few moments later I saw something that I had never seen before and will likely never see again. As I walked toward the dressing room area to see Hawkins, I saw tears in the eyes of some of the toughest boxing personalities in the sport. Many of them were in the house a dozen years earlier when Hawkins, only a teenager, had KO'ed Jose Becerra.

I've never felt so bad over a boxer losing a fight as I did that night in 1969. I felt empty inside and could'nt help but wonder, "What's next for Dwight Hawkins"? I would get the answer the following day at the Main Street Gym.

The next morning I was shadow boxing in front of a mirror next to the entrance to the gym floor and was surprised to see the Hawk walk in carrying his gym bag. I couldn't imagine why he would be in the gym the morning after a tough fight like he'd had the night before. Hawkins looked around and spotted Johnny Flores who was talking with Hal Benson and a couple of trainers. When Benson saw Hawkins he greeted the Hawk with a big smile on his face. Before Dwight could say a word Benson told him that he had some good news. Lionel Rose had also been knocked out the night before by Ruben Olivares, losing his banatmweight title. George Parnassus had told Benson after the fight that Rose would be moving up to the featherweight division and that he would like to match Hawkins with Rose, with the winner to get a shot at the featherweight title. Hawkins just smiled and told Benson "No thanks, I'm finished". He then handed Flores his gym bag and told Johnny to give the equipment to some young fighter who could us it. Benson put his hand on Dwight's shoulder and tried to convince him that he was one fight away from a title shot. The Hawk just smiled and then left the gym for the last time.

The following year I turned professional and after a half dozen fights I saw Dwight Hawkins in the gym one day. I immediatly went over to the Hawk to say hello and was happy to hear that he had returned to help Flores train heavyweight Mac Foster. Foster was a top heavyweight and had just signed a management contract with Flores. That day I got some great news from Johnny Flores. Flores told me that Hawkins would also be training me.

I was scheduled to fight on the undercard of a world lightweight title bout between champion Ken Buchanan and my stablemate Ruben Navarro. Ironically, the card would be held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, they same building where 17-year-old Dwight Hawkins had upset Jose Becerra more than fourteen years earlier. I was eighteen at the time and found myself being over powered by stronger, more mature opponents. My boxing skills and speed allowed me to compete with these men but I needed more power. With the help of Dwight Hawkins, I was able to gain the extra punching power I needed. With Flores and the Hawk in my corner, I knocked out a tough vet who had held me to a draw in my first pro fight.

I lost contact with Hawkins after I stopped boxing and it was more than twenty years later before I would see him again. In 1995, I was recovering from a work-related injury that had me on crutches for a few weeks. As I hobbled around on the crutches I couldn't help but think of Dwight Hawkins and how he had been on crutches as a child. I began to wonder how the Hawk was doing and decided to try and locate him. A call to information was all I needed to find Dwight Hawkins and when I called I was happy that he still remembered who I was. A couple of days later my friend John Brumshagen who, ironiclly, had been close with featherweight Frankie Crawford, drove me to Hawkins house for a visit.

It was great visiting with Dwight Hawkins. As we sat in Dwight's living room and talked, I kept bringing up great fights from the past I'd seen him in. Dwight would smile and politely acknowledge his boxing career but would then quickly change the subject to what he really considered important. Dwight's main concern today is the kids of South Central Los Angeles and the problem related to the gangs.

It's guys like Dwight Hawkins that represent the best of boxing. More accuratly, it's guys like Dwight Hawkins that represent the best of humanity.

How lucky for me to have been around a guy like the Hawk.

[dagosd2000]

Rick
Your story on Hawkins belongs in an annal of the great boxing stories of all time

[Rick Farris]

Roger . . .

Your art is now circulating thru the Historical Boxing community, that is, your "Roger Esty Gallery".
I have a great friend who is a well known boxing historian, Tony Triem. Tony was an associate with the late Hank Kaplan, a remowned historian who passed last year.
Tony has one of the largest collection of boxing photos and autographs known, with upwards of 20,000 images. He also has access to a quater million more images.

This is a man who knows what the past greats look like and he was amazed when he saw your portraits. "DAMN, THIS GUY IS GOOD!!!" he exclaimed.
Think I'm exagerating? I do sell you from my strong side, but it's the image that has the final word.
When he saw your Bob Fitzsimmons he was excited. "That's him, Rick. That's Ruby Bob!"

Tony then asked if your work was for sale and I explained what we have going with the WBHOF.
Tony recently joined our board of directors but, like me, will leave after this year's banquet.
I told him you do sell your art and that he would have to speak with you regarding prices, sizes, etc.

Tony is very close with Tracy Callis, who recently lost his son. Tracy is the man who co-authored the great L.A. history book with our Chuck Johnston.
Tony said that Tracy loves Bob Fitzsimmons, and Tony is interested in purchasing the Fitzsimmons portrait for his friend.
I would like to connect you with Tony, who asked me to forward you his phone number, etc.
I just tried to phone you but was unable to leave a message.
Tony has many images, he is well connected and highly respected, and his WBHOF table is right next to ours on October 24th.
He'll be at your gallery showing and I'm expecting him to pass on the word to those he believes will be interested in purchasing your art.

Just for the record, this connection is not related to the WBHOF so the Hall is not a part of any sale that might transpire. It's between you & Tony.
The thing I consider most important isn't the sale of a portrait, but by the potential for exposure withing the boxing historian group.

With regard to my goal of getting your work "known" by those in the boxing world, this is a big step forward.

At your convenience, give me a call and we'll set this in motion.


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

Rick
Your story on Hawkins belongs in an annal of the great boxing stories of all time

I put it up on my blog.....

[kikibalt]

Schwarzenegger appointee to athletic commission resigns, another is under fire

State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg refuses to hold confirmation hearings for the pair. An ethics probe of the commission is underway over members getting free admission for friends from promoters

By Michael Rothfeld

September 24, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento - The leader of the state Senate announced Thursday that he would knock two of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointees off the troubled California State Athletic Commission, but as he did so, one of the members abruptly resigned.

The board, which regulates boxing and mixed martial arts, has had problems for years with management, personnel, regulation and ethics, state audits and other records show.

Last week, The Times reported that commissioners had obtained from promoters they regulate free admission to big-ticket sports events for numerous friends and relatives. A state ethics agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, launched an investigation.

On Wednesday, the head of the state Department of Consumer Affairs, the commission's parent agency, also rejected the board members' choice for a permanent executive officer, the top administrative post. The position has been vacant since late last year, when the last executive officer left amid accusations of sexual harassment from a subordinate. The state settled the complaint this year for $75,000.

In his resignation letter to Schwarzenegger, Commission Chairman Timothy Noonan said he had quit because the commission's "outstanding" candidate was rejected.

Consumer Affairs Director Brian Stiger, in a letter to Noonan on Wednesday, praised the commissioners' choice, Pat Russell, a former professional boxing official. But he said that due to its "well-documented" problems, the board "vitally needs an executive officer with a proven and demonstrated ability to effectively manage a complex government program."

Noonan, an insurance executive from Beverly Hills, and Commissioner Peter Lopez, an entertainment lawyer from Encino, had been reappointed by the governor earlier this year to new four-year terms.

But Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Thursday that he would not hold confirmation hearings for either appointee, effectively forcing them out.

In a statement, Steinberg said Schwarzenegger had replaced members of the state's Board of Registered Nursing in July after disclosures of serious enforcement delays. The governor last week ordered athletic commissioners not to accept gifts but did not take any action.

Steinberg said he hopes that Schwarzenegger "looks for new members whose priority is protecting the health and safety of the athletes they regulate rather than arranging for free admission to boxing and [mixed martial arts] events."

Lopez can serve on the board until the end of the year without confirmation. The governor's office declined to comment. Noonan and Lopez did not return calls.

michael.rothfeld

@latimes.com

Times staff writer Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.

[Randyman]

Rick, your Dwight Hawkins story was outstanding and from the heart. I also posted it on my website.

Randy

[Randyman]

This is for my good buddy, Randy De La O

New Mexico's green chile, the real deal
No need to travel hundreds of miles east -- they're available in SoCal. But a trip to the Land of Enchantment isn't complete without a chile sampler.



New Mexican green chiles are grown all along the Rio Grande Valley. (Norm Dettlaff / Associated Press)

By Russ Parsons

I just got back from a week in New Mexico, and that usually means, by rough calculation, having consumed approximately 21 meals based on chile, most of it green. That's not including snacks. This time the number was far lower. And for the first time I can remember, I didn't have to smuggle hardly any home in my luggage, either.

That's certainly not because I've lost my affection for the fiery stuff, but rather because it's becoming so readily available in Southern California. Green chile roasts are now regular fall events here, held at farmers markets and supermarkets alike. And I can even pick up quite good frozen green chile at my local grocery store. After decades of doing without, suddenly I have plenty.

Let's be clear: I'm not talking about the fresh Anaheim-type chiles you usually find in the supermarket. Though they may sometimes be labeled "New Mexico chile," trust me, any true New Mexican considers that the gravest of insults. They're nothing but anorexic bell peppers.

If you've never had a real New Mexican green chile before, probably the closest parallel would be imagining a poblano with the heat ramped up by a factor of about 10. There's that same sweet green pepper flavor but paired with a kick that'll make your head sweat.

That's no exaggeration. Back in the 1980s when I was a restaurant critic in New Mexico and eating green chile on an almost hourly basis, my wife learned to gauge the heat of the pepper by the following scale: If it was a little hot, my forehead would turn red; if it was pretty danged hot, the top of my head would sweat; and when it was truly incandescent, I would break out in hiccups. I spent most of those three years with hiccups.

Sauce and more

You might think that an ingredient that packs that kind of punch would be used sparingly, as an accent. Not in New Mexico. Probably the most common application is as a sauce for enchiladas -- basically, pure green chile, perhaps cooked down with stock and thickened with a roux.

If you want to go the full New Mexican route, you'll order these enchiladas stacked rather than rolled, and made from blue corn tortillas layered with shredded cheese and white onion. The final fillip -- rarely listed on the menu but almost always available for the asking -- is a fried egg, over-medium, thanks.

Thin the sauce a little and throw in chunks of carrot, potato and chunks of lamb or pork and you've got green chile stew -- a lunchtime staple. Stuff the chiles with cheese, fry them in an egg white batter and serve them soaked in sauce and you've got chiles rellenos.

One of my favorite New Mexican dishes, particularly at this time of year, is calabacitas -- a zucchini and fresh corn sauté sparked with a healthy dose of green chile. The way the sweetness of the squash and corn balances the fiery pepper is perfect.

Green chile is often served even more plainly: On this last visit I was helping my sainted sister-in-law prepare for a big family party and she asked me to peel and chop a bag. Job done, I asked her what she was going to do with it. "Nothing," she said -- it went to the table just as it was, mixed with a little garlic and served as a condiment for cold cuts. Indeed, there is probably no finer complement to a nice medium-rare cheeseburger than a big spoonful of green chile.

Those, of course, are just the classic uses. A newspaper I once worked for in New Mexico ran a semi-annual contest for green chile recipes and every year published a cookbook with the more than 150 entries.

While it may be true that not everything sounds absolutely delicious, the collection does stand as evidence for the exuberant affection New Mexicans feel for their pet pepper. How else would you account for dishes such as veal parmigiana with green chile, or a lemon Jell-O mold with green chile?

Giving red its due

All of this attention to green chile is not to dismiss red, which is the same pepper, fully ripened. It really is impossible to overstate the importance of these two ingredients in the area's cooking.

The state legislature, which does show an occasional sense of humor in between corruption investigations, officially decreed a New Mexico state question: "Red or Green?"

While the green is almost always served fresh, the red is almost always served dried (though you can occasionally find dried green, which has a fine delicately smoky flavor, and for a few weeks, usually in October, fresh red, which tastes like fresh green, only sweeter).

Most of the time you'll find red chile dried and finely ground, just waiting to be simmered. If you have whole pods, cover them with hot water and then work the pulp in your hands, separating out the tough skin and the seeds. (At this point, it's imperative to warn that any time you work with these chiles, red or green, you must wash your hands thoroughly before touching your eyes or any other sensitive body parts.)

Bueno, the company that sells the frozen green chile in local supermarkets, also packs a very good frozen red pulp that's ready for cooking.

Most of the time you see green chile in California, it's specified that it's from Hatch, which is a small town in the southwestern corner of the state. (Notice that when you see something called Ortega green chile on a menu, it's always canned -- that's the name of the company, not the chile or the growing area.)

Hatch does grow a whole lot of chile, but it's not the only source. Indeed, chiles are grown all along the Rio Grande Valley and because of differences in soil, climate and specific strain, the flavors can differ fairly dramatically, though due to the concentrating effect of drying, this is usually more evident in red chile than in green. When I was teaching cooking classes, I had a student from an old New Mexico family who swore she could identify at least a dozen chile sources tasted blind.

My personal favorite is the heritage variety from Chimayo, just north of Santa Fe, which is brick-red with a glorious pungent smell of earth and chile. This trip, I found a farmer selling it at the Santa Fe farmers market (quite a wonderful market, by the way). I took a whiff and just had to buy a bag to bring back home -- no matter how easily available the regular red might be here.

I'm not sure when I'll cook with it. For now, I'm getting too much pleasure just holding it up to my nose and inhaling. Living at the beach and still having good chile: How could life be any better?

[email protected]

Thanks for posting this article Frank. The New mexico Green Chile is my favorite food, ...period. I like all types of chilies including the red New Mexico, Poblano, Jalapenos, Serranos and Habaneros, ..etc. I usually buy a gunny sack of roasted green chilies about this time of the year but I just didn't get around to it.

My father, who was from New Mexico, would bring back sacks of chilies and roast them on the grill and freeze them for future use.

I grew up eating New Mexico Style Enchiladas, flat with a couple of fried eggs on top, with good, hot, red chile.

I'm salivating as I write so excuse the mess!

Randy D

[Randyman]

This one's for Randy too. Maria in her kitchen

Thanks Rog, I can tell by looking at maria, that she is a serious cook. Man I love chilies. the hotter, the better.

I'm still salivating

Randy

[Rick Farris]

This one's for Randy too. Maria in her kitchen

Thanks Rog, I can tell by looking at maria, that she is a serious cook. Man I love chilies. the hotter, the better.

I'm still salivating

Randy

Randy . . . I'm salivating over the German cerveza Rog is bringing to the CBHOF for us. DD



-Ricardo

[Rick Farris]

Thanks to all my friends for the encouraging words regarding the Dwight Hawkins story.
I wrote it ten years ago.


Rick Farris

[Rick Farris]

Rick, your Dwight Hawkins story was outstanding and from the heart. I also posted it on my website.

Randy

Randy . . . This photo was posted with the story.
Dwight Hawkins stood 5'3", and had very skinny legs, more like pins. You can see this in the photo.
However, the Hawk's upper body was exceptionally powerful.
Hawkins fought with a very wide stance to componsate for one leg being a couple inches shorter than the other.
He also had compensate for balance in a way that gave his punches more leverage.
Our pal El Gato tells of boxing with Hawkins, who was a smaller fighter. Gonzalez himself was a devistating body puncher and tells me how brutal Hawkins body shots were.
Hawk's jab was very unconventional and was a set-up for whipping hooks both high and low.
Although different in set-up and stance, it could be said that Hawkins aggressive forward movement was not unlike Henry Armstrong.
I wish I could find footage of his bouts, especially the Bobby Valdez fight.


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

State commission's oversight of sport is criticized

Special report: Promoters and others say California State Athletic Commission has added risk to a perilous sport.



Antonio Margarito, right, almost made it into the ring against Shane Mosley with improperly taped hands despite a State Athletic Commission official witnessing the application of the wrap. (Los Angeles Times / January 24, 2009)


By Lance Pugmire

September 25, 2009

The last time Staples Center was filled to capacity for a prominent fight that attracted a national television audience, the insistence of one observant trainer saved the California State Athletic Commission from potentially suffering more than embarrassment.

That was the night two hardened, plaster-caked inserts were to be wrapped into the hands of Antonio Margarito as he prepared to defend his world welterweight title against Shane Mosley.

"I know for a fact that if I wouldn't have been there saying something, he would've walked right into that ring," said Nazim Richardson, Mosley's veteran trainer.

How could something so dangerous come so close to happening?

It's a question that's often been asked since that incident, which took place in January.

As another championship bout comes to Staples, Saturday's world heavyweight title fight between champion Vitali Klitschko and Riverside's Cris Arreola, there is increasing concern about the organization that sanctions the state's boxing and mixed martial arts bouts.

State Athletic Commission inspector Che Guevara was looking on as Margarito's hands were wrapped by his trainer, Javier Capetillo. Richardson, as the opponent's trainer, was allowed to observe too. And when he squeezed one of Margarito's wraps, he told Guevara it felt hard inside.

The inspector's reaction? "He was trying to keep the job moving," Richardson recalled. "It was like what I was saying was new to him, that no one had ever raised these questions to him, and he was obviously in an uncomfortable situation."

Richardson said Guevara felt the same taped hand and said, "It feels all right to me."

Only after the boxer's hands were unwrapped at Richardson's urging were the inserts discovered. They had been hidden under knuckle pads atop Margarito's fists, and experts say they would have extracted plenty of extra damage.

Mosley ended up winning the bout by technical knockout in the ninth round, and weeks later the commission revoked the boxing licenses of Margarito and trainer Capetillo.

But boxing promoters, matchmakers and others closely associated with the fight game told The Times the commission is not providing proper oversight, adding risk to an already dangerous sport.

"I've complained that [commission representatives] were unprofessional and risking the health of my fighters and my business," said Alex Camponovo, lead matchmaker for Thompson Boxing Promotions, which routinely stages shows at the Ontario Doubletree Hotel and other Southland venues.

Camponovo said two Thompson shows this year were disrupted when commission-assigned physicians failed to show up. State rules require pre-weigh-in physicals for boxers the day before a fight. Regulators say the exams are important because boxers can severely weaken themselves trying to make weight.

In one case, Camponovo said a Sept. 11 card proceeded even though the 14 boxers who fought had physicals less than three hours before the first bell.

"Things are falling through the cracks that should never fall through the cracks," said promoter Roy Englebrecht, who stages monthly "Battle in the Ballroom" cards at the Irvine Marriott.

In June, an Englebrecht card was jeopardized when one of two ringside doctors and one of three judges failed to show.

"No one got hurt, thank goodness," Englebrecht said. "If the doctor would've had to leave with an injured fighter, I would've had to stop my show."

Englebrecht and others are pushing hard for new leadership with comprehensive knowledge of the sport.

"Unfortunately, the commission has been a ship for most of the last year without a captain," he said. "There's no one pulling together and establishing a working system."

The commission was without an executive officer from last November until June, and is still without a permanent replacement following the resignation of Armando Garcia after a sexual harassment complaint. Dave Thornton, former director of the state medical board, has been the interim executive officer.

Thornton was embroiled in controversy this summer when the contents of a July 22 letter he wrote became public.

The letter warned that a fighter on a March 7 mixed martial arts card in Tulare had been allowed to fight without an HIV blood detection screening and after he tested positive for hepatitis C.

The letter urged anyone who had been in contact with a fighter on that card to be tested. However, the advisory was not distributed to the fighters or promoters, lead promoter Al Joslin said.

One fighter on the card, Preston Scharf, told The Times, "It's scary. There's blood, you know. . . . The sport is high risk all the way around.

"That's why we pay the state. We're supposed to be protected."

Shelly Matlock, promoter Joslin's wife, said the long-delayed hepatitis C revelation showed the commission is "overwhelmed [and] overtaxed . . . with all the [job] cuts, the furlough Fridays and the stress.

"We had a real safety issue at our fight," she added. "I get in there and hug the fighters. I have a cage crew that cleans blood. There's the whole corner teams for both fighters. My grandchildren watching from ringside. I told the commission, 'I pay you a lot of money' -- 10% of the gate -- 'and I demand full and immediate disclosure of something like this.' "

Matlock said she received an apology letter from Thornton. "This is a lesson learned for me and the commission and we will do better in the future," Thornton wrote. "But hopefully this type of incident will not occur again."

Authorities later declared the hepatitis C result a "false positive." Thornton on Thursday declined to identify who was responsible for the lapse but said discipline was "being looked at."

Camponovo's complaints about the late medical examinations, Thornton said, stemmed from "miscommunication." He also said regulations did not require Englebrecht's Irvine show to have two ringside physicians.

The commission continues to take hits, however. On Thursday, its board lost two of its seven members.

Board leader Timothy Noonan abruptly resigned as the state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg announced he would effectively remove Noonan and Peter Lopez from their posts by not holding confirmation hearings for either.

Noonan said he resigned because the state's Department of Consumer Affairs declined the commission's recommendation of former boxing official Pat Russell as Thornton's permanent replacement. But Noonan was already the target of an ethics investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission after a Times probe earlier this month found he had distributed free fight passes to friends. The Times' report also found the State Athletic Commission failed to stop two suspended athletes from fighting this year.

Beyond the political tumult, critics say boxing has suffered because the athletic commission removed three top inspectors.

One of them, Dean Lohuis, said the commission is allowing unsafe matches.

After he was let go, Lohuis e-mailed authorities complaining that two fighters "known as nothing more than novice tough men," were battered in second-round knockouts during bouts at Redondo Beach in July. Two months later, he was shocked to see one of them fighting in Ontario.

In an e-mail to The Times, Lohuis described the fighter as "badly overweight . . . with a blubbery belly, glasses and red shaggy beard" and said the referee told him after he stopped the fight early in the first round, "In my 12 years of doing this, this was the worst mismatch I'd ever seen. He stood there eating jabs and did not even have the basic skills."

Said Lohuis, "To approve [this boxer] once is incompetence; to approve him a second time is incomprehensible."

The former inspector, a fixture at California fights for more than two decades, cited several examples of poor matchmaking, noting that Daniel Gonzales, with a record of 9-24-2 including seven consecutive defeats, suffered two technical knockouts and another loss in a 60-day span.

Thornton said the commission's "priority is the fighter's safety. [And] there have been no serious injuries or deaths as a result of these incidents." He also expressed "full confidence in matchmaking" decisions by the commission, but added that he is consulting the Assn. of Boxing Commissions to adopt recommendations and is close to hiring an expert "recognized nationally in bout approval."

Promoter Camponovo and others are hopeful the situation will soon improve. He says he prides himself on maintaining a safe environment for the fighters, but he's not so sure about the intentions of others.

"In the end it's a business, and if people think they can get away with something they might try," he said. "That's why we have regulators."

[email protected]

Times staff writer Michael Rothfeld contributed to this report.

[raylawpc]

Rick
Your story on Hawkins belongs in an annal of the great boxing stories of all time

I put it up on my blog.....

Where do you post your blog Frank? I'd like to read it.

Frank, who is going to be sitting at the Jeffries table tomorrow? I sure wish I could be there.

[kikibalt]

Rick
Your story on Hawkins belongs in an annal of the great boxing stories of all time

I put it up on my blog.....

Where do you post your blog Frank? I'd like to read it.

Frank, who is going to be sitting at the Jeffries table tomorrow? I sure wish I could be there.

My blog

http://westcoastboxersofyearsgoneby.blogspot.com/

Ed Hernendez and son, Jesus Pimentel and co, my daughter Linda, granddaughter Keana, grandson Rocky and co and Rene Ramirez and co. will sit at the Jeffries table.

Instand of round tables like before, we are going to have long tables,I think the two tables will be together. Have to do it that way because of the amount of tickets sold, way over 6 hundred. Been sold out for over a week now, it will be shown on CC TV in the bar area...

[raylawpc]

Well, I hope everybody has a great time. I'm personally gettng really tired of hospital food - especially the food at this hospital!

[kikibalt]

Well, I hope everybody has a great time. I'm personally gettng really tired of hospital food - especially the food at this hospital!

Are you back in the hospital?, I didn't know that, whats wrong this time?

[dagosd2000]

Well, I hope everybody has a great time. I'm personally gettng really tired of hospital food - especially the food at this hospital!

Are you back in the hospital?, I didn't know that, whats wrong this time?

Tom
Hope you get well soon. Maybe we'll see you out our way some day. Take care. Roger

[raylawpc]

Sorry guys. No, I'm fine. My Dad had been in the hospital for the last two weeks. (I have written so many e-mails etc about it that I guess I thought that I had mentioned it.)

He has been in a nursing home for the past several months. Two weeks ago they found him unresponsive when they went to wake him up in the morning, and they rushed him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a serious case of pneumonia. It was touch-and-go several times and twice we thought that we had lost him, but he's been doing well the last two or three days.

The problem is his Parkinson's. It has impacted his ability to swallow. As a result, they think he asperated some food into his lungs, and that caused the pneumonia. As I write this, we are in radiology and they are doing a swallow test. If he flunks the test (and he will), they will put in a permanent feeding tube.

[Rick Farris]

State commission's oversight of sport is criticized

Special report: Promoters and others say California State Athletic Commission has added risk to a perilous sport.



Antonio Margarito, right, almost made it into the ring against Shane Mosley with improperly taped hands despite a State Athletic Commission official witnessing the application of the wrap. (Los Angeles Times / January 24, 2009)


By Lance Pugmire

September 25, 2009

The last time Staples Center was filled to capacity for a prominent fight that attracted a national television audience, the insistence of one observant trainer saved the California State Athletic Commission from potentially suffering more than embarrassment.

That was the night two hardened, plaster-caked inserts were to be wrapped into the hands of Antonio Margarito as he prepared to defend his world welterweight title against Shane Mosley.

"I know for a fact that if I wouldn't have been there saying something, he would've walked right into that ring," said Nazim Richardson, Mosley's veteran trainer.

How could something so dangerous come so close to happening?

It's a question that's often been asked since that incident, which took place in January.

As another championship bout comes to Staples, Saturday's world heavyweight title fight between champion Vitali Klitschko and Riverside's Cris Arreola, there is increasing concern about the organization that sanctions the state's boxing and mixed martial arts bouts.

State Athletic Commission inspector Che Guevara was looking on as Margarito's hands were wrapped by his trainer, Javier Capetillo. Richardson, as the opponent's trainer, was allowed to observe too. And when he squeezed one of Margarito's wraps, he told Guevara it felt hard inside.

The inspector's reaction? "He was trying to keep the job moving," Richardson recalled. "It was like what I was saying was new to him, that no one had ever raised these questions to him, and he was obviously in an uncomfortable situation."

Richardson said Guevara felt the same taped hand and said, "It feels all right to me."

Only after the boxer's hands were unwrapped at Richardson's urging were the inserts discovered. They had been hidden under knuckle pads atop Margarito's fists, and experts say they would have extracted plenty of extra damage.

Mosley ended up winning the bout by technical knockout in the ninth round, and weeks later the commission revoked the boxing licenses of Margarito and trainer Capetillo.

But boxing promoters, matchmakers and others closely associated with the fight game told The Times the commission is not providing proper oversight, adding risk to an already dangerous sport.

"I've complained that [commission representatives] were unprofessional and risking the health of my fighters and my business," said Alex Camponovo, lead matchmaker for Thompson Boxing Promotions, which routinely stages shows at the Ontario Doubletree Hotel and other Southland venues.

Camponovo said two Thompson shows this year were disrupted when commission-assigned physicians failed to show up. State rules require pre-weigh-in physicals for boxers the day before a fight. Regulators say the exams are important because boxers can severely weaken themselves trying to make weight.

In one case, Camponovo said a Sept. 11 card proceeded even though the 14 boxers who fought had physicals less than three hours before the first bell.

"Things are falling through the cracks that should never fall through the cracks," said promoter Roy Englebrecht, who stages monthly "Battle in the Ballroom" cards at the Irvine Marriott.

In June, an Englebrecht card was jeopardized when one of two ringside doctors and one of three judges failed to show.

"No one got hurt, thank goodness," Englebrecht said. "If the doctor would've had to leave with an injured fighter, I would've had to stop my show."

Englebrecht and others are pushing hard for new leadership with comprehensive knowledge of the sport.

"Unfortunately, the commission has been a ship for most of the last year without a captain," he said. "There's no one pulling together and establishing a working system."

The commission was without an executive officer from last November until June, and is still without a permanent replacement following the resignation of Armando Garcia after a sexual harassment complaint. Dave Thornton, former director of the state medical board, has been the interim executive officer.

Thornton was embroiled in controversy this summer when the contents of a July 22 letter he wrote became public.

The letter warned that a fighter on a March 7 mixed martial arts card in Tulare had been allowed to fight without an HIV blood detection screening and after he tested positive for hepatitis C.

The letter urged anyone who had been in contact with a fighter on that card to be tested. However, the advisory was not distributed to the fighters or promoters, lead promoter Al Joslin said.

One fighter on the card, Preston Scharf, told The Times, "It's scary. There's blood, you know. . . . The sport is high risk all the way around.

"That's why we pay the state. We're supposed to be protected."

Shelly Matlock, promoter Joslin's wife, said the long-delayed hepatitis C revelation showed the commission is "overwhelmed [and] overtaxed . . . with all the [job] cuts, the furlough Fridays and the stress.

"We had a real safety issue at our fight," she added. "I get in there and hug the fighters. I have a cage crew that cleans blood. There's the whole corner teams for both fighters. My grandchildren watching from ringside. I told the commission, 'I pay you a lot of money' -- 10% of the gate -- 'and I demand full and immediate disclosure of something like this.' "

Matlock said she received an apology letter from Thornton. "This is a lesson learned for me and the commission and we will do better in the future," Thornton wrote. "But hopefully this type of incident will not occur again."

Authorities later declared the hepatitis C result a "false positive." Thornton on Thursday declined to identify who was responsible for the lapse but said discipline was "being looked at."

Camponovo's complaints about the late medical examinations, Thornton said, stemmed from "miscommunication." He also said regulations did not require Englebrecht's Irvine show to have two ringside physicians.

The commission continues to take hits, however. On Thursday, its board lost two of its seven members.

Board leader Timothy Noonan abruptly resigned as the state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg announced he would effectively remove Noonan and Peter Lopez from their posts by not holding confirmation hearings for either.

Noonan said he resigned because the state's Department of Consumer Affairs declined the commission's recommendation of former boxing official Pat Russell as Thornton's permanent replacement. But Noonan was already the target of an ethics investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission after a Times probe earlier this month found he had distributed free fight passes to friends. The Times' report also found the State Athletic Commission failed to stop two suspended athletes from fighting this year.

Beyond the political tumult, critics say boxing has suffered because the athletic commission removed three top inspectors.

One of them, Dean Lohuis, said the commission is allowing unsafe matches.

After he was let go, Lohuis e-mailed authorities complaining that two fighters "known as nothing more than novice tough men," were battered in second-round knockouts during bouts at Redondo Beach in July. Two months later, he was shocked to see one of them fighting in Ontario.

In an e-mail to The Times, Lohuis described the fighter as "badly overweight . . . with a blubbery belly, glasses and red shaggy beard" and said the referee told him after he stopped the fight early in the first round, "In my 12 years of doing this, this was the worst mismatch I'd ever seen. He stood there eating jabs and did not even have the basic skills."

Said Lohuis, "To approve [this boxer] once is incompetence; to approve him a second time is incomprehensible."

The former inspector, a fixture at California fights for more than two decades, cited several examples of poor matchmaking, noting that Daniel Gonzales, with a record of 9-24-2 including seven consecutive defeats, suffered two technical knockouts and another loss in a 60-day span.

Thornton said the commission's "priority is the fighter's safety. [And] there have been no serious injuries or deaths as a result of these incidents." He also expressed "full confidence in matchmaking" decisions by the commission, but added that he is consulting the Assn. of Boxing Commissions to adopt recommendations and is close to hiring an expert "recognized nationally in bout approval."

Promoter Camponovo and others are hopeful the situation will soon improve. He says he prides himself on maintaining a safe environment for the fighters, but he's not so sure about the intentions of others.

"In the end it's a business, and if people think they can get away with something they might try," he said. "That's why we have regulators."

[email protected]

Times staff writer Michael Rothfeld contributed to this report.

The Commish . . .

I won't name names here because but I'm friends with several California based referees, however, many are repremanded for stopping bouts "too soon.' They are criticized by Athletic Commision officials who are pressured by promoters who want to keep the fans happy.

One ref, a former world class fighter, was taken to task for stopping a bout when the referee feared for the safety of the boxer. The official who was never a boxer, has no knowledge or interest in what could lead to the death of a boxer.

The California State Athletic Commission has always been corrupt. The official I'm speaking of was recently dismissed, but the problem continues to exist.

[Rick Farris]

Sorry guys. No, I'm fine. My Dad had been in the hospital for the last two weeks. (I have written so many e-mails etc about it that I guess I thought that I had mentioned it.)

He has been in a nursing home for the past several months. Two weeks ago they found him unresponsive when they went to wake him up in the morning, and they rushed him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a serious case of pneumonia. It was touch-and-go several times and twice we thought that we had lost him, but he's been doing well the last two or three days.

The problem is his Parkinson's. It has impacted his ability to swallow. As a result, they think he asperated some food into his lungs, and that caused the pneumonia. As I write this, we are in radiology and they are doing a swallow test. If he flunks the test (and he will), they will put in a permanent feeding tube.

Tom . . . Both you and your father are in my prayers.

-Rick

[dagosd2000]

Sorry guys. No, I'm fine. My Dad had been in the hospital for the last two weeks. (I have written so many e-mails etc about it that I guess I thought that I had mentioned it.)

He has been in a nursing home for the past several months. Two weeks ago they found him unresponsive when they went to wake him up in the morning, and they rushed him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a serious case of pneumonia. It was touch-and-go several times and twice we thought that we had lost him, but he's been doing well the last two or three days.

The problem is his Parkinson's. It has impacted his ability to swallow. As a result, they think he asperated some food into his lungs, and that caused the pneumonia. As I write this, we are in radiology and they are doing a swallow test. If he flunks the test (and he will), they will put in a permanent feeding tube.

Tom . . . Both you and your father are in my prayers.

-Rick

Tom
Hope your dad makes a quick recovery.It's good for him that he knows his son is beside him. Roger

[kikibalt]

Sorry guys. No, I'm fine. My Dad had been in the hospital for the last two weeks. (I have written so many e-mails etc about it that I guess I thought that I had mentioned it.)

He has been in a nursing home for the past several months. Two weeks ago they found him unresponsive when they went to wake him up in the morning, and they rushed him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a serious case of pneumonia. It was touch-and-go several times and twice we thought that we had lost him, but he's been doing well the last two or three days.

The problem is his Parkinson's. It has impacted his ability to swallow. As a result, they think he asperated some food into his lungs, and that caused the pneumonia. As I write this, we are in radiology and they are doing a swallow test. If he flunks the test (and he will), they will put in a permanent feeding tube.

Tom . . . Both you and your father are in my prayers.

-Rick

Ditto!!

[Rick Farris]

In June, an Englebrecht card was jeopardized when one of two ringside doctors and one of three judges failed to show.
"No one got hurt, thank goodness," Englebrecht said. "If the doctor would've had to leave with an injured fighter, I would've had to stop my show."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


When it comes down to Life & Death . . .

In 1972, I had a six-round fight at the Forum that followed an Armando Muniz knockout in the main event.
Muniz KOed his opponent in the 2nd round, and Dr. Jack Useem rode with the boxer to the hospital to be checked out.
My fight was a bloody one, I left the ring with a busted nose, cut over one eye, the other closed, and I was urinating blood in the dressing room.
I was fine, but my opponent suffered eye cuts, busted nose and a broken jaw.
It was said in the final moments of the bout his jaw was broken when I caught him with a punch as he opened his mouth to breath (too much blood in his nose)
My opponent was also complaining of dizziness and a could not walk without assistance. Where was the Doc?????

As I said, I was fine, but there was a small commotion over my opponents health. What if he'd lapsed into a coma, as we have all seen happen?
I realize I'm speaking of something that happened 37 years ago, however, care & concern of prizefighters was no better then or today than ever.

The arrogance of the CSAC is beyond belief. I have been told that the State officials will question & challenge an officials scorecards when they credit a close round to a boxer other than the "house fighter".

Do you know that Howie Steindler was murdered just a couple days after contacting a State Senator about improprieties related to the California State Athletic Commission?


-Rick Farris

[raylawpc]

Thanks for your kind words, fellas! It means a lot to me.

[Rick Farris]

In June, an Englebrecht card was jeopardized when one of two ringside doctors and one of three judges failed to show.
"No one got hurt, thank goodness," Englebrecht said. "If the doctor would've had to leave with an injured fighter, I would've had to stop my show."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


When it comes down to Life & Death . . .

In 1972, I had a six-round fight at the Forum that followed an Armando Muniz knockout in the main event.
Muniz KOed his opponent in the 2nd round, and Dr. Jack Useem rode with the boxer to the hospital to be checked out.
My fight was a bloody one, I left the ring with a busted nose, cut over one eye, the other closed, and I was urinating blood in the dressing room.
I was fine, but my opponent suffered eye cuts, busted nose and a broken jaw.
It was said in the final moments of the bout his jaw was broken when I caught him with a punch as he opened his mouth to breath (too much blood in his nose)
My opponent was also complaining of dizziness and a could not walk without assistance. Where was the Doc?????

As I said, I was fine, but there was a small commotion over my opponents health. What if he'd lapsed into a coma, as we have all seen happen?
I realize I'm speaking of something that happened 37 years ago, however, care & concern of prizefighters was no better then or today than ever.

The arrogance of the CSAC is beyond belief. I have been told that the State officials will question & challenge an officials scorecards when they credit a close round to a boxer other than the "house fighter".

Do you know that Howie Steindler was murdered just a couple days after contacting a State Senator about improprieties related to the California State Athletic Commission?


-Rick Farris

Another Mel Epstein memory . . .


In the above post I recalled a bloody fight I was involved in at the Forum back in 1972.
As I mentioned, I had sustained a few memories of the fight on my face, and one was a cut above my right eye, the result of an elbow, I think?

Mel Epstein was my trainer and he was 72-years-old. At 72, Mel was more like 90.
Mel didn't have a calm nature nor could he steady his hands to wrap mine. On this night Johnny Villaflor was our second so my hands were wrapped nicely.

After the bout, Mel paid Villaflor and Johnny left the building. He then discovered that the doctor had left before my bout.
I thought the doctor was going to stitch me, would have taken about 4 or 5 stitches. But with no doctor I'm left with Mel to handle the patch job.
Sitting in front of me cursing, his angry little eyes darting left and right to see who was near by, Mel Epstein ripped off strips of white tape he'd use for a "butterfly".
I think he had used monsel solution (an illegal substance) to stop the bleeding between rounds, and was now dobbing the wound with cotton, his hands shaking the whole time.
As Mel applied the strips he tried to get them to hold the bandage in place and also sqeeze the wound shut. In other words, he didn't have a clue as what to do.
If he did know, he was unable to prove it on that night. In due course, the cut never reopened so he must have done something right.
Mel was angry that I put myself in position to get cut. "You mean by stepping into the ring tonight?" I asked.

My answer angered Mel even more, "No, by not stepping into the ring at the gym as often as you should have! You was supposed to workout with Little Red last Sunday, but were a no-show after one of your Saturday night specials with that broad."
Mel stood erect with steam coming from his ears, with his hands on his hips.

He was right, I made a fight much harder than it had to be.
I also set myself up for having to sit still in front of Mel as he attempted to patch my cut, which was tougher than the fight.
Yeah, I should trained a little harder.


-Rick Farris