Chuck1052 wrote:While doing research, I learned not to trust newspapers or boxing books completely when it comes to historical accuracy, especially when the content was not about contemporary events. Unlike many historians or researchers, Nat Fleischer, ghostwriters, newspapermen often didn't have the resources or time to do the in-depth research or fact-checking needed to make articles or books as accurate as possible.
But I will say that I used many unreliable sources of information as leads, notably Wikipedia. Then I try to verify such leads with what I consider more reliable sources.
- Chuck Johnston
You are the real deal, amigo. A real boxing historian.
Some people have to have every edge.
When you can get an edge, take it.
Take anything that will enhance the chance of your hand being raised when it's all over.
That's just common sense, right?
However, as an unbeaten boxer who claims to be the best boxer PFP on the Planet, you'd think a guy would want to solidify his legacy by facing the best in the world, when both he and the other guy was at their best.
Floyd's at his best, no doubt, but so is the other guy. Manny Pac's yet to show signs of decline, although he's pushing the envelope.
Mayweather knows that even a super-human like the Pac Man, will eventually burn out.
Especially so as he tangles with full grown, natural welters with knockout power in both fists.
Mr. Money would prefers to immortalize his legend as one that fought the best, but not when they were at their best.
Another year pushes the odds of a victory against Pac more in Pretty Scared's favor.
I expect Pac to breeze thru Margarito, but he's not going to win with out a little wear & tear, maybe a lot?
As much as I dislike Margarito, I can't discount his power. Pac can be hit, and one of Antonio's can take a chip out of the armor.
Even an easy win will take a little toll.
Pac agreed to all the stupidity that Floyd was demanding.
If they fight today, it will be interesting.
Next year I won't find it so interesting, and the result may differ from what would happen this year.
Mayweather is banking on it, and not going to get close to Pac inside the ropes until he becomes more beatable.
Whatever happened to champions like Henry Armstrong? Hammerin Hank holds the record for welter title defenses, eighteen.
He did that in less than two years, also defending his other world titles, and engaging in non-title fights.
However, this is the best. In a three week period, 21 days, Armstrong defended the welter title five times!
Five welterweight title defenses in three weeks. And a couple went the distance.
Henry Armstrong would fight a gorilla with a fly swatter. He should have won the middleweight title, also.
He rarely weighed more than the lower-to-mid 130's, just like Manny Pac.
Of course, we remember Robinson, Napoles . . . all of them.
What a disgrace Floyd Mayweather Jr. is to professional boxing, championship boxing.
Remember whom he chose to face in his comeback, a blown up featherweight, over 35-years-old.
There is nothing good about the career of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Nothing good for the quality starved boxing fans, and nothing good for boxing.
Just goes to show you that not even "Mr. Money" can buy a pair of balls.
Just checked out your blog and read your story, "The 50's".
What a great piece of work it is. Did you post it here, yet? I may have missed it?
If not, please do. Great memories, you paint a very vivid picture.
One of your best to date, in my opinion.
Just checked out your blog and read your story, "The 50's".
What a great piece of work it is. Did you post it here, yet? I may have missed it?
If not, please do. Great memories, you paint a very vivid picture.
One of your best to date, in my opinion.
Thanks Rick, no I haven't post it yet, but I will right now.
1950 was the year I turn 14 years old. Nothing much happened that years aside from going to the Olympic to see Art Aragon beat up on my hero Enrique Bolanos and Beto's brother stealing our rabbits for his wedding dinner.
1951 was the year I got my first tattoo (“kiki”-51-) on my right arm. Went to see Art Aragon fight Jimmy Carter twice, with Keeny Teran fighting on the under card on the second fight, also got to see Enrique Bolanos fight Eddie Chavez and Keeny fighting Gil Cadilli on the same card at the Hollywood Legion. Late summer-early fall went to Moorpark, Ca. to pick walnuts, had a great time in Moorpark, fooled around more then work .
1952 was the year that the Simons Brickyard became part of history, a history that left us with some happy and sad memories, happy because even though we were dirt poor we still led a happy life, sad because we had to leave the only home we had known, I wrote some of my memories of the brickyard before, no use in getting into them here. It was in August that we left Simons for good, got on my dad buddy's truck and headed north to Hollister, Ca. where we found work picking prunes, after we were done with harvesting the prunes we worked picking grapes in a mountain range called “El Gavilan”, after two weeks of picking grapes we headed back to SoCal. We lived with my maternal grandparents in Pico, now Pico-Rivera, Ca. until my dad was able to find us a house to live in, which wasn't long. Late '52 I started working the weekends at the Whittier Car Wash and I was ready to buy my first car, which I did in December, I bought a 1938 four door Chevy that ran more on oil then gas for 55 dollars, five bucks a week.
1953 was a non-script year, beside meeting girls nothing much happened, going to school, working the weekends at the car wash and cruising and listening to Hunter Hancock play R&B music on my ride was the order of the day.
1954 started out the same as '53, that is until April, when I met Connie. In the summer after working up north for a bit I started working full time at the car wash and that gave me some money to put oil in my car and take her to eat at “The Spot” on Olympic Bl. in Montebello, Ca. On Sundays I would get paid and get off work at 2:00 PM, after going home to clean up, I would go pick Connie up at her house in Jimtown, go to The Spot and order a pastrami for each of us, after eating it was time to cruise the barrios, Simons, Canta Rana's, Jimtown, El Ranchito, and of course E.L.A..
As the summer turned into fall things with Connie and I were getting serious, in December we decided to get married, it was a great way for Connie and I to end the year.
1955 was a time for both Connie and I to get used to married life, I went to work full time at a car dealership (paint shop) and Connie stay home, it was a quiet year., not much happening.
1956 was a big year for us, after nearly two years of marriage our first child was born, our beautiful daughter Linda was born on August 21, remember going to pick Connie and baby Linda up from Los Angeles County General Hospital with my late sister Mary Ellen's then boyfriend, later husband, Danny, and goofing off like kids in the hallway of the hospital. Connie and I spent the rest of '56 bonding with our baby.
1957 was again a quiet year. Watch Linda take her first steps as she turned 1 year old, it was also the year I turned 21, I could now drink a beer legally. I can't say how old Connie was without maybe getting thrown in jail.
1958 was another big year for Connie and I with the birth of our first son, Fernie, who was born on April 14. He was later to be known in the boxing world as Frankie Baltazar Jr.. Not long after Fernie was born a friend of Connie's asked her if she would like a job, after we talked it over she decided to take the job, which is how I be came a kept man later on in our marriage.
1959-'60 we spent all our free time watching Linda and Fernie grow and do what kids do.
It was, all in all a great decade to be alive.
1950 was the year I turn 14 years old. Nothing much happened that years aside from going to the Olympic to see Art Aragon beat up on my hero Enrique Bolanos and Beto's brother stealing our rabbits for his wedding dinner.
1951 was the year I got my first tattoo (“kiki”-51-) on my right arm. Went to see Art Aragon fight Jimmy Carter twice, with Keeny Teran fighting on the under card on the second fight, also got to see Enrique Bolanos fight Eddie Chavez and Keeny fighting Gil Cadilli on the same card at the Hollywood Legion. Late summer-early fall went to Moorpark, Ca. to pick walnuts, had a great time in Moorpark, fooled around more then work .
1952 was the year that the Simons Brickyard became part of history, a history that left us with some happy and sad memories, happy because even though we were dirt poor we still led a happy life, sad because we had to leave the only home we had known, I wrote some of my memories of the brickyard before, no use in getting into them here. It was in August that we left Simons for good, got on my dad buddy's truck and headed north to Hollister, Ca. where we found work picking prunes, after we were done with harvesting the prunes we worked picking grapes in a mountain range called “El Gavilan”, after two weeks of picking grapes we headed back to SoCal. We lived with my maternal grandparents in Pico, now Pico-Rivera, Ca. until my dad was able to find us a house to live in, which wasn't long. Late '52 I started working the weekends at the Whittier Car Wash and I was ready to buy my first car, which I did in December, I bought a 1938 four door Chevy that ran more on oil then gas for 55 dollars, five bucks a week.
1953 was a non-script year, beside meeting girls nothing much happened, going to school, working the weekends at the car wash and cruising and listening to Hunter Hancock play R&B music on my ride was the order of the day.
1954 started out the same as '53, that is until April, when I met Connie. In the summer after working up north for a bit I started working full time at the car wash and that gave me some money to put oil in my car and take her to eat at “The Spot” on Olympic Bl. in Montebello, Ca. On Sundays I would get paid and get off work at 2:00 PM, after going home to clean up, I would go pick Connie up at her house in Jimtown, go to The Spot and order a pastrami for each of us, after eating it was time to cruise the barrios, Simons, Canta Rana's, Jimtown, El Ranchito, and of course E.L.A..
As the summer turned into fall things with Connie and I were getting serious, in December we decided to get married, it was a great way for Connie and I to end the year.
1955 was a time for both Connie and I to get used to married life, I went to work full time at a car dealership (paint shop) and Connie stay home, it was a quiet year., not much happening.
1956 was a big year for us, after nearly two years of marriage our first child was born, our beautiful daughter Linda was born on August 21, remember going to pick Connie and baby Linda up from Los Angeles County General Hospital with my late sister Mary Ellen's then boyfriend, later husband, Danny, and goofing off like kids in the hallway of the hospital. Connie and I spent the rest of '56 bonding with our baby.
1957 was again a quiet year. Watch Linda take her first steps as she turned 1 year old, it was also the year I turned 21, I could now drink a beer legally. I can't say how old Connie was without maybe getting thrown in jail.
1958 was another big year for Connie and I with the birth of our first son, Fernie, who was born on April 14. He was later to be known in the boxing world as Frankie Baltazar Jr.. Not long after Fernie was born a friend of Connie's asked her if she would like a job, after we talked it over she decided to take the job, which is how I be came a kept man later on in our marriage.
1959-'60 we spent all our free time watching Linda and Fernie grow and do what kids do.
It was, all in all a great decade to be alive.
1950 was the year I turn 14 years old. Nothing much happened that years aside from going to the Olympic to see Art Aragon beat up on my hero Enrique Bolanos and Beto's brother stealing our rabbits for his wedding dinner.
1951 was the year I got my first tattoo (“kiki”-51-) on my right arm. Went to see Art Aragon fight Jimmy Carter twice, with Keeny Teran fighting on the under card on the second fight, also got to see Enrique Bolanos fight Eddie Chavez and Keeny fighting Gil Cadilli on the same card at the Hollywood Legion. Late summer-early fall went to Moorpark, Ca. to pick walnuts, had a great time in Moorpark, fooled around more then work .
1952 was the year that the Simons Brickyard became part of history, a history that left us with some happy and sad memories, happy because even though we were dirt poor we still led a happy life, sad because we had to leave the only home we had known, I wrote some of my memories of the brickyard before, no use in getting into them here. It was in August that we left Simons for good, got on my dad buddy's truck and headed north to Hollister, Ca. where we found work picking prunes, after we were done with harvesting the prunes we worked picking grapes in a mountain range called “El Gavilan”, after two weeks of picking grapes we headed back to SoCal. We lived with my maternal grandparents in Pico, now Pico-Rivera, Ca. until my dad was able to find us a house to live in, which wasn't long. Late '52 I started working the weekends at the Whittier Car Wash and I was ready to buy my first car, which I did in December, I bought a 1938 four door Chevy that ran more on oil then gas for 55 dollars, five bucks a week.
1953 was a non-script year, beside meeting girls nothing much happened, going to school, working the weekends at the car wash and cruising and listening to Hunter Hancock play R&B music on my ride was the order of the day.
1954 started out the same as '53, that is until April, when I met Connie. In the summer after working up north for a bit I started working full time at the car wash and that gave me some money to put oil in my car and take her to eat at “The Spot” on Olympic Bl. in Montebello, Ca. On Sundays I would get paid and get off work at 2:00 PM, after going home to clean up, I would go pick Connie up at her house in Jimtown, go to The Spot and order a pastrami for each of us, after eating it was time to cruise the barrios, Simons, Canta Rana's, Jimtown, El Ranchito, and of course E.L.A..
As the summer turned into fall things with Connie and I were getting serious, in December we decided to get married, it was a great way for Connie and I to end the year.
1955 was a time for both Connie and I to get used to married life, I went to work full time at a car dealership (paint shop) and Connie stay home, it was a quiet year., not much happening.
1956 was a big year for us, after nearly two years of marriage our first child was born, our beautiful daughter Linda was born on August 21, remember going to pick Connie and baby Linda up from Los Angeles County General Hospital with my late sister Mary Ellen's then boyfriend, later husband, Danny, and goofing off like kids in the hallway of the hospital. Connie and I spent the rest of '56 bonding with our baby.
1957 was again a quiet year. Watch Linda take her first steps as she turned 1 year old, it was also the year I turned 21, I could now drink a beer legally. I can't say how old Connie was without maybe getting thrown in jail.
1958 was another big year for Connie and I with the birth of our first son, Fernie, who was born on April 14. He was later to be known in the boxing world as Frankie Baltazar Jr.. Not long after Fernie was born a friend of Connie's asked her if she would like a job, after we talked it over she decided to take the job, which is how I be came a kept man later on in our marriage.
1959-'60 we spent all our free time watching Linda and Fernie grow and do what kids do.
It was, all in all a great decade to be alive.
That was nice Frank. I enjoyed reading that.Highlights of one the greatest decades. 1954 was a special year for me too. A month after you met Connie, I was born.
I tried commenting on your blog but for some reason it's not working for me.
kikibalt wrote:I wasn't going to post it here, didn't think it was worthy of such a great thread....
Well, it appealed to me.
Thanks Rick....
Same here. Frank, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we all enjoy your writing about the old days. It's a perfect fit for this site. Keep'em coming!
You know boxing is f ucked up when someone like Margarito gets hammered like this, despite his loaded bandages, and is now in line for a Pacquiao payday.
bennie wrote:You know boxing is f ucked up when someone like Margarito gets hammered like this, despite his loaded bandages, and is now in line for a Pacquiao payday.
Thats why more and more I'm getting away from boxing....
1950 was the year I turn 14 years old. Nothing much happened that years aside from going to the Olympic to see Art Aragon beat up on my hero Enrique Bolanos and Beto's brother stealing our rabbits for his wedding dinner.
1951 was the year I got my first tattoo (“kiki”-51-) on my right arm. Went to see Art Aragon fight Jimmy Carter twice, with Keeny Teran fighting on the under card on the second fight, also got to see Enrique Bolanos fight Eddie Chavez and Keeny fighting Gil Cadilli on the same card at the Hollywood Legion. Late summer-early fall went to Moorpark, Ca. to pick walnuts, had a great time in Moorpark, fooled around more then work .
1952 was the year that the Simons Brickyard became part of history, a history that left us with some happy and sad memories, happy because even though we were dirt poor we still led a happy life, sad because we had to leave the only home we had known, I wrote some of my memories of the brickyard before, no use in getting into them here. It was in August that we left Simons for good, got on my dad buddy's truck and headed north to Hollister, Ca. where we found work picking prunes, after we were done with harvesting the prunes we worked picking grapes in a mountain range called “El Gavilan”, after two weeks of picking grapes we headed back to SoCal. We lived with my maternal grandparents in Pico, now Pico-Rivera, Ca. until my dad was able to find us a house to live in, which wasn't long. Late '52 I started working the weekends at the Whittier Car Wash and I was ready to buy my first car, which I did in December, I bought a 1938 four door Chevy that ran more on oil then gas for 55 dollars, five bucks a week.
1953 was a non-script year, beside meeting girls nothing much happened, going to school, working the weekends at the car wash and cruising and listening to Hunter Hancock play R&B music on my ride was the order of the day.
1954 started out the same as '53, that is until April, when I met Connie. In the summer after working up north for a bit I started working full time at the car wash and that gave me some money to put oil in my car and take her to eat at “The Spot” on Olympic Bl. in Montebello, Ca. On Sundays I would get paid and get off work at 2:00 PM, after going home to clean up, I would go pick Connie up at her house in Jimtown, go to The Spot and order a pastrami for each of us, after eating it was time to cruise the barrios, Simons, Canta Rana's, Jimtown, El Ranchito, and of course E.L.A..
As the summer turned into fall things with Connie and I were getting serious, in December we decided to get married, it was a great way for Connie and I to end the year.
1955 was a time for both Connie and I to get used to married life, I went to work full time at a car dealership (paint shop) and Connie stay home, it was a quiet year., not much happening.
1956 was a big year for us, after nearly two years of marriage our first child was born, our beautiful daughter Linda was born on August 21, remember going to pick Connie and baby Linda up from Los Angeles County General Hospital with my late sister Mary Ellen's then boyfriend, later husband, Danny, and goofing off like kids in the hallway of the hospital. Connie and I spent the rest of '56 bonding with our baby.
1957 was again a quiet year. Watch Linda take her first steps as she turned 1 year old, it was also the year I turned 21, I could now drink a beer legally. I can't say how old Connie was without maybe getting thrown in jail.
1958 was another big year for Connie and I with the birth of our first son, Fernie, who was born on April 14. He was later to be known in the boxing world as Frankie Baltazar Jr.. Not long after Fernie was born a friend of Connie's asked her if she would like a job, after we talked it over she decided to take the job, which is how I be came a kept man later on in our marriage.
1959-'60 we spent all our free time watching Linda and Fernie grow and do what kids do.
It was, all in all a great decade to be alive.
That was nice Frank. I enjoyed reading that.Highlights of one the greatest decades. 1954 was a special year for me too. A month after you met Connie, I was born.
I tried commenting on your blog but for some reason it's not working for me.
Randy
Some how the "comments" were block, you should be able to post a comment now...let me know if it works for you...
bennie wrote:You know boxing is f ucked up when someone like Margarito gets hammered like this, despite his loaded bandages, and is now in line for a Pacquiao payday.
I guess people are just paying to see him(AM) get beat up ? I would if not pay for it atleast watch it
Frank, I enjoy your writing very much. I don't know if you realize that many of us are getting a huge cultural experience as well as boxing history lessons and geographical California education everytime you post a story. Especially those of us not from the West Coast. Thank You.
Combine this with the story threads from Randy and Rick and one gets the feeling of anxiety when not being able to check out this forum room and what we might have missed if we are gone a few days.
Its tough not check in every day to see whats happening or whats been said. Kudos to all who make this room a "Happening" place to be !
CNorkusJr wrote:Frank, I enjoy your writing very much. I don't know if you realize that many of us are getting a huge cultural experience as well as boxing history lessons and geographical California education everytime you post a story. Especially those of us not from the West Coast. Thank You.
Thanks Charlie, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. Writing is a new experience for me, as you can probably tell when you read my writings....
bennie wrote:You know boxing is f ucked up when someone like Margarito gets hammered like this, despite his loaded bandages, and is now in line for a Pacquiao payday.
Agreed, Bennie. This is one match where I hope a boxer, Margarito, leaves the ring on a stretcher.
My disdain for Mayweather is no secret. If he were a man, Margarito wouldn't be back in the spotlight.
I hope the Mayweather-Pac match never materializes.
Well, it appealed to me. 
