Rick Farris wrote:
What crap! Pascal throwing his chest out like some kid in a school yard.
This is what contemporary boxing has to offer in lieu of a lack of true toughness.
We never got to see the real legends exhibit such cowardly bravado, however, we usually got a real fight.
I never have been a fan of Hopkins, but this phony who lost to a Carl Froch may lose his title to a senior citizen?
No wonder the MMA is doing so well.
I'll only watch Hopkins fight if I'm having a hard time going to sleep.....
Slumber Party . . .
Frank, I came across a box with some old VHS tapes in it.
I noticed a couple Hopkins fights, effective medicine for the insomniac.
All you need is a VHS machine and a comfortable sofa.
More effective than a handfull of barbituates.
Rick Farris wrote:How about this strange fantasy match-up:
Jimmy Heair vs Victor Ortiz (at 135-140?)
. . . (Heair as he was at same point in career as Ortiz is today)
Heair wasn't the best L.A. had to offer the world in the early 70's.
But he was tough, motivated and in shape. He fought all the time. Several times in one week early on.
I used to think Jimmy Heair looked more like a farm hand than a fighter, but he was definitly a fighter.
Ortiz?
The Jimmy Heair that was trained by Jerry Moore and Henry Blouin would imo beat the present day Ortiz....
Belfast's Brian Magee finally gets a world title chance when he challenges Canada's Lucian Bute for the IBF super-middleweight title in Montreal on March 19.
In 2005, Magee lost a WBO title shot at Joe Calzaghe in horrid circumstances, politically, when the fight was called off with just a day to go, perversely on St Patrick's Day. A year later, he looked out of the running when Carl Froch overwhelmed him in 11 rounds but Magee kept plugging away and really shook up the European boxing scene earlier this year against Denmark's Mads Larsen in Denmark.
Normally a clever if unspectacular southpaw, Magee destroyed Larsen in seven rounds with body shots and looked just as aggressive against Germany's Roman Aramian last time out, hammering him in eight one-sided rounds. The upshot is this trip to Canada for 35-year-old Brian.
To Bute, a slick, quick, sharp-hitting southpaw who has toyed with recent opposition and enjoys huge support in his home city of Montreal. Yes, Magee proved he could travel against Larsen, but Bute is an altogether different proposition, close to his peak at 30, with a perfect record of 27-0 (22). The only real blip in Bute's career to date came against California's Librado Andrade in 2008 but that blip is firmly behind him now. Bute despatched Andrade in four rounds in a rematch last year.
Ironically, Bute fights very much like Calzaghe did, throwing punches in bunches and proving hard to tag. He ran out of steam in the 12th and last round against Andrade in Montreal and was put down, after which the referee saved him, which only goes to show how difficult it will be for Magee to get a result. If Brian can go 11 rounds with the strong, rugged Froch, he can take Bute the full 12 rounds. However, Bute takes the points.
Rick Farris wrote:How about this strange fantasy match-up:
Jimmy Heair vs Victor Ortiz (at 135-140?)
. . . (Heair as he was at same point in career as Ortiz is today)
Heair wasn't the best L.A. had to offer the world in the early 70's.
But he was tough, motivated and in shape. He fought all the time. Several times in one week early on.
I used to think Jimmy Heair looked more like a farm hand than a fighter, but he was definitly a fighter.
Ortiz?
The Jimmy Heair that was trained by Jerry Moore and Henry Blouin would imo beat the present day Ortiz....
The Heart of the matter . . .
I agree. The Jimmy Heair that whipped Chango Carmona was at about the same point career-wise as the Ortiz of today.
Moore & Blouin bring to mind a lot of great memories, not to mention some good boxers.
I remember being being a bit surprised to watch Heair get better & better, he just wasn't a guy I expected much from.
He was no Andy Price, but how many were?
I think boxing fans give too much credit to punching power, speed and padded records.
In the end, what usually determines the winner of a fight is heart, desire and conditioning.
We remember Jimmy Heair as a guy who brought his heart into a fight. Can't say the same for Ortiz.
bennie wrote:Would Victor Ortiz last 10 rounds with a welterweight Duran? One doubts it.
NO!!!!
Duran would have that bum crapping his trunks before the opening bell at any weight.
If Maidana turned him into a dog, what would Duran do?
When I was considering possibe opponents from my era that Ortiz might compete with, I was being kind when I suggested Jimmy Heair.
Roberto Duran?
Jimmy Heair would have 130 fights in a 14 year career.
I can't name one boxer who came up in L.A. during the era that had anywhere near that many fights?
Jimmy was just a tough opponent by the time this match was made:
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Armando Muniz vs. Jimmy Heair
Armando Muniz beat Jimmy Heair by UD in round 12 of 12 Location: Dudley Field, El Paso, Texas, USA
"Armando Muniz crowded Jimmy Heair for the entire 12 rounds, using a combination of rights and lefts to the body and face. Heair, doing the countering, occasionally landed a right but he was outpunched by a ratio of at least 20-1. The gameness of Heair was unquestioned. He took a bad beating for the entire 12 rounds. One ringside doctor wanted to stop it after the 5th round." -El Paso Herald Post
Post fight comments:
"I know I was beaten but I think I hurt Muniz in the 12th round. I should have started earlier." -Jimmy Heair
"I thought I was going to put him down in the 4th, 5th and 6th rounds. But he's tough. I felt very good and was surprised that I didn't get tired. I was afraid the altitude would bother me in the latter rounds, but it didn't." -Armando Muniz
"Irish" Jimmy Heair
(born- July 14, 1952, Houston, MS.)
Amateur: about a 100 fights, three time Mississippi champ, Southern champ, AAU runner up 69. "I was a big sports fan as a kid, football, basketball, and then boxing, when I started boxing I weighed about a 100 lbs", says Jimmy.
Pro: 96-32-1 in a career that lasted from 1972 and effectively ended a decade later although his last fight was in 1984.
Jimmy Heair arrived to Los Angeles in 71 by way of Ignacio, Colorado where his family had moved. "I had met Jerry Moore at the national championhsips and L A in those days was the best place to be a for a lightweight. Jerry was a very good man, he took good care of me. I won my first 33 fights" says Jimmy.
Heair turned pro, managed by Jerry Moore and trained by Henry Blouin. He wasn´t a natural but had talent, worked hard and learned quickly. He won his first nine fights on points which indicates a non-puncher but developed a sharp left hook that was especially effective to the body. In less than a year Jimmy was fighting ten rounders at the Inglewood Forum and became popular with his busy style, good skills and big heart - the Irish heritage probably didn´t hurt either. At the end of 1972 he beat Miguel Mayon and Angel Mayoral, two fringe contenders and in March of 73 he outscored a true contender in Chango Carmona and was world ranked.
A shot at then World lightweight champ Roberto Duran was talked about and expected before the end of the 73. However, against Carmona Heair suffered a broken nose that sidelined him for a few months, he then rebroke it sparring with then WBC 135 lb champ Rodolfo "Gato" Gonzales.
"Gato" was probably even better than Duran" says Jimmy but downplays the broken nose incident. "I can´t recall how many times I had my nose broken, at times it was so sore it brought tears to my eyes as I touched it and it was never fixed right."
But then Heair adds: "If you give a young man, a small town kid, a few bucks, have him in a big city and a pretty girl by his side he will get in trouble! I felt like I was the champ of the world but I was only a contender."
Jimmy came back - probably too soon - and but kept winning and in the fall of 73 he stopped another hot prospect and contender in Arturo "the Fury" Pineda. "My two best fights were against Pineda and Carmona." The nose injury continued to be a problem (and affects Jimmy to this day). In May of 74 he took on Rudy Barro, a tough, decent fighter but the kind a world ranked fighter should be able to beat, and lost a ten round decision in a huge upset. Heair bounced back with three straight wins and accepted a fight with highly ranked Australian Hector Thompson in August of 74 - a win there and Heair would have been back in the picture. Jimmy lost though: "I think if Hector and I had thought three times I would have won two but on this night he was the better man."
Back home Jimmy lost an upset split decision to Arturo Leon, whom he previously had beaten twice, moved up to jr welter, relocated to El Paso, Texas. Heair also left Jerry Moore and his first wife. "My new manager was Ron Weathers and he had no clue about boxing. I thought I knew a lot about boxing but I didn´t know enough."
The result was a very busy schedule with fights against topnotchers all over the world at lightweight, jr welter and welter. Jimmy scored some good wins - for instance in stopping Laudiel Negron and Gerardo Ferrat and there were some tough losses like the one to Argentinian great Nicolino Locche in Buenos Aires. "They raised his hands when it was over but he didn´t win that one", says Jimmy.
But there were also upset losses and Heair went 0-2-1 against Arturo Leon, a short, stocky, clubfighter: "He just had my number" states Jimmy but a better reason for the off performances could be that there were no time to recuperate. Heair fought one tough fight after the other giving his all every time. Just three weeks after fighting Thai contender Tongta Kiatvayupakdi in Bangkok - "a close one, could have gone either way" - Heair fought world class welter Armando Muniz in El Paso. "Muniz was a full fledged welter, he was just too strong for me."
Jimmy Heair´s days as a contender was about over now, he gave Brit Dave Green and New Yorker Harold Weston very tough fights on their respective turfs but lost clearly to both. A very good win over then unbeaten Rudy Hernandez proved Jimmy still had a lot left.
Journeyman and hometown hero: Heair relocated again, this time to almost home in Memphis, Tennessee. "I became a hometown fighter and beat a lot of not so good fighters, you know how it is in boxing, they can build you up just as easy as they can take you down."
His Memphis debut was a minor disaster though as he was outscored by the unknown Freddie "the Stepper" Harris. However a tko win over Rudy Hernandez in Tuscon, Arizona, put Heair back in the picture and he became one of the biggest drawing cards in the region as boxing was revived in Tennessee and Mississippi. Jimmy, now up to welter, was popular and the fans knew they would get their money´s worth when he was headlining. He got revenge over Harris, won something called the Southern welterweight title and came close to be ranked again with a stoppage win over Jimmy Corkum. Then the came the wrong kind of opponent, a slick, southpaw from Miami, Adriano Marrero and Jimmy lost a decision. Very tough fights against Pete Ranzany in a NABF titlefight and Roberto Duran followed - " Duran is the best guy I ever fought, he would do anything to win."
Jimmy fought his heart out but was a clear loser to both. "Jimmy Heair is like a Rolex" stated one reporter. "he takes a lickin but keeps on tickin". His best days behind him Jimmy got into a welterweight tournament in Orlando, Florida, but was upset by Richard House, the kind of fighter he would have licked a few years earlier. A bad ko loss to Sal Lopez July 1, 1980, appeared to be the end for Jimmy, who according to the Ring´s reporter was in a daze ten minutes after the fight had ended. But less than three months later Jimmy headlined at home in Memphis and was a popular winner over Maurice Quillen, which set up another long string of wins as headliner in Memphis, Tupelo and even his birthtown Houston. He stopped Johnny Copeland in a Southern title defence and won the Texas title at welter. But all reports from the fights indicate a very tough fighter past his best. A loss in Chicago to young upstart Roosevelt Green in August of 81 ended his journeyman days.
The trialhorse: Jimmy suffered back to back losses to Mike Senegal and future champ Mike McCallum - a second round stoppage (on his feet and protesting but he was pretty much outclassed). From now on Heair lost many more fights than he won, his record the last three years reads 4-8 and even the wins came hard. Stoppage losses to Nino La Rocca and Don King (the fighter) in Atlantic City spelled the end for a very brave fighter´s fighter. Jimmy stepped in as a very late sub in 83 against Jim Pixley and was outclassed, gave local hero Danny Ferris a tough fight the first time they fought but was stopped - and stopped a lot easier the second time. Finally Heair went out against Adam George on a second round knockout. "One of the toughest thing for a fighter to do is to know when to go out" says Jimmy with hindsight. "One shouldn´t fight past 30, as a young man you can absorb punishment but as you get older it catch up on you."
After boxing: Jimmy moved to Hamilton, Alabama, not so far from either Houston, MS, or Memphis. He contiuned to work in boxing as a trainer, opened a gym, held down the odd job but remained in boxing. "Out here we don´t have much boxing though, this is football country, or basketball. I trained a lot of kids, some were pretty good but all in all it´s tough to get kids to stick with boxing."
He had married in El Paso with Carol had two kids, divorced, remarried and had a daughter. A bad back, the result of a long and hard career eventually led to that Jimmy got on disability. "I still love boxing and watch whenever I can but again, we don´t have much boxing out here."
Jimmy Heair never became a champion - and even if all cards had been played right he might have failed. The lightweights in the 70´s on the West Coast and in the world were loaded with talent. Heair was sparring with reigning WBC champ Rodolfo Gonzales, the fearsome Roberto Duran was the universially recognized World champ. However, all in all in his career he achieved more than most champions ever do. "I might have been a champion, we will never know, but I´m sure my career had been very different had I stayed with Jerry Moore."
Looking back at the Los Angeles fighters of the 1960s and 1970s, think of how much money at many of them would be making if they were young enough to be active at the present time.
Jimmy Heair's first fight after the Barro fight was in Oklahoma City (Boxrec says Dallas, but I distinctly remember it in Oklahoma City) Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing him fight because I'd been reading about him in Ring Magazine as a world beater. He stopped his opponent in the third round, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I remember his wife came out to Oklahoma City with him, which was unusual. I remember she was a real pretty little gal.
raylawpc wrote:Jimmy Heair's first fight after the Barro fight was in Oklahoma City (Boxrec says Dallas, but I distinctly remember it in Oklahoma City) Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing him fight because I'd been reading about him in Ring Magazine as a world beater. He stopped his opponent in the third round, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I remember his wife came out to Oklahoma City with him, which was unusual. I remember she was a real pretty little gal.
Tom . . . The Barro fight was Heair's first loss after a long win streak. I remember that fight very well. Jimmy's nose was busted seriously, the first time I recall seeing him bleed. He hung in and fought Barro tough, losing a close decision. The bout seemed to turn the direction of Heair's career. I had the impression that Barro might have broken something in Jimmy beyond his nose? He would continue on, mostly winning at first, but something was different. Shortly afterwards he went from contender to opponent.
Chuck1052 wrote:Looking back at the Los Angeles fighters of the 1960s and 1970s, think of how much money at many of them would be making if they were young enough to be active at the present time.
- Chuck Johnston
I would be a rich man... , I would have enough money to buy you all a cup of coffee....
kikibalt wrote:Heard that Mando Muniz is out as WBHOF President and Josie Arrey-Mejia is Acting President.
The Fall of the Hall . . .
Mando's term was over in the new year, but it's best Josie take over now.
Josie should be the next president. However, it will be a hard organization to reconstruct.
Without real boxing people, financial benefactors, and a skilled organizer, the organization will go under.
raylawpc wrote:Jimmy Heair's first fight after the Barro fight was in Oklahoma City (Boxrec says Dallas, but I distinctly remember it in Oklahoma City) Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing him fight because I'd been reading about him in Ring Magazine as a world beater. He stopped his opponent in the third round, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I remember his wife came out to Oklahoma City with him, which was unusual. I remember she was a real pretty little gal.
Tom . . . The Barro fight was Heair's first loss after a long win streak. I remember that fight very well. Jimmy's nose was busted seriously, the first time I recall seeing him bleed. He hung in and fought Barro tough, losing a close decision. The bout seemed to turn the direction of Heair's career. I had the impression that Barro might have broken something in Jimmy beyond his nose? He would continue on, mostly winning at first, but something was different. Shortly afterwards he went from contender to opponent.
Obviously, I hadn't seen him before his fight in OKC/Dallas, so I had nothing to compare it too, but in the fight I saw he didn't look anything like the world-beater I had expected to see.
Chuck1052 wrote:Looking back at the Los Angeles fighters of the 1960s and 1970s, think of how much money at many of them would be making if they were young enough to be active at the present time.
- Chuck Johnston
I would be a rich man... , I would have enough money to buy you all a cup of coffee....
Frank, you know what brought me to this thread in the first place nearly 2 years ago ?, I posted on the boxers of the past forum, ''what ever happened to Tony Baltazar'' and somebody from the boxers of the past replied ''his father is a regular poster on CAWCB so that's how i ended up here, Tony was one of my favorite fighters growing up, I even bet on him versus Roger Mayweather, i had the whole family rooting him on including my late father more than 25 years ago, I can recall us jumping up for joy when the decision in Tony's favor was announced, great times.
BTW Frank, if you look at page 29 from boxers of the past you will see my post Tony ''The tiger'' Baltazar, I didn't realize it until I looked at the date, I have only posted on here for a year, I honestly thought it was longer than that.
Today I get an e-mail from Hap Navarro.
Hap had been contacted by IBRO President Dan Cuoco.
Cuoco had been contacted by a guy who wanted to get in contact with me because of my Bobby Chacon story.
His dad had been a fighter in the Johnny Flores stable, back in the 60's & 70's. His name was Bobby Rye.
He wondered if I remembered him.
Yes I do, very well.
I was able to tell him something about his dad.
I had seen the son was he was about eight.
And this motivated a story to write.
raylawpc wrote:Jimmy Heair's first fight after the Barro fight was in Oklahoma City (Boxrec says Dallas, but I distinctly remember it in Oklahoma City) Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing him fight because I'd been reading about him in Ring Magazine as a world beater. He stopped his opponent in the third round, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I remember his wife came out to Oklahoma City with him, which was unusual. I remember she was a real pretty little gal.
Tom . . . The Barro fight was Heair's first loss after a long win streak. I remember that fight very well. Jimmy's nose was busted seriously, the first time I recall seeing him bleed. He hung in and fought Barro tough, losing a close decision. The bout seemed to turn the direction of Heair's career. I had the impression that Barro might have broken something in Jimmy beyond his nose? He would continue on, mostly winning at first, but something was different. Shortly afterwards he went from contender to opponent.
Obviously, I hadn't seen him before his fight in OKC/Dallas, so I had nothing to compare it too, but in the fight I saw he didn't look anything like the world-beater I had expected to see.
Tom, your account of the Oklahoma bout tells me something.
Seems Barro took the edge off Jimmy Heair, that was the concensus.
Rudy Barro was a spoiler, and Heair was the second of two unbeaten L.A. boys he'd whip.
The first was also a Moore-Blouin stable boxer, Andy Price. Barro also handed Price his first loss.
Like Heair, Price was never quite as good after Barro.
The rugged Filipino boxer owned the Moore & Blouin stable.
Last edited by Rick Farris on 17 Dec 2010, 19:47, edited 2 times in total.
