Classic American West Coast Boxing

[kikibalt]

Wow! great shot Frank. Yep Bennie,he sure did. Johnny Heard busted my nose too.
I know almost every guy in that picture and am friends with a few of them. Boxed with some others such as Lapaglia,Lira and Mateo. Louoe Mateo fought Randy Shields. Sean Curtin refed a few of my fights. So did Pete Podgorski. I am friends with both.
Thanks for posting that picture Frank.

Sims and Heard, any man that can put a dent on you Brian, has my respect. Johnny Lira was a tough guy. What a great classic photo of Chicago fighters .

Fred Houpe was on my 1973 Los Angeles National Golden Glove team....

Fred Houpe was on my 1974 GG team and not on the '73 team....

[Rick Farris]

Jerry Quarry, age-21.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0StHF1u7d8

[Rick Farris]

Watching Jerry Quarry at 21 really showed what I liked about Jerry. A fraction over 6', and 200lbs. at his most powerful.
He moved nice, had a deceptive quality if he wasn't lazy, a devistating finisher.

[raylawpc]

Boxing Great

What a great photo! Thanks Frank.

Can you imagine being an amateur boxer fighting that night in 1942, surrounded by all that boxing greatness?

Five legendary champions . . . James J. Jeffries . . . Tommy Ryan . . . Willie Ritchie . . . Fidel LaBarba . . . Mushy Callahan . . . plus the great contender Speedy Dado. What a night it had to be!

[Rick Farris]

A Jerry Quarry finish to a unbeaten KO slugger, Mac Foster . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SoIWuKS ... re=related

My favorite mid-to-late 60's L.A. product was Jerry Quarry. Number two, Mando Ramos.

[Rick Farris]

!968 Heavyweight elimination tourney . . .

Thad Spencer vs. Jerry Quarry, 12 round semi-final. (Spencer favored 8-5)
Watch underdog Quarry end the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6bxqcAF ... re=related

[Rick Farris]

Another Quarry finishing master piece, Shavers . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEpVPBH1 ... re=related

[CNorkusJr]

Boxing Great

Tommy Ryan ! You guys never cease to amaze me. Great photo.

[CNorkusJr]

Tony baltazar and his two daughters, Nakojua (L) and Chanelle...Circa 2000

Nice photo Frank. Did his daughters ever attend one of Tony's fights ?

[Rick Farris]

Jerry Quarry's first loss, Eddie Machen, 1966 . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih-nNCUu ... re=related

Here's the story on the former top heavyweight contender, Eddie Machen, a guy who was a clever boxer, a true vet.
He was on a comeback of sorts in 1966. He lost a decision to Mexican champ, Manuel Ramos. He was arrested later that night on a DUI.
A few weeks later he upsets unbeaten local favorite, Joey Orbillo. His next match is with Quarry, the other unbeaten L.A. heavyweight prospect.
Jerry was getting cocky, this is a fact. He under estimated Machen, and you can see what happened.

[Rick Farris]

David Haye vs. Jerry Quarry ???

[Rick Farris]

Eddie Machen . . .

*Biography (from The Ring) He was born Edward Mills Machen in Redding, CA, on June 15, 1932. His father, Norman Machen, was a contract mail carrier in Redding. His mother, Carrie, was a housewife. The family was parents and six brothers, two younger, three older than Eddie. Paul was the only brother with the craving for a fight career who started as an amateur in 1955 and continued as professional in 1959.

Eddie attended Shasta Union High School in Redding but quit after his second year. He was a varsity fullback and a member of the regular basketball team but boxing was in his blood even in high school. Football was his major interest and when the coach of his high school team shifted to a Junior College in nearby Yuba City, Eddie and the rest of the team went with him. However, the coach was fired in a dispute and Eddie and the team again went with the coach.

It was then that he decided to stick to boxing. He used to fight a lot as a kid - in school competition and in the streets. He followed the careers of Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson and it grew in him. He fought so much, the family decided he might as well be a fighter and get paid for it.

His uncle, Dave Mills, was a heavyweight champion of South America and beat Luis Angel Firpo. Mills was quite a fighter - an American who made Chile his home. He started to teach young Eddie and became his first manager. They disagreed and split up. Eddie tied up with Christie Louis, who trained him, and in 1951 he began his career.

Things did not work, however. He had only three amateur fights, winning two by knockout, with one ending in a draw. He was convicted of armed robbery in 1952 and served three years in prison. It was not until he turned professional in 1955 that Machen laced on another glove in recognized competition. He simply went to work with his father delivering the mail, and cut down trees. While his fistic career languished for four years, his strenght grew. As a boy, he had been a pinsetter in a bowling alley and had sold newspapers. He lost his interest in boxing, he was too young for the service and working with his father and in the woods was fun and healthy. It was Lee Hughes who got him back into boxing.

Machen in 1956Hughes had known about this strapping youth. Early in 1955, he talked Machen into becoming a professional. He won his first ten fights by knockout. Hughes, meanwhile, had brought Machen to Syd Flaherty, a prominent Coast manager. They made a deal and Flaherty became Machen's pilot. Flaherty also had Carl (Bobo) Olson, then world middleweight champion. He did not neglect Machen, however, but moved him slowly. It was not until the next year, 1956, that Machen became a national figure.

-------------
*Obituary (from The Ring)
Machen's 64-bout career started on March, 22, 1955, in Sacramento, CA, with a one-round kayo over Raul Flores.

He went on to win his first 24 bouts before boxing a draw with Zora Folley in 1958. His biggest wins prior to the Folley draw were dicisions over Julio Mederos twice, Joey Maxim twice, Bob Baker, Benny Wise and Johnny Summerlin. He scored kayos over Howard King, Tommy Jackson and Johnny Holman, but his greatest moment during this period were his two wins over Nino Valdes, according to Eddie who stated, "It made me feel that I belonged in the big time".

Machen's biggest dissapointment came in his bout with Ingemar Johansson in 1958, Gothenburg, Sweden, where he suffered his first defeat, a kayo in one. That defeat knocked him out of a title bout against Floyd Patterson. Johansson instead got the shot and the crown. Machen had signed a contract for a rematch but it did him no good. The courts ruled in his favor, but this didn't stop the Patterson-Johansson title contest in 1959.

From 1959 to 1963 Machen engaged in 26 bouts, winning 22, losing three, drawing in one. Eddie scored over Pat McMurtry, Willi Besmanoff, Billy Hunter, Wayne Bethea, Brian London, Doug Jones, and Roger Rischer, and twice over Mike DeJohn. His defeats were against Sonny Liston, Harold Johnson, and twice by Zora Folley. His draw was with Cleveland Williams. Eddie picked no stiffs.

Eddie Machen was admitted to the Napa State Hospital in 1963 after threatening suicide. At the end of the year he was released and signed with a new manager. From 1964 to 1966 he went to the post ten times, winning only four, drawing one, losing five. The only wins came over Duke Sabedong, George "Scrap Iron" Johnson, Joey Orbillo and a big upset over an up-and-coming Jerry Quarry.

Eddie was defeated by Floyd Patterson over 12 rounds in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1964, by Ernie Terrell on a 15-round decision for the WBA heavyweight title, the only time he fought for any sort of championship. He dropped nods to Manuel Ramos and Karl Mildenberger, was stopped in ten by Joe Frazier in Los Angeles in November, 1966.

Machen filed a bankruptcy petition in 1966 and the went on to finish out his career with two bouts in 1967. He lost to Henry Clark in 12, and was kayoed by Boone Kirkman in his last bout, on May 26th. During 1968 Machen was arrested for the second time in his life for brawling with a policeman.

Machen was married and had been employed as a longshoreman until his death. His career was 50-11-3, scoring 27 kayos. He was 40 years old.

[kikibalt]

Tony baltazar and his two daughters, Nakojua (L) and Chanelle...Circa 2000

Nice photo Frank. Did his daughters ever attend one of Tony's fights ?

Not that I can recall....

[Expug]

That Chicago boxing picture has a lot of history.
The three O'Shea brothers Rory,Tommy, and Brian are Chicago Boxing royalty. All three won National Golden Gloves titles I believe in the same year. Tommy taught me a little as a young kid at the old CYO gym in Chicago. Brian refed one of my pro fights and Rory who was later a good pro as well as Brian,became a fireman.
Great story about him. Thirty or so years ago there was a story of a woman who tried commiting suicide on the news. She took pills and leaped out the window of a downtown high rise. Her robe tie caught on the window frame and she wound up dangling in the air. There was footage of the drama on tv. A fireman was held by his feet by a couple other fireman and hung upside down out the window and he pulled her in. Watching it on the tube was incredible. It took huge ba.ls to pull that move off. The fireman? you guessed it Rory O'Shea.
He was interviewed later. He shrugged it off. No big deal.

[kikibalt]

My sister Rachel In the process of bottling her wine....

The Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are near dry. Rachel is tasting with the winemaker.
.

[kikibalt]

The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot tanks!



My sister's vineyard...Napa, Ca.
.


Rachel's Lone Oak

[bennie]

Sims and Heard, any man that can put a dent on you Brian, has my respect. Johnny Lira was a tough guy. What a great classic photo of Chicago fighters .

Fred Houpe was on my 1973 Los Angeles National Golden Glove team....

He fought as a pro under the ring name of "Young Sanford", managed by entertainer Redd Foxx.

How in the hell did they get all these guys together under one roof? Somebody somewhere is being treated for exhaustion.

[THEHAMMER321]

4:55am. Gotta go (to work). Good morning Frank & Bennie. Where is Paul?

Morning Rick. I think Paul is still at the tables in Vegas......

Hey guys glad to be back, was in Laughlin Nevada for a week, Frank you were half right I was at the tables, wrong venue though , how have you guys been, didn't do much gambling though mostly relaxed and went out for a nice dinner every night and stayed in the hotel room and read a lot, gonna go back to bed, talk to you all when I wake up.

[kikibalt]

James and Veronica are on their way to LAX to catch a plane to New York.

"New York Bound"

[kikibalt]

4:55am. Gotta go (to work). Good morning Frank & Bennie. Where is Paul?

Morning Rick. I think Paul is still at the tables in Vegas......

Hey guys glad to be back, was in Laughlin Nevada for a week, Frank you were half right I was at the tables, wrong venue though , how have you guys been, didn't do much gambling though mostly relaxed and went out for a nice dinner every night and stayed in the hotel room and read a lot, gonna go back to bed, talk to you all when I wake up.

Hell, Paul!!, you might just as well stayed in Vegas. Vegas/Laughlin is pretty much the same, you should had come to L.A, I would have taken you to E.L.A where a white boy can really relax...

[bennie]

Bring it on! That's the message from David Haye and the seriously shrewd Adam Booth as they loom closer to a unification showdown with the younger of the two Klitschko sisters, Wladimir, possibly as close as July this year, and an exact date of July 2 has been bandied about, possibly in Germany.
Haye and Klitschko nearly squared off in Germany in the summer of 2009, with Haye a heavyweight novice, but Haye twigged his back in training and that let in Uzbekistani southpaw Ruslan Chagaev, who could barely move himself after a complete tear of his Achilles tendon a little earlier, and Chagaev stood there and took it for nine bloody, one-sided rounds until his corner belatedly said "no mas." A few months later, also in Germany, Haye showed good movement to outscore Russian mammoth Nikolai Valuev to wrest the WBA heavyweight title, so he did exactly the right thing in pulling out and it wasn't his time, anyway, his time to potentially topple Klitschko.
Boxing is still all about timing, and Britain's "Hayemaker" and a Pole by the name of Tomasz Adamek are creeping up on Klitschko after 15 pro years on the Klitschko clock (and 58 fights). Klitschko was to defend his IBF and WBO heavyweight belts against Adamek in Poland in September - the deal was done, they said - but maybe a tricky 'away' assignment against a fine boxer with a fine chin but with no world belt persuaded the huge Klitschko to accept Haye instead, who wears the WBA belt of course and a 'chinny' label after Carl Thompson stopped him in five rounds in their cruiserweight days in 2004 when Haye was still learning (and still growing).
Klitschko obviously feels he can do the same to the smaller Haye and what he's done to dozens of other heavyweights in a 'nothing' era for the division for many, many years. On this note, Wladimir defends his belts in April in Germany against Britain's Dereck Chisora (ironically), a 14-fight pro who has never even topped a bill here. Say no more.
Nevertheless, in the ring, Klitschko is clinical, clever, mature, strong, superbly conditioned, brilliantly trained and extremely heavy handed. Outside of it, he also lives the life, so at 34, four years older than Haye, he is not worn out and, at an impressive 55-3 (49), has not lost since he ran out of steam against "Relentless" Lamon Brewster in the States in April 2004 and was stopped in five rounds. He fought Brewster again a few years later, by which time his stamina was no longer in question, if not his chin, and banged him up in six unpleasant rounds.
As for that chin, Wladimir is definitely more vulnerable than Vitali, which makes him much the better choice for the quick, dynamic Haye at this stage of Haye's heavyweight development, and we should not forget that the charismatic Londoner has boxed only five times at the weight (all wins, four early, and he's scored 13 knockdowns). If nothing else, Haye stands a puncher's chance, a serious puncher's chance, against Wladimir, particularly in the early rounds when Wlad is warming into a rhythm, and he needs to box to a rhythm, so if Haye can rush him, take him out of his stride and nail him, we could have ourselves a sensational heavyweight. Speed and power are the keys to a Haye victory here; I cannot see him outboxing Wlad.
Ultimately, Wladimir Klitschko is no Audley Harrison, who folded in three rounds against Haye in November. A win over the Ukrainian giant is a big, big ask of Haye.

[CNorkusJr]

That Chicago boxing picture has a lot of history.
The three O'Shea brothers Rory,Tommy, and Brian are Chicago Boxing royalty. All three won National Golden Gloves titles I believe in the same year. Tommy taught me a little as a young kid at the old CYO gym in Chicago. Brian refed one of my pro fights and Rory who was later a good pro as well as Brian,became a fireman.
Great story about him. Thirty or so years ago there was a story of a woman who tried commiting suicide on the news. She took pills and leaped out the window of a downtown high rise. Her robe tie caught on the window frame and she wound up dangling in the air. There was footage of the drama on tv. A fireman was held by his feet by a couple other fireman and hung upside down out the window and he pulled her in. Watching it on the tube was incredible. It took huge ba.ls to pull that move off. The fireman? you guessed it Rory O'Shea.
He was interviewed later. He shrugged it off. No big deal.

Good story, Hopefully he's healthy and enjoying rertirement.

[CNorkusJr]

James and Veronica are on their way to LAX to catch a plane to New York.

"New York Bound"

Sounds good. Hopefully they brought along a heavy coat- 39 degrees right now- expect rain or possible snow Sunday into Monday. Nothing heavy. Heavy rains got rid of the excess snow over the last few days- but a cold front is now in.

[raylawpc]

Jerry Quarry's first loss, Eddie Machen, 1966 . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih-nNCUu ... re=related

Here's the story on the former top heavyweight contender, Eddie Machen, a guy who was a clever boxer, a true vet.
He was on a comeback of sorts in 1966. He lost a decision to Mexican champ, Manuel Ramos. He was arrested later that night on a DUI.
A few weeks later he upsets unbeaten local favorite, Joey Orbillo. His next match is with Quarry, the other unbeaten L.A. heavyweight prospect.
Jerry was getting cocky, this is a fact. He under estimated Machen, and you can see what happened.

Here's a young guy who didn't underestimate Machen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkGqmjTA ... re=related

[CNorkusJr]

Vlad Klitschko might just have his hands full with Haye.(I think most of us hope he does).
After blasting Chisora (be careful here, think Tyson vs Douglas); I think he should have a good test in Haye. I think Haye's style will force Vlad to up his offense more. After the Ibragmov - Vlad fight in which Vlad's defensive style "pat downs of Saltana's jabs" led to a boring fight,Angelo Dundee stated that Vlad had ample opportunity to follow up his pat downs with offensive thrusts,thus forcing the fight and getting it over with. He didnt though.

Haye is not Ibragmov, he's a much more quicker and can force the inside action. Vlad just might have to open up his offense power to stop the attacks. Once open, hopefully Haye will show us what Vlad's chin is all about. Especially a few hits in a row. Of course all this will happen before Vlad lowers the boom on Haye too. We'll see.

If he gets past Haye, Adamek will be just another pawn-though I want to see Adamek win and bring the belts back home.