Classic American West Coast Boxing

[CNorkusJr]

Thank You Rick- they were great times and gentlemen who waged war within the ropes and were friends outside all their lives.

I agree with your Manny prediction tonite- and I too feel if Shane does get the nod some how, its best be him than the other wife beater.
The showtime show that led up to this fight was good in its promotion showing respect for each other, not the mouthy crap that Mayweather showed in his specials.
It makes it seem that Shane has some good gas left in the tank and has a shot. This will generate good PPV sales too.

More and More, I wish there were more trainers around like Freddie Roach. The Best of Todays Coaches.

[Expug]

Charley "Murphy" Norkus? I love it.

[CNorkusJr]

When we were kids . . .

I'll never forget what things were like on those Jr. Gloves fight night's at the Teamsters Gym.
While guys like Frank Baltazar, Louie Jarequi, Johnny Flores, etc. were trying to make matches, some of the little kids would be running around, playing, etc. A little later, two of the little guys who were playing a little earier, would be slugging it out in the ring.
After the bout was over, they'd be little kids again, and I really don't remember any hard feelings, aside from one feeling disappointment after losing.
That's how we were raised in boxing. That's how Shane was raised. This the way boxers really are.
But the youthful cable execs believe that boxing sells better if people believe that boxers are enemies.
Sometimes a grudge match is legit, but very rare does it go there.
I have had my ass whipped, and I have whipped a few myself. I never hated an opponet or hoped he would suffer after our bout.
However, if I saw a hint of anything suggesting he was hurt, I would try to jump onhim and take him out. And he would do the same.
Nothing personal, it was our business, our job, our sport.

Right on the money.
Today there are many young men who show very little respect for anything, including girls,and themselves. Its a shame.

[CNorkusJr]

Charley "Murphy" Norkus? I love it.

Charley Murphy Norkus

My father was born in 1928, Queens,NY as Charles Edmund Norkus. His father was Charles Norkus also, but died when my dad was 2 years old and he never carried the "Jr" monicker because he hardly knew his father.
When I was born I was Norkus "Jr". for as long as I can remember.

Norkus origins that can be traced back to - started somewhere in what is today known as "Poland". It was part of the Russian territory back in the early 1800's though.
The joke we had was we were kicked out of there in late 1800's and went to Alsace Lorraine
near Germany, where Vincent Norkus (great grand dad) married a French-German girl.
We always considered ourselves German-Danish as my dads mom(Clara Christensen) was Danish in the states,and Charles I married her here.

My fathers first pro manager-Abe Bressler said to him in 1948 (rookie year) change Charles to Charley for fighting purposes. He fought rather well in New Jersey earning a big following which got him fights in New York.
The Garden was surrounded by Irish fans coming from the Westside docks and Hells kitchen.
His manager said put "Murphy " on your robe.He did. My father instantly sold tremendous amount of tickets more. And fans at ringside.

After a National Televised Win interview on TV, he said Jack Drees asked him who was "Murphy". My father said to a huge audience that it was his mothers maiden name.
Watching this with a huge crowd in a local tavern in Queens, NY. my grandmother flipped.
She had to explain to long time neighbors the next day, that she wasn't a Murphy but a Christensen. Back in 1954, the implications to her were not good. Not being Irish, but who the father was.

My mother told me that the next time my father went to see his mother, she stayed outside as Clara gave him a beaten that only mom's can dish out for the embarrassment.

One or two more fights with that robe and it was switched out to a "Charley Norkus" only robe that I still have today.

circa 1949 soon became Charley Murphy Norkus
Abe Bressler also handled Ernie Durando-who was a lifelong stablemate & friend.

[Ric]

This is where we filmed the exterior shots of "Walnut Grove" for "Little House on the Praire", with the interiors filmed at Paramount for the first six seasons, and then MGM for the remaining three seasons that I worked on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Big Sky Movie Ranch

Big Sky Ranch is a Movie ranch located in Simi Valley, California. It has been widely used for the filming of Western television and film productions. Some of the past television episodes and productions filmed there include: Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, Father Murphy, The Thorn Birds (TV miniseries), Jericho (TV Series) and Carnivàle.

A more complete list of productions can be found at the Internet Movie Database

Big Sky Ranch is one of the oldest and largest Movie Ranches still in operation in Southern California. The Ranch has been host to countless feature films, television shows, television commercials, music videos, photo shoots and special events over the past fifty years. Big Sky Ranch is a private Movie Ranch located within the Los Angeles 30 Mile Studio Zone. The land was originally owned by J. Paul Getty. The ranch is extremely diverse with hills, valleys, and secluded meadows making it a perfect location for filming. Big Sky Ranch was host to many television series and motion pictures over the years making it one of the most historic movie ranches in the Los Angeles Studio Zone.
Big Sky Movie Ranch
Big Sky Ranch at The Internet Movie Database
Big Sky Ranch at Bonanza: Scenery of The Ponderosa.

This is just another thing that the kids of today don't get to enjoy like us Boomers did in those "old days": TV westerns. Man, from the 1950s thru the early 1970s, we were treated with countless Westerns. Today: nada. Not a one. :( Don't they know how to ride horses anymore?

[Ric]

Rick, Do you know were The Fugitive was filmed starring David Janssen, and how about the Mod Squad and the lovely Peggy Lipton, The Mod Squad had a episode starring Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Graziano titled the Comeback.....

Cholo: The Fugitive is my favorite drama TV show of the 1960s. I have a couple of DVD collections, plus a couple dozen VHS tapes I recorded when a local TV station broadcast reruns of this series in the 1980s. What a great concept (very loosely based upon the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder case), casting, acting, stories, and opening theme song, and ending theme song. If you followed all the episodes of this TV show, as I have done, you'll notice that 'The Fuge' lived mainly on coffee and cigarettes. It was extremely rare to see him actually eat anything--because just when he was about to bite into a sandwich or take a spoonful of chili, something dramatic would happen--forcing him to hit the road running once again. I don't know whether that was intentional by the writers of this TV show, but it did help to make Kimble look hunted, hungry, and hopeless for the four-year run of this program.

It was the first TV series that I can remember that actually resolved the tension the show had sustained for the four years it ran--with Dr. Kimble and his nemesis, Lt. Philip Gerard, finally confronting the real killer of Kimble's wife, the One-Armed Man, who confesses to the crime. Yet, even after he is cleared of the crime--"Tuesday, Sept 5, 1967, the day the running stops"--Kimble still gets that post-traumatic stress chilling feeling of being hunted. Genius!

BTW: The remake in the 1990s was pure crap--primarily because they cast Dr. Kimble with a handsome, studly actor who did not have the hunted hound dog look of David Janssen.

[kikibalt]

It looks to me like Pacman carried Shane for 12 rounds...

[CNorkusJr]

It looks to me like Pacman carried Shane for 12 rounds...

Most boxing sites reporting Pac-man had an off nite (not looking sharp) but beat Mosely virtually in every round.

[Rick Farris]

It looks to me like Pacman carried Shane for 12 rounds...

Most boxing sites reporting Pac-man had an off nite (not looking sharp) but beat Mosely virtually in every round.

I'm glad Shane didn't get busted up, just knocked down and shut out.

[Cholo]

Ric, The Fugitive, greatest show ever, i have the complete dvd set....

[bennie]

Agree one hundred percent Rick.
I cant stand the tough guy posing that goes on at the weigh ins and press confrences etc in boxing.
I look back at the old weigh ins with guys like Billy Conn and Joe Louis and it was always professional. Shake hands polite. These guys knew exactly who they were and what they were capable of. They knew that later on they were gonna be trying to stretch each other so why bother with the pre fight bs. They were gonna fight anyway so why get riled up and act like a gavoone?

There was very little hype at the weigh-ins of contenders. Championships were more the show, of course, but your right pug-there were handshakes at the end and respect for each other. (exceptions to the norm were rare).Mostly weigh-ins were held in medical office backroom of respective State Athletic Comms. with a few reporters on hand to gather the info. Who am I to tell you guys, you guys walked the walk-and I have great respect for you gentlemen. Boy, Times have changed.
Here's a couple of examples I have on hand.

Weigh-in Norkus vs Powell I San Fran 1954



Norkus vs Ezz Charles 1955 NYC
Famed NYC Dr Vincent Nardiello does the honors.

Charley, did you ever hear about Powell's display in England, when he flopped badly against Billy Walker?

[Cholo]

Rick/Frank, I was wrong about a Mosley KO, what a stinker, i think Manny just wanted to do enough to win without hurting Shane too much. I wonder what the old-timers would think about the fights today, couldn't see Artie Aragon wanting to keep touching gloves and hugging, he'd be there to FIGHT....

[Rick Farris]

Agree one hundred percent Rick.
I cant stand the tough guy posing that goes on at the weigh ins and press confrences etc in boxing.
I look back at the old weigh ins with guys like Billy Conn and Joe Louis and it was always professional. Shake hands polite. These guys knew exactly who they were and what they were capable of. They knew that later on they were gonna be trying to stretch each other so why bother with the pre fight bs. They were gonna fight anyway so why get riled up and act like a gavoone?

Brian, can you imagine if one of today's "tough guy posers" pulled that act with a Fritzie Zivic?

[Cholo]

Charlie, Great photo's of your dad with another great Ezzard Charles, you must be proud of your dad, he fought in a great era.....

[Rick Farris]

Pacquiao dominates Mosely

By Andreas Hale and Francisco Salazar at ringside

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) punished survival-minded former champ Sugar Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs) over twelve rounds on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Tactical early rounds by Pacquiao standards, but Pacquiao decked Mosley in round three with a straight left hand to the head. Pacman stalked Mosley who then went defensive much of the time. Pacquiao wasn’t at his sharpest, but he piled up round after round with his aggressiveness. Referee Kenny Bayless mistakenly credited Mosley with a knockdown in round ten after he threw Pacman to the deck, which served to wake Manny more than anything. The eleventh round was all Pacquiao as he went for the KO and he went on to win easily to win unanimously. Scores were 119-108, 120-108, 120-107.

[Expug]

Agree one hundred percent Rick.
I cant stand the tough guy posing that goes on at the weigh ins and press confrences etc in boxing.
I look back at the old weigh ins with guys like Billy Conn and Joe Louis and it was always professional. Shake hands polite. These guys knew exactly who they were and what they were capable of. They knew that later on they were gonna be trying to stretch each other so why bother with the pre fight bs. They were gonna fight anyway so why get riled up and act like a gavoone?

Brian, can you imagine if one of today's "tough guy posers" pulled that act with a Fritzie Zivic?

I think Fritzie would probably dig one low during the national anthem.
I'm reminded of a funny scene in the movie "slap shot" one goon player looks at another goon player on the other team before the game starts on the ice and says "we'll straighten you ouuut". with that great french canadian accent.Preeceded to pound lumps on the guy.

[Rick Farris]

Another quitter . . .

Remember the old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going?"
In the first PPV fight of the evening, some bum quit on his stool after a tough round.
He wasn't cut, swollen, etc. just intimidated. The corner was surprised, not to mention the ref.
I guess when the going got tough, he chose to go somewhere else.
He must have been mentored by Vitor Ortiz?

[bollox]

Sad news from down here....


Former world bantamweight champion Lionel Rose honoured with a bronze statue at his hometown and birthplace Warragul last year

AUSTRALIAN boxing great Lionel Rose has died aged 62.

He had been ill for several months.

The bantamweight champion had 53 fights for 42 wins and was one of Australia’s greatest sporting legends. His close friend Jeff Fenech was shattered when told of his passing tonight. ''Lionel was not only a great fighter but a wonderful human being,” Fenech said. ''He was an absolute legend and I was honoured to know him as a friend.”

Rose’s wife Jenny was too upset to talk when contacted last night.

Rose beat Japan's Fighting Harada in Tokyo in 1968 to win the world bantamweight title and in doing so became the first Aboriginal to win a world title. On his return to Australia with the title belt, he was greeted by more than 100,000 people outside Melbourne's Town Hall. Rose was made Australian of the Year that same year.

His death makes it a bitter-sweet day for Australian boxing, coming on the day Daniel Geale became only the fourth Australian boxer to win a world title overseas, joining Rose, Jeff Harding and Jimmy Carruthers in claiming the honour.

Rose was born into poverty at Jackson's Track, near Warragul in country Victoria on June 21 1948 and started boxing aged 10.

By 15 he was the Australian amateur flyweight champion. Four years later he was world champion. In the 70s Rose became a recording artist and had two hits with I Thank You and Please Remember Me.

He had suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed and with speech difficulties

[bennie]

Sad news from down here....


Former world bantamweight champion Lionel Rose honoured with a bronze statue at his hometown and birthplace Warragul last year

AUSTRALIAN boxing great Lionel Rose has died aged 62.

He had been ill for several months.

The bantamweight champion had 53 fights for 42 wins and was one of Australia’s greatest sporting legends. His close friend Jeff Fenech was shattered when told of his passing tonight. ''Lionel was not only a great fighter but a wonderful human being,” Fenech said. ''He was an absolute legend and I was honoured to know him as a friend.”

Rose’s wife Jenny was too upset to talk when contacted last night.

Rose beat Japan's Fighting Harada in Tokyo in 1968 to win the world bantamweight title and in doing so became the first Aboriginal to win a world title. On his return to Australia with the title belt, he was greeted by more than 100,000 people outside Melbourne's Town Hall. Rose was made Australian of the Year that same year.

His death makes it a bitter-sweet day for Australian boxing, coming on the day Daniel Geale became only the fourth Australian boxer to win a world title overseas, joining Rose, Jeff Harding and Jimmy Carruthers in claiming the honour.

Rose was born into poverty at Jackson's Track, near Warragul in country Victoria on June 21 1948 and started boxing aged 10.

By 15 he was the Australian amateur flyweight champion. Four years later he was world champion. In the 70s Rose became a recording artist and had two hits with I Thank You and Please Remember Me.

He had suffered a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed and with speech difficulties

I never realised Lionel had been so ill. This is very, very sad news, just a few months after the death of his old opponent, Alan Rudkin. Lionel Rose - what a fighter!

[bollox]

Yes Bennie, he'd been ill on and off for a while now. Lionel never enjoyed the best of health from a relatively early age. Can you imagine 100,000 people turning out for a parade to honour a newly crowned world champ? Them was the days

Think I posted this in a Rudkin thread at the time of his passing but it's worth repeating here. When asked whether Rose was the biggest bantam he'd ever faced he replied "No. He's the biggest featherweight I've ever faced"

Here's a shot of Rose V Rudkin


And one of Lionel

[Cholo]

Agree one hundred percent Rick.
I cant stand the tough guy posing that goes on at the weigh ins and press confrences etc in boxing.
I look back at the old weigh ins with guys like Billy Conn and Joe Louis and it was always professional. Shake hands polite. These guys knew exactly who they were and what they were capable of. They knew that later on they were gonna be trying to stretch each other so why bother with the pre fight bs. They were gonna fight anyway so why get riled up and act like a gavoone?

Brian, can you imagine if one of today's "tough guy posers" pulled that act with a Fritzie Zivic?

I think Fritzie would probably dig one low during the national anthem.
I'm reminded of a funny scene in the movie "slap shot" one goon player looks at another goon player on the other team before the game starts on the ice and says "we'll straighten you ouuut". with that great french canadian accent.Preeceded to pound lumps on the guy.

What about Al "Bummy" Davis, Bummy hit Fritzie low so many times he was singing soprano, caused a riot at the old Garden..... , any of you old-timers know much about Al Davis?....

[Cholo]

Rick, Lionel Rose/Chucho Castillo, The decision in favour of Rose sparked a major riot at the Inglewood Forum back in 1969, do remember this?.....

[CNorkusJr]

Yes Bennie, he'd been ill on and off for a while now. Lionel never enjoyed the best of health from a relatively early age. Can you imagine 100,000 people turning out for a parade to honour a newly crowned world champ? Them was the days

Think I posted this in a Rudkin thread at the time of his passing but it's worth repeating here. When asked whether Rose was the biggest bantam he'd ever faced he replied "No. He's the biggest featherweight I've ever faced"

Here's a shot of Rose V Rudkin


And one of Lionel

Great Post. Sorry to hear of Champ Rose's passing. The statue of him is an absolute testament to his respect from the fans. Very nice.

[CNorkusJr]

Bennie- I did not hear about Charlie Powell's fight against Billy Walker.
When my father fought Charlie Powell, Mr Powell was an undefeated (11-0) rising star who was managed by Suey Welch and trained by Gorilla Jones.
At that time in 1954, the top contenders were all jockeying in the top 10 to get a shot at Rocky Marciano.

My father,Charley Norkus, was managed by a fellow named Abe Bressler, who also had Ernie Durando. Al Weill(Rocky's official mgr on paper) was working with Madison Sq Garden Productions at the time and it would be a conflict of services to be assoc, with a fighter at that time.Al Weill also had a piece of Durando unofficially and probably my father as well but my father did not have to know that, only Bressler would know(front man).

As Rocky's career heated up, Al Weill had to step aside from Mad Sq Garden Productions where he promoted bouts outside of New York for the Garden.
He controlled who got what shot at Rocky at this time.
Of course there were other players in this game as well. IBC Chairman Jim Norris (front man), and the tricky part was of course Carbo & Palermo.

My father told me he was never associated officially with these men.Bressler, Weill and my father would meet and Weill would tell him where he was fighting next. They used him as a feeler out for Rocky. When Weill wanted to fight a top prospect,like Powell, he usually sent in a guy like my father to fight him first to see if the opponent's ability can suit Rocky. Rocky feared no man,but it gave a opportunity to see the fellow before the shot.
My father played the part of a ring spoiler here. Powell, Nardico, Crowe Peele, and several others couldn't pass the audition. It was a role my father enjoyed as it put him the top ten,and top TV bouts-only hoping Rocky would give HIM a shot one day.
My dad had 2 contracts with Rocky, but the fights never came off-(before Rocky had the title) also it earned him a shot at Ezz Charles, whom Weill promised verbally to my father that he would fight Rocky for the title next if he got pass Ezz. He didnt.

My father never regretted the role he played back then. It kept him in money and TV bouts which was for him good enough for him and his family.
My father told me that after he fought many of his opponents-that they were not the same again. He brought their confidence down a level or two,and after realizing that Rocky was not any closer to giving them a title shot. Weill liked it that way-hence Rocky's career can be argued over whether if he would be truley tested by any up and coming men like Powell and such.

It might be noted that my father was suppose to fight Roland LaStarza in 1952 in Providence, but LaStarza withdrew from cuts he suffered from a previous fight. My father fought Tommy Harrison instead. This was LaStarza audition supposedly.
LaStarza fought Rocky soon after, and some say Rocky almost took it on the chin that night.

[Expug]

Brian, can you imagine if one of today's "tough guy posers" pulled that act with a Fritzie Zivic?

I think Fritzie would probably dig one low during the national anthem.
I'm reminded of a funny scene in the movie "slap shot" one goon player looks at another goon player on the other team before the game starts on the ice and says "we'll straighten you ouuut". with that great french canadian accent.Preeceded to pound lumps on the guy.

What about Al "Bummy" Davis, Bummy hit Fritzie low so many times he was singing soprano, caused a riot at the old Garden..... , any of you old-timers know much about Al Davis?....

Yes,Ive studied Davis a bit. Recently read a good book about him called 'Bummy Davis and murder inc." good read.
Bummy was one of the all time great left hook artists. Boy did he go out in a blaze of glory too.