Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Rick Farris]

From The Ring July 1952,
At Sacramento, Art (Golden Boy) Aragon, scored a victory over former stablemate Freddie (Babe) Herman, an unpopular technical knockout in the last round of there scheduled 10-round bout. Referee Max Bear stopped the grudge fight between the two Los Angeles boys after one minute of the final round as Aragon, 143 1/2 battered his blood spattered opponent. The Golden Boy went to the canvas for a two-count midway in the first round, as he walked into a solid right of Herman's. Before the close of the round, however, Aragon had opened a gash over Herman's right eye.
As the final round opened, Aragon toyed with his opponent but when he did open up with a flurry of punches, Bear stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings, Herman weighed 139.

Keeny Teran, the baby-faced had to slug and batter gamester Tommy Umeda to the final bell at the Olympic Auditorium before hanging up his 17th straight triumph and knew in the end that he had been in a fight. Umeda a member of the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment in World War II, took everything the explosive-punching Teran tossed at him and was trading blows with Teran even in the final seconds of the last heat although he was badly stunned from vicious barrages of leather. Teran, who stiffened 10 of his 16 previous rivals, stunned and rocked the rugged Umeda with right hand blasts to the jaw, but Umeda always came back fighting. He almost put Umeda on the carpet in the final round with a volley of rights to the head. The bout was the toughest of Teran's brief professional career. A crowd of 3,500 was on hand. Teran weighed 116; Umeda 120 1/2.

Art Aragon and Freddie Babe Herman when they were stablemates were known as "The Gold Dust Twins"

I was on hand for the keeny Teran/Tommy Umeda fight. In the rematch Umeda stopped Keeny. Right after that it came out that Keeny had a drug habit. Later on Keeny beat Tommy again...

I wish I could have seen Keeny Teran in action. Just the little clips I've seen reveal a brilliant prizefighter. I like the style of the Johnny Forbes stable fighter's.

[Cholo]

From The Ring July 1952,
At Sacramento, Art (Golden Boy) Aragon, scored a victory over former stablemate Freddie (Babe) Herman, an unpopular technical knockout in the last round of there scheduled 10-round bout. Referee Max Bear stopped the grudge fight between the two Los Angeles boys after one minute of the final round as Aragon, 143 1/2 battered his blood spattered opponent. The Golden Boy went to the canvas for a two-count midway in the first round, as he walked into a solid right of Herman's. Before the close of the round, however, Aragon had opened a gash over Herman's right eye.
As the final round opened, Aragon toyed with his opponent but when he did open up with a flurry of punches, Bear stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings, Herman weighed 139.

Keeny Teran, the baby-faced had to slug and batter gamester Tommy Umeda to the final bell at the Olympic Auditorium before hanging up his 17th straight triumph and knew in the end that he had been in a fight. Umeda a member of the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment in World War II, took everything the explosive-punching Teran tossed at him and was trading blows with Teran even in the final seconds of the last heat although he was badly stunned from vicious barrages of leather. Teran, who stiffened 10 of his 16 previous rivals, stunned and rocked the rugged Umeda with right hand blasts to the jaw, but Umeda always came back fighting. He almost put Umeda on the carpet in the final round with a volley of rights to the head. The bout was the toughest of Teran's brief professional career. A crowd of 3,500 was on hand. Teran weighed 116; Umeda 120 1/2.

Art Aragon and Freddie Babe Herman when they were stablemates were known as "The Gold Dust Twins"

I was on hand for the keeny Teran/Tommy Umeda fight. In the rematch Umeda stopped Keeny. Right after that it came out that Keeny had a drug habit. Later on Keeny beat Tommy again...

I wish I could have seen Keeny Teran in action. Just the little clips I've seen reveal a brilliant prizefighter. I like the style of the Johnny Forbes stable fighter's.

Rick, From the clips i've seen Keeny looked an excellent boxer, just those few seconds from the fim "The Ring" showed what a smooth moving boxer he was, real classy..

[Cholo]

From The Ring July 1952,
At Sacramento, Art (Golden Boy) Aragon, scored a victory over former stablemate Freddie (Babe) Herman, an unpopular technical knockout in the last round of there scheduled 10-round bout. Referee Max Bear stopped the grudge fight between the two Los Angeles boys after one minute of the final round as Aragon, 143 1/2 battered his blood spattered opponent. The Golden Boy went to the canvas for a two-count midway in the first round, as he walked into a solid right of Herman's. Before the close of the round, however, Aragon had opened a gash over Herman's right eye.
As the final round opened, Aragon toyed with his opponent but when he did open up with a flurry of punches, Bear stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings, Herman weighed 139.

Keeny Teran, the baby-faced had to slug and batter gamester Tommy Umeda to the final bell at the Olympic Auditorium before hanging up his 17th straight triumph and knew in the end that he had been in a fight. Umeda a member of the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment in World War II, took everything the explosive-punching Teran tossed at him and was trading blows with Teran even in the final seconds of the last heat although he was badly stunned from vicious barrages of leather. Teran, who stiffened 10 of his 16 previous rivals, stunned and rocked the rugged Umeda with right hand blasts to the jaw, but Umeda always came back fighting. He almost put Umeda on the carpet in the final round with a volley of rights to the head. The bout was the toughest of Teran's brief professional career. A crowd of 3,500 was on hand. Teran weighed 116; Umeda 120 1/2.

Art Aragon and Freddie Babe Herman when they were stablemates were known as "The Gold Dust Twins"

I was on hand for the keeny Teran/Tommy Umeda fight. In the rematch Umeda stopped Keeny. Right after that it came out that Keeny had a drug habit. Later on Keeny beat Tommy again...

Frank, What a shame Keeny got mixed up with drugs, i like "The Gold Dust Twins", thanks again Frank for your info on these greats..

[Cholo]

Quarry in film . . .



Knight Rider (TV series)
Jerry Quarry
– Redemption of a Champion (1986) … Jerry Quarry

1980 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Quarod
– Olympiad (1980) … Quarod

1978 The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (TV series)
Big Jerry
– The Lady on Thursday at Ten (1978) … Big Jerry

1976 Ellery Queen (TV series)
Kid Hogan
– The Adventure of the Sunday Punch (1976) … Kid Hogan

1973 The Magician (TV series)
Al
– The Manhunters (1973) … Al

1969 Land of the Giants (TV series)
Bron
– A Place Called Earth (1969) … Bron

1969 Adam-12 (TV series)
Bill Sanders
– Log 73: I'm Still a Cop (1969) … Bill Sanders (as Jerry C. Quarry)

Hide Self (3 titles)

1968 I Dream of Jeannie (TV series)
Himself
– The Strongest Man in the World (1968) … Himself

1968 The Hollywood Palace (TV series)
Himself - Singer
– Episode #5.27 (1968) … Himself - Singer

1967 Batman (TV series)
Himself
– Ring Around the Riddler (1967) … Himself (uncredited)

2009 Facing Ali (documentary)
Himself

1971 Sportsnight (TV series)

Rick, Ellery Queen-The Adventure Of The Sunday Punch, Golden Boy Aragon had a part in this episode..

Working in Hollywood . . .

I used to see Art Aragon at Universal on Occasion. I recall a friend telling me that Jerry Quarry was on the lot one day, and that he was working on the Buck Rogers set which was just on a stage close to the one I was working on. I visited Jerry briefly that morning, and introduced a couple of my friends to him. Another ex-pug who who acted in films (and played Jess Willard in the Jack Dempsey movie that starred Treat Williams) was Clay Hodges. Hodges was known as one of the best amateur heavyweights in America during the 60's. Clay whipped George Foreman twice, floored Jerry Quarry twice in the '65 L.A. Golden Gloves tourney, and had lost a close decision to Joe Frazier in the '64 Olympic Trials. Clay and I became friends on film sets and I remember in his pro debut, he whipped Jimmy Young. An eye injury ended Hodges pro career ater a handful of fights.

Rick, Sounds like Hodges was a good fighter, whipping Foreman twice and dropping Quarry, Quarry had a great chin, i remember Joe Frazier hitting Quarry with a teriffic left hook in there second fight, Joe Louis was the referee, the punch could have knocked down a building, but Jerry stayed on his feet. Thanks for the info, Rick..

[kikibalt]

http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_umeda_0401.htm

Tommy Umeda by Tommy Umeda

Tommy Umeda

Journal of Combative Sport, Mar 2001
Hawaiian Nisei Boxer: Yukito "Tommy" Umeda
By Tommy Umeda

I remember helping clean milking stalls from ten or eleven years of age, and from the age of twelve I was milking cows. I hated doing it but Pop said to do it so we did it because we had just one employee who did most of the milking and cutting the grass for the herd. By 1940-1941 I was getting up at 2:30 in the morning to milk cows before going to school. Man, I hated it. By early 1941 feed supply for the herd and bottling supplies were becoming difficult to get because of world conditions so my brother and I begged Dad to sell the farm, but no way would he do it. About this time, the Board of Health said our dairy had to move because it was in what had become a residential district. So instead of moving to a new farm district, my brother and I ganged up on Dad and convinced him to sell the dairy. Boy, it was just in the nick of time because it was just before December 7 when we got rid of the dairy.

Meanwhile, around 1939 Honolulu’s biggest dairy and the Honolulu Advertiser joined together to start a boxing gym called Boys’ Town Gym. It was in our neighborhood so I started going over there to train. I was fourteen years old at the time. But after two to three months the gym folded and Joe Lynch, a manager/trainer who came over from the mainland to train Hollywood movie stars, bought all the equipment and opened a gym at Bethel Street in downtown and he invited me to come over and start over there. [EN1] I felt good going to Bethel Street because that’s where the pool hall and beer joints were located.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, I was training at the CYO [Catholic Youth Organization] gym, which was on the third floor on the Lady of Peace Cathedral on Fort Street. On the following day, we were to fight the boxing team from Waipahu, which is on the other side of Pearl Harbor, and the Waipahu boys were to come to our gym to weigh-in and get a physical check for our fight. While we were waiting for them to show up we looked out the window and saw the enemy planes flying over Pearl Harbor. The third floor was pretty high in those days.

They didn’t show up so after a while a bunch of us walked mauka [toward the direction of the mountain] on Nuuanu Avenue, and saw where a bomb fell outside the residence of some of our teammates. Later we found out three of our teammates lost their lives to the bombs.

So for a while boxing activity at the CYO gym came to a halt.

But with war breaking out there weren’t too many activities going on at night so the professional promoter started putting on Sunday daytime fights. There weren’t enough pro fighters to fill the Sunday afternoon card, so they worked it so that amateur fighters could fill in under the pros. As a result, we started training again.

About this time the Army said that ethnic Japanese fighters could only fight other ethnic Japanese fighters. So I told Bill Kim, the team manager for the CYO club, "I quit." After thinking it over, Bill told me, "You are now Tommy Wong and you’re fighting on Sunday." This is how I got the name "Tommy". [EN3] Everybody knew I was Umeda, not Wong, but nobody cared and I was only sixteen and it didn’t occur to me that maybe I should say this wasn’t right.

When we weren’t fighting on Sunday’s pro card in Honolulu, we fought at Red Hill (a big defense project involving underground fuel storage at Pearl Harbor) and sometimes at Schofield Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, and other places around the island. We liked fighting at Schofield Barracks, ‘cuz they had the best grub of all bases. During wartime a lot of things were rationed, but up there you could eat all you wanted.

On January 15, 1943 I turned 18. I don’t remember the date when they called for volunteers to form the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, but on March 24, 1943 I was in the Army. I never did graduate from high school.

During our training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, we did some boxing at the base gym. [EN4] I was in this fight with a guy from the 69th Division and he started biting my neck. Or at least everybody thought he was biting my neck. Actually he was trying to get his mouthpiece back in. But anyway people piled in the ring and it almost became a real fight. So that was the last time I boxed in the Army.

I was assigned to Company I, which was one of the best units. In Italy, Company I became famous for its involvement in the rescue of that Texas unit, the Lost Battalion, but I was in the hospital, with dysentery. I was very fortunate to miss that one, thank God.

I returned to Hawai’i in 1945 and started boxing professionally soon after. My managers included Richard "Pablo" Chinen and Henry "Moe" Oshiro, and the promoter who did the most for me was Al Schaff.


We fought all over the Territory, going to the military bases, Kauai, Hilo, places like that. A typical purse in those days was fifty dollars. That was nice, but it didn’t pay the bills, so for a job, I worked at Hickam Field as a carpenter. Hell, what do I know about carpentry. So after the first job force reduction, I got my get-lost notice.

Well, I took the hint and sold my contraption, a 1940 Desoto, packed my bags, and got myself a one-way ticket to Seattle. On the plane I sat with a guy going to Anchorage who told me that Alaskan salmon fishermen were making a pile of loot working about eight to nine months of the year. That was enough for me.

When I got off at Seattle I called my army buddy Shiro Kashino and told him about my plan. He said, "Are you crazy? Everybody there is shooting each other for jobs." [EN6] So the next morning Shiro picked me up at the YMCA where I checked in and he drove me to the Boeing Airplane Company employment office and told me to go in and sign up.

After work, I went straight to the gym to train. I think it was called the Cherry Street Gym, and it was where all the professional boxers trained. Harry "Kid" Matthews was the name fighter in those parts back.

I lost one fight out of about sixteen. That loss was to Stan Almond, the Canadian bantamweight champ, during an 8-round fight in Tacoma. Another fight, with Jackie Turner, was ruled a loss at the time. But it was so unfairly scored that three days later the Washington Boxing Commission changed the decision to a draw.

After two months Almond and I got together again for a 10-round fight in Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver was his hometown, so you know the chances of a buddhahead winning if the fight went the distance. [EN7] But I beat him anyway.

Around then I ran into Al Schaff, who was in Seattle on his way to Los Angeles. In Seattle they were only paying $50 for a 4-round fight and $100 for a 6-round fight, so I begged Al to get me some fights in Los Angeles.

Well, he had connections with the top man in LA, namely Babe McCoy’s nephew, Sparky Rudolph. As for Rudolph’s connections, well, after a couple of fights in LA, I got called for fights in Las Vegas, Anchorage, San Jose, Mexico City…

In October 1951 they sent Freddie "Babe" Herman and me to Australia. I was supposed to fight Jimmy Carruthers, the world’s #1 bantamweight contender, but when I got there they said they never heard of me so they told me to prove myself first. I must fight Bluey Wilkins, a featherweight.

Well, I got myself into the best shape of my life and I beat Wilkins in twelve rounds. After that, Carruthers would have nothing to do with me in the ring.

After a couple months of sitting around, they matched me with Ray Coleman, who was in a weight class higher than me. During this fight, I was ahead on points, but in the seventh my bandage was hanging out of my glove, so I raised my hands to show the referee. I expected him to halt the fight while they fixed my bandage. But the referee said I quit. Bull! I was ahead on points so why would I quit?

After hanging around Australia for five months waiting to fight Jimmy Carruthers, I finally told the promoter to give me my airplane ticket home. Boy, was he glad to see me leave. To think six months later, Carruthers went to South Africa to fight Vic Toweel for the world championship, and won by knockout.

In April and June 1952 I fought Keeny Teran for the California bantamweight championship. The first time I lost, but the second time I knocked him out in seven rounds.
After that I went to Mexico City for a fight and it was called due to a cut. I lost a couple fights due to cuts, but was never knocked out. I think the reason is that I rode the punches. Riding the punches isn’t something you are born knowing how to do, it’s something you learn. You don’t have to have a great punch to be a fighter, but you do need to be clever, to move around. Me, I was a club fighter, a crowd-pleaser, rather than a great boxer. I gave the crowd a good show. That was what I did. And when I couldn’t do that any more I quit boxing.

After retiring from the ring I stayed in California. Usually I worked construction worker but sometimes I worked as an extra in movies. The role everybody has seen is Godzilla (1956). [EN8] The original was filmed and produced in Japan, but the American version included splices of Raymond Burr that were shot in a small studio in LA. I played a Japanese news reporter taking notes while a Japanese professor advised a press conference about plans for getting rid of Godzilla. Actually, I was writing up my scratch sheet for the horse races at Santa Anita, and as soon as the first break was called, I ran to the phone to call my bookie and place a bet.

Around Thanksgiving 1957 I went to New Mexico as the valet for professional wrestler Stanley "Oyama Kato" Mayeshiro. I liked traveling, but that was still rough work. I mean, you had to travel a couple hundred miles a day, every day, including Sundays. Worse, we were the bad guys, what they called heels. So my job was to make people hate us. I’d wear these thick glasses and pull on the referee’s leg and sometimes little old ladies would come from behind and whack me on the back with their handbags. Another time, a little kid put his ice cream cone on my seat while I was walking around harassing the referee. I sat down without looking and gave everyone a good laugh. Meanwhile Mayeshiro treated me like I really was his valet. So when we went back to LA for Christmas I told him to get somebody else.

In 1959 I got married. My wife, Maria, was born in Chile, but her family returned to Japan when she was a child. During the early 1960s we had two sons, Allen and Robin. But my parents were getting old, so in 1968 we left LA for Honolulu, as that way I could do a better job of taking care of them. In Hawai’i, I continued working in construction until the late 1980s. After that I worked part-time as a tour guide for Japanese tourists, and then I retired. Well, sort of -- weekdays I help take care of my granddaughter while her mother is at work.


Career record: Yukito "Tommy" Umeda

Date Opponent Location Result
1946 Jun 14 Kid Waianae Honolulu W4
1946 Jul 12 Kid Waianae Honolulu W4
1946 Aug 30 Kid Tarlac (Aceres) Honolulu TKO1
1946 Sep 28 Louis Rodrigues Honolulu W4
1946 Oct 31 Henry Davis Honolulu L6
1946 Dec 12 Henry Davis Honolulu TKO by 3
1947 Feb 28 Eddie Silva Honolulu KO3
1947 Mar 14 Victor Sagpang Honolulu D4
1947 Apr 7 Hideo Tengan Honolulu L5
1947 Apr 18 Andres Peralta Honolulu KO3
1947 May 9 Andres Peralta Honolulu KO1
1947 May 13 Joseph Soares Honolulu L6
1947 May 30 Billy Herrera Honolulu L6
1947 Jun 27 Joseph Soares Honolulu L5
1947 Jul 5 Henry Davis Maui TKO by 3
1947 Aug 1 Marce Totor Honolulu L5
1947 Sep 5 Raymond Perera Honolulu KO2
1947 Sep 9 Placido Torres Honolulu L4
1947 Oct 9 Marce Totor Honolulu W5
1947 Dec 23 Gus "Tiger" Rosa Honolulu L5
1948 Feb 3 Gus "Tiger" Rosa Honolulu L4
1948 Apr 6 Mike Ines Honolulu D5
1948 Apr 20 Mike Ines Honolulu L5
1948 Jul 6 Mamoru Hirota Honolulu D4
1949 Apr 19 James Nagao Honolulu D4
1949 Sep 20 Indian Joe Pete Seattle W4
1949 Oct 4 Pepper Martin Seattle D4
1949 Oct 18 Jackie Donnelley Seattle W4
1949 Nov 4 Spider Renaud Seattle W4
1949 Dec 1 Larry Regan Seattle TKO4
1949 Dec 6 Mel Eagleman Seattle KO2
1949 Dec 16 Tommy Rhett Seattle W6
1950 Feb 2 Indian Joe Pete Tacoma W6
1950 Feb 27 Jackie Turner Seattle D6
1950 Mar 16 Hector Marquez Tacoma W6
1950 May 4 Stan Almond Tacoma L8
1950 Jun 5 Stan Almond Vancouver BC W10
1950 Jul 12 Bobby Doll Spokane TKO5
1950 Aug 30 Larry Regan Spokane TKO2
1950 Sep 13 Tony Alvarez Spokane W6
1950 Oct 13 Johnny "Pago Pago" Scott Seattle ND3
1950 Dec Tony Alvarez Vancouver BC W6
1950 Dec Jackie Turner Vancouver BC W6
1951 Jan 18 Tony Alvarez Vancouver BC KO5
1951 Apr 10 Manuel Hernandez Los Angeles D6
1951 Apr 17 Manuel Hernandez Los Angeles D6
1951 Apr 24 Johnny Malloy Los Angeles W6
1951 May 8 Manuel Hernandez Los Angeles W6
1951 May 22 Oscar Torres Los Angeles W6
1951 May 29 Oscar Torres Los Angeles W6
1951 Jun 12 Johnny Malloy Los Angeles L4
1951 Aug 14 Bobby Garza Los Angeles L
1951 Aug 21 Keeny Teran Los Angeles L6
1951 Sep 11 Eddie Hernandez Hollywood L4
1951 Nov 9 Bluey Wilkins Melbourne, Australia L12
1951 Dec 12 Bluey Wilkins Melbourne, Australia W12
1951 Billy Peacock Australia L
1952 Feb 4 Ray Coleman Sydney, Australia TKO by 7
1952 Apr 22 Keeny Teran Los Angeles L10
1952 Jun 24 Keeny Teran Los Angeles TKO7
1952 Jul 19 Edel Ojeda Mexico City, Mexico D2
1952 Aug 19 Oscar Torres Los Angeles L12
1952 Sep 23 Otilio Galvan Los Angeles L10
1952 Dec 2 Oscar Torres Los Angeles L12
1952 Dec 9 Keeny Teran Los Angeles L10
1953 Jan 13 Billy Peacock Los Angeles L10
1953 Feb 3 Billy Peacock Los Angeles L10
1953 Feb 18 Tanny Campo Manila L10
1953 Mar 15 Andy Escobar Manila D10
1953 May 26 Baby Moe Mario Los Angeles KO by 9
1953 Jun 30 Alex Santoy San Antonio, TX L10
1953 Oct 6 José Cotero Los Angeles L10
1953 Dec 7 Oscar Torres Los Angeles KO by 6

[Cholo]

http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_umeda_0401.htm

Tommy Umeda by Tommy Umeda

Tommy Umeda

Journal of Combative Sport, Mar 2001
Hawaiian Nisei Boxer: Yukito "Tommy" Umeda
By Tommy Umeda

I remember helping clean milking stalls from ten or eleven years of age, and from the age of twelve I was milking cows. I hated doing it but Pop said to do it so we did it because we had just one employee who did most of the milking and cutting the grass for the herd. By 1940-1941 I was getting up at 2:30 in the morning to milk cows before going to school. Man, I hated it. By early 1941 feed supply for the herd and bottling supplies were becoming difficult to get because of world conditions so my brother and I begged Dad to sell the farm, but no way would he do it. About this time, the Board of Health said our dairy had to move because it was in what had become a residential district. So instead of moving to a new farm district, my brother and I ganged up on Dad and convinced him to sell the dairy. Boy, it was just in the nick of time because it was just before December 7 when we got rid of the dairy.

Meanwhile, around 1939 Honolulu’s biggest dairy and the Honolulu Advertiser joined together to start a boxing gym called Boys’ Town Gym. It was in our neighborhood so I started going over there to train. I was fourteen years old at the time. But after two to three months the gym folded and Joe Lynch, a manager/trainer who came over from the mainland to train Hollywood movie stars, bought all the equipment and opened a gym at Bethel Street in downtown and he invited me to come over and start over there. [EN1] I felt good going to Bethel Street because that’s where the pool hall and beer joints were located.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, I was training at the CYO [Catholic Youth Organization] gym, which was on the third floor on the Lady of Peace Cathedral on Fort Street. On the following day, we were to fight the boxing team from Waipahu, which is on the other side of Pearl Harbor, and the Waipahu boys were to come to our gym to weigh-in and get a physical check for our fight. While we were waiting for them to show up we looked out the window and saw the enemy planes flying over Pearl Harbor. The third floor was pretty high in those days.

They didn’t show up so after a while a bunch of us walked mauka [toward the direction of the mountain] on Nuuanu Avenue, and saw where a bomb fell outside the residence of some of our teammates. Later we found out three of our teammates lost their lives to the bombs.

So for a while boxing activity at the CYO gym came to a halt.

But with war breaking out there weren’t too many activities going on at night so the professional promoter started putting on Sunday daytime fights. There weren’t enough pro fighters to fill the Sunday afternoon card, so they worked it so that amateur fighters could fill in under the pros. As a result, we started training again.

About this time the Army said that ethnic Japanese fighters could only fight other ethnic Japanese fighters. So I told Bill Kim, the team manager for the CYO club, "I quit." After thinking it over, Bill told me, "You are now Tommy Wong and you’re fighting on Sunday." This is how I got the name "Tommy". [EN3] Everybody knew I was Umeda, not Wong, but nobody cared and I was only sixteen and it didn’t occur to me that maybe I should say this wasn’t right.

When we weren’t fighting on Sunday’s pro card in Honolulu, we fought at Red Hill (a big defense project involving underground fuel storage at Pearl Harbor) and sometimes at Schofield Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, and other places around the island. We liked fighting at Schofield Barracks, ‘cuz they had the best grub of all bases. During wartime a lot of things were rationed, but up there you could eat all you wanted.

On January 15, 1943 I turned 18. I don’t remember the date when they called for volunteers to form the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, but on March 24, 1943 I was in the Army. I never did graduate from high school.

During our training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, we did some boxing at the base gym. [EN4] I was in this fight with a guy from the 69th Division and he started biting my neck. Or at least everybody thought he was biting my neck. Actually he was trying to get his mouthpiece back in. But anyway people piled in the ring and it almost became a real fight. So that was the last time I boxed in the Army.

I was assigned to Company I, which was one of the best units. In Italy, Company I became famous for its involvement in the rescue of that Texas unit, the Lost Battalion, but I was in the hospital, with dysentery. I was very fortunate to miss that one, thank God.

I returned to Hawai’i in 1945 and started boxing professionally soon after. My managers included Richard "Pablo" Chinen and Henry "Moe" Oshiro, and the promoter who did the most for me was Al Schaff.


We fought all over the Territory, going to the military bases, Kauai, Hilo, places like that. A typical purse in those days was fifty dollars. That was nice, but it didn’t pay the bills, so for a job, I worked at Hickam Field as a carpenter. Hell, what do I know about carpentry. So after the first job force reduction, I got my get-lost notice.

Well, I took the hint and sold my contraption, a 1940 Desoto, packed my bags, and got myself a one-way ticket to Seattle. On the plane I sat with a guy going to Anchorage who told me that Alaskan salmon fishermen were making a pile of loot working about eight to nine months of the year. That was enough for me.

When I got off at Seattle I called my army buddy Shiro Kashino and told him about my plan. He said, "Are you crazy? Everybody there is shooting each other for jobs." [EN6] So the next morning Shiro picked me up at the YMCA where I checked in and he drove me to the Boeing Airplane Company employment office and told me to go in and sign up.

After work, I went straight to the gym to train. I think it was called the Cherry Street Gym, and it was where all the professional boxers trained. Harry "Kid" Matthews was the name fighter in those parts back.

I lost one fight out of about sixteen. That loss was to Stan Almond, the Canadian bantamweight champ, during an 8-round fight in Tacoma. Another fight, with Jackie Turner, was ruled a loss at the time. But it was so unfairly scored that three days later the Washington Boxing Commission changed the decision to a draw.

After two months Almond and I got together again for a 10-round fight in Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver was his hometown, so you know the chances of a buddhahead winning if the fight went the distance. [EN7] But I beat him anyway.

Around then I ran into Al Schaff, who was in Seattle on his way to Los Angeles. In Seattle they were only paying $50 for a 4-round fight and $100 for a 6-round fight, so I begged Al to get me some fights in Los Angeles.

Well, he had connections with the top man in LA, namely Babe McCoy’s nephew, Sparky Rudolph. As for Rudolph’s connections, well, after a couple of fights in LA, I got called for fights in Las Vegas, Anchorage, San Jose, Mexico City…

In October 1951 they sent Freddie "Babe" Herman and me to Australia. I was supposed to fight Jimmy Carruthers, the world’s #1 bantamweight contender, but when I got there they said they never heard of me so they told me to prove myself first. I must fight Bluey Wilkins, a featherweight.

Well, I got myself into the best shape of my life and I beat Wilkins in twelve rounds. After that, Carruthers would have nothing to do with me in the ring.

After a couple months of sitting around, they matched me with Ray Coleman, who was in a weight class higher than me. During this fight, I was ahead on points, but in the seventh my bandage was hanging out of my glove, so I raised my hands to show the referee. I expected him to halt the fight while they fixed my bandage. But the referee said I quit. Bull! I was ahead on points so why would I quit?

After hanging around Australia for five months waiting to fight Jimmy Carruthers, I finally told the promoter to give me my airplane ticket home. Boy, was he glad to see me leave. To think six months later, Carruthers went to South Africa to fight Vic Toweel for the world championship, and won by knockout.

In April and June 1952 I fought Keeny Teran for the California bantamweight championship. The first time I lost, but the second time I knocked him out in seven rounds.
After that I went to Mexico City for a fight and it was called due to a cut. I lost a couple fights due to cuts, but was never knocked out. I think the reason is that I rode the punches. Riding the punches isn’t something you are born knowing how to do, it’s something you learn. You don’t have to have a great punch to be a fighter, but you do need to be clever, to move around. Me, I was a club fighter, a crowd-pleaser, rather than a great boxer. I gave the crowd a good show. That was what I did. And when I couldn’t do that any more I quit boxing.

After retiring from the ring I stayed in California. Usually I worked construction worker but sometimes I worked as an extra in movies. The role everybody has seen is Godzilla (1956). [EN8] The original was filmed and produced in Japan, but the American version included splices of Raymond Burr that were shot in a small studio in LA. I played a Japanese news reporter taking notes while a Japanese professor advised a press conference about plans for getting rid of Godzilla. Actually, I was writing up my scratch sheet for the horse races at Santa Anita, and as soon as the first break was called, I ran to the phone to call my bookie and place a bet.

Around Thanksgiving 1957 I went to New Mexico as the valet for professional wrestler Stanley "Oyama Kato" Mayeshiro. I liked traveling, but that was still rough work. I mean, you had to travel a couple hundred miles a day, every day, including Sundays. Worse, we were the bad guys, what they called heels. So my job was to make people hate us. I’d wear these thick glasses and pull on the referee’s leg and sometimes little old ladies would come from behind and whack me on the back with their handbags. Another time, a little kid put his ice cream cone on my seat while I was walking around harassing the referee. I sat down without looking and gave everyone a good laugh. Meanwhile Mayeshiro treated me like I really was his valet. So when we went back to LA for Christmas I told him to get somebody else.

In 1959 I got married. My wife, Maria, was born in Chile, but her family returned to Japan when she was a child. During the early 1960s we had two sons, Allen and Robin. But my parents were getting old, so in 1968 we left LA for Honolulu, as that way I could do a better job of taking care of them. In Hawai’i, I continued working in construction until the late 1980s. After that I worked part-time as a tour guide for Japanese tourists, and then I retired. Well, sort of -- weekdays I help take care of my granddaughter while her mother is at work.


Career record: Yukito "Tommy" Umeda

Date Opponent Location Result
1946 Jun 14 Kid Waianae Honolulu W4
1946 Jul 12 Kid Waianae Honolulu W4
1946 Aug 30 Kid Tarlac (Aceres) Honolulu TKO1
1946 Sep 28 Louis Rodrigues Honolulu W4
1946 Oct 31 Henry Davis Honolulu L6
1946 Dec 12 Henry Davis Honolulu TKO by 3
1947 Feb 28 Eddie Silva Honolulu KO3
1947 Mar 14 Victor Sagpang Honolulu D4
1947 Apr 7 Hideo Tengan Honolulu L5
1947 Apr 18 Andres Peralta Honolulu KO3
1947 May 9 Andres Peralta Honolulu KO1
1947 May 13 Joseph Soares Honolulu L6
1947 May 30 Billy Herrera Honolulu L6
1947 Jun 27 Joseph Soares Honolulu L5
1947 Jul 5 Henry Davis Maui TKO by 3
1947 Aug 1 Marce Totor Honolulu L5
1947 Sep 5 Raymond Perera Honolulu KO2
1947 Sep 9 Placido Torres Honolulu L4
1947 Oct 9 Marce Totor Honolulu W5
1947 Dec 23 Gus "Tiger" Rosa Honolulu L5
1948 Feb 3 Gus "Tiger" Rosa Honolulu L4
1948 Apr 6 Mike Ines Honolulu D5
1948 Apr 20 Mike Ines Honolulu L5
1948 Jul 6 Mamoru Hirota Honolulu D4
1949 Apr 19 James Nagao Honolulu D4
1949 Sep 20 Indian Joe Pete Seattle W4
1949 Oct 4 Pepper Martin Seattle D4
1949 Oct 18 Jackie Donnelley Seattle W4
1949 Nov 4 Spider Renaud Seattle W4
1949 Dec 1 Larry Regan Seattle TKO4
1949 Dec 6 Mel Eagleman Seattle KO2
1949 Dec 16 Tommy Rhett Seattle W6
1950 Feb 2 Indian Joe Pete Tacoma W6
1950 Feb 27 Jackie Turner Seattle D6
1950 Mar 16 Hector Marquez Tacoma W6
1950 May 4 Stan Almond Tacoma L8
1950 Jun 5 Stan Almond Vancouver BC W10
1950 Jul 12 Bobby Doll Spokane TKO5
1950 Aug 30 Larry Regan Spokane TKO2
1950 Sep 13 Tony Alvarez Spokane W6
1950 Oct 13 Johnny "Pago Pago" Scott Seattle ND3
1950 Dec Tony Alvarez Vancouver BC W6
1950 Dec Jackie Turner Vancouver BC W6
1951 Jan 18 Tony Alvarez Vancouver BC KO5
1951 Apr 10 Manuel Hernandez Los Angeles D6
1951 Apr 17 Manuel Hernandez Los Angeles D6
1951 Apr 24 Johnny Malloy Los Angeles W6
1951 May 8 Manuel Hernandez Los Angeles W6
1951 May 22 Oscar Torres Los Angeles W6
1951 May 29 Oscar Torres Los Angeles W6
1951 Jun 12 Johnny Malloy Los Angeles L4
1951 Aug 14 Bobby Garza Los Angeles L
1951 Aug 21 Keeny Teran Los Angeles L6
1951 Sep 11 Eddie Hernandez Hollywood L4
1951 Nov 9 Bluey Wilkins Melbourne, Australia L12
1951 Dec 12 Bluey Wilkins Melbourne, Australia W12
1951 Billy Peacock Australia L
1952 Feb 4 Ray Coleman Sydney, Australia TKO by 7
1952 Apr 22 Keeny Teran Los Angeles L10
1952 Jun 24 Keeny Teran Los Angeles TKO7
1952 Jul 19 Edel Ojeda Mexico City, Mexico D2
1952 Aug 19 Oscar Torres Los Angeles L12
1952 Sep 23 Otilio Galvan Los Angeles L10
1952 Dec 2 Oscar Torres Los Angeles L12
1952 Dec 9 Keeny Teran Los Angeles L10
1953 Jan 13 Billy Peacock Los Angeles L10
1953 Feb 3 Billy Peacock Los Angeles L10
1953 Feb 18 Tanny Campo Manila L10
1953 Mar 15 Andy Escobar Manila D10
1953 May 26 Baby Moe Mario Los Angeles KO by 9
1953 Jun 30 Alex Santoy San Antonio, TX L10
1953 Oct 6 José Cotero Los Angeles L10
1953 Dec 7 Oscar Torres Los Angeles KO by 6

Frank, What a excellent piece on Tommy Umeda, thanks again buddy..

[Rick Farris]

The California Boxing Hall of Fame . . .

Well Frank, not only are you my "kept man" mentor, Don Fraser just told me that he has put me on the CBHOF Selection Commitee.
He said, "Frank Baltazar is the head of that committee, so you answer to Frank, and I have the right to veto anything I want."

[kikibalt]

The California Boxing Hall of Fame . . .

Well Frank, not only are you my "kept man" mentor, Don Fraser just told me that he has put me on the CBHOF Selection Commitee.
He said, "Frank Baltazar is the head of that committee, so you answer to Frank, and I have the right to veto anything I want."

[Rick Farris]

Rick, Sounds like Hodges was a good fighter, whipping Foreman twice and dropping Quarry, Quarry had a great chin, i remember Joe Frazier hitting Quarry with a teriffic left hook in there second fight, Joe Louis was the referee, the punch could have knocked down a building, but Jerry stayed on his feet. Thanks for the info.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clay Hodges . . .

Clay was one of the best amateur heavyweights of the mid-1960's. He was tall, 6'4", white heavyweight, well over 200 pounds. He was trained and later managed by Jerry Moore & Henry Blouin.
He was a stand-up, stiff punching boxer who made good use of a great left jab, great offensive a defensive skills.
The report is that he lost a very close one to Joe Frazier in the '64 Olympic trials, which were held at the Singer Bowl of the New York World's Fair.
The following year he floors Jerry twice in the '65 L.A. Golden Gloves tourney, but loses the decision.
Quarry went on to KO five consecutive opponents in the Nationals (a record) and won the Nat'l title that year.
Two years later, in 1967, Hodges would travel to the GG Nationals representing Los Angeles, and along with welterweight Thurman Durden, and middleweight Paul Bad Horse, would win a National Golden Gloves championship. The following year was 1968, and most believed Clay would be an Olympic favorite.
Shortly before the trials, Clay whipped George Foreman twice, once in late 1967, and again early '68. An injury prevented Hodges from entering the trials.
He was pushing 30 when he finally turned pro, and whipped Jimmy Young in his 2nd pro fight.
A few fights into his unbeaten career, he suffered a broken jaw and eye injury that ended his pro career early.
Clay was several years older than Jerry Quarry, but Jerry had already fought for the heavyweight title before Clay turned pro. In Los Angeles, Clay was known as a "career amateur".
I wouldn't meet Clay until 1984, when we met on a film set. I was the LD on RIPTIDE, an Clay was an occasional background player.
He and I would start a nice friendship and I still have a photo somewhere that was taken on the RIPTIDe set of Clay holding my baby daughter, Kimberly, 27 years ago.
Clay was happily married to an Orange County real estate broker, "Roxy", and occasionally would have small parts in films.
He played Jess Willard in the Jack Dempsey TV movie that starred Treat Williams. You'll see him as one of the SWAT team members in the Jane Fonda-Jack Lemmon movie "The China Syndrome" from the 70's.

That's all I know about Clay Hodges. Except, he'd be having a field day with today's heavyweights.

[raylawpc]

Rick, Sounds like Hodges was a good fighter, whipping Foreman twice and dropping Quarry, Quarry had a great chin, i remember Joe Frazier hitting Quarry with a teriffic left hook in there second fight, Joe Louis was the referee, the punch could have knocked down a building, but Jerry stayed on his feet. Thanks for the info.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Memory of Clay Hodges . . .

Clay was one of the best amateur heavyweights of the mid-1960's. He was tall, 6'4", white heavyweight, well over 200 pounds. He was trained and later managed by Jerry Moore & Henry Blouin.
He was a stand-up, stiff punching boxer who made good use of a great left jab, great offensive a defensive skills.
The report is that he lost a very close one to Joe Frazier in the '64 Olympic trials, which were held at the Singer Bowl of the New York World's Fair.
The following year he floors Jerry twice in the '65 L.A. Golden Gloves tourney, but loses the decision.
Quarry went on to KO five consecutive opponents in the Nationals (a record) and won the Nat'l title that year.
Two years later, in 1967, Hodges would travel to the GG Nationals representing Los Angeles, and along with welterweight Thurman Durden, and middleweight Paul Bad Horse, would win a National Golden Gloves championship. The following year was 1968, and most believed Clay would be an Olympic favorite.
Shortly before the trials, Clay whipped George Foreman twice, once in late 1967, and again early '68. An injury prevented Hodges from entering the trials.
He was pushing 30 when he finally turned pro, and whipped Jimmy Young in his 2nd pro fight.
A few fights into his unbeaten career, he suffered a broken jaw and eye injury that ended his pro career early.
In Los Angeles during the mid-60's, Clay was older than Jerry Quarry, but Jerry had already fought for the heavyweight title before Clay turned pro.
In Los Angeles, Clay was known as a "career amateur". I wouldn't meet Clay until 1984, when we met on a film set. I was the LD on RIPTIDE, an Clay was an occasional background player.
He and I would start a nice friendship and I still have a photo somewhere that was taken on the RIPTIDe set of Clay holding my baby daughter, Kimberly, 27 years ago.
Clay was happily married to an Orange County real estate broker, "Roxy", and occasionally would have small parts in films.
He played Jess Willard in the Jack Dempsey TV movie that starred Treat Williams. You'll see him as one of the SWAT team members in "The China Syndrome" from way back a few years.

That's about all I can say about Clay Hodges. Except, he'd be having a field day with today's heavyweights.

Frazier TKOed Hodges in two rounds at the Olympic trials the day before Joe lost to Buster Mathis. He dropped Hodges with a two punch combination late in the round and the referee stopped it a few seconds later. That's according to an AP account I have in my files.

[Rick Farris]

Rick, Sounds like Hodges was a good fighter, whipping Foreman twice and dropping Quarry, Quarry had a great chin, i remember Joe Frazier hitting Quarry with a teriffic left hook in there second fight, Joe Louis was the referee, the punch could have knocked down a building, but Jerry stayed on his feet. Thanks for the info.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Memory of Clay Hodges . . .

Clay was one of the best amateur heavyweights of the mid-1960's. He was tall, 6'4", white heavyweight, well over 200 pounds. He was trained and later managed by Jerry Moore & Henry Blouin.
He was a stand-up, stiff punching boxer who made good use of a great left jab, great offensive a defensive skills.
The report is that he lost a very close one to Joe Frazier in the '64 Olympic trials, which were held at the Singer Bowl of the New York World's Fair.
The following year he floors Jerry twice in the '65 L.A. Golden Gloves tourney, but loses the decision.
Quarry went on to KO five consecutive opponents in the Nationals (a record) and won the Nat'l title that year.
Two years later, in 1967, Hodges would travel to the GG Nationals representing Los Angeles, and along with welterweight Thurman Durden, and middleweight Paul Bad Horse, would win a National Golden Gloves championship. The following year was 1968, and most believed Clay would be an Olympic favorite.
Shortly before the trials, Clay whipped George Foreman twice, once in late 1967, and again early '68. An injury prevented Hodges from entering the trials.
He was pushing 30 when he finally turned pro, and whipped Jimmy Young in his 2nd pro fight.
A few fights into his unbeaten career, he suffered a broken jaw and eye injury that ended his pro career early.
In Los Angeles during the mid-60's, Clay was older than Jerry Quarry, but Jerry had already fought for the heavyweight title before Clay turned pro.
In Los Angeles, Clay was known as a "career amateur". I wouldn't meet Clay until 1984, when we met on a film set. I was the LD on RIPTIDE, an Clay was an occasional background player.
He and I would start a nice friendship and I still have a photo somewhere that was taken on the RIPTIDe set of Clay holding my baby daughter, Kimberly, 27 years ago.
Clay was happily married to an Orange County real estate broker, "Roxy", and occasionally would have small parts in films.
He played Jess Willard in the Jack Dempsey TV movie that starred Treat Williams. You'll see him as one of the SWAT team members in "The China Syndrome" from way back a few years.

That's about all I can say about Clay Hodges. Except, he'd be having a field day with today's heavyweights.

Frazier TKOed Hodges in two rounds at the Olympic trials the day before Joe lost to Buster Mathis. He dropped Hodges with a two punch combination late in the round and the referee stopped it a few seconds later. That's according to an AP account I have in my files.

Thanks for the update, Tom. What else can you tell us about Clay Hodges?
I remember seeing Hodges fight Eddie Land at the Valley Garden Arena in late 1964.
What does the AP have to say about that one?

[kikibalt]

Man, I hate it when the page goes out of whack....

[raylawpc]

Rick, Sounds like Hodges was a good fighter, whipping Foreman twice and dropping Quarry, Quarry had a great chin, i remember Joe Frazier hitting Quarry with a teriffic left hook in there second fight, Joe Louis was the referee, the punch could have knocked down a building, but Jerry stayed on his feet. Thanks for the info.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Memory of Clay Hodges . . .

Clay was one of the best amateur heavyweights of the mid-1960's. He was tall, 6'4", white heavyweight, well over 200 pounds. He was trained and later managed by Jerry Moore & Henry Blouin.
He was a stand-up, stiff punching boxer who made good use of a great left jab, great offensive a defensive skills.
The report is that he lost a very close one to Joe Frazier in the '64 Olympic trials, which were held at the Singer Bowl of the New York World's Fair.
The following year he floors Jerry twice in the '65 L.A. Golden Gloves tourney, but loses the decision.
Quarry went on to KO five consecutive opponents in the Nationals (a record) and won the Nat'l title that year.
Two years later, in 1967, Hodges would travel to the GG Nationals representing Los Angeles, and along with welterweight Thurman Durden, and middleweight Paul Bad Horse, would win a National Golden Gloves championship. The following year was 1968, and most believed Clay would be an Olympic favorite.
Shortly before the trials, Clay whipped George Foreman twice, once in late 1967, and again early '68. An injury prevented Hodges from entering the trials.
He was pushing 30 when he finally turned pro, and whipped Jimmy Young in his 2nd pro fight.
A few fights into his unbeaten career, he suffered a broken jaw and eye injury that ended his pro career early.
In Los Angeles during the mid-60's, Clay was older than Jerry Quarry, but Jerry had already fought for the heavyweight title before Clay turned pro.
In Los Angeles, Clay was known as a "career amateur". I wouldn't meet Clay until 1984, when we met on a film set. I was the LD on RIPTIDE, an Clay was an occasional background player.
He and I would start a nice friendship and I still have a photo somewhere that was taken on the RIPTIDe set of Clay holding my baby daughter, Kimberly, 27 years ago.
Clay was happily married to an Orange County real estate broker, "Roxy", and occasionally would have small parts in films.
He played Jess Willard in the Jack Dempsey TV movie that starred Treat Williams. You'll see him as one of the SWAT team members in "The China Syndrome" from way back a few years.

That's about all I can say about Clay Hodges. Except, he'd be having a field day with today's heavyweights.

Frazier TKOed Hodges in two rounds at the Olympic trials the day before Joe lost to Buster Mathis. He dropped Hodges with a two punch combination late in the round and the referee stopped it a few seconds later. That's according to an AP account I have in my files.

Thanks for the update, Tom. What else can you tell us about Clay Hodges? Maybe you can pick up where I left off?

Not me. I only knew about the specifics of the Frazier fight because I like Frazier and looked up some clippings from the internet about his Olympic career a couple of months ago. I can tell you that, in his first two fights in the Olympic trials, Joe looked very impressive and was the favorite going into the finals against Buster Mathis. Joe beat Hodges and somebody named Wyce Westbrook. He beat both in two rounds and apparently looked at his destructive best in both fights. The Hodges win was a TKO and Westbrook couldn't beat the count after being knocked through the ropes.

[Rick Farris]

Time for a vacation . . .

[raylawpc]

Time for a vacation . . .

Maybe not for you but it sure is for me . . .

[Rick Farris]

Time for a vacation . . .

Maybe not for you but it sure is for me . . .

[Cholo]

Frank, I found this piece from The Ring May 1946, Enrique Bolanos.
A capacity crowd of 10,400 fans (about 6000 were turned away) saw Enrique Bolanos make the best fight of his career in winning over Chalky Wright at the Los Angeles Olympic. The classy Mexican was faster, sharper, and more aggressive then he was in there first scrap which he lost while the aging Wright seemed slower and did little leading. Could it be that at last Father Time has caught up with Chalky? Could be!
Bolanos was an elusive target and his left hand was as busy as the hind leg of a flea-infested pup, which might have accounted for Wright being as motionless as a artist's model most of the time. Chalky put on spurts occasionally and really made hay with his two fisted attacks, but they were too seldom. He rocked Enrique in the 5th and 7th but the Mexican Adonis shook off the effects and was soon pumping that piston left into the "ole man's" features again.
Knowing that his only chance of victory was to take his foe for keeps, Chalky steamed up in the final two rounds, but he lacked both the speed and stamina to turn the trick. Enrique was as fast and elusive in the 9th and 10th as he had been in the early rounds, and copped the final two heats. Bolanos, weighing 134 was credited with 7 of the rounds. Wright weighed 133..

[Cholo]

From The Ring April 1953, Aragon/Graham,
PROMOTER CAL EATON and Babe McCoy gave Los Angeles boxing fans another big attraction and Art Aragon another opportunity to become a title contender, but neither of the doors opened by the promoters were large enough. More then 2,000 fans couldn't get in the front door to witness the contest and Aragon couldn't squeeze through the side door for a proposed bout with Gavilan. It was a fast, exciting and closely-contested fight, and although some of the local scribes tabbed Aragon the winner, the decision to Graham was a just one The proof of it is that three of our best officals agreed on the winner of each and every round. And too, the large pro-Aragon crowd made no protest of the verdict.
Aragon looked like a sure winner in the early rounds as he was able to tag Graham easily, and as a rule, anyone that Art can hit squarely is doomed. But what a toughie this Irishman is! Aragon nailed Graham many times with terrific punches in the early heats, but if Billy was hurt by the blows, he was the only one in the arena who knew it. For, he neither staggered, sagged or faltered, but kept right on walking in as though he hadn't been hit.
Aragon mixed up his punches nicely in these early rounds, but used up a lot of power in trying to score a knockout and he had lost this fine form, along with speed and vigor by the end of the fourth round.
Graham took over in the fifth, getting in close and raking Art over with short uppercuts and hooks, Aragon, had no defense against Graham's short damaging blows and Art's handsome features were swollen, bloody mess at the finish.
In the late seconds of the seventh round it appeared that the Golden Boy might still put over the blows that would make him a winner, as he rocked Graham with a left hook and shook him up with driving rights to the jaw. But he didn't have that heavy artillery when he came out in the eighth and Graham came on stronger then ever to cop the final three rounds. Graham weighed 147, Aragon, 145. A crowd of 10,500 grossed $47,964, which netted each fighter about $11,500..

[CNorkusJr]

Billy Graham went on to become a liquor salesman here on Long Island and parts of NYC along with my father after his career ended. Billy lived about 30 mins. away out in suffolk County,Long Island. Billy had a brother, Jackie Graham, who became a Deputy Commissioner for many years in the New York State Athletic Comm. (after Billy's career was over I'm sure).
Jackie was in office while Floyd Patterson & Jose Torres and others held the top spot and I would see both Jackie & Billy at the fights often that my father reffed. Billy became a ref for awhile,then went on to be a judge as he got older.
Billy talked like he always had a lot of fight left in him during these times.
Where my father mellowed out over time,Billy talked tough,maybe it was a show, but he gave you that impression.
Billy was one of my fathers best friends during their boxing careers and after,and made movies together (Splendor in the Grass) and such.
My father and I did not talk much about Billy's career other than the fact that my father thought that he got robbed of the title with Galivan.
My father had alot of respect for Billy and that I can tell he thought highly of him of his boxing career.

[Cholo]

Billy Graham went on to become a liquor salesman here on Long Island and parts of NYC along with my father after his career ended. Billy lived about 30 mins. away out in suffolk County,Long Island. Billy had a brother, Jackie Graham, who became a Deputy Commissioner for many years in the New York State Athletic Comm. (after Billy's career was over I'm sure).
Jackie was in office while Floyd Patterson & Jose Torres and others held the top spot and I would see both Jackie & Billy at the fights often that my father reffed. Billy became a ref for awhile,then went on to be a judge as he got older.
Billy talked like he always had a lot of fight left in him during these times.
Where my father mellowed out over time,Billy talked tough,maybe it was a show, but he gave you that impression.
Billy was one of my fathers best friends during their boxing careers and after,and made movies together (Splendor in the Grass) and such.
My father and I did not talk much about Billy's career other than the fact that my father thought that he got robbed of the title with Galivan.
My father had alot of respect for Billy and that I can tell he thought highly of him of his boxing career.

Charlie, Thanks for the info on Billy Graham and your father, i have the Gavilan fight on dvd, yes Billy was robbed..

[Cholo]

Frank, Do you remember this, GOLDEN GUEST--Art Aragon, the "Golden Boy" of boxing, turns thinker for the quiz he'll have to tangle with when he appears as a special guest on NBC-TV'S "YOU BET YOUR LIFE" show THURSDAY, OCT. 25 (NBC-TV 8 p.m. PST, 8 p.m. CST). In the opposite corner to take on the colorful welterweight will be Groucho Marx, the heavyweight champion of television's quizmasters.
I bet Rick knows were these shows were filmed, by the way this was in 1956, long time ago..

[kikibalt]

Frank, Do you remember this, GOLDEN GUEST--Art Aragon, the "Golden Boy" of boxing, turns thinker for the quiz he'll have to tangle with when he appears as a special guest on NBC-TV'S "YOU BET YOUR LIFE" show THURSDAY, OCT. 25 (NBC-TV 8 p.m. PST, 8 p.m. CST). In the opposite corner to take on the colorful welterweight will be Groucho Marx, the heavyweight champion of television's quizmasters.
I bet Rick knows were these shows were filmed, by the way this was in 1956, long time ago..

No, I don't Paul....Art was in lots of TV shows back in the '50's, he was a big star back then.....

[Randyman]

Some how, some way, somebody got my credit card number and has been living the good life in Southern California and New York, shopping at Walmart, eating at fine restaurants, staying in hotels and paying for a new cell phone, all on my tab. Usually I don't mind giving somebody a hand but it's always nicer to have a say in it.

I spent some time at my bank yesterday going through my account, sorting the real purchases from the fraudulent. very frustrating. There will be an investigation before any money is put back into my account (it was a debit/credit card account).

I'm hoping it ends here. I would hate to be the victim of identity theft.

[Randyman]

On the positive side, today I ran a full two miles, non stop, under 30 minutes. Not a major feat in itself but it has been years since I have done it. I still breath through my nose when I run and I still keep my chin down. The fat around my belly is beginning to disappear. My abs, which have been hidden under a thick layer of carnitas are making a comeback of a sorts. My neck and lower back, which have been giving me problems for years are feeling much better now.

I recently bought a Valeo 40 pound weighted vest and have been walking with it. I've been fluctuating between 199 and 201, so with this vest I'm at about 240, which is what I was weighing a couple of years ago. No wonder I was feeling like crap.

[Randyman]

Tonight, Jeri and I are taking our daughter Lori and our son in law Tom to the Summit House in Fullerton for his birthday. It sits atop a hill overlooking the city. A beautiful view. It's patterned after the old English Inns, though I can't say how authentic it is. Regardless, I'm looking forward to a good time tonight.

http://www.summithouse.com/