Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Randyman]

We recently surpassed 37,000 posts.

[raylawpc]

Uncle Tom McCarey died in 1936, so he must've not lived that long after the photo was taken.
His son, Leo McCarey, was going great guns as a movie director at the time.

- Chuck Johnston

You guys can make fun of his creepy stare all you want, but Uncle Tom McCarey is somebody Rick and Frank should make sure gets into the CBHOF. He was the first great boxing promoter in LA. http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Tom_McCarey

Among the greats that Uncle Tom brought to LA were Jack Johnson, Kid McCoy, Joe Walcott, Dixie Kid, Sam McVey, Solly Smith, Frankie Neil, Denver Ed Martin, Hank Griffin, Frank Childs, Al Neill, Joe Bernstein, and Billy Woods. Jack Johnson fought for him at least eight times. He had a reputation of being one of the first promoters who treated black fighters in a fair manner.

Yeah, he needs to be in the CBHOF. Wonder if he has any relatives?

There are a number of real old timers like McCarey who need to to be the CBHOF. I'd be glad to come up with a list if you are interested.

As far as McCarey's relatives, two of his descendants (sons I think) were in your industry. If I recall correctly, one of his sons was a academy award winning director. You could probably find out through your contacts in the industry if any of his descendants are still with us.

N.B.: His sons were Leo and Raymond.

[Rick Farris]

You guys can make fun of his creepy stare all you want, but Uncle Tom McCarey is somebody Rick and Frank should make sure gets into the CBHOF. He was the first great boxing promoter in LA. http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Tom_McCarey

Among the greats that Uncle Tom brought to LA were Jack Johnson, Kid McCoy, Joe Walcott, Dixie Kid, Sam McVey, Solly Smith, Frankie Neil, Denver Ed Martin, Hank Griffin, Frank Childs, Al Neill, Joe Bernstein, and Billy Woods. Jack Johnson fought for him at least eight times. He had a reputation of being one of the first promoters who treated black fighters in a fair manner.

Yeah, he needs to be in the CBHOF. Wonder if he has any relatives?

There are a number of real old timers like McCarey who need to to be the CBHOF. I'd be glad to come up with a list if you are interested.

As far as McCarey's relatives, two of his descendants (sons I think) were in your industry. If I recall correctly, one of his sons was a academy award winning director. You could probably find out through your contacts in the industry if any of his descendants are still with us.

N.B.: His sons were Leo and Raymond.

Tom, we are aware that there are many deserving boxing personalities that have not yet been inducted.
Your suggestions are always respected and considered. I think you know I will follow-up on anything that fits in with Don's agenda. We can only induct a certain number each year, and give priority to those who are still alive, and have families who can also share in the honor. Your timing was perfect a few years ago when you pointed out the absence of George Dixon, Ad Wolgast & Barbados Joe Walcott to the World Boxing HOF honor roll. As a result, today those names grace the WBHOF honor roll.

[kikibalt]

As I was getting up early this morning I tripped over my laptop's cable and I felled head over heels and landed on my back, at the time Connie was in the shower and there was nobody else home but the dogs. Chata, our English Bulldog walked up to me as I'm laying on the floor, put her nose to mind and I can see she thinking "pendejo". By the time Connie got out of the shower I was sitting on the bed, I said, "babe I felled down", Connie: "pendejo"....I said "I thought you loved me", Connie : "I do, but I don't like you"...go figure....

[Rick Farris]

As I was getting up early this morning I tripped over my laptop's cable and I felled head over heels and landed on my back, at the time Connie was in the shower and there was nobody else home but the dogs. Chata, our English Bulldog walked up to me as I'm laying on the floor, put her nose to mind and I can see she thinking "pendejo". By the time Connie got out of the shower I was sitting on the bed, I said, "babe I felled down", Connie: "pendejo"....I said "I thought you loved me", Connie : "I do, but I don't like you"...go figu re....

Oh the perils of a kept man.

[kikibalt]

As I was getting up early this morning I tripped over my laptop's cable and I felled head over heels and landed on my back, at the time Connie was in the shower and there was nobody else home but the dogs. Chata, our English Bulldog walked up to me as I'm laying on the floor, put her nose to mind and I can see she thinking "pendejo". By the time Connie got out of the shower I was sitting on the bed, I said, "babe I felled down", Connie: "pendejo"....I said "I thought you loved me", Connie : "I do, but I don't like you"...go figu re....

Oh the perils of a kept man.

Because they're keeping you they think they can step all over you....

[kikibalt]

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Al Monteverde / Los Angeles Times

Funeral for a Hollywood legend: The death of Marilyn Monroe
August 8, 2011

Aug. 8, 1962: Days after actress Marilyn Monroe’s death at 36, family and close friends held an intimate funeral with only 31 mourners, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The actress died of an apparent sleeping pill overdose in her Brentwood home on Aug. 5, 1962. Monroe had a meteoric rise to stardom, particularly in the 1950s with her roles in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “The Seven-Year Itch” and “Some Like it Hot.”

But the star was as famous as she was notorious. Married and divorced three times, Monroe’s troubled private life was often thrust into the public eye. In 1954, she had a short marriage to New York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio.

DiMaggio was among the attendees at Monroe’s funeral, wrote Times writer Frank Laro, though Monroe’s first and second husbands, Jim Doherty and playwright Arthur Miller, did not show.

“I love you, I love you,” DiMaggio said over Monroe’s casket. In the years after Monroe’s death, the Times reported, DiMaggio sent a bouquet of roses to Monroe’s crypt three times a week.

[raylawpc]

As I was getting up early this morning I tripped over my laptop's cable and I felled head over heels and landed on my back, at the time Connie was in the shower and there was nobody else home but the dogs. Chata, our English Bulldog walked up to me as I'm laying on the floor, put her nose to mind and I can see she thinking "pendejo". By the time Connie got out of the shower I was sitting on the bed, I said, "babe I felled down", Connie: "pendejo"....I said "I thought you loved me", Connie : "I do, but I don't like you"...go figu re....

Oh the perils of a kept man.

Because they're keeping you they think they can step all over you....

They can if you keep falling down!

[kikibalt]

Oh the perils of a kept man.

Because they're keeping you they think they can step all over you....

They can if you keep falling down!

Touche!!...

[Rick Farris]

d

[Ric]

CBHOF thoughts . . .

One is Tom Kennedy. Kennedy, a former heavyweight boxer, played a big role in California Boxing history and was the first promoter at the Hollywood Legion Stadium. He was also one of the original "Keystone Kops" and a well known charactor actor right up until his death. I've learned a lot of Kennedy from our pal Hap Navarro, as well as my long time friend John Kennedy, Tom's grandson, who has worked with me in the film industry for more than thirty years. When I mentioned his name to Don Fraser, Don was surprised I knew of him. Although we have yet to begin selecting inductees for next year, Kennedy is at the top of the Posthumous catagory at the moment. He has a number of family members still involved in the film world, as well as boxing friends from days gone by, such as Eddie Foy III, who will attend the banquet and proudly honor Kennedy, who passed in 1965. Another possibility is Wille Meehan. Meehan whipped Dempsey twice, as well as Sam Langford and others. He was a California guy who also worked in the film industry, one of the earliest members of I.A.T.S.E. Local 728, of which I have been a member for 35 years. Meehan has an amazing past in & out of the ring, and my Union is interested in sponsoring a table in his honor should we decide to induct him? In the living catagory, former Canadian heavyweight boxer Burke Emory, who trained Art Hafey, has been promised induction (trainer catagory) and will bring a group from San Diego to celebrate. Of course, nothing is official yet. Frank is the head of the Selection Committee and we'll meet in due course to discuss next years inductees.

-Rick Farris

Have Fidel LaBarba, George Blake or Jack Doyle been inducted? I don't see their names on this CBHOF inductee list.

[Rick Farris]

CBHOF thoughts . . .

One is Tom Kennedy. Kennedy, a former heavyweight boxer, played a big role in California Boxing history and was the first promoter at the Hollywood Legion Stadium. He was also one of the original "Keystone Kops" and a well known charactor actor right up until his death. I've learned a lot of Kennedy from our pal Hap Navarro, as well as my long time friend John Kennedy, Tom's grandson, who has worked with me in the film industry for more than thirty years. When I mentioned his name to Don Fraser, Don was surprised I knew of him. Although we have yet to begin selecting inductees for next year, Kennedy is at the top of the Posthumous catagory at the moment. He has a number of family members still involved in the film world, as well as boxing friends from days gone by, such as Eddie Foy III, who will attend the banquet and proudly honor Kennedy, who passed in 1965. Another possibility is Wille Meehan. Meehan whipped Dempsey twice, as well as Sam Langford and others. He was a California guy who also worked in the film industry, one of the earliest members of I.A.T.S.E. Local 728, of which I have been a member for 35 years. Meehan has an amazing past in & out of the ring, and my Union is interested in sponsoring a table in his honor should we decide to induct him? In the living catagory, former Canadian heavyweight boxer Burke Emory, who trained Art Hafey, has been promised induction (trainer catagory) and will bring a group from San Diego to celebrate. Of course, nothing is official yet. Frank is the head of the Selection Committee and we'll meet in due course to discuss next years inductees.

-Rick Farris

Have Fidel LaBarba, George Blake or Jack Doyle been inducted? I don't see their names on this CBHOF inductee list.

Ric . . . Not yet in, and all three need to be. Especially La Barba, who's name came to mind a few months back.
By the way, don't trust the list provided on the CBHOF's website. It has not been maintained and is need of an overhaul with regard to the "honor roll". An accurate list can be found in the event's annual program.

[Rick Farris]

CBHOF thoughts for 2012 . . .

One is Tom Kennedy. Kennedy, a former heavyweight boxer, played a big role in California Boxing history and was the first promoter at the Hollywood Legion Stadium. He was also one of the original "Keystone Kops" and a well known charactor actor right up until his death. I've learned a lot of Kennedy from our pal Hap Navarro, as well as my long time friend John Kennedy, Tom's grandson, who has worked with me in the film industry for more than thirty years. When I mentioned his name to Don Fraser, Don was surprised I knew of him. Although we have yet to begin selecting inductees for next year, Kennedy is at the top of the Posthumous catagory at the moment. He has a number of family members still involved in the film world, as well as boxing friends from days gone by, such as Eddie Foy III, who will attend the banquet and proudly honor Kennedy, who passed in 1965.

Also on deck for induction is Charley Norkus. A top ten heavyweight who fought & defeated California's best in the Golden State. Charley is no stranger to this thread, and he's no stranger to California boxing history. Norkus still has a strong fan base on the East Coast, and family will make the trip to be a part of the honor.

Another possibility is Wille Meehan. Meehan whipped Dempsey twice, as well as Sam Langford and others. He was a California guy who also worked in the film industry, one of the earliest members of I.A.T.S.E. Local 728, of which I have been a member for 35 years. Meehan has an amazing past in & out of the ring, and my Union is interested in sponsoring a table in his honor should we decide to induct him? In the living catagory, former Canadian heavyweight boxer Burke Emory, who trained Art Hafey, has been promised induction (trainer catagory) and will bring a group from San Diego to celebrate. Of course, nothing is official yet. Frank is the head of the Selection Committee and we'll meet in due course to discuss next years inductees.

Until the Selection Committee meets, nothing is official, but these names are first up on my list regarding posthumous (save Emory).

-Rick Farris

[Rick Farris]

Jack Doyle (Promoter) . . .


Jack Doyle was the second great boxing promoter in the Los Angeles, California area--after Uncle Tom McCarey. According to the January 30, 1944 Tacoma News-Tribune newspaper (Tacoma, WA, USA), Doyle had been a railroad fireman when he opened a boxing training camp at Arcadia, CA, in 1908. He later moved the training camp to Vernon, CA, where he also opened a famous and highly successful bar.

To entertain his customers at his bar during the early 1910s, Doyle started promoting four-round boxing cards. By the middle 1910s, regular weekly boxing cards were being staged by Doyle with the assistance of his matchmaker, Wad Wadhams. Many of these cards were staged in a small building called the Vernon Arena (not to be confused with Tom McCarey's famous outdoor arena of the same name).

When the voters in California cast their ballots in favor of an amendment limiting bouts to a maximum of four rounds, and the value of a prize to a maximum of $25.00 for a boxer, in the November 1914 election, the first important professional boxing promoter -- Tom McCarey -- ceased to stage boxing cards. As a result, Doyle would assume the mantle as the most important promoter in the Los Angeles area.

In late 1923 he built a new 7,000 capacity arena about 90 feet from his old one. In 1925, the Olympic Auditorium was built, which cut into Doyle's promotions. It was early 1927 when Doyle signed a lease to be the promoter at the Olympic. The owners killed two birds with one stone by leasing to Doyle. Doyle was a proven promoter and he shut down his fairly new Vernon Arena in early 1927.

Doyle staged the first two $100,000 gates in California boxing history. The first featured George Godfrey vs. Paulino Uzcudun, and the second featured the second bout between Mickey Walker and Ace Hudkins. In 1929, his boxing promotions took in $695,000 in gate receipts.

But the Great Depression would have an adverse effect on the boxing promotions at the Olympic Auditorium. In 1933, Doyle was staging cards irregularly because they weren't drawing well. After staging the World Welterweight Title bout between Young Corbett III and Jimmy McLarnin that drew a gate of around $39,000 with a reported loss of $20,000, Doyle and his longtime matchmaker, Wad Wadhams, ceased to put on boxing cards at the Olympic Auditorium.

During the time he was promoting boxing cards and afterwards, Doyle had other business interests. He bought the Signal Hill Lot, struck oil, became wealthy, and developed other oil fields. He died in Santa Monica, CA, aged 66 years, on January 30, 1944, leaving behind his widow Cecilia.

[Rick Farris]

Fidel LaBarba


(September 29, 1905 – October 3, 1981) was a United States boxer and sportswriter. He was born in New York City, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. As a boy he sold newspapers and learned to fight on street corners. LaBarba was discovered at age 14 by manager George Blake who embarked him on an amateur career. As an amateur he won the flyweight division at the national Amateur Athletic Union tournament in Boston and he qualified for the United States Olympic team.

LaBarba began boxing around age 12 or 13 in little amateur cards held weekly at places such as the Elks Club, which were promoted by Carlo Curtiss, who had been one of World Heavyweight Champion Jess Willard's managers. "Sometimes we would have nude women at these events," he said. The first known mention of “Young Fidel" is September 18, 1920, by the Los Angeles Times, announcing a boxing/wrestling show at the Italian picnic the next day at Selig Zoo. Eventually, Central Junior High School boxing instructor Bob Howard saw his potential. According to an interview published January 28, 1927 in some United States newspapers, LaBarba mentioned that he defeated a boy named Dave Mariney (a.k.a. Marini) for the high school championship. Based upon this win, his friends suggested he join the amateurs, which he did. By this, he likely meant he joined the A.A.U. Fidel found it ironic that his first “official" amateur opponent was none other than Dave Mariney. This was at a semi-monthly boxing show sponsored by the Los Angeles Athletic Club (L.A.A.C). “It looked like a crime to match the two," reported the Los Angeles Times November 4, 1920. LaBarba was about four feet tall, and his opponent a foot and a half taller. “But LaBarba soon showed he knew how to take care of himself."

George Blake reportedly was the referee at that fight. He and Charles Keppen ran these L.A.A.C. shows. Blake had come to Los Angeles from Chicago in 1904. He had been a United States Army boxing instructor during World War I. By the early 1920s, Blake was a well-known referee for boxing venues such as Jack Doyle's Vernon Arena, and would become the regular referee at the soon-to-be-built Hollywood Legion Stadium. He was much-respected and known as a man of impeccable character. Blake took an interest in the young and talented Fidel LaBarba, and asked Bob Howard to have him come down to the club. " I was asked four or five times, but was embarrassed to go," LaBarba explained. He owned only one pair of torn tennis shoes. He finally mustered the fortitude to go see Blake; thus started a very long relationship. LaBarba continued to have many amateur bouts. "We would receive a gift worth $35.00," he noted. “Later, they would give us a gift certificate to buy clothes at places like the Broadway, or Sears."

Meanwhile, LaBarba attended Central Jr. High School, and then Lincoln High School--both in Los Angeles. He enjoyed playing basketball, baseball, and especially football. He was the quarterback for the “lightweight" (midget) football team. While in high school, he sometimes worked nights until midnight, racking pins at a bowling alley, then sleeping on a cot in back of the building. In the morning he would grab a bite to eat at the local restaurant, then head off to school about a mile away.

By 1924, LaBarba had lost only one bout after some 30-plus recorded contests. George Blake took eight of his L.A.A.C. boxers to Boston June 1924 for the Olympic trials, and LaBarba qualified. LaBarba won the gold medal in the flyweight division at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. After the Games, Blake arranged an amateur card at Doyle’s Vernon Arena with all the American Olympic fighters, at which LaBarba finished out his amateur career.

Although still in high school, LaBarba turned professional that same year.

On August 22, 1925, LaBarba defeated Frankie Genaro in a convincing 10 round decision to win the American Flyweight title. In 1927, he won the world flyweight championship from Elky Clark. La Barba dominated the fight, knocked Clark down five times and won all twelve rounds.

Seven months later, LaBarba retired to enter Stanford University. Less than a year later, however, he returned to the ring as a featherweight. He won his first five fights, and in 1931 split two decisions with Kid Chocolate. On May 22, 1931, he was given an opportunity to win the world featherweight title, but was out pointed by Battling Battalino.

LaBarba’s career was prematurely curtailed when he suffered a detached retina in training for a fight against Kid Chocolate for the New York featherweight title. On December 9, 1932, LaBarba not only lost the fight in a close decision, but went blind in his eye. After the fight, he underwent surgery to repair the tear, but it was unsuccessful and he eventually had to have the eye removed.

In 1933, he was forced to retire, and returned to Stanford, where he earned a degree in journalism. After graduating from Stanford he worked as a sportswriter, and later worked in public relations, as a screenwriter, and as a technical advisor in Hollywood for boxing movies.

Fidel LaBarba died in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.

[kikibalt]

Path to Pacquiao-Mayweather fight gets curiouser and curiouser

The big bout has been put off for several reasons, but it's twists in Pacquiao's defamation lawsuit against Mayweather over drug-use allegations that show there's still a bumpy road ahead.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao

It has been a couple of years since the matchup between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. became obvious and compelling. Now, with the passage of time, fans are beginning to see Pacquiao-Mayweather like a racing greyhound sees the mechanical rabbit. It's frustratingly elusive. It's out there, but they can't quite catch it.

Pacquiao is the most recent reincarnation of Rocky Marciano or Joe Louis. In his last half-dozen fights, opponents have come, puffed up their chests, talked trash and left battered and bagged. Boxing calls him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He is its biggest attraction, biggest name, biggest everything.

Beyond boxing, he is also bit of a pied piper. He was elected to the Philippine Congress in May of 2010, and, for all appearances, has made good on many of his election promises to help the poor and needy. Just last week, he used his role as a spokesman for Hewlett-Packard to get a donation of 2,000 computers to the schools of his district in the southern Philippine province of Sarangani.

If Mayweather Jr. has similar saintly tendencies, they aren't as apparent. That is, unless the poor and needy of his hometown of Las Vegas get their charitable contributions at casino nightclubs.

Still, his 41-0 record in the ring speaks to boxing fans, who can find a way to ignore arrogance and quarterly run-ins with police and security guards as long as his fists and feet are still fast. This is, after all, boxing, not a Sunday bake sale.

The big fight has been put off for several reasons, and certainly several more that only promoters Bob Arum (Pacquiao) and Al Haymon (Mayweather) know. There were Mayweather's various pending court cases, then his accusations of Pacquiao's use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as Pacquiao's refusal to have blood tests close to a fight. There certainly were disputes over the split of the purse. Pacquiao is the big dog in the sport, but Mayweather still barks at his own stature.

Now, according to Arum, all of that has been cleared up. Each has a fight scheduled — Mayweather versus Victor Ortiz in September and Pacquiao versus Juan Manuel Marquez in November.

After that, will the curtains part in the spring and the two meet in the ring?

"There are no kinds of impediments now," Arum says.

Maybe not, but there is an interesting twist remaining.

When Mayweather and his camp started publicly accusing Pacquiao of being a drug user, of enhancing his performance and size with illegal substances, Pacquiao sued for defamation. Attorney Daniel Petrocelli of the Los Angeles firm of O'Melveny & Myers filed that suit Dec. 30, 2009. Since then, there has been the normal legal to-and-fro. A hundred more trees were chopped down in Oregon so each side could dazzle the other with "heretofores" and "notwithstandings."

Then, last Wednesday, Petrocelli filed a court document that asked the U.S. District Court in Nevada to find Mayweather in default and to establish a financial settlement that would cover legal fees and the damage Pacquiao has suffered to his name and reputation. No numbers were listed in that court document, but Petrocelli says the original conversations on his side included numbers "in the eight figures."

Since there are still some trees left in Oregon, this is not likely to happen with a quick and affirmative response from the judge. But the reason for this filing is, in itself, both interesting and a commentary on the bumpy road yet ahead for this fight to ever happen.

The Pacquiao complaint, filed in federal court, says that Mayweather has ducked numerous attempts by Pacquiao and the court to get him to sit down for a deposition. Mayweather's lawyers have responded that he is too busy training for his fight against Ortiz, and/or on a promotional tour, and cannot disrupt that schedule.

Petrocelli says, in the court filing and in an interview, that Mayweather lied repeatedly about his reasons for not being deposed. Petrocelli says, in the documents and an interview, that 24 different dates for a deposition were given to Mayweather, and he refused them all, saying he was training and/or on a promotional tour. The court documents include Twitter messages from Mayweather, saying where he was partying on several dates he had turned down depositions, and has pictures of him at nightclubs in Atlanta and Miami.

In one photo, on a date he had turned down, he was in an Atlanta at a nightclub, apparently burning a $100 bill.

"It would take a minimum-wage person in that city," Petrocelli says, "about 19 hours to earn that much money."

The court papers also say, "Floyd Mayweather may be 41-0 in the boxing ring, but he is not above the law." And, "Mayweather has no regard for the discovery process, this court's orders, or the gravity of these proceedings."

Petrocelli calls Mayweather a "contumacious litigant," which is important only because it marks the first time the word "contumacious" has appeared on an American sports page. Go ahead. Google it.

So, the Pacquiao-Mayweather saga gets sappier.

Will Mayweather end up fighting Ortiz in September for zero dollars, since he will have to use his purse if the court orders he owes Pacquiao? Will he fight Pacquiao only so he can get his house out of hock? Or will this be the straw that finally breaks the back of this Pacquaio-Mayweather fight for good?

It's weird, folks. But it's boxing.

[email protected].

[Rick Farris]

Lincoln High School . . .

Just learned that Fidel LaBarba went to Lincoln High School, same as my father.

[Rick Farris]

Fidel LaBarba . . . Yeah! Good call, Ric.

I remember one thursday night during the mid-60's, when Mickey Davies interviewed a silver-haired LaBarba from ringside at the Olympic on Channel-5.
I don't recall the exact interview or what he said, but I recall he spoke with energy, intellect and class. As Did Jimmy McLarnin.
I recall meeting a few guys who had fought LaBarba, not big names, but guys that were around the gym.
He was special. He might have family in L.A. He worked here in the film world for years. Well respected.

[Cholo]

Art "Golden Boy" Aragon/Morris Leviege April. 21, 1955
Art Aragon the Golden Boy, who attracted over $9000,000 into the till of promoter Cal Eaton in his last 26 fights, returned to a California ring after an absence of ten months to score a 7-round knockout over Morris Leviege, Eureka, at the Olympic Auditorium. Aragon somewhat slow and rusty after his long lay-off, flashed his old-time form in the 7th, after being nailed by some hard punches. He flamed into action with a sharp left hook which set Leviege back on his heels, then followed up with a blistering barrage for which he is famed. Referee Lou Grossman, sensing the helplessness of Leviege, halted hostilities after 1 :25 of the 7th. Aragon weighed 146 1/2; Leviege 140.
Leviege is the lad who had Cisco Andrade on the canvas last November, up in San Jose, though Cisco won the duke. In his last appearence in Los Angeles. Aragon drew a gate of $130, 000 with Vince Martinez at Hollywood Ball Park, to establish a California record for a non-title fight. Despite a driving rain, a crowd of 4,038 cash customers paid a gross $6,388 to see the rukus. As one scribe put it; "only with Aragon could this happen". This fight was not televised.

[Cholo]

$900,000 into the till of promoter Cal Eaton..

[Rick Farris]

When Boxers were expected to "Step Up". . .

If Floyd & Pac came up in L.A. when Aileen Eaton & George Parnassus controlled our big time boxing, they'd have fought long ago.
You cash in on the event while it is hot, when it's wanted. A simple injury to either boxer eliminates a nine figure revenue today.
Back in the day in L.A. there was no waiting to settle a grudge match, cross town rivalry, or whatever the interest in a competitive match.
No boys "protected" in L.A. rings back then, not like what you see today. We had guys that got better breaks, but they fought competitive opponents.
When Keeny Teran and Gil Cadilli were the hottest homegrown talents, the two ELA hot shots were matched.
When Mando Ramos and Frankie Crawford needed to fight, they did. Twice.
When Quarry and Orbillo was a hot ticket, they got it on. Winning records were put in jeopardy, not like today.
And what about Kelly Pavlik? It's time to punch his time card and dismiss him. Disgrassa!


-Rick Farris

[Cholo]

Enrique Bolanos/Manny Madrid, May. 25, 1951
A low blow landed by Manny Madrid, 138, was all that saved Enrique Bolanos, 136, from suffering his first defeat in the Hollywood Stadium ring. Madrid was penalized one point for the foul, which made their total points add up even at the end of the bout-and the contest was declared a draw. Madrid had led in 5 of the first 7 rounds, but faded in the stretch, possibly due, in part, to a psychological effect, as Bolanos moved out in front immediately after being given a rest to recuperate from the low blow. When the bout resumed in the 7th. Bolanos fought with renewed vigor, while Madrid slowed up and became wild in his punching, Enrique won the final three rounds, mostly with an effective left hook to the body. Although Bolanos is the puncher of the two, it was Madrid who came closest to scoring a knockdown, having Enrique in trouble late in the 6th.

[Rick Farris]

Enrique Bolanos/Manny Madrid, May. 25, 1951
A low blow landed by Manny Madrid, 138, was all that saved Enrique Bolanos, 136, from suffering his first defeat in the Hollywood Stadium ring. Madrid was penalized one point for the foul, which made their total points add up even at the end of the bout-and the contest was declared a draw. Madrid had led in 5 of the first 7 rounds, but faded in the stretch, possibly due, in part, to a psychological effect, as Bolanos moved out in front immediately after being given a rest to recuperate from the low blow. When the bout resumed in the 7th. Bolanos fought with renewed vigor, while Madrid slowed up and became wild in his punching, Enrique won the final three rounds, mostly with an effective left hook to the body. Although Bolanos is the puncher of the two, it was Madrid who came closest to scoring a knockdown, having Enrique in trouble late in the 6th.

Manny Madrid was managed by Don Fraser & George Latka.

[Rick Farris]

Desperate Housewives . . .

This coming 8th season, now in production, will be the last.
It was funny to visit my friends on the set yesterday at Universal.
The photographic format has changed from 35mm film to High-Definition. Film is more artistic, also more expensive.
This is one franchise that has paid for itself many times over, long into syndication.
The great thing about Housewives is that money is never a problem. The network makes so much off the show they throw money into it.
Whatever we needed, or think we might need, came on a moments notice.
If I wished to experiment with lighting an actress' face with a new LD panel light, it would be made available.
Sorry to see it go.

[Cholo]

Keeny Teran/Pappy Gault, April. 9, 1955
Keeny Teran, 113, one of the most controversial figures in California ring history, was declared the winner by TKO, in round two, over Pappy Gault, 118, former American bantam champ, at Hollywood Legion Stadium. There was a storm of protest from many ringsiders who felt that referee Tommy Hart had been over-hasty in the stoppage of hostilities. Gault had not been floored. He was staggered by a right to the chin, but seemed to be possession of all his faculties when the referee stopped it.