Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Chuck1052]

Thanks for the great information about your family, Charley. Hope that things are going well for you and your loved ones.

- Chuck Johnston

[CNorkusJr]

Thanks for the great information about your family, Charley. Hope that things are going well for you and your loved ones.

- Chuck Johnston

Rose and I are doing well Thank You and of course, I hope you are too. One of the nicest moments of the HOF event was meeting and getting a picture with you !
Also, Happy Birthday to Rick Farris today (Wednesday).

[CNorkusJr]

Respect...Not Even A Little Bit

The Mobsters who got their fingers into the world of prize fighting looked at fighters as just somebodies to make a buck on.If the guy they bet on won,everything was jake. It was never anything personal. It didn't matter if they were fond of a certain fighter(which wasn't often). It was all business.Often ,on the side, a pug would work for the Mob to shake someone down or in some cases "paint a house." Wiseguys never made a fighter a rich man yet alone school him on how to protect his earnings. A fighter like Johnny Saxton,who was the welterweight champ,would get stiffed by his manager Blinky Palermo who would go to prison in the end.

I remember when I was a kid going over to visit the Giancana family with my parents. At the time I didn't know what Sam Giancana did for a living and that my dad took orders from him. One time I recall listening to my father and Giancana and some other Outfit guys talk about fighters in the Giancana living room. Ray Robinson was considered a "dumb moolie".Robinson may have been the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time,but to those guys he was thought of as a body just to make money with. Those grease balls were even taking shots at Marciano. Oh,they thought Rocky was just swell,but I remember them making fun of his wife.When Marciano knocked out Joe Louis,it was fodder for a lot of racist jokes about Joe.

The best thing that ever happened to my father was when he got in trouble in Chicago. The Outfit had enough juice to keep him from going to prison,but it forced my father(with a big push from my mother) to come out to California. My father lost his cockiness. His views on his fellow man became more compassionate. He may have been a fish out of water out here and struggled financially,but he evolved into being less of a jerk. Looking back,all his old pals wound up getting whacked or going to jail.

It comes around to bite you in the ass eventually. If my dad was still alive,he tell you all about it.



Joe Louis

Your father found a way out, maybe by not his choice, but in the end, he was safe and out. Amen to that Roger. I for one would have loved to talk to him, but he may not want to talk to me. Many very rarely shared anything. I find it interesting, but even today, those old-time fighters I still see- never like to talk. My dad was same way.

[dagosd2000]

Respect...Not Even A Little Bit

The Mobsters who got their fingers into the world of prize fighting looked at fighters as just somebodies to make a buck on.If the guy they bet on won,everything was jake. It was never anything personal. It didn't matter if they were fond of a certain fighter(which wasn't often). It was all business.Often ,on the side, a pug would work for the Mob to shake someone down or in some cases "paint a house." Wiseguys never made a fighter a rich man yet alone school him on how to protect his earnings. A fighter like Johnny Saxton,who was the welterweight champ,would get stiffed by his manager Blinky Palermo who would go to prison in the end.

I remember when I was a kid going over to visit the Giancana family with my parents. At the time I didn't know what Sam Giancana did for a living and that my dad took orders from him. One time I recall listening to my father and Giancana and some other Outfit guys talk about fighters in the Giancana living room. Ray Robinson was considered a "dumb moolie".Robinson may have been the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time,but to those guys he was thought of as a body just to make money with. Those grease balls were even taking shots at Marciano. Oh,they thought Rocky was just swell,but I remember them making fun of his wife.When Marciano knocked out Joe Louis,it was fodder for a lot of racist jokes about Joe.

The best thing that ever happened to my father was when he got in trouble in Chicago. The Outfit had enough juice to keep him from going to prison,but it forced my father(with a big push from my mother) to come out to California. My father lost his cockiness. His views on his fellow man became more compassionate. He may have been a fish out of water out here and struggled financially,but he evolved into being less of a jerk. Looking back,all his old pals wound up getting whacked or going to jail.

It comes around to bite you in the ass eventually. If my dad was still alive,he tell you all about it.



Joe Louis

Your father found a way out, maybe by not his choice, but in the end, he was safe and out. Amen to that Roger. I for one would have loved to talk to him, but he may not want to talk to me. Many very rarely shared anything. I find it interesting, but even today, those old-time fighters I still see- never like to talk. My dad was same way.

Don't believe it Charley. My dad would have loved to meet you. Anyone with a history of New York from that era my dad would gravitate to. Only thing is,you would have had a hard time getting a word in edgewise.

[dagosd2000]

Hey Rick. A big happy birthday to you. Say hi to Monica. Rog

[El Gallo]

A simple lunch with some boxing friends . . .

Today I'll meet a few of my boxing friends for an informal lunch and chat session at Vitello's Italian Restaurant in Studio City.
World champs Gabe & Rafael Ruelas, Hall of Fame trainers/boxers Joe Goossen, Rudy Hernandez, former bantam contender Frankie Duarte, John Bray, Ricky Funez, unbeaten lightweight Juan Funez and award winning filmmaker Alan Swyer.

We'll be talking boxing!
Wish you guys could join us!

-Rick Farris

[El Gallo]

Hey Rick. A big happy birthday to you. Say hi to Monica. Rog

Thanks Rog. Monica sends her love!

[dagosd2000]

The Champion Contender(cont.)

"I don't know why these athletes just come out and say they use steroids,"said Ed.
"Canseco did,"I said,"And look what it brought him?"
"Nobody likes a snitch.
I was watching on the TV some big dude from Denmark pull a semi rig with a chain.
"Do you think this Klitschko and his group will have their way?"asked Ed.
"Hard to say. In those types of countries the people get violent when they're not content."
"You don't see much violent demonstrations here."
"If there is violence it's some lone nut who kills a slew of people for unknown reasons."
"People complain about the government,but it's mostly talk,"said Ed.
"Regardless of what people say here,the standard of living is better than most."
"And having fun is of up most importance."
The next strongman event was to see how many times a guy could press a big log above his head.
"We do have a lot of freedom here,"said Ed.
"There're complaints about stuff like the Patriot Act,but it's all wind and smoke."
"As long as people have money to come in to buy a drink,they're satisfied."
"In this country even if you don't try,the government will sponsor you to a drink,"I said laughing.
"And that means guys like you and me doing the sponsoring,"said Ed.
"They can say all they want.Having money makes you free."

[dagosd2000]

Frida Kahlo

[CNorkusJr]

A simple lunch with some boxing friends . . .

Today I'll meet a few of my boxing friends for an informal lunch and chat session at Vitello's Italian Restaurant in Studio City.
World champs Gabe & Rafael Ruelas, Hall of Fame trainers/boxers Joe Goossen, Rudy Hernandez, former bantam contender Frankie Duarte, John Bray, Ricky Funez, unbeaten lightweight Juan Funez and award winning filmmaker Alan Swyer.

We'll be talking boxing!
Wish you guys could join us!

-Rick Farris

[scartissue]

Just heard Jimmy Dupree passed away. Watched him against 'Windmill' White and Mike Quarry. Fought some excellent comp. Had Rondon down in his lone title shot before being stopped - I believe - on a cut. Wanted to do an interview with him about 2 years ago but heard he wasn't doing well then and wasn't up to it. Good tough fighter in a tough era. RIP Jimmy.

[dagosd2000]

the Big Game

When it gets down to the last days before the big game,they start running out of stories. You know the big game I'm talking about. They're going to play this one in New Jersey in a stadium that showcases a team from New York and all the media and tourists will congregate in New York and Jersey will get shit on as usual.I'm sure that fat governor who had aspirations to be the next president wanted to be in the limelight,but now that he got his big tits in a ringer he becomes more and more embarrassing.

Speaking about titties,today I'm scanning the sports news and they said it's the 10th anniversary of "nipple gate." That's when Janet Jackson flashed her booby during the half time show. Boy how time flies.Like I said they start running out of things to write about. How the second string tackle's wife makes great nachos. People can't get enough of it.

By next week it will all be over.The "experts"will tell you why one team won and how the other lost.No one will be listening because everyone already knows why.I could care less.

I also saw that Bob Arum is concerned about the undercard of the Pacman/Bradley fight. Says that it won't generate much interest. Neither does the main event. All these fighters coming out of countries that have broken away from the Soviet Union. They don't generate much interest here.In the U.S. boxing will die off unless we come up with another heavyweight champ. Right now we don't even have a worthy contender. I think of all the would be worthy contenders that are going to be playing in that big game I mentioned before.But I won't be watching it. Even if Janet Jackson would show off both her tits.

[dagosd2000]

The Smartest Man In The World

"What's the matter?You don't drink beer anymore?",asked Ed the bartender.
"I drink beer. I just don't want one now,"I said as Ed opened up a bottle of club soda and set it in front of me.
"Did you watch the Super Bowl?"he asked me as he went over to turn on the TV.
"No. I watched a couple of old movies."
"Well it wasn't much of a game."
"The bar must have done pretty good."
"Oh we had a full house.Business was booming. Too bad there isn't a Super Bowl every weekend."
As Ed was talking to me he was flipping the channels.
"There's nothing on,"he said."After the Super Bowl,there's nothing left."
Ed stopped flipping the channels. The station that was on was PBS.
"Who in the hell is that dude in the wheel chair?"he asked.
"That's Stephen Hawking."
"Who's that?"
"A scientist. Some say he's the smartest man in the world."
"Is that so. What happened to him?"
"He suffers from some neurological disease. He speaks through a computer."
Ed went back to the TV and turned up the sound.
"So what does he have to say?"asked Ed."He sure looks messed up."
"He talks about black holes and studies the stars."
"So what's so important about that?"
"He says that God may have created the universe,but it's up to science to figure it out."
"Figure what out?"
"I'm not sure,but he says there's no heaven. That's for people who are afraid of the dark."
"How can he say that he's the smartest man in the world and make a statement like that?"
"I don't think he ever said he was the smartest man in the world. Someone else did."
"I just couldn't imagine dying and not waking up in heaven,"said Ed.
"If that were the case you'd never see another Super Bowl."

[dagosd2000]

Billie Holiday

[dagosd2000]

d

[dagosd2000]

Semper Fi

When Mills Lane suffered his stroke it was hard to me to think that it would put him out of commission let alone not being able to referee a fight. He was still a flat bellied Marine who always kept that special bound with the Corps. I miss his gravel voice and his no nonsense. It's been awhile since we've seen him. Recent pictures aren't very nice. To think a guy so full of vigor, crippled so suddenly.I know he always had an affinity for fighters who served in the Marines. He always mentioned Carmen Basilio and Evander Holyfield as being special.My dad was a Marine. If he knew a Marine it was Semper Fi regardless of anything else. Funny,with my father if he knew someone was Italian...well he had an edge. But if he had to pick between an Italian and a Marine?SEMPER FI!



Mills Lane

[El Gallo]

Irichelle Duran, daughter of the great Roberto Duran, will serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame.
Irichelle is a former amateur boxer, travels with her father to boxing events, and is a ringside analyst working for HBO in Panama and Telemundo in Florida. Good things on the horizon!

[BoxBuzz]

Dagos,

I'm just going to share this off the cuff moment.

I was reading your Stephen Hawkings contribution with the guy in the bar scenario.

While I'm reading it my 13 year old daughter begins to read it behind my back, unbeknownst to me, as she can be quite stealth when she sneaks up behind me.

Anyway she knows about Hawkings, and Super Bowls, and some things that go on in bars.
At the end she comments positively on the writing style....(she is quite a writer herself) I then tell her that you are also an artist....and...yes she is quite an artist herself.

The picture below the article was showing but only from the forehead up. Just a bit of blue showing. Neither of us had seen it in it's entirety. She said...the picture below looks like something someone might see from the Hubble Telescope. And wanted to know if it was your work. I scrolled down to reveal the entire picture which is Billie Holiday....an artist she is familiar with, via my musical tastes. We both laughed, because really if you don't see below the forehead, it could be some sort of space shot. Try it yourself!

Now...her parting thought was, Well if it's Billie Holiday, she deserves to be in Heaven, so maybe it wasn't as "Random" as we thought at first Dad. She seems to have an attraction (as most young people do) with the word Random. Which I think she used in good context, and recognizing that in fact maybe it did NOT apply in this case. lol.

Needless to say, I think my Daughter is quite something.

[dagosd2000]

Dagos,

I'm just going to share this off the cuff moment.

I was reading your Stephen Hawkings contribution with the guy in the bar scenario.

While I'm reading it my 13 year old daughter begins to read it behind my back, unbeknownst to me, as she can be quite stealth when she sneaks up behind me.

Anyway she knows about Hawkings, and Super Bowls, and some things that go on in bars.
At the end she comments positively on the writing style....(she is quite a writer herself) I then tell her that you are also an artist....and...yes she is quite an artist herself.

The picture below the article was showing but only from the forehead up. Just a bit of blue showing. Neither of us had seen it in it's entirety. She said...the picture below looks like something someone might see from the Hubble Telescope. And wanted to know if it was your work. I scrolled down to reveal the entire picture which is Billie Holiday....an artist she is familiar with, via my musical tastes. We both laughed, because really if you don't see below the forehead, it could be some sort of space shot. Try it yourself!

Now...her parting thought was, Well if it's Billie Holiday, she deserves to be in Heaven, so maybe it wasn't as "Random" as we thought at first Dad. She seems to have an attraction (as most young people do) with the word Random. Which I think she used in good context, and recognizing that in fact maybe it did NOT apply in this case. lol.

Needless to say, I think my Daughter is quite something.

It's great that your daughter writes and reads and paints. She has quite an imagination. She'll find that irreplaceable when she creates. Billie Holiday belongs in heaven. Too bad Stephan Hawking won't be there to see her

[dagosd2000]

The Dark Side Of The Moon.

The Red Light District in Tijuana is just on the other side of the fence that separates the two countries.They call that part of town the "Coahuila" named after the street where the plethora of cantinas with their neon lights and lots of noise inside from the jukeboxes and bands playing, while the women hustle the clientele for watered down drinks and pocket half the cost which is called the "ficha".(Regardless if you're in there just to get layed,you have to by the girl a drink) Everything is about money. Dancing with the women costs money.Paying one of the strolling musicians of feeding the jukebox is coming out of the customers' pockets. Going with the woman next door up to the room is ten dollars for the hotel and at least 60 smackers for the girl.The owners of the clubs shake down the women at the end of the month for their cut.Those women don't make as much as you would think.If they stand in the street they pay the cops and have to pay the doctors to be examined for their health cards which is stamped once a month. Most of them live in rundown houses in rundown parts of town. As dawn approaches the girls change from their mini faldas(short skirts) and don their regular clothes,hail a taxi,and go back to the barrio and go to sleep. When they scrub off their makeup they blend in with everyone else.The women that work in the cantinas have similar stories. Young kids,no husbands,maybe send a little money home to their mothers.

It's no secret that the neighbors know what these women do for a living.It's judged a little,but things in Mexico are getting rougher by the day.People don't have the desire to crusade against sin,at least what goes on in the "Coahuila."In Latin culture to go to the cantina or have a mistress is something very common.Sex is not equated with love.

The "Coahuila"used to be almost exclusively for Mexican men. And I mean men,not teenagers. The women didn't like the way the young ones behaved. Too drunk and too cheap.A lacking of manners.

There are still a lot of bars in the "Coahuila."Even if the economy sucks men don't lose their craving for sex. I don't frequent the place like I did.Maybe I'm losing the urge. To tell the truth,I'm kind of glad about that. But I hear a lot of Americans in San Diego talking about going down to the "Coahuila."They talk about the Adelitas and the Hong Kong Bar. Some of these guys have wives,some don't.Like I said,the "Coahuila" was frequented mostly by Mexican men.That part of town is off to the side.If you don't know where you're going to look for places like that,it's hard to find.But now they have shuttle services at the border to take you there.

When I was in high school Revolution Street,which was the main drag,was full of cantinas,but they catered to the Americans. I never remember seeing A Mexican man in one of those bars.But Revolution Street is breathing it's last. My sister in law who owned a little 'tacito' joint on the street sold the business lock stock and barrel for 5 g's. The street is not what it once was.

But like I've said,sex is never going out of style. The bars like the Adelitas and the Honk Kong are making money hand over fist. And they can thank the horny Americans.(Take a look at these two bars on the internet.It reminds me of Vegas)But not all the bars in the "Coahuila" are like the two I've mentioned. The women that work those joints are sexy looking.They have to be or they won't get hired. There are a lot of women that peddle their hips in the "Coahuila" that probably don't ever turn a trick. They can't compete with the sexy looking ones. Most of those women stand in the street wearing worn out clothes that resemble what they're trying to hide (or sometimes trying to enhance).A body that has given way to age. They stand on the street all night hoping that some guy will stop and ask them to go to the room. Those women's faces with the thick makeup can't hide the sadness and the despair. After a awhile they stop trying to make eye contact with the men walking by and gaze at the barbed wire fence on the wall along the border. For them the U.S. is so near,but so far away.

[dagosd2000]

"Hey baby you by me a drink?"

[dagosd2000]

It's All An Act

"You've got a choice between women's basketball or bowling,"said Ed the bartender trying to find something on the TV.
"Last week at this time was the Super Bowl,"I said.
"And the bar was full. This afternoon I don't expect hardly a soul."
"I know you would like a full house,but I like coming here when it's empty."
Ed was still flipping the channels.
"Turn the damn thing off,"I said."We don't need to watch it for the lack of nothing else."
"I see HBO is going to show Raging Bull later tonight,"said Ed. "I like that movie."
"DeNiro gave quite a performance."
"He won an Oscar."
Jake LaMotta had a hand in making it,but I heard his brother Joey was pretty upset with the whole thing."
"I didn't know that. Joe Pesci gave quite a performance of his brother."
"Joey LaMotta was upset that the movie didn't portray him the right ."
"You mean it didn't happen that way?"
"Joey LaMotta was a pretty fair fighter himself. He gave up his career to manage his brother."
"Didn't say that in the movie,"said Ed.
"It showed Joey as being a little runt. Jake even called him a 'fag' in the movie."
"So Joey was sore?"
"I think there was a lawsuit."
"Come to think of it,Joey LaMotta never was seen in the limelight after that movie,"said Ed.
"All that Hollywood stuff is just an act."
"I'm surprised Jake LaMotta let his brother be shown that way."
"I guess if Joey LaMotta would have been shown to have the balls his brother had,it would have detracted from DeNiro's role,"I said."Besides he was going for the Academy Award for Best Actor."
"Didn't Joe Pesci get nominated for Best Supporting Actor?"
"Yeah,but he didn't win."
"Well I guess Joey LaMotta at least got some satisfaction with that,"said Ed.



Jake LaMotta

[Chuck1052]

According to his BoxRec record, Joey LaMotta had a total of 39 bouts with 32 wins (22 stoppages), 5 losses (1 stoppage) and 2 draws. That is a good record. By today's standards, Joey was one active fighter because his career lasted a little less than two years.

- Chuck Johnston

[dagosd2000]

A Good Ship

Read where Shirley Temple passed. I was thinking of her the other day.In fact I would think of her quite often. I would try to count the number of those big stars from the 30's. Lately,I would try to remember any stars left from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Mickey Rooney is still with us. Maureen O'Hara. Olivia DeHavilland.I don't think Olivia and Maureen live in the States anymore. They were all giants. Household names. People we grew up with when I was a kid.The younger generation doesn't know of them.I wonder if they'll lament when the Kardashians kick the bucket. I won't be around for that trauma.

I'm not stuck in the past,but I still get a little flushed when I see a Fred and Ginger movie or Judy Garland dancing down the Yellow Brick Road. I remember when my grand daughter Amanda wanted to start performing. I put an a VHS of Shirley Temple singing "the Good Ship Lollipop." To borrow one of Bogey's lines,"It's the stuff dreams are made of.



Fred and Ginger

[Chuck1052]

It may be that Shirley Temple Black looked back and thought that she had a fine life overall. She certainly turned out to be a fine person as as an adult. But I feel uneasy about children going to work as performers in motion pictures or in the entertainment industry in general. It is bad enough to see them miss out on their childhood and not acquire the education or life's lessons that they need when they become adults, but I also find it disturbing when they become the main breadwinners in their families, resulting in them having relatively little money by the time they become adults. As a result, I have very little respect for many of the parents or other relatives of child performers.

- Chuck Johnston