HomicideHenry wrote: ↑21 Jun 2019, 14:52
That's awesome. I'm friends with Jerry Halstead and he told me some pretty good stories about the O'Grady's and guys like Monte Masters. I'll be waiting for those stories your dad has.
My dad has a few more comments after looking at McBride’s record. People basically came to his fights expecting to see him knock somebody out or get knocked out himself. Pretty much any time he fought a “name” boxer like Mathis or a fighter with any experience you could expect him to lose. He says Pat O’Grady most likely put him in with smaller guys like Knight to guarantee a knockout and probably put him in with a middleweight like Masterson because he needed a KO after a loss or something. (My dad knew both boxers because he later fought them himself, but at the appropriate weights.) He also has some recollection of him fighting Ned Hallacy. My dad knew all the Hallacy brothers and fought Mike several times as an amateur and pro. Ned was a good boxer and KO puncher who went on to become a ranked light heavyweight. Even though he was probably outweighed by 100 pounds, Hallacy’s superior skill got him a 1st round KO.
As for memories of boxing for O’Grady, he always liked Pat personally and said he always had a joke or a long-winded story about the old days, but he was a cheapskate who didn’t pay his fighters well. Even when you fought the 10 round main event he paid peanuts. But O’Grady did tell him when he signed the contract, “As long as you’re fighting for me in Oklahoma City, you won’t make any money.” A lot of the opponents he supplied were journeymen from places like Texas or Nebraska. They usually didn’t have good records but they were at least experienced. Or he’d get matched with another local prospect. However, certain pet prospects would get matched with absolute stiffs to make them look even better. My dad is sure that worked on some spectators, but O’Grady became notorious for some of these opponents. My dad could always count on O’Grady having a fight lined up for him every 3-4 weeks, and he was happy to stay active. That’s about all I should post here. If you want to hear a couple of anecdotes, send me a PM
