Classic American West Coast Boxing

[dagosd2000]

Ode To A Deerstalker's Cap

His name was Frank,and I can't remember his last name right now but he owned a little shop near the beach where he repaired typewriters so everyone called him "Typewriter Frank" except to his face.He was from England and his trademark was his Sherlock Holmes cop he wore atop his head The kind all those Sherlock Holmes characters used to wear in the movies. He worked his shop six days a week and on Saturday nights you could find him in the Arizona Cafe making up for lost time in the drinking department.

He moved to Ocean Beach somewhere in the mid 60's from London. He was a big man with big hands,firm forearms, and a straight stature.I'd say he was a tick under six feet but because of the way he carried himself looked taller. His face was chiseled and his eyes were a steel gray that caught every move you made. There were flecks of gray in his curly hair that you could see was on the retreat.Thick through the shoulders and chest he didn't look like anyone you'd want to mess with. But that was just outside appearances. I never saw him get surly with anyone even when he'd been drinking for a time and he could go all night.

He said he used to be a fighter back in London and was even on the undercard when Turpin upset Robinson at Wembley.But I got to thinking about that when he said"Wembley" because I didn't think that fight was there.I later looked it up and it wasn't.It was in Kensington Arena that's outside the center of London.But I wasn't going to challenge him on it. Everyone believed he was on the undercard of that fight so I let it stand.He talked about it and I figured he was probably in the stands somewhere. But him telling that and about how he lived in The East End and how the "huns" bombed the hell out of the place during the Blitz elevated him to sit at the far end of the bar at The Arizona were the what I called "The Club Members" held court.

But often it would be Frank holding session and all ears were pointed his way.Even though he spoke English I couldn't make out what he was saying half the time.. He had this Cockney accent and most of the time he might have well been speaking Greek.I guess Cockney's leave out some letters and slur over others and putting it all together I'd be in a London Fog. Sometimes I'd catch something like some of the way Brits say a word like druggists were "chemists" and lawyers were "barristers" and flashlights were "torches" and if you got a traffic ticket it was a "summons."

I don't think he called anyone by their real name except George Radovich who owned the joint and Frank called him "Georgie" and got away with it.Everyone else was "Mate" or if he liked you,"Matey."I guess the reason he crossed the pond was that his wife had died after he hung up his gloves. He was a green grocer back in London and they worked their store together but then she died and he wanted a new look He said he'd never leave San Diego. His arthritis would act up in the London weather and the memories of his wife were too close.He'd go back to visit,mostly to The East End,but he said everything was beginning to change for the worse. Too many foreigners were taking over.The only thing I heard him gripe about here was the fish and chips in San Diego tasted horrible.

He'd tell about the Krays and said they had a lock and key on The East End. They controlled all the rackets but that they stood good with the neighborhood. They helped out a lot of the poor people at times and gave away a lot of stuff around the holidays. Besides ,if anyone crossed them,and they'd find out right away, the snitches would be floating face down in The Thames.

Like I said I couldn't understand him most of the time but one night it was getting near to closing time and the next thing I know he sidled next to me with his whiskey glass. He always drank the same thing: whiskey Irish , soda, no ice.I'd had a few in me so I asked him about his hat and see if he'd take offense.
"You know,I always liked your Sherlock Holmes hat,"I said to him with a mile on my face.
"It's proper name is a deerstalker's cap,"he came back with.
Then I inched further.
"I always thought the best Sherlock Holmes was Basil Rathbone.Him and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson."
He straightened and looked at me with a whimsy on his face.
"Elementary matey.Elementary," he said nodding.


Randolph Turpin

[dagosd2000]

Everybody's Best Man

I don't think there was anyone who ever knew Joe Louis,if he fought him or not,that didn't like the guy.And it went beyond liking.They admired him ( there's got to be a better word but right now I don't know what it is. I just feel it) because he wasn't one of these guys who when you left the room would mutter an unkind word.I accidently ran into him in Las Vegas when Ash Resnick was having Louis do his greeting thing on the steps of Caesar's Palace.He had on this big cowboy hat and a natty powder blue sport jacket,slacks to match the hat,and cowboy boots to match the theme of what was on his head. He was approachable as mom's apple pie and didn't turn his head away from anyone who passed by. But Why would you unless you didn't know who Joe Louis was.But now he was a "was" but the charm was still in him.

I felt a little surprised to see him standing there with a smile that went ear to ear but like they say surprises are that because you don't expect them. I was with my wife and she didn't know who Joe Louis was but my wife has got this inner Indian sense running through her blood about sizing up human beings and animals and I could tell she liked this guy Joe Louis.

I've run this by you before so no need to get into the fast details. Bottom line was that we were on an even playing surface and it was Luis who set the stage. He could have been a bit haughty.I mean he was the best fighter of his era.Him and Ray Robinson and he talked to me like we was old pals forever.

Watch Joe Louis on that show "This Is Your Life "when they bring out Max Schmeling.It was as good as their two fights.But instead of slugging they were hugging.When Joe went to Europe Max and his wife wouldn't let him get away.What a fuss they made.Treated him like royalty.

When Archie Moore settled in on marriage number five that was to be the happiest and his final trip to the altar,Joe Louis was his best man.Of all the sports' brotherhoods fighters are the closest knit group.

Marciano who had the job of making everyone cry when he he finally put an end to Louis's fistic career was crying in Joe's dressing room after it was over.It was a dirty job Rocky had to perform but then Louis told the future champ to wipe away the tears and that he was all right.Life would go on and he could handle it.

But Uncle am wouldn't get off his back because of those taxes he owed. Mike Jacobs made a bundle off Joe Louis but he never told him how to duck the IRS like he knew how to do in expert fashion.So Louis wrestled trying to rub two dimes together and there were some out there that thought that was funny and some that cried.Rod Serling wrote "Requiem For A Heavyweight."

Even the dichotomy Ali had his arms wrapped around Joe Louis.But there was a time when Louis couldn't understand him and Clay would just scratch his head. Now there was a symbiosis.

That last night he was living on this earth they brought him to ringside in his wheel chair to watch Holmes fight. The TV guy said that Joe looked fine.We all wanted Joe Louis to look "fine."We didn't want him to go away but that night he went to a Better Place.I thank my lucky stars that I got to talk to him on the steps of Caesar's Palace that day a long time ago.


Joe Louis



From what I've gleaned from fighters is that when it comes right down to it they stick together regardless of what may have happened in the past.


Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali might have seemed like Night and Day but it was all in the same 24 hrs.

[dagosd2000]

When To Get Up

I was reading Gene Tunney's personal thoughts about the time Dempsey cornered him in the ring in Chicago and started blasting away on his chin connecting seven times in less time than you can say "Long Count."Tunney was mad at himself because he said he saw the first right hand coming but didn't see the following left, and that was the punch that hurt him.He doesn't remember the next five.But then the first thing he did remember when he came around was the ref, Jimmy Barry, saying "Two."

Now Tunney had to make a decision while he was down.His brain made contact with his legs and replied "You can get up now if you want.Your legs are OK."Also between Barry's "Two" and before he could speak "Ten" Tunney had to think about when to arise and then what to do against a pissed off Dempsey when he got to his feet.

Tunney was sitting on his haunches looking up at Barry with all this going through his mind.Now we all know that Jack wanted to pounce on him right away like he used to do so often.It was kind of a trademark with him:hover over his wounded foe and slug him again before he could rise to his feet. Kind of chicken s--t,but legal in the ring.Well,there were a new set of rules agreed upon before this fight that if a man was down the guy who put him there would have to go to a neutral corner.When Jack surprised Gene Jack was equally surprised and lost his head.He wanted to fight like he did against Willard.His over anxiousness and no respect for the new ring law might have been his undoing.Barry had to scold Jack to the opposite side of the ring.But Tunney said he was fine and when Barry finally got the count going he heard "Two",checked his legs,and then thought he'd get the most rest he could so he decided he didn't wanted to get up until Barry said "Nine."BTW-Tunney said that was the first time he'd ever been floored in a fight and that he was mad at himself because he prided in his ability of seeing his opponent's' fistic offerings.Sure,some would land but he had enough time to make sure they didn't land flush.There's a first time for everything.

When Tunney got to his feet he'd mapped out his strategy:circle away from Dempsey's left hook and make him move forward at a faster pace to get him winded to a degree that would flag his stamina to swing the momentum. By the end of the round Jack was trying to catch a ghost.

All in all in the 20 rounds that they fought each other the only frame Jack could claim won was the one when he accomplished a first-the first fighter to have dumped Gene Tunney on the canvas.

Gene Tunney was an odd goose. He looked down on the profession that made him a millionaire and would rather read Shakespeare than Ring Lardner.When the pundits compile their lists of the top heavyweights Tunney's name is always below Dempsey's. "Dempsey was past his prime" is the rational used. Even Tunney admitted that Jack had lost a step. But then he added that for their second meeting Dempsey's camp trained him to get off the balls of his feet and come in low and flatfooted. Tunney said that played right into his hands.

I don't think Dempsey,even when he was on top of his game,could have mastered Tunney.Just like I think Ezzard Charles could have beaten a 1940 version of Joe Louis. But the two fights have always been called "The Dempsey/Tunney Fights(Tunney always getting second billing even though Dempsey couldn't lick him)They say a good boxer will beat a good puncher.Well,that's what the pundits say.I might not be a pundit but I think I'm right on this one.


Jack Dempsey.I thought I had done a painting of Gene Tunney. Probably didn't like it and painted over it. Again ,Tunney gets second billing to Dempsey. Will have to get around to painting Tunney again.

[dagosd2000]

To Be Irish

Billy Conn and the rest of the world was waiting impatiently for the Irishman's return bout with Joe louis before the war broke out before everything would have to be put on the back burner. It was all set to go but then Billy lived up to the remark he made sitting in the dressing room after Joe Louis in the 13th round found that Conn wanted to stand with him face to face and see if he could win the title via the KO variety.Of course Billy disobeyed Freddie Fierro's and Johnny Ray's instructions before he left his stool to go out for that hard luck round to keep doin' what your doin' pecking away at Louis for the next three rounds and you'll be the new champ of the world.But Billy wanted bigger fish to fry.-he wanted the knockout.When Conn got hit with the first right hand his good sense told him to go to o knee and take 9 to gather yourself and then get up and do what your corner told you to do before your balls got in the way of your brain.But no,Billy was too proud and Irish to call a truce. He stood in front of The Brown Bomber and got blown apart.It was kind of a surreal slow motion drop to the canvas but he knew too late that he did a Dumb Dora thing by wanting to slug it out with the most dangerous puncher in the game.Inside his dressing room the scribes asked Billy why he pushed his luck.
"What's the use of being Irish if you can't be stupid?"
That line went down in history.

Of course if you ain't Irish you don't want to go lipping off that way to any mucker that has the green runnin' through his veins. But when the Saint Paddys' gather around and get the drink in them they take pride in being you know what.And they also like to fight,especially one another.That's how Billy Conn was put on the back burner with his rematch with Joe Louis, and instead of fighting in a boxing match with the champ,Billy went off to the Army going to base to base stateside like a chump fighting every drill sergeant in the compound.

Billy Conn had always had a tough nut to crack trying to convince his future father in law, who also was also Irish, into marrying his pretty little Bridgit,Mary Louise.She was 15 when Billy took her to a movie per her daddy's request thinking Billy would be a proper chaperone. Instead the 25 year old fighter fell head over heals for Matt(that was his nickname for her)and told the lass that he wanted to take her down the the aisle.Well,Greenfield Jimmy,Mary Louise's pappy was willing to take on anyone that wanted to separate him from his pride and joy.

It took awhile but Mary Louise got the two boys to settle their differences and she went down the aisle with her fightin' man to tie the knot.Well, it looked like everything was on the mark.Billy was married to his sweetheart and had Joe Louis in his sights and said he'd listen to his corner this next time.

A few weeks before the fight all the family was in the kitchen swapping lies when Greenfield Jimmy said something to his son in law that riled the boy.
"I can lick you any day of the week."
Well,like a bolt of lightning on Galway Bay they got into it in the kitchen. Billy threw a haymaker and instead of landing on Greenfield Jimmy's chin it found its way on top of his Blarney head.Crack,pop,.Billy had busted his hand. No fight.So in the Army you go to spar with Mister 3 Stripes.

When the war ended there was the long awaited rematch but to tell that is like describing to you how grass grows.


Billy Conn


The Conn clan listening to the radio how Billy acted "stupid" against Joe Louis:lol:

[dagosd2000]

Thanks For The Memories


The first of the living inductees elected into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1990.They're all gone now.Jose Napoles was the last one to leave us.I would have liked to have seen Willie Pep sitting next to Sandy Sadler,but he preferred to sit next to his "goombas." Saddler on the far left bottom row. The three "paisans" together far right on the bottom. Sandy,Jake,and Carmen.There should have been Jofre ,Fullmer,Rodriguez,and Monzon in that picture.

[dagosd2000]

Doc And The Border

Last week,I guess it was last week,I wrote about how good boxers aren't appreciated as much as the big punchers. Like I said before,I don't go back and read my stuff. What I wrote yesterday is history as far as I'm concerned. Time to move on.Anyway I got on a jag and said something to the effect that i'd rather watch Joey Maxim fight in the ring than Joe Louis.Then I back peddled and took it back. Joey Maxim often times gets a bum rap because he didn't knockout a lot of guys.He wanted to fight as long as he could and in order for him to continue fighting just about every other week for 17 years he didn't want to get into slugging matches. During the 40's and 50's he fought the best light heavies.Won the world championship from Freddie Mills over in England in 1950(A KO in fact)and held on to it until Archie Moore finally got his shot and didn't miss his target,Maxim. Earlier in 1949 Maxim won the American version of the title from Gus Lesnevich winning going the distance.The crowd was on the skimpy side and so was the the gate.Gus wasn't exactly a thrill a minute fighter either so the interest was at a minimum.

At the time Maxim put on his title belt he was managed by Mr. Cagey-Jack "Doc" Kearns. Kearns had his share guiding the careers of renown champions-Mickey Walker,Archie Moore(when Maxim lost his title to Moore "Doc" had pulled the old switcharoo and was in The Mongoose's corner for the fight),Maxim of course,and his most famous,Jack Dempsey.

Kearns made money for all of them being sure not to have left himself with his hand out. When he bamboozled the fathers of Shelby,Montana into putting on a title fight featuring his Manassa Mauler and Tommy Gibbons he left Dodge(I meant to say Shelby) hopping on a train with Dempsey in tow making off every bank in town's money.

But you got to say that Joey Maxim never had the appeal of a Jack Dempsey. Maxim just wanted steady work in the ring because he hated doing an honest day's labor doing something like driving a bus. He was a hard sell but Kearns never had a rough time getting matches for his boys.Maxim was in there with some of the best including Moore and Ezzard Charles though he could never beat those two.When the great Ray Robinson literally fell short not winning the light heavyweight championship against Joey they credited it to the heat in the ring,not Maxim

In 1948 when Maxim was signed to fight another pedestrian fighter Olle Tandberg in the Garden the interest was couldn't raise a pulse. To give the fight some hype "Doc" told the scribes(probably with his tongue in cheek) his description of Maxim.
"This kid is better than Dempsey.He don't hit quite as hard as Dempsey but otherwise he's better."
Maxim was the best fighter he was handling at the time so Kearns went into his P.T. Barnum routine.

Now I don't feel so bad about what I said about how I'd rather see Joey Maxim fight than Joe Louis.Now excuse me as I straighten out my tongue.

Went to Tijuana last night to take in my great granddaughter's birthday party.You read a lot of what's going on with those immigrant caravans that have traveled up from Central America and now are stuck at the border trying o get across to the U.S.Tijuana doesn't have it as bad as the Mexican border cities along the Arizona,New Mexico,and Texas line.It's a direct shot coming up from Central America and landing in cities along the Southwest border,but to make a hard left turn to get to Tijuana is too much of a hassle. The "coyotes*(smugglers) don't want to work any harder and the immigrants just want to get to the border. But there are, I'd say, a thousand in Tijuana waiting and waiting and I don't think it's going to happen too soon.It's a desperate situation and very sad.Some families send their kids by themselves to cross thinking that it will make it easer to all get together. Who knows how many of these people have Covid.The people in TJ don't want them there.

When you cross at San Ysidro you see off to the left rows of tents with these immigrants waiting and waiting. The TJ cops are there to make sure they don't move and go off into other areas of the city.The bottom line is that these Latin American countries,including Mexico,have to fix their their countries and that will never happen.There's not one Latin American country that isn't in dire straights.It's always been that way and now it's worse especially with this Covid.

I was talking with my son in law at the party who was working in San Diego and has been laid off from the Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. He's still collecting unemployment checks and getting his stimulus money, via Uncle Sam. The people in Tijuana who don't have jobs in the Untied States and have to work in TJ(If they can get work)for 8 dollars a day hate their government even more than they did before.The town has run out of vaccine and the ones who got it were the privileged.

Of all the cities in Mexico ,Tijuana has it the best(if you want to call it that) and that's because of the 70 thousand Tijuaneros that cross everyday into San Diego to work. (That figure is lower now but those unemployed are now on the U.S. dole)But living in Tijuana isn't a cakewalk. Never has. Why? The bottom line is that the people in Latin America regardless of what status,will never pull together and do what's best for EVERYONE.There's no political party that's going to save the day.After 60 years of the PRI in government control there have been different parties at the helm.Same old thing. Now the narcos are calling the shots(and firing them)

The narcos weren't born into elitist society. They had no silver spoons in their mouths. They were at the bottom and got sick and tired of it and got guns and killed their way to the top.Now even the elite watch their backsides.They have to pay the narcos off or they'll have their heads wrung from their shoulders.

But you might think that the narcos would be like kind of Robin Hoods.Hell no.They aren't going to do nothing for the poor. They look at the poor as how they once were.
"Don't come to me for a handout.If you want more get a gun and do what I did.If not get lost!"

I don't think even a wheeler dealer like "Doc" Kearns can fix what's going on down there.Now I'll put my tongue back in its proper place.


"Doc" Kearns

[dagosd2000]

Can't Get This Maxim Guy Outta' My Head

Joey Maxim always liked fighting yet he was considered boring on the eyes because the fans said he didn't fight enough in the ring.Let Joey explain it.

"I'm not one of these guys that belts you out with a punch.Never was.Never will be.I punch fast.I punch often.But I don't stiffen guys.It's like this.You hit a guy in the mouth two- three hundred times ,he gets so he don't like to get hit in the mouth.It hurts him.Takes something outta' of him.I wear him down,stop him maybe,but I don't knock his head off.I don't cave his ribs in."

When asked about Doc Kearns if he had anything to do with teaching him the finer points of fighting I'll let Joey proceed with the telling.

"Doc knows better than any man alive how to train a guy for a fight.He's a great one for physical conditioning.He takes charge of the sparring partners when I'm training.tells 'em when to tear into me and tells them when to box and everything to do to me.When he says I'm ready,I'm ready.But Doc don't teach me how to fight.Nobody ever taught me anything about fighting.I learned it by working at it.I'm still learning it that way.I study and work at it and that's how I learn to box."

Maxim was also asked if Kearns was a bad influence on his fighters,Mickey Walker,as an example by carousing with them when it should have been lights out in training camp.Joey again.

"Doc never pointed a gun and made Walker drink that stuff.He never ordered him to stay out all night. He was the same Doc Kearns when he had Dempsey.and Dempsey didn't go sour on him.He never made me drink and never kept me outta' bed when I shoulda' been getting my rest.For my dough he's a great guy and a great manager."

The quotes I've been using are from an article in Sport Magazine by the scribe Gordon Cobbledick(I swear didn't make that name up)who had interviewed Maxim that he titled "The Fighter Nobody Knows"

A few weeks back I got on my soap box and said I'd rather watch Joey Maxim fight than Joe Louis.Then I backpeddled.Hell, they were both swell to look at working in the ringJust is when you watched Maxim fight you usually had to wait around for the full ten rounds.But then if you were taking notes you might have picked up a few pointers about fighting.


Joey Maxim

[dagosd2000]

What's Going On?

You going to tell me that Oscar De La Hoya is on the level about getting back into the ring?He says he eventually wants to fight Floyd,that's what he says. This kid I used to like.I thought De La hoya was on his way up to becoming one of the all time bests.But when he lost his heart in rounds 11 and 12 in his fight against Trinidad he started going down hill. He never won another big fight. The steam and his heart went out of him. You could say it was close against Mosely but you could see that De La Hoya had no more of an eye of the tiger than your neighbor's pussy cat. He lagged it against Hopkins and Mayweather.And when he finally sat in his corner and quit against Pacquiao I had long ago given up on this guy.He ran across the ring to congratulate Pacquiao like he he was glad to get it over with.So was I. Now he wants to come back at age 48 to show everyone he's still the real article.Oscar ran the gamut hiring and firing trainers thinking he could find himself and all he found was another digit in the loss column.

The only thing I can figure is he needs the money. He announced, standing besides Snoop Dog(I guess he's in on the swindle),that he's going to fight some UFC swinging dick in Texas on the 13th of July.You can bet this joke will be on Pay Per View and they'll be enough suckers shelling out their dough to watch it.

It started with this Tyson/Jones dance a month or so ago.Tyson said he smoked pot before he got into the ring because that's just the kind of guy he is.He also said he took it easy on Roy.How nice.Now they want set up a match with him and Holyfield and they're talking about a gate that's going to break the Fed. Two guys in their 50's with 50 year old livers and we're supposed to take this seriously?

If this is what boxing is turning into then I blame the idiots who pay to watch this kind of stuff.As far as I'm concerned I'll turn on YouTube and watch some Joey Maxim fights.


Oscar De La Hoya

[dagosd2000]

Be Sure To Bring Plenty Of Mustard And Relish

After that last post I got to thinking.If De La Hoya and Tyson(And I guess Holyfield) still think they can catch lightning in a bottle wouldn't it be interesting to see, let's say, De La Hoya fight Canelo?Or Tyson or Holyfield fight Fury? Now if these geriatrics said they are too old to fight those guys (implying they might get hurt)then why are they fighting each other?It's gotta' be for the money.Then why would anyone want to see that?They're going to prostitute themselves to get rich behind the guise that they'll be their old selves again or even better. And people will buy that. Just be honest and call it an "exhibition." But that won't sell tickets. So they'll hype it up that we're going to see these relics as they were once before .In their primes. Will they stretch the truth that far?Of course.In fact they'll tell you that they are better fighters now.How they miss boxing and that's all they know and that they are hungrier than ever.

Remember the third Leonard/Duran fight? We've just about forgotten about that one because it was so slow and uninspired. Who would want to see that?And those two were still active.How about the third Randall/Chavez fight? Horrible.And again these boys hadn't hung up the gloves yet. And to top it off Leonard,Duran ,Randall and Chavez were still in their 30's when when they last fought.

But I know what's gonna' happen because I'm a pretty smart guy The people are going to watch these two "fights" (We still don't know who Oscar is going against)and walk away saying they got their money's worth.All I can say is if I ever watch Tyson and Holyfield in the ring again I'd like to see Tyson bring a bottle of mustard and relish with him if he decides to chew on Holyfield's ear again.


You might want to bring a bottle of A-1 Sauce just in case.

[dagosd2000]

The Price Of Tequila

"So what's the best tequila now?"I asked Jaime the husband of my granddaughter,Cruz
"I've got something good.Do you want a shot?"
"I'm in the mood."
I was with my wife at my great granddaughter's,Jade's, 4th birthday party sitting at a back table at my granddaughter's ,Cruz's, house in Canon Jhonson in Tijuana.The party was in the garage and spilled out into the street were the men stood around talking with each other drinking while the women and kids were mostly inside with the group that was hired to entertain. it was a Snow White theme and the group that was entertaining were dressed up like princesses and dwarfs and everyone was having a good time jumping around and playing inside a rubber castle that was inflated by a machine..The garage was noisy so that you could hardly hear yourself.Jaime came over with a white box and opened it.Inside there was this bottle that was shaped like a swollen prostate gland with a long skinny neck and a bulbous bottom.Jaime opened the bottle and poured me a shot.
"What's the name of this stuff?"I asked him.
He showed me the bottle and pointed to the name-"Esperanto."
"Never heard of it,"I said."Did you buy it here in TJ?"
"Yes."
"Well, have a shot with me."
Jaime poured himself shot and we bottomed up.The tequila tasted very good.
"How much for a liter of this stuff,"I asked him.
"150 dollars."
I was taken aback.
"Hell,I can get laid in the Coahuila ten times for that amount of money,"I laughed.
Jaime laughed too and then put the bottle back in the box.

There was plenty of food and drinks and the women had brought pasties that they had made at home for desert.A pinata that looked like a burro was being strung up and the women began to break out their phones to take pictures.My great granddaughter who was dressed up like Snow White was given the baton first.She didn't swing very hard and seemed in a daze.Then they smallest kid was handed the baton and they worked their way up in size to each kid.The boys swung the hardest and each one wanted to be the first to break the pinata.Finally, after the pinata was split open and the candy dropped to the floor causing a stampede to get to it.

There were a lot of little rituals and enactments revolving initiated by the entertainers around the story of Snow White and there was a lot of singing and dancing and everyone sang "Mananitas" and then "Happy Birthday" in what English they knew.Then Jade sat down to open her presents.She got a lot of dolls and stuffed animals and all the women were taking pictures..Me and the wife gave her mother,our daughter Rosa, an envelope with a hundred dollars in it.Things started settling down and after Jaime and Cruz and made the rounds going from table to table visiting everyone they sat down with me and the wife.We were there with our daughter,Rosa..The women immediately began talking with themselves.
"How did you like that tequila?"asked Jaime.
"Tasted really good.Can I have another shot?"
My wife elbowed me and gave me a hard look.
"It will be the last one ,"I said."You know I don't drink anymore."
Jaime poured another shot for me and himself and it was bottoms up.It was vey good tequila.
"i see that Canelo is going to fight again,"I said to Jaime.
"I didn't know that.When is it?"
"On Cinco De Mayo in Texas."
"Who's he fighting?"
"I'm not really sure."
"It's funny about how all these big fights with Mexican fighters are on Cinco De Mayo in the United States."
"They'll have it on Pay Per View in San Diego,"I said.
"They'll have it for free here like always."
"With the way things are now no one down here would pay to watch it."
"They're starting to let a few people into the stadium to watch the Xolos(The Tijuana soccer team)but they've raised the price of a seat."
"It's the same in San Diego with the Padres.They'll let a few in the ballpark but they've raised the price of a ticket.If you want to sit in the bleachers it will cost you a hundred dollars," I added.
"I won't go.That's crazy,"said Jaime.
"Me neither," I said.
"Do you feel like another shot?"
"I'm good..Besides I don't want to drink up all that 150 dollar bottle in one night."
"Don't worry.I can always buy another,"said Jaime with a smile on his face.


Canon Jhonson in Tijuana

[dagosd2000]

Misnomer

The last post I mentioned that Canelo was going to make his next defense in Texas on Cinco de Mayo(actually the fight is on the 8th,Friday, to accommodate the weekend crowd).Many Americans think that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's 4th of July their Independence Day. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the first battle of Puebla in 1862 when Mexican soldiers defeated the French army at the garrison there. The French were trying to occupy the country under the realm of Napoleon III and later retaliated against the Mexican army a year later winning the second Battle Of Puebla.Maximillian I was chosen to be the emperor and reigned until he was ousted and executed in 1867.

There are two Mexican Independence Days.The first is celebrated on the 16th of September commemorating in 1810 when Father Hidalgo in Michoacan inspired the Mexican people to overthrow their Spanish rulers. They finally were successful in 1822.

The second is celebrated on November 20th that marks the day in !910 when Francisco Madero announced his plan to oust the dictator Porfirio Diaz from seemingly endless rule. Diaz fled to Spain in May of 1911.

Cinco de Mayo falls on a Tuesday.The Canelo fight is set to go on Friday. In Mexico if the holiday is on a Tuesday they'll recognize it and party on Tuesday.They don't shove holidays to the weekends to celebrate.If it falls in the middle of the week they'll celebrate it on that day.

Cinco de Mayo is certainly a big holiday but not the magnitude of the 16th of September(Refereed to as "Fiesta Patrias"[Patriots Day]) or the 20th of November that doesn't have a really special name. It's usually called by its proper name "20 de Noviembre de La Revolucion."

And another thing:Pancho Villa was never president of Mexico. He could have been but felt he lacked the education to be his country's leader.He'd rather be a general and fight battles.

But getting back to Mexico celebrating holidays. They'll make up holidays just so they can celebrate them and have a good time.I mean when Mexicans party, it goes on all night,sometimes for days. Only the Irish can match them.

In my last post when I told my granddaughter's husband that" I don't drink anymore" I left myself open to looked at as a "maricon." But he was the only one that heard that and I can remember the day when I could drink him under the table,and did quite often.I was at a bar in TJ once and there were a few more gringos like myself standing at the bar drinking with a slew of Mexicans We all knew each other. It was getting late and one of my gringo friends said that he had to call his wife and tell her he was leaving to go home.Did that draw a lot of funny looks and some chuckles. He should have said "I'm going now because you guys are a bunch of faggots and I'm going to see my 'novia' get laid."I should know.I've used that line when at a bar in TJ as an excuse to go home to the wife.But you gotta' say it like you really mean it. I sold it every time like Pancho Villa would have said it..Pancho would have been proud.


Pancho Villa

[dagosd2000]

What Comes Naturally

You think about the all time greats and you seldom hear them go on about who taught them how to fight. They might say that my trainer got me in good shape,but rarely to you hear about who showed them the nuts and bolts.Off hand I' say Jack Blackburn's tutelage with Joe Louis made the Joe the fighter he was. Blackburn drew on his method of fighting(that's what he knew best)and passed it along to Louis. Now the power behind Joe's punches was supplemented by God's gift but you'd have to say without Blackburn acting as trainer and surrogate father Joe Louis would probably stayed with the violin and made his mother happy.

Charley Goldman who chiseled away at Rocky Marciano's mold made Rocky Rocky.He wasn't going to try to mold Rocky into a copy of one of his former charges,Lou Amnbers. He saw what Rocky had going for him and tailored techniques that would work for the Italian.Goldman believed that you shouldn't try to alter a fighter's natural style,but improve upon it. If a fighter was tall,make him fight taller. If he's a shorty make him fight lower.He wasn't about to work on Marciano to be another Willie Pep. Goldman's plan worked to perfection with Marciano. Although Marciano looked awkward, behind that image was a fighter who threw short punches in combinations(he had the shortest reach of any heavyweight),fight out of a crouch, and roll forward into his opponents. Put that strategy together with a guy who had the heart of a lion and didn't question what he was told and you wind up with a champion.

Archie Moore's failure with Cassius Clay is an example of a trainer wanting to impose his way onto someone else's DNA. Like trying to put the square peg into the round hole. Not only did Moore want Clay to fight his style but to adopt Archie's view on the world which included mopping the floors and doing the dishes in training camp.It was adios to The Mongoose and off to Miami to Chris Dundee's 5th Street Gym and having his younger bro Angelo let Cassius find himself naturally.Cassius would watch the Cubans in working out everyday and absorb their bouncy rhythmic way of moving around the ring and keeping their hands low and free.Of course Clay's attributes were conducive to this way of fighting and he turned himself into a 210 pound Jose Legra.Angelo Dundee was smart enough to see what was working.Dundee's guru also happened to be Charley Goldman.

When I was hanging around the fight gyms in San Diego I'd say the best trainer I saw was Eddie Futch. He was handling Ken Norton ,but since Ken needed good sparing partners Futch had Norton working with Joe Frazier up in LA mostly. So I didn't see much of Eddie. But I do remember Futch always studying Norton in the sparring sessions and talking to him and it wasn't just a pep talk. Futch's big issue was with distance.He felt if a fighter wasn't in the right position in the ring he couldn't attack nor defend properly.

Burke Emery was the other trainer who left an impression.He showed his boy Art Hafey how to bring his back and shoulders when throwing his signature left hook.When Art was being inducted into the California Boxing Hall Of Fame in LA and got on the stand to accept his plaque he gave credit of what he brought into the ring to his fellow Canadian, Burke Emery.

When I was helping out Archie Moore at his ABC club it was mostly a clubhouse,a sanctuary for the youth of the neighborhood instead of a full on boxing gym.The kids got in the ring for sure but Archie wasn't forcing them on how to fight the way he did.And to my relief he didn't ask them to mop the floors or do the dishes.


Rocky Marciano

[dagosd2000]

She Looks More Like Me Than Me

During Prohibition and even the years prior and afterwards Tijuana was like a Dodge City sitting across the southern border from San Diego.It was a wide open town with an anything goes mind set.Of course everything went only if you had the money and the gringos who crossed the line made sure they had plenty of cash stuffed in their wallets.

Jack Dempsey had built for himself in 1930 a combo hotel/casino,The Hotel Riviera Pacifico, (they invented the Margarita there)just south of Ensenada which is about a one and a half hour drive south from Tijuana on the coast where the beautiful people of Tinsel Town and Jack's sports drinking pals could get away with anything that would have locked them up in San Diego. Gambling was the main purpose for people to kick up their heels. There was no Las Vegas then and Cuba was on the other side of the continent and you had to take a boat or an airplane to get there. But if you went in 1930 there was just sugar cane fields to sweeten your taste buds because the Mob hadn't put in their guy Batista yet to open up the country for them.

Then there was the action in Tijuana proper mainly emanating from the Agua Caliente Casino which had an underground tunnel that ran north to its sibling the Agua Caliente Racetrack. Downtown there was the Foreign Club were the dice and the roulette wheels were rolling around 24/7.There were plenty of whores and of course Prohibition was a word that was taboo once you crossed the border.

All these joints were put up with gringo dollars and of course they were the ones who signed the checks.American names like Baron Long, Wirt Bowman,Sunny Jim Coffroth(the famous boxing promoter and entrepreneur),and The Manassa Mauler.Big name stars from Hollywood brought their acts to the clubs.Xavier Cugat,All,Jolson,Bing Crosby,and the 12 year old Margarita Cansino who danced with her father.As time went by the film moguls in Hollywood saw this little Margarita transform into Rita Hayworth.

In 1935 Lazaro Cardenas became president and was a big party pooper. He closed the Foreign Club and The Agua Caliente Casino and told Dempsey to remove the slot machines and the roulette wheels. However, he let the racetrack operate.

Today,the Agua Caliente Casino is a government high school.The only remnants left are a few Arabic spires from the old casino.The old racetrack was torched in 1970.I was there throwing my money away to feed the horses the day before they lit the fire to put the American owner Johnny Alessio out to pasture.(You know this guy built 26 schools in TJ on his own dime and they wouldn't let him put his name on a single one) The track was rebuilt later but it has none of the charm of the old one.The Foreign Club lasted the longest.I remember going their in the early 60's but it was just a run down gin mill by then.I used to sit at the bar and imagine Rita Hayworth dancing with her father on stage.But the music had stopped playing years ago.

The Columbia big shot movie producer Harry Cohn had a thing for Rita Hayworth but she stood her ground and wouldn't submit to him. She finally left Columbia but Cohn had discovered a girl that was like a clone to the "Love Goddess."Her name was Mary Castle.She starred with Jim Davis in that oater on TV "Stories Of The Century. Man,if she didn't look like Rita Hayworth.Even Rita Hayworth said,"She looks more like me than me."

What's the old saying? "Two is better than one."


Rita Hayworth


Mary Castle

[dagosd2000]

Coming Up Dry At The Long Bar

You hear stories about the fight game in Tijuana long before the days ,working backwards by Chavez,Olivares,Medel,Macias,Ortiz,even stretching to Arizmendi ,but even farther back. Like Jack Johnson released from Leavenworth after less than a year and then in 1920 moving to Tijuana and opening up a night club and fighting a character in the squared circle named George Roberts.Or how Wyatt Earp in the late 1880's put up stakes in San Diego playing faro and losing his winnings in dried up gold mines and shaky real estate ventures.He also supplemented his income as a fight referee in California and Tijuana.His pistol packin' pal Bat Masterson also was a third man in the ring,more in demand than Earp because Wyatt was known to be bias when officiating if the price was right,but like his lawman counterpart Bat reffed fights in TJ. These stories change as time passes yet when it comes to first hand appreciation or even a grainy a photograph there's nothing. You can only put together everything I just mentioned in your imagination, and your take is as valid as the next guy's.

I've asked around Tijuana about if there's any one or anywhere I can glean something that can bring light to the subject.When I was starting to grow hair on my face there were a few old aficianados that could tell me eye witness accounts of Arizmendi and even throw in some names I never heard of but those guys that shared that with me are gone now.

But I was looking for stuff even farther back.Well, I quit trying a long time ago. However,when I was sneaking across the border going into Tijuana(the U.S. cops had a sub station at the line looking for minors under 18 trying get something in TJ they couldn't get in San Diego.If you got caught they'd send a letter to your parents)I'd roam around up and down Revolution Street hitting every bar until my money ran out ,or once I remember getting my pocket picked.(Honey sit up a little and I'll play with your ass.She also played me for a sucker and got my wallet).When in town I always stopped at the Long Bar.It was the original one that stretched the entire block between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.They said it was the "longest bar in the world' thus the name "Long Bar."

One guy that worked there I'll never forget. His name was Mario.He was the shoeshine boy.But he wasn't a boy.I'd say he could have had known my grandfather. That's how he made his living -shining shoes..They say he was part of the walls that he'd been there so long and the Long Bar went back before the turn of the century.

Mario was sinewy and lean, wrinkled ,and had the calmest manner I've ever seen.A curly crop of flecked black hair he didn't have to comb.His brown eyes twinkled when he talked to you in a voice that was smoother than anisette.He walked the floor carrying his shine box and shined shoes like he could do it in his sleep..He never worked too fast. That was becoming of his way. We'd talk all the time when he wasn't shining shoes about the order of the world but never like dooms day was round he corner. One night we got into boxing. I never asked him nor did he ever reveal much about his personal life like if he was married and had kids but I think he did but just kept that to himself. When he got to talking boxing i could see he wasn't blowing hot air. He said as a boy he used to go to the fights in Tijuana with his father and uncles. He started talking about Jack Johnson having a bar in town and that he'd box exhibitions for a small fee. Of course I was all ears.

Talking to Mario I was in a surrealistic sea. A pitcher of Mexicaii beer as big as your chest went for 75 cents. A shot of Juarez Whiskey was a half a dollar.Mixed drinks were 60 cents and a shot of tequila was the same. The place was always noisy and packed to the doors.There were two entrances at each end that had these curvy mirrors so that when you stood in front of them it made you looked weird.The big ceiling fans would be slowly turning but I think its purpose was a mood effect blowing the cigarette smoke around instead of cooling the place off.I knew all the bartenders and there weren't any split tails working the joint. No whores were allowed and women who walked in had to have an escort.Mario was like a metaphor. .He knew The Long Bar,Tijuana,and what boxing was like in the border town back in the day better than any fly by night historian. All his recollections were like the liver spots on the back of his hand and when he started talking about how him and his father saw Jack Johnson I started to pry his brain.He could see that I was excited.
"When will you come back?"he asked me.
"Next Saturday,"I said before he could finish.
"I'll bring my old scrap book with all the things I told you about.The old newspapers with the pictures of Jack Johnson and his bar.And him fighting in the ring."
Before he could go on I told him that I'd be back with bells on next Saturday night.He smiled and gave me a little thumbs up.

Well you could bet I came back the next Saturday night.The bar was its usual full house. I started looking for Mario but couldn't find him.At first I didn't think nothing but after a half hour I went to the bar and asked one of the bartenders.He was wiping a glass.
"Where's Mario?"I asked anxiously.
The bartender put down the glass and then looked at me and pointed his finger up to the ceiling and shook his head.
"You mean he's gone?"
"El cabo," muttered the bartender and again pointed to the ceiling.

You know I never asked what happened .I didn't really want to know. Mario was gone.His easy way,his shoe box, and his memories of Jack Johnson .It was gone. If I could only I have seen his scrap book.


My autographed picture of Jack Johnson on an old Police Gazette.Compliments of Bob Johnston who owned the Sports Palace Bar on Market Street in San Diego and gave it to my father. Bob's brother Charley managed fighters back when Johnson was fighting. Charley had a part of Archie Moore and Sandy Saddler.

[dagosd2000]

You're Out At Home(For My Money)

The baseball season opens today in San Diego.The Padres play the Arizona Diamondbacks at PetCo Park.Curious, I went on line to see what the prices of tickets are going for. I guess with the pandemic still with us they're limiting the amount of tickets to be sold. I think they're allowing 10 thousand people into the stadium. But of course now they have to raise the price of a ticket to make up the difference. Nosebleed seats are selling for 139 dollars a pop. If you want to sit field level you're going to shell out 439 dollars a ducat.For a fricking baseball game?

I scrolled down to when our arch rivals,The Dodgers,come to town.Nosebleeds start at 329.I didn't search any further .Like I was going to buy a ticket anyway. As you go on the site they say that you better hurry because they expect the tickets to sell like hotcakes. Since when does anyone buy hotcakes for 329 dollars? The Padres can go screw themselves.They just signed this Fernando Tatis Jr. for a cool 340 million for 12 years and the kid only batted 277 last season.If the Padres think my money is going to help pay for this guy's salary they can go to Ihop and stuff themselves full of pancakes and get your 340 million's worth.

Just across the street from PetCo Park there is a coffee shop that on the weekends has a local band playing in front on the sidewalk. They play for tips.On Sundays I take my granddaughter Amanda with me and we drive down and park on the street in front of the coffee shop and listen to the band. They call themselves The Swinging Gypsies. One of Amanda's flamenco pals told her about The Swinging Gypsies playing in on the weekends in front of the coffee shop. Well, the first time I heard them I was gassed.The leader,guitarist John Saavedra,is as good as any "gitter picker" that's out there.He plays a little like Django Reinhardt but he can swing it like Charlie Christian or play octaves like Wes Montgomery. He's I'd say in his early 30's and let's anyone with a horn or sing a note sit in and jam with the group.

I got to talking to John Saavedra and he tells me that he was born in New Orleans and bounces around the country and a few times in Europe looking for gigs playing the way he wants trying to make ends meet. I guess you'd say he's the prototype "Starving Artist."

Well,while Fernado Tatis Jr. is at PetCo making his 340 million guaranteed batting 277 ,John Saavedra is across the street picking away at his guitar like a reincarnated Django playing for tips.

A few weeks ago I surprised John and gave him a painting I did of Django Reinhardt. He was floored.I thought he was going to get weepy on me. I asked him to play some Django and he went into it like The Hot Club Of Paris was on fire. He thinks I'm a great artist and that we're peers. Well,I don't know about that.The only thing I do know is that Ferando Tatis Jr. aint' worth the money they're paying him.They could slip a few million at John Saavedra and it would be justifiable. As far as me being a great artist I'll settlle for a bob or two.


John Saavedra and The Swinging Gypsies .John's on the left.The guy on the right aint' bad either.Again playing for tips.


My painting of Django Reinhardt that I gave to John

[dagosd2000]

Gangsters And Gunmen

What do Joe Louis,Rocky Marciano,Sonny Liston,and Mike Tyson have in common?If you answered that they all were world heavyweight champions go to the corner and sit on a stool and put on your Captain Obvious hat. These notable fighters were also wined sand dined at one time by the notorious Krays who headed organized crime in the East End of London.Mike never was face to face with any of the twins.When he got locked up he was corresponding with Reg Kray ,who was also behind bars, about mundane things like "How you gettin' along?"Then when Mike got released he had a fight lined up in London and stopped by to say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Kray. When the brothers opened up a new nightclub they invited Sonny Liston to be the guest of honor.

Gangsters like the Krays respected ,to a point, fightere,but the Dons were never star struck of them.Sure,fighters are rough and tough and that demeanor ingratiated themselves with organized crime but their purpose was so the Wise Guys could make a buck off them betting on their fights.After their careers ended the pugs were still around the Mob but you could see them behind the bar in some Mob run joint slinging beers or outside checking ID's or if someone caused a ruckus they could say they got the heave ho out the door by a former contender brass knuckles and all. So instead of trying to break a guy's jaw the pugs broke legs instead.

They never rose to the top in organized crime (except for the Krays who fought professionally a little))so they were content to settle for doing the odd jobs:shake down a bookie,plant a knuckle sandwich on a welsher,make the rounds collecting the bribe money,being the bodyguard.Make enough easy money so they could blow it at the track or on the girls.When it came to killing someone The Mob had their professionals for that purpose.

My father ,being in The Outfit in Chicago, knew his share of fighters.I saw him with Sugar Ray Robinson and Jack Dempsey but he never fawned over these guys.In a way The Mob displayed a condescending manner towards fighters regardless if they were once wearing title belts. The only exception was Marciano and that was because he was Italian and the heavyweight champ,and knocked out Joe Louis,He was right behind the Pope in popularity with those greaseballs in the poolroom and those fellas' that you had to kiss their ring.

The high end earners and Dons in the Mafia thought that fighters were ,to put it nicely,kinda' dumb.Why go into fighting and get hit in the head and wind up dead broke and punchy?Use your brains not your brawn.But if you run down the list of Who's Who in organized crime all those guys that thought they were so smart either went to jail or got whacked.I can say my father was one of the lucky ones in that respect. He never went to jail and died a natural death in the house.But living out here in San Diego he really missed The Life.He only went back once and that was for a week.When the Wise Guys came out West for something they'd always drop by the house.And 15 minutes later the FBI would knock on the door.

My father got to know the Special Agent in Charge For The FBI in San Diego quite well. The guy's name as Jack Armstrong(No.I didn't make that name up)They would meet for lunch somewhere(My father's code name was "Joe Brazil")My father would tell him about Al Capone,Frank Nitti,Paul Ricca,and of course his father ":Diamond Joe".My father kept Jack Armstrong fascinated.

That's all my father talked about.He lived in the past.His failure was that he should have written a book.But for him it was easier to sit down with someone over dish of spaghetti and a glass of wine and talk about it.


Sonny Liston guest of honor of the Krays

[dagosd2000]

Play It Again

The Hollywood theater was the last burlesque house in the U.S. Bob Johnston owned the place.it was on lower Market Street.Next door was Johnston's watering hole,The Sports Palace.At one time the neighborhood shined but I wasn't around then. Just a twinkle in dad's eye.I told you about the time my father took me inside the Sports Palace and we went in the back room and there was Johnston and Doc Kearns and I don't know why my father took me in there but they sat around telling stories of what it was like back when with Dempsey and Capone and I bet a lot of the scribes had been there to take notes and I just sat there trying to understand while everything flied over my head.This was back in the 50's sometime. Later, when I got to be of legal drinking age the Sports Palace was still there but standing on unsteady legs. That part of town was getting like the Bowery with winos and bums walking up and down the street.The Hollywood was still there too but the guy at the ticket window sat around most of the time bored to death.

I'd go inside The Sports Palace once in awhile. I never saw Bob Johnston in there and Doc Kearns was long dead by that time.If the winos and bums had any pocket change you could see then sitting at the bar nursing a glass of port across from those two pictures on the wall of Eisenhower and Rocky Marciano,and the one of Jim Londos the famous wrestler.

You could tell The Sports Palace had seen better days and it was coming to a time when it wasn't worth the effort to try to keep up appearances. But still in the corner was that old spinet with old Sam,if you could catch him at the right time,sitting at there keyboard making you think you were inside Ric's American Cafe in Casablanca. Sam played and he sang and you couldn't get Dooley Wilson out of your mind.Sam(if that was his real name but who cared)wore a derby hat cocked to the side and was always with the stub of a cigar in his mouth. He couldn't see without his Coke bottle thick glasses. His voiced growled but he never turned it harshl.He told me once that he grew up in Kansas City when Pendergast was running things and the clubs were open all night long and he would hang out in the alleys outside the all the joints and listen to Benny Moten's band and then when Moten died suddenly Count Basie took over.When Sam felt he had the technique and the nerve he got up on the bandstand one night and played the piano and never got the cymbal tossed at his feet. He knew he had arrived.

But the few that were left at the bar were getting fewer because their livers couldn't stand the pace anymore.As far as sitting around Sam's piano and joining in the sing it was like Sam was playing for himself,but he seemed happy anyways.Me being into that aura of cigarette smoke and slow turning ceiling fans always fell into line when Sam started playing.He knew every song that had came down from Tin Pan Alley and up the Mississippi,n and if you had asked him what the current top 40 was he'd have drawn a blank.

I'd ask him to play a few I could never get tired of and since that was in his line of work he had no difficulty finding the notes.He fingers were light on the keyboard and the music drifted echoey with the smoke accompanied by the ceiling fans that hummed along.Sam probably had a bloodline similar to a Satchel Page's.He never moved too fast and only sat down at that spinet when the spirit moved him,and that was usually after he was sponsored to a few shots of Old Taylor by some of the benevolent batrtender.Then he'd sidle to the piano and warm up fiddling with a few soft riffs before he got into something you knew.I always made sure that I was fortified by that time.

The Sports Palace,the Hollywood Theater;in fact the whole block is gone.I can't even remember when it went.Today, the neighborhood went through that gentrification process and morphed into cheesy overpriced condominiums.

Sometimes when I drive by I think of Sam at that piano with the cigarette burns on the handles waiting for him to start playing. One thing was standard-you didn't want to rush him.He played when he was ready.Now there's no use waiting around anymore.It's all gone.




I'm back at The Sports Palace

[dagosd2000]

Another Bar Another Town

When Mario the shoeshine boy at The Long Bar checked out on me before he could show me his scrapbook that had pictures of Jack Johnson and his bar in Tijuana I got to thinking about when Jack Johnson opened up a nightclub on the Southside Of Chicago.This was way back in 1912 when he was still the heavyweight champion of the world and on top of his game.But soon after opening the doors of his "Club de Champion Johnson's world began to unravel.

Now when my father used to bring us to visit his patron friends in The Outfit sometimes my nose was long enough to stick itself into something I wasn't meant to hear.Oh,I guess it wasn't so bad.I never heard anything about the need to do away with someone.One afternoon I heard the Wise Guys reminisce about the time the Jewish gamblers had fixed the Gans/McGovern fight with Old Bones going in the tank in the 2nd round.That was back around the turn of the century and the Italians were about 15 years away from flexing their muscle.

My grandfather,"Diamond Joe" ,also around that time had a bakery on the Southwest Side in Little Italy and would drive a dray around the city delivering fresh hot bread to his clientele. He was the first to do that.Later,him and Big Joe Colisimo would establish their clubs in the 9th Ward, and then when Prohibition started Johnny Torrio got them into the rackets and turned their joints into speakeasies.Homemade booze became the top priority.

Getting back to Johnson's Club de Champion.The dago Outfit guys certainly didn't hold Jack Johnson in very high esteem. In fact no one did.Even the blacks on the Southside were cool to Johnson because they felt he was apart from them.Running around with white women living the high life,chateaubriand on the menu,gilded French doors,and expensive champagne wasn't what the neighborhood identified with.

Johnson ,to get the upper crust and of Chicago along with plenty of white women to walk in, proclaimed his joint was a "Black and Tan" bistro meaning there was no color line at the door.Johnson's white wife at the time,Etta,ran the restaurant end;his brother Claude handled the entertainment.Johnson would put on revues and sit in with the band playing his bass fiddle.The shows were exotic types featuring blacks dressed up as Pharaohs or Zulu warriors.Though his club was in the blacks section of town not many blacks had the money nor the nerve to patronize The Club de Champion.The cops and the vice squads didn't leave Johnson alone busting him for anything that smelled like a crime. The straw that broke the camel's back was when his wife committed suicide in their apartment upstairs above the club.Her demise and the Mann Act proceedings against Johnson forced him to padlock The Club De Champion for good.There wasn't any civil rights demonstration outside wanting to acquit Johnson of anything that he didn't do wrong.

Afterwards,The Outfit ran numbers on Southside with a black gangster by the name of Eddie Jones collecting the money.Prior,Jones was heading up policy in that part of the city until The Outfit kidnapped him and convinced him to step down as boss.The Southside of Chicago didn't have the glamor of New York's Harlem.The dagos wouldn't allow it.Eddie Jones.Jack Johnson.They knew who the real bosses were.


Jack Johnson


Jack Johnson's club de Champion. Closed after 3 months

[goose 5]

Roger: did you see the fights between David Love and Marcos Geraldo ? What was your overall impression of David Love ?

[dagosd2000]

Roger: did you see the fights between David Love and Marcos Geraldo ? What was your overall impression of David Love ?

goose
I saw the first fight at the Coliseum.I remember it being a very exciting fight.They fought again right after that and Love won again by decision.I believe Love went to Kearny High School in San Diego. He had a lot of potential.He was tall and had a long reach,fast hands.He fought a lot in San Diego. What I picked up from him was that he sometimes lacked focus. He hot dogged it a little. He lost two fights at the Coliseum to an undefeated Renato Garcia.Very good fights but Garcia outgunned him. After those two consecutive defeats he dropped out of contention.However, he went back East and beat some tough Philly fighters who were in their twilights-Willie Monroe,Bobby Watts,and Benny Briscoe. Angelo Dundee I think was going to move in but then Love lost some fights he should have won.He still lives in San Diego and was running a gym near San Diego State University. I talked to him once when I went with a friend to the golf course in Chula Vista. A personable guy who could have been a contender,even a champ.

[dagosd2000]

Gaslight

I want to add some more to my post about Bob Johnston's Sports Palace.As you can see in the picture I posted it was in a building that was erected before the turn of the century. China Town was right up the street and it was an area long steeped in tradition .Like I said the last burlesque house was Johnston's Hollywood Theater.It was to left of that picture of The Sports Palace. I used to sneak in there when I was under age and watch the girls with their pasties and make the tassels on them swirl when they shook their titties. The girls would come out and strip walking up and down the long runway.They really knew how to take off their clothes getting down to their G-strings. There was a house band that played that "oompa' music with ample rim shots by the drummer. Eddie Ware,the house comedian,would come out looking like Pinky Lee and ham it up with one of the girls making with the wise cracks and cloudy jokes. Mostly it was sailors in there but at the end the place wasn't making money.Everybody began selling out and with it went the history and what charm was left. The developers razed everything and built cracker box overpriced condos and phony glitzy bars and restaurants.They renamed the area "The Gaslamp" No, it was a gas lamp district before they tore everything down.But tell that to whatever generation is paying 12 bucks for a sugary mixed drink at one of those bars and they'll think you're off your rocker.


Bob Johnston's Hollywood Theater


Gaslight
Life is built on memories.I've got a few.

[dagosd2000]

Lou Costello back stage at The Hollywood Theater.He got his start with Bud Abbot in burlesque

[dagosd2000]

The Greatest Nobody Knew

In the 1970's the very able sportswriter W.C. Heinze compiled a bunch of short biographical pieces of famous athletes and put into his anthology,"Once They Heard Cheers."Sugar Ray Robinson filled out one of the chapters.Heinz first got acquainted with Robinson in 1946 when he was the nonpareil of the welterweights though Uncle Mike Jacobs was bent on locking out him of a title shot because he said(according to Ray)that he would "kill the division. I got to have two or three guys fightin' for the title.You'd darken the class.I understand that.That's good business."
Whether Robinson understood what Jacobs told him he didn't reveal to Heinz.I guess he had to force it down.I think Jacobs had had enough of crossing the color line with Joe Louis.He was unbeatable wearing the crown for over ten years.The public was OK with that. Besides,Joe knew his place.He wasn't hard to deal with.You could skim off his purses and he didn't seem to know or care.He went along and wasn't another Jack Johnson.However,Robinson ,like Johnson,could rub people the wrong way.When a young Carmen Basilio went up to Robinson ,who was with his standard entourage, and wanted to introduce himself with his wife by his side,Robby gave him the brush off.Carmen never forgave him.

Robinson was the opposite of Joe Louis except when it came to prize fighting. His way was cunning one minute and then the next he could turn on the little boy charm.He kept you off balance like he would his opponents in the ring.Unlike Louis he danced to his own drummer.He had a manager,George Gainsford,but even George said that Robinson was the silent partner in the deal. Joe went into the Army during the war.Robinson didn't want to go but didn't want to face down the draft board or he'd be doing his fighting inside Leavenworth. But he finally went in ,but when his troop ship embarked for Europe he missed the boat.Fell down a flight of stairs claiming a bout with amnesia made him take a tumble. He squirmed his way out of the Army and even got a honorable discharge. by a split decision.

Heinz finally told Sugar Ray ,who referred to him as "Old Buddy",(Ray had a nickname for everyone and if you were "Old Buddy" that meant he wanted to keep his distance))that he wanted to do a bio but couldn't write a book on his life. Too many contradictions and stories that don't add up.When Heinz broke the news to Robinson all he had to say was veiled with his usual aloofness.
"That's all right Old Buddy.I understand."

Then in 1978 when Robinson had left his wife in 1965 for a new one and moved out to the West Coast ,Heinz decided that instead of the biography he could sift out enough truth if he could pin Robinson down long enough to squeeze him into a chapter of "Once They Heard The Cheers."

Robinson had lent his name to a youth club in Los Angeles that he called(you don't even have to guess with this)"The Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation."Of course this was just. an idea in his head.The footwork and the money weren't in his future plans to get this thing off the ground.But he was the great Sugar Ray and there were enough dedicated sorts that gave "The Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Organization" life. After it was built and operating Robinson stayed in the back,His only visibility was when he had to make a speech or two,.Then the charm would extract the money from the benevolent benefactors.


Ray Robinson has been called "The Greatest Pound For Pound Fighter" who ever lived.To a lot of the people who were not around then they'll balk at that description and come up with their own personal selection .or find something on Robinson to kick him to the curb.Go to just about any boxing forum and you'll find these misanthropes preaching from The Mount that Robinson doesn't qualify. But who takes them seriously except maybe their dog?

I saw Robinson a couple of times in San Diego. I was with my father once watching Luis Rodriguez in training at the Stardust Hotel in Mission Valley. Robinson was there and my father knew him back when Robinson was fighting and the Mob dairy,which at the time employed my father,(Can you believe Al Capone had a dairy?)Meadowmoor, wanted to use Robinson's name on some sort of drink for little kids.Well, Robinson wanted too much money and to tell the truth the Italian Wise Gays didn't care for Robinson because he was no Joe Louis who you could hoodwink at the blink of an eye and pick his pocket. Besides,Robinson was having his way beating up Italian pugs except for Jake(Thank God for Jake).

Well, you know the story if you've been reading my stuff about Robinson standing outside on the curb in front of the dairy and a car drives loaded with button men and start shooting.Robinson thinks the shots are aimed at him and drops to the canvas.Turns out they were shooting at some "rat" who was in proximity to the greatest P4P and now meat wagon had to be called.My father ran out to the street and told Robinson he could clean his underwear in the bathroom inside.Well, when they met up again in San Diego, Robinson recognized my father and of course the drive by was the topic of conversation.
Hey Joe Esposito.What are you doing here ,"said the smiling, charming Robby all aglow.
They embraced a short one and then my father said he was going to watch Rodriguez's fight in town.
"Still thinking about that time in front of the dairy when those guys drove by shooting?"asked my father knowing he could knock Robinson off balance a little.
"I thought they were shooting at me,"said Robinsin still smiling."Hell, I never crossed you guys."
They were laughing it off when just like that it was over.
"You going to the fight?"my father asked Robinson.
"No, I'm here on something else."
"Well,it was good seeing you again Sugar,"said my father.
"Good seeing you too Old Buddy,"said Robinson still smiling.


Sugar Ray Robinson

[dagosd2000]

In Like A Lion,Out Like A Lion

With Mike Jacobs suffering from the effects of a stoke in 1949 he relinquished his role in The 20th Century Boxing Club of promoting fights at Madison Square Garden and the other big venues east of the Mississippi transferring the decision making over to Jim Norris and his cronies at the corporate International Boxing Club.Behind the scenes the Mafia was also playing dirty poker. So you went from a guy like Uncle Mike who didn't want to "color the divisions" to a group that had no other choice but to cross the color line.

You think of all the black fighters that were waiting to break the dam to get a title shot and there was Mike Jacobs with his fingers in all the holes.But his health gave out and the dam broke.I think of all the black fighters who shoulda' would now begin to think they coulda'.Before Pearl Harbor most of the good black fighters fought each other.It seemed almost eternal,but Jacobs had kept the divisions lily white except for his black cash cow Joe Louis who dominated the heavyweights.

After two Atomic bombs on the Rising Sun, Japan raised the white flag and the boxing titles came out of the freezer.So what negroes were going to get the bone finally tossed at their feet?Before the war there was only Louis who you could walk down 125th Street in Harlem and call "champ." The old pioneers like Gans were long gone.So was Flowers.Henry Armstrong had his last fight before the war ended and by that time he was worn out.There was that coterie referred to as The Black Murderers Row:Moore,Charles, Bivins,Williams,Burley,Chase,Payne,Booker,and Marshall. Beau Jack,Jimmy Carter, and Ike Williams were the top lightweights waiting for Uncle Mike to remove his fingers.Jersey Joe Walcott maybe wasn't taken seriously but when he made life tough for Joe Louis he joined the pack.

So with all those above mentioned names(And I know I left out some other notables) Charles,Walcott,Moore,Willims,Beau,and Carter knew what it was like to be a world champion post WW II after Hirohito admitted that his s--t did indeed stink.

Think of today a black fighter being put on the back burner because of the color of his skin.Or back then if you had been a jailbird you might not get the big fights like Sonny Liston not knowing what it was like to fight ever in the Garden because the NY commission denied him a license to fight in the Empire State.It was still a time when a fighter had to "make it" in New York to pass inspection.Today, having served time adds credibility to one's fighting resume. It's a mark of distinction.

In the U.S., just about al the top fighters would qualify for affirmative action. In America. a good white fighter is as rare as a white buffalo.Across the Atlantic there's some good vanilla faces,but here in the good ol' USA I can't think of a reputable white fighter, if I was a promoter,to feature on Pay Per View.

I remember when Jerry Quarry was out there with all those great black fighters in the heavyweight division and he threw everything he had at them.He fared best with the black fighters who carried the bigger artlllery.:Shavers,Lyle,Foster.But he wasn't close to whipping Frazier,Ali,or Norton. George he didn't fight ,but then George has said that Quarry would have given him trouble.George was another one of those big hitters.

Then came along Tommy Morrison who looked like he might be the next Marciano.But Tommy was a hard guy to figure.I remember him once saying he would have taken Marciano apart because he thought Marciano was a midget sized heavyweight. Morrison easily handled George Foreman ,but then folded against Michael Bent.Lennox Lewis had Tommy on shaky legs before the first bell rang, and then after not winning round Tommy couldn't finish the 6th frame.If Morrison could get stopped by Michael Bent in the 1st round Marciano would have kept him from leaving the dressing room.

But now Tyson Fury has unfurled the White Hope flag and the Trumpsters hope he keeps the crown on his head for more than a cup of coffee.What I like about Fury is that you know the same guy is going to show up in the ring every time and let it all hang out. Quarry and Morrison couldn't beat themselves let alone establish themselves by beating the best.Fury doesn't have a mental glitch. He aint' afraid of nobody.He's a character.Tells the world jacking off is part of his training regimen and then gets in the ring and shoots his fistic load on his opponents.

Too bad Fury wasn't born in the Bronx.Mike Jacobs would have loved to have put him in there with Joe Louis. But Fury is a better fighter than Tommy Farr ever was ,and he got to fight Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.


Tyson Fury

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Whose Side Are You On?

It's getting to get a little touchy nowadays about why you would want a certain fighter(I'll use boxing for this) to win over his opponent. if you're a white fan and you're pulling for the white fighter to beat his opponent who happens to have a darker skin tone you better not be too enthusiastic about cheering him to win because you might be branded as a "white supremacist."Let's use the upcoming two fights with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua(or to say that I'm not prejudiced -Joshua against Fury putting Tony's name first) as an example. If you're a white guy and say that "I want Fury to win because I'm pulling for the white guy"then if Ocasio-Cortez or Omar get wind of this they'll get on the jnternet and proclaim this is another example of "white supremacy." "White supremacy" has become as ugly a word as saying "Nazi."And white supremacists are like Nazis,and they usually wear swastikas on their arms, grow those little Hitler mustaches above their lips,and have copy of "Mein Kampf" in their bookshelves.But I don't fathom the white guys who want Fury to win march a "goose step"when they get in line at the checkout counter.

But if you want Fury to beat Joshua because you're white ,and you want the white guy to win, does that make you a "white supremacist"?I want Fury to win because he is white and there's not that many good white fighters around anymore especially in the U.S. To me Joshua is a nice guy.I'm not saying that like he knows his place,He's a nice guy who's got manners.I'm not being patronizing.That's a fact. Fury is crazy and you wouldn't want your grandmother to listen to him in the same room,but I want Fury to beat Joshua anyway.

If a black person says he wants Joshua to win because he's black and he's pulling for the "brother" there's not much of a ruckus.It's understood.In fact if the black fan says he wants Fury to win then you want to hear his explanation and how many times he voted for Trump.

When I was working as a teacher down by the border I'd say the district it was around 80% Hispanic kids.Every school had their version of some kind of "Viva La Raza" group and there was no squawk. In fact the Mexican kids at the school where I worked picked me to be the advisor for their "Chicano Club." Now I aint' Hispanic but they knew that I knew about what it was like and we all had a good time with it.Then the few white kids at the school wanted to form a club that was similar to the DAR.Man ,was that put down in a hurry. Those kids were construed as being racists ,and if they weren't some of them I bet then went out and purchased a white sheet.

Ali was the most successful fighter that I saw who crossed that racial barrier. White guys wanted him to win when he fought their own unless it was the old diehard rednecks who were rapidly dropping over from hardening of the arteries.But Ali made a dent with a lot of those mammy jammers because you could tell that he had a twinkle in his eye when he got on his soapbox. Besides,he surrounded himself with white business managers,ingratiated himself with the press,had a white trainer,and would appear happy as a clam on a Dean Martin Roast.But Ali still represented the change in the culture.He wasn't Archie Moore who was with the past and couldn't move on. Ask a black kid today who was Archie Moore?And then ask him who was Muhammad Ali?I don't need to explain.

Mike Tyson would go off on some nerdy white scribe and call him a "little white faggot" and want to "kick his ass" and got away with it.Me ,being white,turned me off to the guy. Imagine if Tyson Fury(who can sure stir up a press conference)went on a rant at some meek black reporter and called him a" little n----r faggot"?He'd be banished by society. And he should be. But so should Mike Tyson.But in a sense Tyson's rants won more people over to his side. They vicariously wanted to be this cold blooded killer,but it was just wind and smoke.Tyson was trying to convince himself. I'll never stick up for that guy.Deep down inside he's a powder keg ready to go off.I wouldn't trust him.

Let's say we get in our Time Machines and do the "Mythical Matchup ." Mike Tyson against Ali. Both in their primes.Who do you think the white guys would want to win?


Muhammad Ali