Classic American West Coast Boxing

[chrisjs1985]

I look forward to tipping a beer with you, Rick and Chris in L.A. later this year.

And Eder Jofre and his family!

[dagosd2000]

I look forward to tipping a beer with you, Rick and Chris in L.A. later this year.

And Eder Jofre and his family!

Well,I'm back.Surgery took an hour.Rehab another hour.And then I was home.Can't wait to get to get together with my friends in LA and not have anxiety about walking back to my hotel room.

[dagosd2000]

The Glove Is Mightier Than The Pen

There was a time when a sports journalist like Haywood Broun,W.C. Heinze,Dan Parker,Jimmy Cannon ,or Frank DeFord(to use a few examples) would sit down to write a piece on boxing ,or to stretch it further maybe into a biography of a fighter,and you'd find it at the newsstand or in the bookstore.But then some fighters got wise and figured if THEY could write their story people would get the inside dope.My ass. First of all very few ,with the exception of Gene Tunney,could continually write common sentences that could swell up a book's girth. These autobiographies are put together with the mystery ghostwriter looking over the shoulder or having mic in hand listening to the ex pug go on about his life of hard knocks. The skeletons that are in the closets aren't seen,and if there is a mention, those bones described aren't so scary looking.No one wants to fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness.It takes an astute writer to wring out the truth,and everyone's truth is something that he doesn't necessarily want the world to know.

Mike Tyson's autobiography is an example of the world renown heavyweight champion knowing if he could get his story marketed the right way the mob would be breaking down the bookstore door or clicking onto Amazon with a frenzy.It worked. The people would rather hear it from Mike's mouth(when his lips move he's lying) than from some guy who went to Columbia and earned a degree in journalism and could write on his own.

I saw Tyson's book,"Undisputed Truth" in one of those book bins.You know,take a book out and put one back in.Well,I didn't have a book handy to put back in so grabbed Mike's book.There he is on the cover:his scowling face with the hammer and cycle tattoo adding to the evilness.Without even opening a page you're hooked, except for me.I started reading the first page.Usually,it's something to grab the reader.It went something like this.

Before going to prison Mike decided to break out his little black book and look up all his girl friends and f--k them one last time before he started f--king his hand in jail.Well,back in the 'ol book bin went Tyson's effort(or somebody's).It was against my principles to not finish a book I started, but I figured Tyson doesn't have many principles anyway so I didn't go to Confession.

Well, you can't swing a dead cat without finding a copy of "Undisputed Truth" to purchase in some way or manner.But the mob thinks because the guy wrote it you're going to find out something only he knows.Like how he f--ked all his girlfriends before he went to prison.Just think "he" could write some more books and "fight" Holyfield again and make more money than the dude with the sheepskin from Columbia who will never roll in the sack with one of Mike's bitches.


Mike Tyson.Undisputably the biggest fraud in boxing.

[goose 5]

Isn't that the book in which Tyson wildly exaggerates the physical damage he did to allegedly ? Not that he couldn't but his account is pure bull.

[dagosd2000]

Isn't that the book in which Tyson wildly exaggerates the physical damage he did to allegedly ? Not that he couldn't but his account is pure bull.

Goose
The more "Bull" the more his lap dogs swallow hook ,line,and sinker.

[dagosd2000]

The Visitor Pass

Vic Gerardi had his health food store out front on Newport Street in Ocean Beach and in the back he converted the wood garage in to a gym for weightlifters.Bud Keith had his gym across the jetty in Mission Beach Right across the street from Belmont Park where the last wooden rollercoaster in the United States was located..I'd go there once in awhile but his gym was for the most part empty. You could only find parking in the street and around that area that was a suffering challenge.Bud would come into Vic's store to buy vitamins and chew the fat mostly about what women in the neighborhood were most likely to jump in the sack at the blink of an eye or a late Mexican meal at Natis down the street.Bud eventually sold his gym to one of the Mission Beach locals who was also a fighter once in a town that was more there for amusement than to make a good fight.

The guy Bud sold the gym to was an ex pug named Ski Goldstein,a ham and egg fighter with talent even if fulfilled wouldn't have filled any arena,Found out that wasn't his real name,Goldtein. He was born some sort of Bohunk ,but figured if he gave himself a Jewish name he'd build up a big Jewish following the the Southland.I don't know what he was smoking but he would have had a better chance renaming himself Gonzalez because in out here it's nothing to match all the Jews that live in New York City for example.Goldstein resembled a Chuck Wepner,a tall rugged type,white skinned like he had never gone to the beach or if he did for some reason didn't want to take his shirt off.Compared to Wepner, Chuck was a ballet dancer.Goldstein was a good 6 foot but his weight hung on him sloppy and to justify that Goldstein had a phobia for any serious training.You could see him on the boardwalk and in all the beer joints on Mission Boulevard,or dumping ice water on the chicks who had untied their bra straps lying face down on their towels at the beach.When the annual Over The Line Tournament would be held in South Mission, Ski would have his hand picked team of rummies out there.They'd always draw a crowd but I never saw them win a game.

One morning I was scanning the local sport page and there was a paragraph about how Ski Goldstein had found this kid in the Navy who wanted to be a fighter and Ski had taken him under his wing.The kid was from Iowa and had never seen an ocean before so that's why he joined the Navy.Goldstein had fought a lot in San Diego and was beginning to breathe some when his lifestyle began beating him down to your typical set up stiff.The kid Goldstein had was still in the amateurs and said when he got out of the Navy he was going to turn pro. So far he hadn't lost a fight in two tries.Goldstein was telling everyone that the kid was the real article and when he'd turn pro he could beat "Quarry."I saw the kid spar one day and he showed nothing.Goldstein was looking out the window at the girls in bikinis.The fight was on for Tuesday night and I wasn't thinkin' about going but then a couple of my surfer pals of mine wanted to go but they had never been to the fights so they wanted me to take them.I knew they'd be broke because all they wanted to do is surf all day instead of working a 9 to 5 shift.

We got to the old Coliseum early because they had no parking lot but the neighborhood was going down fast and there were just seedy apartments left anymore and just a few liquor stores and Mexican taco shops still giving out ptomaine poisoning.Since my surfer pals were broke they didn't squawk about sitting in the bleachers for 2 bucks.They weren't bad seats anyway because all the seats were like on top of the ring.

Goldstein's boy came out of the dressing room first wearing a towel and crinkly white trunks that were too small for him. His shoes looked like something he had borrowed from Sam Langford.I couldn't tell if he had worked up sweat in the dressing room because he kept a towel around his head and wouldn't look up. He was fidgeting around because I think he knew he'd be up first on the card.Goldstein was doing nothing for him in the meantime.He went over to the rosin box and began scuffing up his shoes. I thought he better be careful because there wasn't much sole on the pair he was wearin'.His opponent then started his entrance and in physical resemblance they looked even.except the guy was black. There wasn't much of a crowd I could tell would be many more by the end. Maybe there were 50 people spread around.I couldn't tell you who fought the main event that night except the fights were all pretty slow. I was only there because the beach boys wanted to see their first boxing match.

Local ref Frink Rustich brought the two together for instructions and Goldstein's boy still had on the robe. He goes back to his corner waiting for the bell fidgeting still waiting for the bell and Goldstein takes off the robe.The kid is drier than sand.The bell rings and both boys move to the center looking like Frankenstein monsters but not making anyone take to the hills.They stare at each other not wanting to stir up any trouble by throwing a punch.This went on for a couple of minutes. It was so tiring to watch that even the boo birds were quiet.Near the ten second bell Golstein's kid decides to try do something. He winds up a slow left hoof but in the process drops his righthand, The black guy parried the hook and then they went into a clinch.Rustich separates the two and Goldstein's boy tries the left again but this time the black fighter beats him to the punch and counters with a left of his own catching the kid flush on the jaw.Rustich could have counted him out with calendar.

After that we didn't stick around much longer.The beach boys got in on my dime so they had not much to say.I just wanted o go home.Shortly after that fight, I was at Belmont Park eyeing the ladies on a hot day when this black dude approaches me looking dead serious.
"Hey man can you do me a favor?Me and my buddy are right now AWOL because we didn't check back in to the base this morning. I'll give you ten bucks if you can drive us to the gate."
"Where's your friend now?"I asked.
"He's passed out in the head but I can get him up and to you car."
He sounded pretty serious so I didn't hedge.Besides, it sounded like quick a way to get a saw buck.The black dude goes into the bathroom and drags his friend out,,He's still pretty much passed out and has puke al over is shirt.
Will ,'said the black dude."You gotta' try and get up.This guy will take us to the gate but yo gotta' try and get up."
I jumped in to help but all this time the black dude was still focused on his friend.While we were spilling him into the backseat I noticed a familar face.it was Ski Goldstein's protege that would one day beat "Quarry." After seeing him crash at the Coliseum I presume Goldstein was referring to Jerry Quarry's mother.I drove to the gate the black dude wanted me to go to and we stop. This swabbie in his whites wearing a steel helmet comes out of his shack and begins to look inside my car.That was the black dude's cue.
"Slap a VP on this mother f--ker and let us through,"he shouted at the top of his lungs.
The swabbie then slipped a visitor pass under my windshield and turned his back. We got to the barracks that the black dude pointed to and I stopped at the door.The black dude ran inside and got a couple of guys to help.
"What happened to Will,"asked one of them.
"He was out last night with that asshole trainer of his and they got drunk at The Beachcomer and challenged everyone inside to a fight.By the time I got there the cops had Goldstein in the car and were about to cuff Will but I told them we were in the Navy and I'd let the MPs handle it. They seemed like they didn't care."
All this time the black dude still had me on his pay no mind list. He then threw the ten on the passenger's seat and never even said good by.

As I was diving back I got to thinking about this kid in the Navy who wanted to see an ocean and got his ass kicked in the ring.And about Ski Goldstein who could never take anything too serious.To him taking things serious took the fun out of everything.

[goose 5]

Sorry. I meant to reference Tyson's statements regarding his assault of allegedly.

[goose 5]

I'll try this for a third time-my posts keep getting cut off. Tyson was making reference to his assault of allegedly in the book.

[goose 5]

I give up-I keep getting cut off when I try to post.

[dagosd2000]

I give up-I keep getting cut off when I try to post.

I had that problem earlier today.Try hitting "preview" every 20 seconds or so before continuing.

[Chuck1052]

I am glad that you appear to be doing well at the present time, Roger.

- Chuck Johnston

[dagosd2000]

I am glad that you appear to be doing well at the present time, Roger.

- Chuck Johnston

Thanks Chuck.Really appreciate that. I went in for my second hip replacement(left hip) yesterday at 5:30 Am. Prepped me until 7:30 then I was wheeled into the operating room. Gave me the spinal and was out for an hour and 20 minutes doing the surgery so they said.They brought me out of it at 8:50 and wheeled me to recovery where I started to get it together until they felt I was ready to go home. The PT team came in and walked me around with a walker. After 20 minutes they gave me the green light.I ate a light lunch. Nurse read over my discharge papers.My son then came to take me home. I arrived back by 12:30 PM.

The first time when they replaced the right one I followed their directions for the meds that they prescribed for me. In about two weeks I was walking tentatively without a cane or the walker. But in the process what was left of the left hip became destroyed.So two weeks prior to yesterday's surgery I was back with cane and walker trying to save what was left of the left hip. This morning I felt great .No pain except where they made the incision. The therapist came over in the morning.She said it was the quickest recovery she had ever seen. i'm not on any meds and can walk tentatively without any walking aids. In two weeks I get the staples out.

The docs were amazed at the severity of damage to both hips. They said that they never saw such a mess before.
"You must have a high pain tolerance,"I'd always hear.
"Yes.That's because I was afraid to go under the knife. I was afraid something bad was going to happen.But it got to the point I couldn't go on living like I was unable to walk and in constant pain..I was a cripple during the last year. But when I finally conceded for them to cut on me was in the middle of Covid and all hip surgeries were on the back burner.Ths was in late July.I was really starting to go downhill fast.

But now it's over. All I can say is that I should have had this done 7 years ago. But there's nothing I can do about that. The positive is that I hope I'm a better person today than I was before. The pain and disability has taught me a lesson. Brought me to my knees and and with the pain gone so goes with it the anger.

Justto say something before I finish. Prescribed meds and even over the counter are very strong and also very toxic even taken according to the doctors orders. Also trhet van become habit forming to the point of causing an addiction. there are natural remedies that the FDA is against and the HMOs will never precsribe or even suggest.

CBD oil,Kratom,turmeric,dried cranberries,Alpha Lipoic acid,Co Enzyme Q 10,Calicium ,magnesium, and zinc are crucial to my diet regimen. I don't drink any more.My system is so clean that I don't have a tolerance for it anymore. Alcohol is just plain poison. I hardly eat refined sugar.Another poison .I haven't had a cold or the flu in 25 years. My wife takes the same stuff I do and she hasn't been in bed because of illness like me in over 25 years.We are both in our mid 70's and we are not on any drugs.When the do blood tests on us they come out normal.

My problems with my hips were caused by me jogging on the pavement for over 40 years.My wifeis pain freefrom everything. Now,after I've finally turning the corner with pain I was suffering with my hips the only pain I have now is hunger pains.



It's A Good Day

[dagosd2000]

I Stand Corrected

So I stand corrected about my educated guess about Chris James' age. I made a comment about his book and how I enjoyed it so much and how professional was his successful attempt.I was talking about how the man on the street today doesn't have much of a framework about history. You pick the category.It's like that adage that goes something like if you don't remember history we'll keep on going making the same mistakes.But 99% of history goes so far back that only thing still around is the dirt. So you have to read about it. There's some good documentaries out there but you find the best stuff in books. And then you have to read both sides. it's time consuming but it's more interesting than drifting off on fiction. Read too much fiction and you'll walk around like a pretentious starving actor.I like it when I'll say to someone , for example, that I read a good book about D Day and I'll get the standard.
"Yeah,I saw the movie."
Everyone is walking around in rehearsal mode for a part in a movie.If they see it in a movie it's more real for some reason.

Getting back to my guesstimit about Chris' age I ballparked him to be around 20 years younger than me so that puts him a few years away from drawing Social Security. Well he responded to my post and started off saying he's 35.I guess I gave him a compliment saying he was nearer 55 because he carried himself through his book like he'd done that before.

For starters don't change your style. You got to have a style.You can't help but have one. But you also have to know what you're talking about.Some writers,and some that are notable,don't put the two together. They think they can get away with it because of the "way" they write. Their style of writing ,they think, can get more attention than their content. No. The reality was the really great ones do both.

Hemingway when he was on was great but too often he leaned on his style to get him through. He rushed things,You could tell he was lazy;his gin bottle was showing.If you read all his stuff it's mostly just "stuff" for the use of a metaphor.But he can turn on the swagger and put in some stories about hunting and fishing and what bar had the best anisette. He can talk about his second hand war stories and put himself in them somehow but he'll tell yo he was s---ting in his pants.

Oh when he was on he could nail it,but when he was faking it all he hit was his thumb.Writers get caught up with themselves.If some critic gives them a rave then the reader will go out and buy the book. Things start breaking. The ball gets rolling, then everything starts coming in.The fame and the money are the mantra.. It becomes taken for granted.He wants people to idolize him.

But you can't stay on top forever. The next book doesn't pan out as well. Now the seeds of doubt have been planted. Does he need to change something.?Work harder? Or can I make it easy on myself and come up with a gimmick Picasso did. Coltrane did.So did Fellini. Hemingway started going that way. His Old Man And The Sea saved him a bit but it wasn't as good as the efforts he was making when he was a lot younger.Somehow they thought he deserved the Nobel Prize.

You see these documentaries about people who have unknowingly bought forged art. They think they bought a Rembrandt and it turns out they bought a forgery painted by some Filippino who lives on the wrong sides of the tracks in Manila. But at first wasn't the buyer satisfied? Did he buy it because the painting he thought was great ,or because Rembrandt he thought painted it?Then he outbids everyone else and pays 20 million and everybody in Christies gives him a standing ovation.Was it far the 20 mil or was it because he had what he thought was a Rembrandt? He must have thought the painting was great,but now he doesn't because he found out the local lumpia vendor painted what he has hanging above the fireplace and now wants his money back.

Getting back to you Chris. Keep doing what you're doing. You have it. Don't fall into the trap. One day you'll get to where you want to go. But don't let it go to your head.You have the style and the knowledge and the passion. Only thing I can tell you is before you get the next book published let me go over the title with you.


Even the great Hitch was trying to pull fast ones at the end.

[scartissue]

I am glad that you appear to be doing well at the present time, Roger.

- Chuck Johnston

Thanks Chuck.Really appreciate that. I went in for my second hip replacement(left hip) yesterday at 5:30 Am. Prepped me until 7:30 then I was wheeled into the operating room. Gave me the spinal and was out for an hour and 20 minutes doing the surgery so they said.They brought me out of it at 8:50 and wheeled me to recovery where I started to get it together until they felt I was ready to go home. The PT team came in and walked me around with a walker. After 20 minutes they gave me the green light.I ate a light lunch. Nurse read over my discharge papers.My son then came to take me home. I arrived back by 12:30 PM.

The first time when they replaced the right one I followed their directions for the meds that they prescribed for me. In about two weeks I was walking tentatively without a cane or the walker. But in the process what was left of the left hip became destroyed.So two weeks prior to yesterday's surgery I was back with cane and walker trying to save what was left of the left hip. This morning I felt great .No pain except where they made the incision. The therapist came over in the morning.She said it was the quickest recovery she had ever seen. i'm not on any meds and can walk tentatively without any walking aids. In two weeks I get the staples out.

The docs were amazed at the severity of damage to both hips. They said that they never saw such a mess before.
"You must have a high pain tolerance,"I'd always hear.
"Yes.That's because I was afraid to go under the knife. I was afraid something bad was going to happen.But it got to the point I couldn't go on living like I was unable to walk and in constant pain..I was a cripple during the last year. But when I finally conceded for them to cut on me was in the middle of Covid and all hip surgeries were on the back burner.Ths was in late July.I was really starting to go downhill fast.

But now it's over. All I can say is that I should have had this done 7 years ago. But there's nothing I can do about that. The positive is that I hope I'm a better person today than I was before. The pain and disability has taught me a lesson. Brought me to my knees and and with the pain gone so goes with it the anger.

Justto say something before I finish. Prescribed meds and even over the counter are very strong and also very toxic even taken according to the doctors orders. Also trhet van become habit forming to the point of causing an addiction. there are natural remedies that the FDA is against and the HMOs will never precsribe or even suggest.

CBD oil,Kratom,turmeric,dried cranberries,Alpha Lipoic acid,Co Enzyme Q 10,Calicium ,magnesium, and zinc are crucial to my diet regimen. I don't drink any more.My system is so clean that I don't have a tolerance for it anymore. Alcohol is just plain poison. I hardly eat refined sugar.Another poison .I haven't had a cold or the flu in 25 years. My wife takes the same stuff I do and she hasn't been in bed because of illness like me in over 25 years.We are both in our mid 70's and we are not on any drugs.When the do blood tests on us they come out normal.

My problems with my hips were caused by me jogging on the pavement for over 40 years.My wifeis pain freefrom everything. Now,after I've finally turning the corner with pain I was suffering with my hips the only pain I have now is hunger pains.

It's A Good Day

Damn it, dude, that was a fast bounce-back. If I see you turning a cartwheel in October, we're going to have to bottle whatever is coursing through your veins.

[dagosd2000]

Dan
Still can't believe it. So far no meds.No painkillers.Walking the next day.Climbing stairs.Driving the car.And to think I waited so long to have this done because I was thinking worse case scenario.The therapist dropped by today and said she never saw so fast of a recovery.Shame on me.

[dagosd2000]

Boom

I was looking for a picture of Ray Mancini on the internet so I could work up a painting of him,but all the head shots of him he's smiling eat to ear.That's nice that he's smiling because you like to see a guy happy,but I was looking for a more serious mode. There was a candid shot of him in his corner with his face all busted up and he's got this thousand mile stare.It must have been one of the fights he lost but it was an interesting demeanor. so I went for it.

The first time I saw Ray Mancini in person was kind of by accident. I think Mancini hadn't hung 'em up yet but his career at that time was going south .After Bramble beat him up twice you could stick the fork in him.

There used to be this sports card shop down the hill from my place on the corner.I was in there one day and the place was pretty empty. I knew the owner and he was getting antsy because the sports memorabilia craze was dying out. The market was overinflated and with all the bogus stuff out there and then these guys llke McGwire and Sosa getting involved with PEDs you could see the handwriting on the wall.I was thumbing through the bins seeing if I could stumble upon a Holy Grail like a Babe Ruth rookie card but these guys that had these shops never had anything like that unless it was a forgery. I remember one time the owner of one of these shops comes out of the back room with a shiny baseball and sets it down on the counter.
"I think you'll like this," he said turning the ball's signature facing me."It's a Babe Ruth signed ball."
Right away I could see this was a real joke. The signature looked like it hadn't even dried yet and the ball had a trademark with a date that read 1984. Ruth died in 1947.
"What are you asking for it?"I said wanting him to think he had me hooked.
"7 thousand,"he answered kind of sheepishly.
I told him I'd think about it. Two weeks later I read in the papers that he got busted along with a lot of other card shops for selling phony memorabila,mostly autographed balls. The balls came with one of those Certificates Of Authenticity and the guy's name on the certificate was "DiMaggio."Turned out this DiMaggio was his real name but ne was no relation to the Yankee Clipper.He owned a pizza parlor in Escondido.

Anyway I'm moseying around this guy's shop going through the bins looking for the something really rare that he's going to sell to me for a song when he comes up behind me.
"You'll never guess who's coming in this afternoon to sign autographs,"he said."Ray Mancini."
"That should be good ,"I said. "But I don't see any signs in the store saying he's gonna' be here."
"It was a last minute deal. He called me up at the airport and said he'd drop by before he had to do something else."

Well, I came back and sure enough there was Ray Mancini by himself standing in the store wearing a yellow pastel knit shirt,pressed slacks,and smiling ear to ear. He had his hands in his pockets just standing there because besides me and the owner and Mancini that was it.It was quiet as hell in there and I didn't stay around to long. The owner took Mancini in the back room so I went out the door.

The second time I saw Ray Mancini was at a Father/Son boxing banquet at Steven's Steakhouse up in LA.I think the year was 2007. Art Aragon was there with his son Audie. Sugar Shane Mosely had his dad,Jack, at his side.Mando Ramos was sitting with his dad and ex drinking buddy,Ray.Frank Baltazar had his three boxing sons,Frankie,Tony,and Bobby at his table with rest of his family.In addition I saw Little Red Lopez,Bobby Chacon in his eternal trick or that mode,and Ray Mancini. He was with a friend of his who was trying to work Mancini into the motion picture business as an actor.

The atmosphere was really loose. it wasn't a big gala event with a lot of press or high end fighters showing up. You know I think of the guys that I just mentioned and they were all world champs at one time. But because they never tipped the scales at over lightweight they all looked kind of small and average. Then adding on the years they didn't look very intimidating. The only guy who got big was Mando Ramos. He must have been well over 250.

Fighters, like I've said often , are the most approachable of all the athletes. I mingled with them without seeing any one of them looking like they wanted to be somewhere else. Then a group gathered together for a picture.I think they had all fought each other at one time or another. They were like little kids goofing around with Bobby in the middle making sure no one was acting like a grown up. I don't know who was taking the shot but Mancini was in the back and was trying to get in front,but Mando's girth prevented that move.

Boy,that Ray Mancini is a good guy.When that ass hole Bramble started calling him a "murderer" for what happened in the Kim fight the commission should have had his license pulled.Mancini looked the other way because he's got class but then that voodoo child did a number on him.

But that's part of the fight game. There's no forgiveness. Not only can the actions be cruel but so can the rhetoric.I never saw a cruel side of Ray Mancini.


Mancini at the end


Romper Room

[dagosd2000]

Safe Haven

There was a question regarding Bruno Arcari and if he qualifies for a spot in the IBHOF. Dan Hanley said "no" and me and Dan are on the same page with a lot of the past "champions" who holed themselves up fighting just about all the time in their own country against a bunch of no names and then to go on building up these fantastic records that stand on feet of clay.Arcari is one of those fighters. He was a big fish in a small Italian pond fighting mostly washed up old American fighters or the local gondola steerer. Two others that come to mind were Pedro Carrasco,the Spaniard, and Nicolino Loche from Argentina.Before I go on Jose Napoles was trying to serenade Arcari into defending his flimsy super lightweight title but even Arcari would know he'd need more than the local paisans in the arena if he was to beat Mantequilla.

I can't believe the fan base these three had.Didn't their lap dogs want to see them challenge the big boys?How about the scribes?Didn't they dare these guys to test their Latino macho reps in the ring? (forget leaving their safe havens) The rest of the world knew who were the best. To tell you the truth these three made me sick.I'll tell you another one who got all wrapped up into himself beating the cadavers they threw in front of him?Benvenuti.You would have thought his three set series with Griffith would have solidified his position and confidence but he got on his bicycle and swerved around the guys he should have been fighting instead he went back ordering ham and eggs from the menu until an old Dick Tiger beat him wide.Then he thought he'd fight this guy from Argentina who had built his rep similar to his and ambush him in Bella Roma. I'll say this, Nino traded with Carlos toe to toe and it was a case of who would blink first. Benevenuti would find himself on all fours trying to flutter the cobwebs out of his head at the end broken for good. The rematch was a travesty.

I guess these guys that play hide and seek live in a bubble that becomes that safe haven. Little risk. Fame and fortune.But outside their countries they couldn't draw flies. Got to give a little credit to Monzon. He was tough and though he wanted it his way fighting in Argentina he finished on top. The one knock I have with him he just missed out fighting the 4 Kings.But there was nothing he could do about that. The middleweight division wasn't that deep. You had a balding Emil Griffith trying to move up. Jose Napoles trained for a 5 round fight.Denny Moyer,Tom Bogs,Fraser Scott. Not much interest there. The Garden put up Tony Licata ,and he was the best on the east coast?Lousy fight.

You know the three I mentioned,Carrasco,Arcari,and Loche,all manifested themselves into home grown celebrities.Matinee idols. Starring in their own soap operas(novellas).Marrying the hottest chicks on the stage and screen.I think I missed out.If I had won the Super Lotto when I was still in my prime I would have bought some tiny island in the Caribbean and made it my country and beat up all the men and be the Pied Piper of the Western Hemisphere. I'd be smart enough not to step one foot outside though because if I did my foot would be stepping in s--t.


Dick Tiger

[dagosd2000]

Common Practice

When James Kinchen was telling me about when he fought at the Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana the dressing room was one large staging area where all the fighters got ready for their upcoming bouts. One common practice according to Kinchen was that ALL the fighters doctored their hand wraps. He said most of the fighters would soak a hand towel in water then douse it with plaster of Paris and then cover it with more tape. James said that he followed suit.

I know when it comes to any sport that you can bet on in Tijuana everyone is looking for an edge. My uncle Joe was a full on gambling degenerate.Had some side jobs like tending bar and standing at the door checking IDs but his main source of income was making book and gambling on sports.Remember that movie "The Sting?"Well,my uncle Joe and his pal Joe Peters ,who used to ride the nags at Caliente before they caught him with one of those electronic buzzers that he would zap the horses with down the stretch,pulled a fix job at the Caliente track one Sunday afternoon. The track had a 6 race parlay called the "5-!0".YoU bet the winners on the races 5 through 10 and if you got them all right you won the jackpot. Usually,depending on the odds,somewhere between 10 and 50 grand. Oh,a lot of the Hollywood celebrities would come down from LA and bet the "5-10".California horse racing laws prohibited that kind of bet.Anyways my uncle Joe and his ex jockey sidekick somehow snuck a telephone into the track.Back then that was a no no to have a phone or even have a phonebooth inside the track.But just like in the movie they had worked a deal with the Western Union guy who would telegraph the races in progress. If there was a nag out front let's say 5 lengths running down the stretch he'd delay the call until my uncle would go to the window and place his bet.Well,that afternoon everything went off without a hitch and my uncle and his friend cashed in a ticket worth over 20 g's.With his share my uncle opened up a produce market in the east county and he knew enough about carrots and peas as I know about how to perform brain surgery. But it was all a front.In the back room my uncle went about his trade of making book.

Jai Alai was another crooked enterprise. Jai Alai is like playing handball except the players use a basket(called a cesta)that's tied to their hands to slap the little hard ball around. Talk about a rigged game.You got human beings going out there and they can speak words and understand them like "you ain't supposed to win tonight."

After the nags would run at the track they started up the dog races. There wasn't much time between the races and I liked that better but that didn't mean that those dogs could be messed with.In the kennels in the back before the races they'd throw live puppies in with the greyhounds and they'd attack and eat them to get the them in the proper mood.

All in all between the horses and the dogs there was plenty of glue made from those critters after their running careers were over.

And I almost forgot to mention the "Palenque' where the gamecocks fought it out with the blades(called Puases) were tied to their talons.You'd stand along the rail and bet with someone else about which chicken wouldn't wind up on the dinner plate the next day.I never was into the "Palenque." Everyone is drunk and you don't know who's got a gun or doesn't want to pay off after his bird lies in the dust bleeding to death.My brother in law in Michoacan got in a beef with some dude who welshed on a bet. Well,my brother in law squawked to the police and the next day they found him in a ditch with his throat cut ear to ear.

You know when you're around stuff like I just mentioned you get to believe it's accepted.Common practice. The rules are out there for the highest bidder to use them for the way he wants.


Jai Alai in Tijuana

[dagosd2000]

I Want The Pay But I Don't Want To Play

I'll say this about boxing :a fighter doesn't get paid unless he fights. But sometimes I watch some of these fights and they build it up to be this mega important fight and then the guy on the losing end stinks up the joint.He just wants to collect his money and run.

I was flipping the channels the other day and i came across the LA Laker game and here's Lebron standing on this cushion balancing himself trying to rehab his "high ankle sprain."He's out there for all the world to see as the game goes up and down the court. I guess LeBron hasn't been in a game this month. "High ankle sprain?"All these soft tissue injuries have half these NBA prima donnas on the IR. The other day Kevin Durant sprained his ankle. These guys want the money but they don't want to push themselves. When the playoffs come around they'll be ready but in the meantime they stand on cushions and ride exercise bikes on the sidelines to justify their non participation. These overpaid head cases better get it together in the playoffs but I look at it as they haven't made the sacrifice. There's going to be some "hungry" team out there that's going to knock them off. So during the series you'll see these super stars back on the sidelines showing the world that "yeah,I told you I was hurt."

With the limited fan support in the arenas due to Covid the spirit is evaporating from these sports. You pay top dollar now because seating is limited and then you see the star player on the sidelines rehabbing his "high ankle sprain."I can't think of a better way to kill off the game. The NBA is hurting and I have no sympathy.

Football is following suit. Same thing: everyone is injured and they sit it out hoping that the team makes the playoffs without them.They pump the phony crowd noise into your TV set and the announcers try to keep up appearances but it's getting to the point that people are finding other things to do than watch these million dollar no shows try to run the end around our intelligence.

Boxing is different though. You don't see guys pulling out of fights once the ink dries.The problem however is that they don't get the best matchups like the public deserves to see. Too many fighters with inflated records are matched with the name guy and they hype it up to be the fight of the decade and when it's over after paying for the PPV you wished you'd gone to the local massage parlor and got a happier ending.

Before I wind this up I will never be sold on this UFC.It's too awkward,slow,unrefined,sloppy.It's a chicken s--t way to fight and I don't see nothing in it. Don't get me wrong. These guys are tough but it's the aesthetics that are lacking.I wonder how many ex fighters still keep up with boxing?Most I've talked to don't follow it anymore. They ask me questions like I'm an authority. it's kind of embarrassing..

So you'll have to swallow it. Boxing will play second fiddle to this Mixed Martial Arts stuff. They say sports is entertainment. If that's entertainment they should have a policy that if it doesn't live up to expectations you should get your money back.Fat chance.


Harry Greb.
How many high ankle sprains made him pull out of a fight?

[chrisjs1985]

Roger, I'd have to agree on Arcari. A great on paper record, and admirably retired as champion with a high number of title defenses. I can see why someone would look at the stats and say "why not" but also has to be noted the 140-title wasn't as prestigious in those days, so I think you truly have to distinguish yourself as a special one to truly be great. As you said, he simply didn't leave home often enough. I think one relatively soft defense in Denmark is it. This isn't Brian Mitchell fighting all of his defenses on the road, risking bogus decisions, and also beating a fellow title holder at the end of his reign.

A lot of great paper records from that time in Europe, particularly Spain and Italy. Their federations were definitely cozy with one another back then and had a big influence over the EBU. I think a more worthy HOF candidate than Arcari was Jose Legra. Legra had the stats, but he also proved by giving Jofre and Saldivar tough fights, defeating Winstone (an outstanding fighter) and Sanchez in their homeland's for the title, and in really getting the short end of a bad one vs. Famechon, that his caliber was excellent. His European championship record was superb and he was in a strong featherweight division. In fact now that I think of it, I believe Winstone and Famechon have better HOF cases than does Arcari.

He was clearly excellent. But not every excellent fighter needs to be HOF.

[dagosd2000]

I Almost Died

On April 14th I had my second hip replacement surgery.I was sent home the same day.The next day the physical therapist came over to check on me. She tested my vitals and everything was OK.Last Wednesday on the 21st the therapist came over to remove the bandages. Again she tested my vitals. My pulse rate was off the charts.She asked me if I felt all right.I told her I felt fine. She checked my pulse again and again it was 140 beats a minute with an irregular rhythm.She then phoned the doctor and he said that I needed to go to the ER for an EKG. My son Ramon drove me down and i was admitted. Again the irregular beat and the rapid pulse. I was admitted to the hospital for testing.They said that I had a traumatic reaction to the second surgery. They gave me meds and monitored my progress during the night but they couldn't get the rate down.. They gave me some ultra sound tests and found a clot on my leg and in my chest..They switched meds and during the second night I stabilized.This morning I was released with my meds and with future appointments to see the doctor.

While lying in bed at the hospital I had nothing much to to do but watch television.There was a segment of Mike Tyson's future possible fight with Evander Holyfield on ESPN. I was looking at Tyson and he was all full of himself talking about how he missed fighting and that fighting was his life and that he was better than ever.The scribes around him were practically on their knees sucking all this in.

I got to thinking .Tyson wouldn't still be around if the public didn't fall for this guy's BS. I said to myself if you asked the typical American male would you rather be the baddest ass on the planet or a doctor which would you choose. I think the response would be the baddest ass on the planet regardless of how you put yourself out to the public.Being able to kick every man's ass on the face of the earth would be the ultimate act of proving one's manhood.

You see you, choose to enact a life of your calling but the value of that endeavor is to pass positivity to others on you journey.If you choose to be an asshole your role is a fraud. Mike Tyson is a fraud. He's an insult to the human race but he knows he has a following of acolytes that hero worship him. They wish they could be him. He's front page news and he gloats in it. But it is his cult that perpetuates the myth.

Mike Tyson will never save my life or anyone's elses. He just wants to be looked at as the baddest ass on the planet and irresistible to women.Go ahead Mike.Kick everyone's ass. Call some nerdy reporter a faggot.Make your lapdogs salivate. In the meantime you can go to hell.



Look up "asshole" in the dictionary.You should see this guy's face.

[f read]

I Almost Died

On April 14th I had my second hip replacement surgery.I was sent home the same day.The next day the physical therapist came over to check on me. She tested my vitals and everything was OK.Last Wednesday on the 21st the therapist came over to remove the bandages. Again she tested my vitals. My pulse rate was off the charts.She asked me if I felt all right.I told her I felt fine. She checked my pulse again and again it was 140 beats a minute with an irregular rhythm.She then phoned the doctor and he said that I needed to go to the ER for an EKG. My son Ramon drove me down and i was admitted. Again the irregular beat and the rapid pulse. I was admitted to the hospital for testing.They said that I had a traumatic reaction to the second surgery. They gave me meds and monitored my progress during the night but they couldn't get the rate down.. They gave me some ultra sound tests and found a clot on my leg and in my chest..They switched meds and during the second night I stabilized.This morning I was released with my meds and with future appointments to see the doctor.

While lying in bed at the hospital I had nothing much to to do but watch television.There was a segment of Mike Tyson's future possible fight with Evander Holyfield on ESPN. I was looking at Tyson and he was all full of himself talking about how he missed fighting and that fighting was his life and that he was better than ever.The scribes around him were practically on their knees sucking all this in.

I got to thinking .Tyson wouldn't still be around if the public didn't fall for this guy's BS. I said to myself if you asked the typical American male would you rather be the baddest ass on the planet or a doctor which would you choose. I think the response would be the baddest ass on the planet regardless of how you put yourself out to the public.Being able to kick every man's ass on the face of the earth would be the ultimate act of proving one's manhood.

You see you, choose to enact a life of your calling but the value of that endeavor is to pass positivity to others on you journey.If you choose to be an asshole your role is a fraud. Mike Tyson is a fraud. He's an insult to the human race but he knows he has a following of acolytes that hero worship him. They wish they could be him. He's front page news and he gloats in it. But it is his cult that perpetuates the myth.

Mike Tyson will never save my life or anyone's elses. He just wants to be looked at as the baddest ass on the planet and irresistible to women.Go ahead Mike.Kick everyone's ass. Call some nerdy reporter a faggot.Make your lapdogs salivate. In the meantime you can go to hell.



Look up "asshole" in the dictionary.You should see this guy's face.

I wish you a strong speedy recovery. All the best.

[dagosd2000]

I wish you a strong speedy recovery. All the best.
[/quote]

Thank you very much.
I know I came on strong with my Tyson comment. But the world is so much different now. I remember when 9/11 happened. Pat Robertson the host of the 700 Club said that 9/11 was God's punishment for the way the world was going.But 9/11 involved a small limited area. the Covid epidemic has cast its shadow on the entire globe. If you want to make a comparison the pandemic is a more likely signal that God wants to give us a wakeup call.Change iour paradigms.Priorities have been rearranged. Entertainers,athletes,celebrities that bask in the limelight and make all this money aren't so important in our eyes anymore.However,they still believe the myth..A guy like Lebron James that can put a basketball through a hoop and then miss half the season because he has a strained muscle in his calf is no big deal anymore. But he's not going to let go of his ego.He still thinks people think he is "The King Of LA."

So what is important? Family.What people can do for each other by just being nice.Being able to laugh at oneself and not taking things too seriously. When I say that Mike Tyson wouldn't save my life I must think about what I can do for someone even if it's only something simple by saying "Thank you."

Thank you "I read." That was very nice.

[f read]

I wish you a strong speedy recovery. All the best.

Thank you very much.
I know I came on strong with my Tyson comment. But the world is so much different now. I remember when 9/11 happened. Pat Robertson the host of the 700 Club said that 9/11 was God's punishment for the way the world was going.But 9/11 involved a small limited area. the Covid epidemic has cast its shadow on the entire globe. If you want to make a comparison the pandemic is a more likely signal that God wants to give us a wakeup call.Change iour paradigms.Priorities have been rearranged. Entertainers,athletes,celebrities that bask in the limelight and make all this money aren't so important in our eyes anymore.However,they still believe the myth..A guy like Lebron James that can put a basketball through a hoop and then miss half the season because he has a strained muscle in his calf is no big deal anymore. But he's not going to let go of his ego.He still thinks people think he is "The King Of LA."

So what is important? Family.What people can do for each other by just being nice.Being able to laugh at oneself and not taking things too seriously. When I say that Mike Tyson wouldn't save my life I must think about what I can do for someone even if it's only something simple by saying "Thank you."

Thank you "I read." That was very nice.
[/quote]

Its the common people our family friends relatives and people we know and love that mean much more to us than strangers. I would help a stranger however black white green red blue orange male female or the like if i was able to.

[Alguiffer]

My friend, please rest up and take care of your health. There are scores of us here who have your health and recovery in our thoughts.