All The Way With Sugar Ray
After Ray Robinson won the welterweight title from Tommy Bell in 1946 he fought three times in Chicago. One was a defense against Bernard Docusen and the other two ,with Bobby Lee and Bobby Dykes, were non title goes.All three went the distance.The Chicago mob that called themselves The Outfit controlled boxing in Chicago as well as went on in Detroit and St. Louis,On the East Coast the Syndicate under the watch of James Norris and his International Boxing Club with his wheeler and dealers like Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo had their fingers in the arenas in Boston,Philadelphia,and New York.Madison Square Garden was mostly left uncorrupted but the other venues would get soiled when those fellas put their minds to it. My father who was in The Outfit in Chicago would talk about that stuff like it was all taken for granted.
Sugar Ray wouldn't go in the tank.He was a great fighter and knew it and was very proud of what he accomplished in the ring.But Ray was a stubborn cuss and though George Gainsford was his manager Ray had the last word most of the time when it came to signing contracts. Sometimes it sounds like the Mob made a ton of dough with fighters, on the legit and not so. it was really just nickel dime stuff.Ray was still a black man and he didn't make that much money fighting. He wouldn't lose on purpose but he co operated with the wise guys by "carrying' his opponents. That brings me back to Chicago. .Robinson "carried" all three of the aforementioned when he fought them in The Windy City..Of course The Outfit kicked a little of what they fleeced from the bookies at Ray and he was happy.
Bernard Docusen's daughter, around 15 years ago, wrote a book about her father. The highlight was her dad going the distance with The Great Sugar Ray.Little did she know. I bought her book.It was a nice tribute to her father but I never posted on the forum(at the time she had alerted the forum of her book)that hew dad was given a pass by Robinson.If you watch the fight on YouTube you can see that Robinson could have taken him out anytime he wanted.I don't think she posts anymore.Maybe she reads some of this stuff but lately the boxing history forum has gotten hardening of the arteries.
But if she still gives it a glance once in a while and stumbles upon this post don't take it too hard.The record book still has it down as your dad going the full 15 rounds with The Great Sugar Ray Robinson.
Sugar Ray Robinson
Classic American West Coast Boxing
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Roger: I bet you remember when it was commonly thought that no footage exists of Sugar Ray from the 1940's and, then, the Docusen footage surfaced-among others. I wonder what else is out there from Robinson's prime? I know there are rumors that the second Tommy Bell bout was filmed. It amazes me that no professional films were made of his fights from that era.
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Goosegoose 5 wrote: ↑27 Sep 2021, 19:05 Roger: I bet you remember when it was commonly thought that no footage exists of Sugar Ray from the 1940's and, then, the Docusen footage surfaced-among others. I wonder what else is out there from Robinson's prime? I know there are rumors that the second Tommy Bell bout was filmed. It amazes me that no professional films were made of his fights from that era.
It was a different day back then.First of all there was no television so the technology of taping an event was primitive.If something was filmed it was shown in movie theaters.Not much demand for that.Think of the scant film of such athletes like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.Sports' esteem wasn't like it is today.Today, sports is on the tube 24/7. Everything from ladies' lacrosse to to the wild world of poker. There are so many talking heads in the media that sports has become a cult.An addiction.It's become a way of life. It's a huge part of the culture.Back then it was a novelty.They didn't have the tools to work with like today and like I say there was no television.Think of it.A world without television.
FYI.When the Yankees Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season homerun record on the last day of the season at Yankee Stadium the crowd was around 24 thousand. The stadium held over 60 thousand.And this was in 1961 and that Yankee team won the World Series. It's was a different set of priorities.Sports was in the toy department of the department store..BTW.As I'm writing this I've got the tube on and I'm listening to Chris Berman talking about tonight's Monday Nigh Football game.I'll think see what's on Turner Classic movies.
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
The Bad And The Beautiful
The American pug is either loved or hated in Mexico.They loved Marciano and Joe louis.They were big fans of Tyson.Henry Armstrong wasn't hated but because he always fought one of the popular locals(Casanova,Arizmendi,Conde) in Mexico City the aficianados wanted him to lose.The flashy black fighters like Ali and Sugar Ray were chided.When Ali was in San Diego to fight Norton he was supposed to cross the line into TJ to put on a workout in the Municipal Auditorium. At the last minute he cancelled.He sensed that his wisecracks would set himself up for a lot of racial slurs and maybe a few beers tossed in his direction..I saw Robinson fight Memo Ayon in the downtown bullring.The "N" word there is the same as it is here. Hedgemon Lewis was a quiet guy but he had a knack of of out speeding most of the Mexican opposition. He was always a mark when he fought across the border. Davey Moore might have been the most hated.He had every Mexican featherweight's number and he wasn't afraid to take them on in their home turf. I saw him beat Kid Irapuato in that bullring in TJ and when it was over he was lucky to get out of there in one piece.
But the most loved American fighter was without a doubt was Archie Moore..He only fought once in Mexico and that was a one round KO of the trial horse Howard King in ,you guessed it,that arena where the bulls rarely walked back to the pasture.I saw Ruben Oliveres ,when he was on top, fight a Japanese fella in that blood and sand pit and the Mongoose was in the audience. Before the main event they brought Arch into the ring.Well,everyone was on their feet going crazy.Archie is blowing kisses at the horde and taking bows and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
James "The Heat" Kinchen told me he fought once in Tijuana.He was the only gringo on the card.He didn't say whether they liked him or not, only that all the fighters in the dressing room were loading their gloves.
"El Puas" today
The American pug is either loved or hated in Mexico.They loved Marciano and Joe louis.They were big fans of Tyson.Henry Armstrong wasn't hated but because he always fought one of the popular locals(Casanova,Arizmendi,Conde) in Mexico City the aficianados wanted him to lose.The flashy black fighters like Ali and Sugar Ray were chided.When Ali was in San Diego to fight Norton he was supposed to cross the line into TJ to put on a workout in the Municipal Auditorium. At the last minute he cancelled.He sensed that his wisecracks would set himself up for a lot of racial slurs and maybe a few beers tossed in his direction..I saw Robinson fight Memo Ayon in the downtown bullring.The "N" word there is the same as it is here. Hedgemon Lewis was a quiet guy but he had a knack of of out speeding most of the Mexican opposition. He was always a mark when he fought across the border. Davey Moore might have been the most hated.He had every Mexican featherweight's number and he wasn't afraid to take them on in their home turf. I saw him beat Kid Irapuato in that bullring in TJ and when it was over he was lucky to get out of there in one piece.
But the most loved American fighter was without a doubt was Archie Moore..He only fought once in Mexico and that was a one round KO of the trial horse Howard King in ,you guessed it,that arena where the bulls rarely walked back to the pasture.I saw Ruben Oliveres ,when he was on top, fight a Japanese fella in that blood and sand pit and the Mongoose was in the audience. Before the main event they brought Arch into the ring.Well,everyone was on their feet going crazy.Archie is blowing kisses at the horde and taking bows and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
James "The Heat" Kinchen told me he fought once in Tijuana.He was the only gringo on the card.He didn't say whether they liked him or not, only that all the fighters in the dressing room were loading their gloves.
"El Puas" today
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Waiting In Ambush
When Memo Ayon beat Sugar Ray Robinson in Tijuana's bullring in 1965 i said to myself,"OK Memo you might have got away with one but when you get in there with a top quality guy in his prime you better watch your ass."I saw the fight he had with Robinson and it could have gone either way but Robby would have had to knock him out to get his hand raised..Ayon pressed him but he didn't really land anything worth mentioning. I thought Robinson would counter him with the old time Sugar Ray flair but instead he fell against the ropes and came back with little. It was a lousy fight but the aficianados thought that they were seeing their version of LaMotta beat Sugar Ray for the first time as a pro. But it was an average fighter in Ayon who escaped with the hometown decision.
!965 was Robinson's last year at the dance.His feet were getting sore and the grace and his command couldn't budge the needle.But still if you could beat Sugar Ray Robinson in 1965 you got noticed by the matchmakers as having the goods to maybe fight for the middleweight title.Well, like I mentioned before I was anticipating what was next in store for Memo after his slow dance with Robinson in Tijuana's slaughter pit.
I don't know who put it together but Ayon was matched at the Olympic Auditorium in LA with probably the best middleweight at that time,Luis Rodriguez. Louie had moved up from welter the previous year and was going through the 160 crew like he had done fighting at 147 pounds with the lighter guys.
I read the results in the papers and that Sunday tuned into the Mexican channel 12 to catch the replay.,Well, Memo walked right into it.I knew there was no way he could deal with El Feo's hand speed, movement, and all around ring generalship. It was a massacre.He got cut off at the knees.Memo never saw half of what Louie was letting loose on him and decided not to come off his stool for the 4th round.
Ayon never won another fight after Robinson.He lost 3 straight all via the KO and called it a career. He lives in Tijuana and got into refereeing and doing some promoting.His son Memo Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps staging cards.
Rodriguez ,like his opposite number Emile Griffith, couldn't outfight the dementia and died without much left to show for all those years in the ring.I believe he held the welterweight title for the shortest period after decisioning Emile in Los Angeles(90 days) than any other titleholder. But lately as time marches on he's starting to get his just dues.To bad he isn't around to hear about it.
Luis Rodriguez
When Memo Ayon beat Sugar Ray Robinson in Tijuana's bullring in 1965 i said to myself,"OK Memo you might have got away with one but when you get in there with a top quality guy in his prime you better watch your ass."I saw the fight he had with Robinson and it could have gone either way but Robby would have had to knock him out to get his hand raised..Ayon pressed him but he didn't really land anything worth mentioning. I thought Robinson would counter him with the old time Sugar Ray flair but instead he fell against the ropes and came back with little. It was a lousy fight but the aficianados thought that they were seeing their version of LaMotta beat Sugar Ray for the first time as a pro. But it was an average fighter in Ayon who escaped with the hometown decision.
!965 was Robinson's last year at the dance.His feet were getting sore and the grace and his command couldn't budge the needle.But still if you could beat Sugar Ray Robinson in 1965 you got noticed by the matchmakers as having the goods to maybe fight for the middleweight title.Well, like I mentioned before I was anticipating what was next in store for Memo after his slow dance with Robinson in Tijuana's slaughter pit.
I don't know who put it together but Ayon was matched at the Olympic Auditorium in LA with probably the best middleweight at that time,Luis Rodriguez. Louie had moved up from welter the previous year and was going through the 160 crew like he had done fighting at 147 pounds with the lighter guys.
I read the results in the papers and that Sunday tuned into the Mexican channel 12 to catch the replay.,Well, Memo walked right into it.I knew there was no way he could deal with El Feo's hand speed, movement, and all around ring generalship. It was a massacre.He got cut off at the knees.Memo never saw half of what Louie was letting loose on him and decided not to come off his stool for the 4th round.
Ayon never won another fight after Robinson.He lost 3 straight all via the KO and called it a career. He lives in Tijuana and got into refereeing and doing some promoting.His son Memo Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps staging cards.
Rodriguez ,like his opposite number Emile Griffith, couldn't outfight the dementia and died without much left to show for all those years in the ring.I believe he held the welterweight title for the shortest period after decisioning Emile in Los Angeles(90 days) than any other titleholder. But lately as time marches on he's starting to get his just dues.To bad he isn't around to hear about it.
Luis Rodriguez
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
An Apropos Arena
Talk all the time about the fights I saw inside Tijuana's bullring.,the old one downtown.Yesterday I commented on Ray Robinson's fight with the local boy Memo Ayon in that sand pit. There was an HBO documentary awhile back on Robinson and they remarked that at the end of his career he had to suffice fighting in a place like a bullring to continue his career. It was degrading according to HBO.Well,I could never figure why it was so degrading. I can't think of a more apropos venue for a prizefight.The Romans had their Coliseums to see mammals wage battle to the death.There's a parallel with fighters trying to kill each other in a bullring. Matador against the bull.Man against man.Follow me.
Just because Robijnson fought at the end of his stellar career inside a bullring doesn;t mean there was anything humiliating about the experience.
There have been some very important fights inside Mexico's Plaza De Toros with some very noteworthy names participating.Ismael Laguna and Vicente Saldivar squared off against each other in 1964 for featherweight bragging rights inside TJ's bullring..Davey Moore fought at the Tijuana and Mexicali bullrings twice defeating Kid Irapuato. I saw Ruben Olivares, when he was the best bantamweight in the world, fight there. Jose Napoles ,before making the leap into the U.S., drew sellout crowcds at the old arena.Getting back to Saldivar. He settled things with Sugar Ramos for round two of featherweight bragging rights inside Mexico City's bullring.When Eloy Sanchez upset the great Joe Becerra the fight was inside Guadalajara's slaughter pit.Joe Medel,Mexico's bantam blockbuster, knew what the smell of toro dung was like. The Golden Age of Mexico's elite were not strangers to the republic's bullrings. Baby Arizmendi,Baby Casanova,Joe Conde, and Kid Azteca drew their share of oles from the aficianados during their heydays.When Archie Moore made an appearance in Tijuana ,and knowing the gate would be a big one, they put his match with Howard King inside you know where.
So HBO where do you get off being so sentimentally melodramatic with Ray Robinson fighting inside a bullring?Talk about a lot of bulls--t.
Tearing down the downtown bullring in the 1990's
Davey Moore
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Talk all the time about the fights I saw inside Tijuana's bullring.,the old one downtown.Yesterday I commented on Ray Robinson's fight with the local boy Memo Ayon in that sand pit. There was an HBO documentary awhile back on Robinson and they remarked that at the end of his career he had to suffice fighting in a place like a bullring to continue his career. It was degrading according to HBO.Well,I could never figure why it was so degrading. I can't think of a more apropos venue for a prizefight.The Romans had their Coliseums to see mammals wage battle to the death.There's a parallel with fighters trying to kill each other in a bullring. Matador against the bull.Man against man.Follow me.
Just because Robijnson fought at the end of his stellar career inside a bullring doesn;t mean there was anything humiliating about the experience.
There have been some very important fights inside Mexico's Plaza De Toros with some very noteworthy names participating.Ismael Laguna and Vicente Saldivar squared off against each other in 1964 for featherweight bragging rights inside TJ's bullring..Davey Moore fought at the Tijuana and Mexicali bullrings twice defeating Kid Irapuato. I saw Ruben Olivares, when he was the best bantamweight in the world, fight there. Jose Napoles ,before making the leap into the U.S., drew sellout crowcds at the old arena.Getting back to Saldivar. He settled things with Sugar Ramos for round two of featherweight bragging rights inside Mexico City's bullring.When Eloy Sanchez upset the great Joe Becerra the fight was inside Guadalajara's slaughter pit.Joe Medel,Mexico's bantam blockbuster, knew what the smell of toro dung was like. The Golden Age of Mexico's elite were not strangers to the republic's bullrings. Baby Arizmendi,Baby Casanova,Joe Conde, and Kid Azteca drew their share of oles from the aficianados during their heydays.When Archie Moore made an appearance in Tijuana ,and knowing the gate would be a big one, they put his match with Howard King inside you know where.
So HBO where do you get off being so sentimentally melodramatic with Ray Robinson fighting inside a bullring?Talk about a lot of bulls--t.
Tearing down the downtown bullring in the 1990's
Davey Moore
.
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Mountain Rivera Was Almost The Heavyweight Champion Of The World
They were showing some boxing movies on TCM this morning.I got into the first few minutes of Requiem For A Heavyweight.Not the TV version with Jack Palance as Mountain Rivera.The one with Anthony Quinn.The starter is showing Rivera getting pummeled by the young Cassius Clay. The real Cassius Clay. He had just turned pro and he landed a spot in that movie.
Well, Cassius gives Mountain such a beating that the doc tells him that if he continues fighting he'll go blind. So there's no commission that will grant him a ,license.It's been a career of 111 fights over 30 long years. Mountain's manager,Maish, played by Jackie Gleason is in hock to the this slime ball promoter called Ma and if he doesn't come up with her dough he'll be floating face down in the East River.Mountain is out of boxing and now needs to find another way to scrape together a living. Maish is approached by the wrestling crew in town offering to have Mountain perform as a grappler ala Joe Louis.But Mountain and his trainer and friend,Army,played by Mickey Rooney don't want to sell out to the wrestling faction.It's demeaning like boxing isn't
Mountain walks into the employment office and a nice lady at the desk named Miss Miller,played by Julie Harris tells him that she'll line up an interview for him to be a camp counselor at a boys' camp. As she's filling out Mountain's resume he tells her to put down that he was "almost Heavyweight Champion of the World."She sees potential.Well,Maish ain't going along with that so before the interview he takes Mountain to Jack Dempsey's joint on Broadway and gets him drunk.What are managers for?.
As you guessed it Mountain blows the job and when Maish's slime ball friends confront him in the locker room for their dough they threaten to kill him if he doesn't cough it up right now.. Mountain is there and sees all this so to befriends Maish preventing him from a deep six. Mountain says he'll buy in to the wrestling gig to make a little scratch and save Maish's life in the process and climbs into the ring dressed like an Indian into the ring doing a war dance in front of the 600 pound Haystack Calhoun. A real tear jerker of an ending.as the camera fades away and you see "The End" across the screen.
But before I got weepy I remembered it was only a movie.Besides,the only 'real" character in the film was Cassius Clay.And you know how he wound up.Now there's something to cry about.
Anthony Quinn as Mountain Rivera
They were showing some boxing movies on TCM this morning.I got into the first few minutes of Requiem For A Heavyweight.Not the TV version with Jack Palance as Mountain Rivera.The one with Anthony Quinn.The starter is showing Rivera getting pummeled by the young Cassius Clay. The real Cassius Clay. He had just turned pro and he landed a spot in that movie.
Well, Cassius gives Mountain such a beating that the doc tells him that if he continues fighting he'll go blind. So there's no commission that will grant him a ,license.It's been a career of 111 fights over 30 long years. Mountain's manager,Maish, played by Jackie Gleason is in hock to the this slime ball promoter called Ma and if he doesn't come up with her dough he'll be floating face down in the East River.Mountain is out of boxing and now needs to find another way to scrape together a living. Maish is approached by the wrestling crew in town offering to have Mountain perform as a grappler ala Joe Louis.But Mountain and his trainer and friend,Army,played by Mickey Rooney don't want to sell out to the wrestling faction.It's demeaning like boxing isn't
Mountain walks into the employment office and a nice lady at the desk named Miss Miller,played by Julie Harris tells him that she'll line up an interview for him to be a camp counselor at a boys' camp. As she's filling out Mountain's resume he tells her to put down that he was "almost Heavyweight Champion of the World."She sees potential.Well,Maish ain't going along with that so before the interview he takes Mountain to Jack Dempsey's joint on Broadway and gets him drunk.What are managers for?.
As you guessed it Mountain blows the job and when Maish's slime ball friends confront him in the locker room for their dough they threaten to kill him if he doesn't cough it up right now.. Mountain is there and sees all this so to befriends Maish preventing him from a deep six. Mountain says he'll buy in to the wrestling gig to make a little scratch and save Maish's life in the process and climbs into the ring dressed like an Indian into the ring doing a war dance in front of the 600 pound Haystack Calhoun. A real tear jerker of an ending.as the camera fades away and you see "The End" across the screen.
But before I got weepy I remembered it was only a movie.Besides,the only 'real" character in the film was Cassius Clay.And you know how he wound up.Now there's something to cry about.
Anthony Quinn as Mountain Rivera
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
The Eternal Story
Sometimes I wonder if Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali hadn't gotten his bicycle stolen when he was a kid in Louisville and hadn't gone to the police station to gripe about it and then the cop who ran the gym told him if he learned how to fight that he could defend himself and not get his bike stolen again what would boxing be like today.
I see on Netflix they've got another biography about The Greatest and I think that's the title of this piece but how many stories have been written about the man that include"The Greatest" in the heading?I began watching this latest take on Ali and after about 20 minutes I fell asleep. I don't know if I nodded off because I was really tired or that I had seen this stuff before but only that it's been rehashed differently. I mean how mech more can they say about Ali? They've worked every angle there is.Before I drifted into Dreamland I noticed they were focusing on Ali's relationship with Malcolm X. Thank Spike Lee (Who isn't a Muslim)into making X into a cult figure.
I guess you could say that Ali and X were two anti heroes who were misunderstood in the beginning but later lived to be revered and regarded as two ahead of their times. But X never lived to hear the accolades.Ali did but was so racked by dementia all that praise was veiled with tragedy.
It's amazing that Ali is still marketable. Joe Louis isn't and never really was.They made the movie The Joe Louis Story starring Coley Wallace ,the guy who beat Rocky Marciano in the amateurs, but that was an all black flick shown in the theaters in the black neighborhoods.Tony LoBianco played Marciano in one of those made for TV movies that no one remembers.James Earl Jones was Jack Johnson in a similar effort for the TV eyes only.Tell me all about it and I'll buy you a steak dinner.Treat Williams played the part of Jack Dempsey in the movie Dempsey and you weren't treated to anything worth mentioning.
So that still leaves you with Muhammad Ali,a man ,as time marches on, everyone can recall mostly in name only Perhaps in the future they can still talk about him and make movies and documentaries about the guy and make him out as Jesus Christ.Forget that he was a Muslim no one will know the difference.
Muhammad Ali
Sometimes I wonder if Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali hadn't gotten his bicycle stolen when he was a kid in Louisville and hadn't gone to the police station to gripe about it and then the cop who ran the gym told him if he learned how to fight that he could defend himself and not get his bike stolen again what would boxing be like today.
I see on Netflix they've got another biography about The Greatest and I think that's the title of this piece but how many stories have been written about the man that include"The Greatest" in the heading?I began watching this latest take on Ali and after about 20 minutes I fell asleep. I don't know if I nodded off because I was really tired or that I had seen this stuff before but only that it's been rehashed differently. I mean how mech more can they say about Ali? They've worked every angle there is.Before I drifted into Dreamland I noticed they were focusing on Ali's relationship with Malcolm X. Thank Spike Lee (Who isn't a Muslim)into making X into a cult figure.
I guess you could say that Ali and X were two anti heroes who were misunderstood in the beginning but later lived to be revered and regarded as two ahead of their times. But X never lived to hear the accolades.Ali did but was so racked by dementia all that praise was veiled with tragedy.
It's amazing that Ali is still marketable. Joe Louis isn't and never really was.They made the movie The Joe Louis Story starring Coley Wallace ,the guy who beat Rocky Marciano in the amateurs, but that was an all black flick shown in the theaters in the black neighborhoods.Tony LoBianco played Marciano in one of those made for TV movies that no one remembers.James Earl Jones was Jack Johnson in a similar effort for the TV eyes only.Tell me all about it and I'll buy you a steak dinner.Treat Williams played the part of Jack Dempsey in the movie Dempsey and you weren't treated to anything worth mentioning.
So that still leaves you with Muhammad Ali,a man ,as time marches on, everyone can recall mostly in name only Perhaps in the future they can still talk about him and make movies and documentaries about the guy and make him out as Jesus Christ.Forget that he was a Muslim no one will know the difference.
Muhammad Ali
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
The Guy Screwed Things Up
After reading Russell Peltz's book ,30 Dollars And A cut Eye, I got to thinking about Carlos Monzon who held the world middleweight title ,in most peoples' minds, when Peltz and others in their hey days staging fights in the U.S and elsewhere.. I used to think that King Carlos never had the quality of opposition to square off against like say a Ray Robinson and Gene Fullmer had in store during the 1950's.But then I got to thinking of just the Philadelphia middleweights during Monzon's reign .The only Philly fighter he took on for a defense was Bennie Briscoe. Bennie had fought him to a draw earlier down in Argentina and when the fight for all the marbles was made it was back in the same venue,Luna Park.
If you watch that fight on tape it,at least for me,it raises a lot of red flags. Briscoe is backing up Monzon but he forgets to throw punches. Strange. A fighter presses a guy but fails to unload. Briscoe did catch him(I think as the bell rang to end round 10)and had Carlos on queer street. But then in the next frame Bennie returned to doing not much in the manner of cutting loose.Peltz was down there in Argentina and devoted a chapter to the fight in his book,something like 3 pages. Peltz starts off by saying that Benny lost the fight fair and square. Carlos was the better man. Peltz had no squawk with the decision. He did say that Briscoe,by lacking a gringo official, would have had to KO Monzon to win. Why didn't Peltz make a beef?
I always thought the cards were stacked against anyone taking on Carlos Monzon in his backyard.Charlie "Bad News" Austin,a ,local San Diego middleweight told me that when he fought Monzon down Argentine Way, Monzon weighed in on a separate scale.Unless Monzon was fighting Tony Licata in New York or Tom Bogs in Copenhagen or an old Denny Moyer in Rome, Monzon made sure that he stayed close to home or at least was in a burg where the crowd was on his side.
Peltz tossed 125 g's at Monzon to fight Briscoe in the U.S for a return bout but but Carlos threw it back at him.I sure would have liked to see him fight one of those tough Philly middleweights with everything above board and not in Luna Park.But like the old saying goes,"There's no place like home When you are a professional fighter."
Carlos Monzon
I'll never understand why Briscoe didn't come out of his corner in the next round with a vengeance but just lollygagged around.
After reading Russell Peltz's book ,30 Dollars And A cut Eye, I got to thinking about Carlos Monzon who held the world middleweight title ,in most peoples' minds, when Peltz and others in their hey days staging fights in the U.S and elsewhere.. I used to think that King Carlos never had the quality of opposition to square off against like say a Ray Robinson and Gene Fullmer had in store during the 1950's.But then I got to thinking of just the Philadelphia middleweights during Monzon's reign .The only Philly fighter he took on for a defense was Bennie Briscoe. Bennie had fought him to a draw earlier down in Argentina and when the fight for all the marbles was made it was back in the same venue,Luna Park.
If you watch that fight on tape it,at least for me,it raises a lot of red flags. Briscoe is backing up Monzon but he forgets to throw punches. Strange. A fighter presses a guy but fails to unload. Briscoe did catch him(I think as the bell rang to end round 10)and had Carlos on queer street. But then in the next frame Bennie returned to doing not much in the manner of cutting loose.Peltz was down there in Argentina and devoted a chapter to the fight in his book,something like 3 pages. Peltz starts off by saying that Benny lost the fight fair and square. Carlos was the better man. Peltz had no squawk with the decision. He did say that Briscoe,by lacking a gringo official, would have had to KO Monzon to win. Why didn't Peltz make a beef?
I always thought the cards were stacked against anyone taking on Carlos Monzon in his backyard.Charlie "Bad News" Austin,a ,local San Diego middleweight told me that when he fought Monzon down Argentine Way, Monzon weighed in on a separate scale.Unless Monzon was fighting Tony Licata in New York or Tom Bogs in Copenhagen or an old Denny Moyer in Rome, Monzon made sure that he stayed close to home or at least was in a burg where the crowd was on his side.
Peltz tossed 125 g's at Monzon to fight Briscoe in the U.S for a return bout but but Carlos threw it back at him.I sure would have liked to see him fight one of those tough Philly middleweights with everything above board and not in Luna Park.But like the old saying goes,"There's no place like home When you are a professional fighter."
Carlos Monzon
I'll never understand why Briscoe didn't come out of his corner in the next round with a vengeance but just lollygagged around.
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dagosd2000
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Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
No More Places To Hang Out
Remember those scenes in Raging Bull where you'd see all those guys sitting in Gleason's Gym watching Jake LaMotta and his brother Joey sparring. That kind of stuff happened on a daily basis.It was the same with Lou Stillman's Gym in Manhattan. If you had time to kill you could go to the gym and watch the fighters train. But you didn't have to go to New York to get a taste of meat and potatoes boxing.Boxing gyms were scattered all across the country. It was a place you could go to swap lies with your friends and learn a thing or two about the sport.That's when you had smoke filled arenas with weekly cards.The food was nothing gourmet. However, as long as the peanuts were stale and the hit dogs clung to the bun,the beer a little flat but at least cold,you knew you were at the fights.
But when television moved into the living room it wasn't only the motion pictures that took a hit but those weekly fight cards and with that the local boxing gyms became Wienerschnitzels.But you can still find a movie theater.A boxing gym? Pretty soon you'll leave that search with the archeologists.
Now that Covid is dictating our way of life the CDC says congregating inside a musty boxing gym is bad for your health.Never was a boxing gym that got the Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval. Bad enough that TV and the channels you have to pay for are eliminating the sport.At least let me wear a mask.Ah forget it.Who wants to put on a mask inside a boxing gym?
With the gyms drying up all that comes with it are gone-trainers and the fighters.Without those guys the managers have no one to supervise.The promoters sit with their arms folded. And the guys who had some time on their hands? Instead of watching Jake and Joey spar they can log on to the computer and click on to BoxRec. That's what I'm doing today.It's either that because there's no good movies to watch.
The "Indio" Ortega Gym in Tijuana. Closed around 5 or 6 years ago.Took this picture on the last day it was open.Not much of a crowd.Maybe they were all at the movies.
Remember those scenes in Raging Bull where you'd see all those guys sitting in Gleason's Gym watching Jake LaMotta and his brother Joey sparring. That kind of stuff happened on a daily basis.It was the same with Lou Stillman's Gym in Manhattan. If you had time to kill you could go to the gym and watch the fighters train. But you didn't have to go to New York to get a taste of meat and potatoes boxing.Boxing gyms were scattered all across the country. It was a place you could go to swap lies with your friends and learn a thing or two about the sport.That's when you had smoke filled arenas with weekly cards.The food was nothing gourmet. However, as long as the peanuts were stale and the hit dogs clung to the bun,the beer a little flat but at least cold,you knew you were at the fights.
But when television moved into the living room it wasn't only the motion pictures that took a hit but those weekly fight cards and with that the local boxing gyms became Wienerschnitzels.But you can still find a movie theater.A boxing gym? Pretty soon you'll leave that search with the archeologists.
Now that Covid is dictating our way of life the CDC says congregating inside a musty boxing gym is bad for your health.Never was a boxing gym that got the Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval. Bad enough that TV and the channels you have to pay for are eliminating the sport.At least let me wear a mask.Ah forget it.Who wants to put on a mask inside a boxing gym?
With the gyms drying up all that comes with it are gone-trainers and the fighters.Without those guys the managers have no one to supervise.The promoters sit with their arms folded. And the guys who had some time on their hands? Instead of watching Jake and Joey spar they can log on to the computer and click on to BoxRec. That's what I'm doing today.It's either that because there's no good movies to watch.
The "Indio" Ortega Gym in Tijuana. Closed around 5 or 6 years ago.Took this picture on the last day it was open.Not much of a crowd.Maybe they were all at the movies.
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
From Where You're Sitting
Boxing promoter Russell Peltz ,in his book 30 Dollars And A Black Eye, says he doesn't like female fighting in the ring.I guess that holds true for outside the ring too.He says he's "Old School".
I'm not into women boxing either. I'm not really into any women sports. If I want to see the best center fielder,point guard,goal keeper,quarterback,or boxer it's gonna' be a dude not a girl. Women just don't do sports as geed as the men. The only female sport I like is gymnastics because it's like ballet. Ballet is dancing ,and dancing was made for women. It's not a thing of who has the best physical dexterity.The men can leap higher,but dancing is something beautiful and sexy and men ain't that.
If Peltz doesn't like to see the softer sex get bloodied in the ring there are plenty of women that think two men bashing each other's brains out the squared circle is just plain stupid. I remember hearing the mother of 4 sons who fought pro turn to her husband after listening to Bobby Chacon talk like a 3 year old at one of those boxing banquets and ask ,"Why do men do this?" Of course it was her husband's idea to introduce his boys to boxing. He didn't answer her.
So if boxing is bad for women, and that's the reason you don't watch it, why isn't it a sin for men to also partake?Field an army and you'll want all men to lock and load. If people need to kill each other that's a man's job.They do it the best.At least better than women.It's also the men that feel the need to go to war.
Boxing may be on it's way out but there are plenty of combat sports to fill the gap. When they asked Jerry Quarry's wife if they should ban boxing after her husband died from the effects of dementia she said,"As long as there are men there will always be boxing."
I guess you can say the sane thing about war.
Jerry Quarry
Boxing promoter Russell Peltz ,in his book 30 Dollars And A Black Eye, says he doesn't like female fighting in the ring.I guess that holds true for outside the ring too.He says he's "Old School".
I'm not into women boxing either. I'm not really into any women sports. If I want to see the best center fielder,point guard,goal keeper,quarterback,or boxer it's gonna' be a dude not a girl. Women just don't do sports as geed as the men. The only female sport I like is gymnastics because it's like ballet. Ballet is dancing ,and dancing was made for women. It's not a thing of who has the best physical dexterity.The men can leap higher,but dancing is something beautiful and sexy and men ain't that.
If Peltz doesn't like to see the softer sex get bloodied in the ring there are plenty of women that think two men bashing each other's brains out the squared circle is just plain stupid. I remember hearing the mother of 4 sons who fought pro turn to her husband after listening to Bobby Chacon talk like a 3 year old at one of those boxing banquets and ask ,"Why do men do this?" Of course it was her husband's idea to introduce his boys to boxing. He didn't answer her.
So if boxing is bad for women, and that's the reason you don't watch it, why isn't it a sin for men to also partake?Field an army and you'll want all men to lock and load. If people need to kill each other that's a man's job.They do it the best.At least better than women.It's also the men that feel the need to go to war.
Boxing may be on it's way out but there are plenty of combat sports to fill the gap. When they asked Jerry Quarry's wife if they should ban boxing after her husband died from the effects of dementia she said,"As long as there are men there will always be boxing."
I guess you can say the sane thing about war.
Jerry Quarry
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
A Few More Swipes
I'll take another poke at Russell Peltzer's book,or I should say,the profession he chose when he was in his early 20's. What he had to say about his life in boxng,mostly promoting,was very interesting and also revealing.To be a boxing promoter you have to play hardball or you'll get eaten alive.He laid down the law with who he had to deal with.As far as his peer group he had to watch his back.The fighters on the other hand had to take it or leave it. 45 dollars for a 4 round prelim.65 for going 6 frames. He let them know where he stood.
Boxing's paradigm is wrong so any thing you do within the parameters is wrong.The bottom line is this-too many fighters wind up punchy. Forget that they spent all their money on booze and dames and blew the rest or overdosed on drugs or wound up in the pen. the fact is that they wind up with scrambled eggs for brains and need to be led around by the hand the rest of their livesThere is nothing that can be done to prevent that unless you make a rule saying you can't punch a guy in the head. There's no protection a fighter can wear to keep his brain from slamming against the inside of his skull when he gets clobbered.You can be the best fighter in the world and it can happen.Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali for example.Then you think about all the guys who should have never been allowed in the ring in the first place because they had no talent.
Everyone walks away from the fighter after the last round.There's no more money that can be squeezed out.Forget that he needs any kind of help.If he's got a family that has stuck by his side he's lucky.But now they have to watch a deterioration that's unstoppable. The wives are the ones who especially go through the emotional ringer.
You go to one of these boxing banquets and you see each year the degeneration of a fighter who the year before you had a normal conversation with.I used to go to Don Fraser's California Boxing Hall Of Fame event each year until I realized it was just a way for him to make some extra money. All you had to do is buy a few tables at his event and you could get your boy inducted regardless if he deserved it. Mother Teresa ,if she wanted,could have gotten in there if she had the juice to buy a few tables.Then Fraser would be up on the stage with all his friends in the media.They'd get an award and talk too long and have everyone squirming in their seats.Oh,Fraser would make sure ,for appearances, there was at least one fighter up on that stage.Usually Danny Lopez and his wife , but they'd be sitting on the far end.
There's no way they could change the guidelines on organization,management,,or even the medical end of it to remedy the dementia problem.A fighter gets knocked out in a fight in one state so he moves over to the next one and he's back in the ring in a week. The promoters who bankroll the matches have too much pull when it comes the docs letting some of these guys continue with fighting. Ali should have never been allowed to fight Holmes.Now you have these 50 plus former fighters climbing trough the ropes again.What doctor in his right mind world give the OK for that? A little money under the table perhaps?
I'll never forget that time with Jerry Quarry on the stage at one of these boxing shows with his mother sitting next to him. He's mumbling about how he got the way he is by playing too much football. He never played a down of football.And then the guy in the back shouts in his gravely voice,"We love ya' Jerry".But not as much as his mother pal. Don't choke on a chicken bone when they give you the lunch before they start handing out the trophies.
Danny and Bonnie Lopez
I'll take another poke at Russell Peltzer's book,or I should say,the profession he chose when he was in his early 20's. What he had to say about his life in boxng,mostly promoting,was very interesting and also revealing.To be a boxing promoter you have to play hardball or you'll get eaten alive.He laid down the law with who he had to deal with.As far as his peer group he had to watch his back.The fighters on the other hand had to take it or leave it. 45 dollars for a 4 round prelim.65 for going 6 frames. He let them know where he stood.
Boxing's paradigm is wrong so any thing you do within the parameters is wrong.The bottom line is this-too many fighters wind up punchy. Forget that they spent all their money on booze and dames and blew the rest or overdosed on drugs or wound up in the pen. the fact is that they wind up with scrambled eggs for brains and need to be led around by the hand the rest of their livesThere is nothing that can be done to prevent that unless you make a rule saying you can't punch a guy in the head. There's no protection a fighter can wear to keep his brain from slamming against the inside of his skull when he gets clobbered.You can be the best fighter in the world and it can happen.Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali for example.Then you think about all the guys who should have never been allowed in the ring in the first place because they had no talent.
Everyone walks away from the fighter after the last round.There's no more money that can be squeezed out.Forget that he needs any kind of help.If he's got a family that has stuck by his side he's lucky.But now they have to watch a deterioration that's unstoppable. The wives are the ones who especially go through the emotional ringer.
You go to one of these boxing banquets and you see each year the degeneration of a fighter who the year before you had a normal conversation with.I used to go to Don Fraser's California Boxing Hall Of Fame event each year until I realized it was just a way for him to make some extra money. All you had to do is buy a few tables at his event and you could get your boy inducted regardless if he deserved it. Mother Teresa ,if she wanted,could have gotten in there if she had the juice to buy a few tables.Then Fraser would be up on the stage with all his friends in the media.They'd get an award and talk too long and have everyone squirming in their seats.Oh,Fraser would make sure ,for appearances, there was at least one fighter up on that stage.Usually Danny Lopez and his wife , but they'd be sitting on the far end.
There's no way they could change the guidelines on organization,management,,or even the medical end of it to remedy the dementia problem.A fighter gets knocked out in a fight in one state so he moves over to the next one and he's back in the ring in a week. The promoters who bankroll the matches have too much pull when it comes the docs letting some of these guys continue with fighting. Ali should have never been allowed to fight Holmes.Now you have these 50 plus former fighters climbing trough the ropes again.What doctor in his right mind world give the OK for that? A little money under the table perhaps?
I'll never forget that time with Jerry Quarry on the stage at one of these boxing shows with his mother sitting next to him. He's mumbling about how he got the way he is by playing too much football. He never played a down of football.And then the guy in the back shouts in his gravely voice,"We love ya' Jerry".But not as much as his mother pal. Don't choke on a chicken bone when they give you the lunch before they start handing out the trophies.
Danny and Bonnie Lopez
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
The Best Of The Rest And That Ain't Saying Much
"Are you going to watch the heavyweight fight tonight ?"I asked Ricky the parking lot attendant.
I just got finished talking to Rosa as she was finishing putting a frame on my painting at her mother's shop,Esther's, on 4th Street in Tijuana. Rosa and her twin sister Julia were running things mostly now with their mother moving around with a walker now.The parking lot is across the street from Esther's.
"Of course,"answered Ricky."Who do you think is going to win?"
Ricky was a big boxing fan and we'd always talk the fights, especially the Mexican fights.When Andy Ruiz upset Anthony Joshua to win the title but only give it back to him in a terrible effort Ricky got a kick out of it although Ruiz was a Chicano.
"I have no idea,"I said as I gave him my ticket."Both these guys are unpredictable."
"Wilder only throws a jab and then the right,"said Ricky.
"It wouldn't be so bad if he knew how to throw those punches. He's one of the least skilled fighters I've ever seen.He's got the body of an Adonis but his skill level is next to nothing."
"So you think Fury will win?"
"The thing in Fury's favor is he has more heart than all the rest .Wilder collapsed the last time they fought.Joshua is soft.And Ruiz was complacent the last time.Who do you think will win?"I asked.
"I think Fury because like you say."
"If these guys are the two best heavyweights on the planet then boxing is in trouble."
Ricky looked at the ticket and then his watch.
"They stamped the ticket.You owe nothing."
Ricky had already brought my car out and had parked it out front. He knows that I always get my ticket validated so that I never pay anything.
"When does Canelo fight?"I asked him.
"OH ,he fights soon."
"He's just about the only good fighter left."
"Are you going to stay in Tijuana and watch the fight for free?"
"NO.I'm going back now to San Diego."
I got in my car and gathered a dollar in change that was in my glove compartment. As I was pulling out the parking lot I stopped the car and handed the change to Ricky.
"Here's for a soda amigo,"I said.
Ricky smiled and gave me a wave.We do this every time I go to Esther's to get a painting framed.
Inside Esther's shop in Tijuana.Rosa at the register and her mother Esther looking on
"Are you going to watch the heavyweight fight tonight ?"I asked Ricky the parking lot attendant.
I just got finished talking to Rosa as she was finishing putting a frame on my painting at her mother's shop,Esther's, on 4th Street in Tijuana. Rosa and her twin sister Julia were running things mostly now with their mother moving around with a walker now.The parking lot is across the street from Esther's.
"Of course,"answered Ricky."Who do you think is going to win?"
Ricky was a big boxing fan and we'd always talk the fights, especially the Mexican fights.When Andy Ruiz upset Anthony Joshua to win the title but only give it back to him in a terrible effort Ricky got a kick out of it although Ruiz was a Chicano.
"I have no idea,"I said as I gave him my ticket."Both these guys are unpredictable."
"Wilder only throws a jab and then the right,"said Ricky.
"It wouldn't be so bad if he knew how to throw those punches. He's one of the least skilled fighters I've ever seen.He's got the body of an Adonis but his skill level is next to nothing."
"So you think Fury will win?"
"The thing in Fury's favor is he has more heart than all the rest .Wilder collapsed the last time they fought.Joshua is soft.And Ruiz was complacent the last time.Who do you think will win?"I asked.
"I think Fury because like you say."
"If these guys are the two best heavyweights on the planet then boxing is in trouble."
Ricky looked at the ticket and then his watch.
"They stamped the ticket.You owe nothing."
Ricky had already brought my car out and had parked it out front. He knows that I always get my ticket validated so that I never pay anything.
"When does Canelo fight?"I asked him.
"OH ,he fights soon."
"He's just about the only good fighter left."
"Are you going to stay in Tijuana and watch the fight for free?"
"NO.I'm going back now to San Diego."
I got in my car and gathered a dollar in change that was in my glove compartment. As I was pulling out the parking lot I stopped the car and handed the change to Ricky.
"Here's for a soda amigo,"I said.
Ricky smiled and gave me a wave.We do this every time I go to Esther's to get a painting framed.
Inside Esther's shop in Tijuana.Rosa at the register and her mother Esther looking on
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
The Bar Fight For Sports Biggest Prize
The homepage on my computer is Yahoo because my email is there.So I see what's going on in the world everyday by skimming through the words of Yahoo. It's typical of a lot of the news services-yellow journalism at its banana ripest,misinformation,confusion and confliction,gossip,rumor spreading,and a hodge podge of items that you'd hear at a female gabfest.
After giving m blood pressure a rise of ten points I click on to the Yahoo sports report.More of the same as far as the editorializing but then again sports for me is in the the toy section of the department store.Last night there was the Fury/Wilder 3rd time to the dance.As the scroll ran across the bottom of my TV screen , while I was watching the San Diego State/New Mexico State football game, I read that it was a win for Fury by an 11th round TKO. So I logged back on to my computer to see if there was any commentary about the scrap.
The boxing editor for Yahoo is a fella' named Kevin Iole. He also covers the MMA stuff. Well,Kev thought that what he saw in Las Vegas involving Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder was one of the greatest fights of the ages.;that Tyson Fury has to be considered the all time greatest of the heavyweights if not the best ever.Move over Muhammad Ali. So this morning I got on my trusty computer again ,skimmed Yahoo news and gave my blood pressure a boost,and then clicked on to YouTube for the "Fight Of The Ages" according to Kev.
What I saw was two lumbering ,fumbling,stumbling novices pushing their punches ,hanging on to each other,and shoving each other to the canvas.Footwork was like walking with hip boots through a swamp.The skill level was 4 round prelim. Defense was something foreign.Crisp combinations were never delivered. They slapped and pawed and had their hands down like they were protecting their trunks. Both stepped forward with their front feet going back and forth in their attempts to bait each other.Head movement was amateurish.They hung their chins out there like they wanted to tell their barbers they missed a spot.There was nothing in there performances that would qualify to be put in an edition of Boxing 101.But as far as the action-well,there was plenty.I guess that's what Iole equated with greatness. But he was not telling the truth and he knew it.
Iole and everyone who makes a buck in the fight business knows that the sport is in trouble.Interest is waning.The younger breed is into MMA contests. Boxing is on life support. So what it needs is new "Savior" like Cassius Clay when he made the Big Bad Bear, Sonny Liston quit on his stool in Miami.So now in order to breathe life back into boxing you have to have a Second Coming.But to think that Tyson Fury is the man is some more of misinformation to put it kindly.He's got guts all right.But he's a slob in the ring. That show last night reminded of two drunks in a bar that piss each other off and decide to settle things right now. Two drunks in a bar fight.Not a "fight for the ages."
Iole knows it but he also is aware that his job is on the line if boxing continues on its path to the Grim Reaper.It's pointless to give CPR to someone in their death throes.But then again people are easily swayed by the media. Forget what they want to teach you in school.Log on to Yahoo if you want the truth.It will set you free.
Tyson Fury
Deontay Wilder
The homepage on my computer is Yahoo because my email is there.So I see what's going on in the world everyday by skimming through the words of Yahoo. It's typical of a lot of the news services-yellow journalism at its banana ripest,misinformation,confusion and confliction,gossip,rumor spreading,and a hodge podge of items that you'd hear at a female gabfest.
After giving m blood pressure a rise of ten points I click on to the Yahoo sports report.More of the same as far as the editorializing but then again sports for me is in the the toy section of the department store.Last night there was the Fury/Wilder 3rd time to the dance.As the scroll ran across the bottom of my TV screen , while I was watching the San Diego State/New Mexico State football game, I read that it was a win for Fury by an 11th round TKO. So I logged back on to my computer to see if there was any commentary about the scrap.
The boxing editor for Yahoo is a fella' named Kevin Iole. He also covers the MMA stuff. Well,Kev thought that what he saw in Las Vegas involving Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder was one of the greatest fights of the ages.;that Tyson Fury has to be considered the all time greatest of the heavyweights if not the best ever.Move over Muhammad Ali. So this morning I got on my trusty computer again ,skimmed Yahoo news and gave my blood pressure a boost,and then clicked on to YouTube for the "Fight Of The Ages" according to Kev.
What I saw was two lumbering ,fumbling,stumbling novices pushing their punches ,hanging on to each other,and shoving each other to the canvas.Footwork was like walking with hip boots through a swamp.The skill level was 4 round prelim. Defense was something foreign.Crisp combinations were never delivered. They slapped and pawed and had their hands down like they were protecting their trunks. Both stepped forward with their front feet going back and forth in their attempts to bait each other.Head movement was amateurish.They hung their chins out there like they wanted to tell their barbers they missed a spot.There was nothing in there performances that would qualify to be put in an edition of Boxing 101.But as far as the action-well,there was plenty.I guess that's what Iole equated with greatness. But he was not telling the truth and he knew it.
Iole and everyone who makes a buck in the fight business knows that the sport is in trouble.Interest is waning.The younger breed is into MMA contests. Boxing is on life support. So what it needs is new "Savior" like Cassius Clay when he made the Big Bad Bear, Sonny Liston quit on his stool in Miami.So now in order to breathe life back into boxing you have to have a Second Coming.But to think that Tyson Fury is the man is some more of misinformation to put it kindly.He's got guts all right.But he's a slob in the ring. That show last night reminded of two drunks in a bar that piss each other off and decide to settle things right now. Two drunks in a bar fight.Not a "fight for the ages."
Iole knows it but he also is aware that his job is on the line if boxing continues on its path to the Grim Reaper.It's pointless to give CPR to someone in their death throes.But then again people are easily swayed by the media. Forget what they want to teach you in school.Log on to Yahoo if you want the truth.It will set you free.
Tyson Fury
Deontay Wilder
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
It wasn't exactly Holmes versus Norton, was it ? World class sloppy-to coin a phrase- and very exciting .For me,
it was money well spent; I was entertained royally.
it was money well spent; I was entertained royally.
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
I could have stayed in Tijuana and watched it for free but I passed.I saw the highlights on YouTube the next day.If this had been a 4 round prelim fight (and that was the quality of it)I would have been happy.But these two oafs fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world?Forget it.
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Saving Boxing For Whom?
A lot of boxing fans think this Fury/Wilder affair is just what the sport needs to get back on its feet again. I don't want to step on any toes but before you go in for a pedicure you better invest in a pair of steel toed boots. All you if to do is look at the economics of the thing and you can see that Boxing's wane began a long time ago.
Before TV came along, in the early 50's, if you waned to see a fight you had to go to a fight.Arenas were just about in every burg in the country and with that there were multitudes of boxing gyms,local promoters,fighters,and trainers.. Boxing was even a part of many physical education programs in the high schools.,
After World War !! many GI's used the GI Bill to go to college and come out with a degree so that they didn't have to resort to fighting to make a living. So it was good bye to most of the white guys.Let the dark skinned guys do the poor man's out thing. The fans that liked to go to the fights were mostly vanilla faces and they wanted to see their own ilk wearing the crowns. With fights now being on the TV attendance at the arenas dropped,gyms closed,and the numbers of fighters dwindled.Then came along this Pay Per View and that didn't do anything on the plus side.
KIds ,instead of wanting to learn how to box,played the relatively new activity, Little League along with Pop Warner Football.Recfreation centers replaced boxing gyms and kids were offered to learn how to play tennis,swim,shoot hoops,and run track.Boxing? Too brutal,uncivilized, and dangerous.Besides,women were starting to exert their authority in their home and they didn't want their little Johnny being a pug.
Now I want to get down to the numbers. And that's where the dollars signs come in. There are 1590 professional football players in the National Football League.There are 30 teams in leagues.The players have unions that have provided them health instance and retirement pensions for life.All the games on are TV with ample revenues funding into the league..Each team has an owner(owners).There are schedules and playoffs..The minimum salary for a pro player,a guy who never gets in the game,is 610 thousand dollars.
A major league baseball player, with similar parameetrs as the pro pigskinner makes a minimum of salary of 563 thousand smackers for a benchwarmer.
According to BoxRec there are 16,953 professional fighters across the globe.(And John Sheppard would be the first one to admit that figure is low) They have no, minimum wage per match,no retirement benefits unions,no health insurance. There are no leagues,jusi these alphabet organizations controlled by the promoters that offer them nothing except fight for a plastic belt and enough money to buy a Corvette.. Of course there are the Canelos and Furys who have earned their way to fortunes but that list you could finish saying without taking another breath.How about the rest of the lot?They don't know half the time when they are going to fight.Mismatches are prevalent. Promoters and managers are like jackals stealing their money..Nothing is guaranteed.
Now with the Covid, the door has been kicked in. In my neck of the woods there hasn't been a fight let alone a timely boxing card since the pandemic and even before that..All the other sports stayed afloat and are now back to business but boxing is still asea without a wind.in the sail.How can a fighter stay with it?It was a tough trek before.Now the bridge is out.And I didn't even talk about dementia.
So all you fight fans that think Saturday's heavyweight title fight is the burning bush,think again before you realize about all those fighters that are getting their asses fried. Pay your 80 dollars and sit back and think that boxing has been resurrected.Don't swallow your beer the wrong way.
A lot of boxing fans think this Fury/Wilder affair is just what the sport needs to get back on its feet again. I don't want to step on any toes but before you go in for a pedicure you better invest in a pair of steel toed boots. All you if to do is look at the economics of the thing and you can see that Boxing's wane began a long time ago.
Before TV came along, in the early 50's, if you waned to see a fight you had to go to a fight.Arenas were just about in every burg in the country and with that there were multitudes of boxing gyms,local promoters,fighters,and trainers.. Boxing was even a part of many physical education programs in the high schools.,
After World War !! many GI's used the GI Bill to go to college and come out with a degree so that they didn't have to resort to fighting to make a living. So it was good bye to most of the white guys.Let the dark skinned guys do the poor man's out thing. The fans that liked to go to the fights were mostly vanilla faces and they wanted to see their own ilk wearing the crowns. With fights now being on the TV attendance at the arenas dropped,gyms closed,and the numbers of fighters dwindled.Then came along this Pay Per View and that didn't do anything on the plus side.
KIds ,instead of wanting to learn how to box,played the relatively new activity, Little League along with Pop Warner Football.Recfreation centers replaced boxing gyms and kids were offered to learn how to play tennis,swim,shoot hoops,and run track.Boxing? Too brutal,uncivilized, and dangerous.Besides,women were starting to exert their authority in their home and they didn't want their little Johnny being a pug.
Now I want to get down to the numbers. And that's where the dollars signs come in. There are 1590 professional football players in the National Football League.There are 30 teams in leagues.The players have unions that have provided them health instance and retirement pensions for life.All the games on are TV with ample revenues funding into the league..Each team has an owner(owners).There are schedules and playoffs..The minimum salary for a pro player,a guy who never gets in the game,is 610 thousand dollars.
A major league baseball player, with similar parameetrs as the pro pigskinner makes a minimum of salary of 563 thousand smackers for a benchwarmer.
According to BoxRec there are 16,953 professional fighters across the globe.(And John Sheppard would be the first one to admit that figure is low) They have no, minimum wage per match,no retirement benefits unions,no health insurance. There are no leagues,jusi these alphabet organizations controlled by the promoters that offer them nothing except fight for a plastic belt and enough money to buy a Corvette.. Of course there are the Canelos and Furys who have earned their way to fortunes but that list you could finish saying without taking another breath.How about the rest of the lot?They don't know half the time when they are going to fight.Mismatches are prevalent. Promoters and managers are like jackals stealing their money..Nothing is guaranteed.
Now with the Covid, the door has been kicked in. In my neck of the woods there hasn't been a fight let alone a timely boxing card since the pandemic and even before that..All the other sports stayed afloat and are now back to business but boxing is still asea without a wind.in the sail.How can a fighter stay with it?It was a tough trek before.Now the bridge is out.And I didn't even talk about dementia.
So all you fight fans that think Saturday's heavyweight title fight is the burning bush,think again before you realize about all those fighters that are getting their asses fried. Pay your 80 dollars and sit back and think that boxing has been resurrected.Don't swallow your beer the wrong way.
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
A Two Way Street
The other day Jon Gruden,football coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, was put on the spot because the New York Times had released emails that he had sent to his friends.This was a time frame between 2010 and 2018.The emails contained comments that were degrading to blacks,gays,and women. Gruden had to meet with Raider owner Mike Davis yesterday .He was given the choice to resign his job as head coach instead of being fired.
Social media exploded with disgust about Gruden's comments.Fans ,and especially the sports media ilk, were very upset and disappointed.This unfortunate incident will follow Gruden around for a lifetime. He is finished with football not to mention any other sport endeavor. Right now people want to distance themselves from Jon Gruden,and rightly so. He was a man who fooled everyone into believing that he was a model for proper behavior-what a coach should be. A man's man, but in reality a giant fraud and hypocrite.
Here is a tape of a very high profile athlete who vents his prejudices at a reporter during a press conference. I remember seeing this but nothing of consequence was ever directed at this individual. It seemed that his actions only enhanced his view in the public eye.His popularity still grows.The sports media people never chastised him for his conduct.He goes on like everything is all right. He still is a loose cannon. The clip is an example of one of many times he's gone off on someone in front of the camera. Gruden is history. This guy is still making it..
I don't think this guy ever thinks about moving boxing forward.
The other day Jon Gruden,football coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, was put on the spot because the New York Times had released emails that he had sent to his friends.This was a time frame between 2010 and 2018.The emails contained comments that were degrading to blacks,gays,and women. Gruden had to meet with Raider owner Mike Davis yesterday .He was given the choice to resign his job as head coach instead of being fired.
Social media exploded with disgust about Gruden's comments.Fans ,and especially the sports media ilk, were very upset and disappointed.This unfortunate incident will follow Gruden around for a lifetime. He is finished with football not to mention any other sport endeavor. Right now people want to distance themselves from Jon Gruden,and rightly so. He was a man who fooled everyone into believing that he was a model for proper behavior-what a coach should be. A man's man, but in reality a giant fraud and hypocrite.
Here is a tape of a very high profile athlete who vents his prejudices at a reporter during a press conference. I remember seeing this but nothing of consequence was ever directed at this individual. It seemed that his actions only enhanced his view in the public eye.His popularity still grows.The sports media people never chastised him for his conduct.He goes on like everything is all right. He still is a loose cannon. The clip is an example of one of many times he's gone off on someone in front of the camera. Gruden is history. This guy is still making it..
I don't think this guy ever thinks about moving boxing forward.
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Tightening The Screws
The tension in Tijuana over the Covid crisis is becoming more palpable each time I go down there. The other day I was getting one of my paintings framed at my old stand by ,Esthers Galleria, when I ran into Vargas who used to have a boxing gym in Colonia Independencia near where my my daughter lives in Tijuana.Vargas has got a little cart downtown across from the Alba Roja school. A big umbrella hovers over his cart to keep the area cool from the sun.He sells tacos 3 for roughly a dollar. There's a rope stretched across the front of the cart now because of the Covid to let only one person at a time to go up and order his food.Before, there was no rope so slews of people would stand in front of the cart and get tacos shoved at them a mile a minute until they raised their hands to say that's enough. Vargas cooks the tacos that fry in oil as fast as he can and then wraps them in wax paper. His hands move fast like how he showed his fighters how to throw a jab when he was at his gym.But now he only allows one customer at a time to the front so he isn't working as fast.
There's a pump bottle of hand sanitizer at the counter where he asks everyone to clean their hands first before ordering.Also, a mask is required to be worn by the customers.
"So how's the taco business ?"I asked Vargas as he was wiping his hands off on his apron.
There was no one in line and he was taking a breather.Sweat was trickling down his forehead from under his baseball cap. His hands were big and gnarled with thick fingernails. Hands that used to wrap the hands of his fighters were now wrapping tacos.,
"Business is good.People always have to eat,"he said."They don't have to fight."
"I'm down here getting a picture framed.I'm waiting for it to get finished."
"SAme place?Esthers?"
"Yep."
"Have a couple of tacos,"he said.
Vargas began slapping the beef with the tongs inside a couple of hot corn tortillas and then dousing salsa on the meat.In the same motion he wrapped the tacos in the wax paper and the handed the food to me on a paper plate.
"This isn't so bad .I'm doing better than if I tried to stay with the gym,"said Vargas.
"Things are more strict here than in San Diego with this pandemic."
"They can't fit anymore people in the hospitals,"said Vargas. "If you don't have any money they won't take you.Even the ambulance drivers ask if you can pay to go the hospital."
"It's gotten that bad?"
"Now it's to the point that people don't want to go to the hospital because they are afraid they won't some out alive."
I started chomping into the tacos.
"You make pretty good tacos Vargas,"I said with a mouthful.
"LIke I said I'm doing pretty good."
Vargas began pouring more oil in the fryer.
"You know when I was fighting I never knew when the the next fight would be.After the final bell of the final round I was unemployed again.But now that I've got my cart I know that people always get hungry."
The tension in Tijuana over the Covid crisis is becoming more palpable each time I go down there. The other day I was getting one of my paintings framed at my old stand by ,Esthers Galleria, when I ran into Vargas who used to have a boxing gym in Colonia Independencia near where my my daughter lives in Tijuana.Vargas has got a little cart downtown across from the Alba Roja school. A big umbrella hovers over his cart to keep the area cool from the sun.He sells tacos 3 for roughly a dollar. There's a rope stretched across the front of the cart now because of the Covid to let only one person at a time to go up and order his food.Before, there was no rope so slews of people would stand in front of the cart and get tacos shoved at them a mile a minute until they raised their hands to say that's enough. Vargas cooks the tacos that fry in oil as fast as he can and then wraps them in wax paper. His hands move fast like how he showed his fighters how to throw a jab when he was at his gym.But now he only allows one customer at a time to the front so he isn't working as fast.
There's a pump bottle of hand sanitizer at the counter where he asks everyone to clean their hands first before ordering.Also, a mask is required to be worn by the customers.
"So how's the taco business ?"I asked Vargas as he was wiping his hands off on his apron.
There was no one in line and he was taking a breather.Sweat was trickling down his forehead from under his baseball cap. His hands were big and gnarled with thick fingernails. Hands that used to wrap the hands of his fighters were now wrapping tacos.,
"Business is good.People always have to eat,"he said."They don't have to fight."
"I'm down here getting a picture framed.I'm waiting for it to get finished."
"SAme place?Esthers?"
"Yep."
"Have a couple of tacos,"he said.
Vargas began slapping the beef with the tongs inside a couple of hot corn tortillas and then dousing salsa on the meat.In the same motion he wrapped the tacos in the wax paper and the handed the food to me on a paper plate.
"This isn't so bad .I'm doing better than if I tried to stay with the gym,"said Vargas.
"Things are more strict here than in San Diego with this pandemic."
"They can't fit anymore people in the hospitals,"said Vargas. "If you don't have any money they won't take you.Even the ambulance drivers ask if you can pay to go the hospital."
"It's gotten that bad?"
"Now it's to the point that people don't want to go to the hospital because they are afraid they won't some out alive."
I started chomping into the tacos.
"You make pretty good tacos Vargas,"I said with a mouthful.
"LIke I said I'm doing pretty good."
Vargas began pouring more oil in the fryer.
"You know when I was fighting I never knew when the the next fight would be.After the final bell of the final round I was unemployed again.But now that I've got my cart I know that people always get hungry."
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
What's In A Name
I remember when Ring Magazine's rating of fighters was Gospel ,according to editor Nat Fleischer, who coined the name of his rag,"The Bible Of Boxing".Fight fans considered Ring's ratings as the true guideline. That was one of the reasons when Muhammad Ali was banished from every commission in the 50 states Ring Magazine still had him listed as the Heavyweight Champion of The World and many people especially his followers would point to Ring and say "Lookie here.".The only discrepancy was that instead of Ring calling him Muhammad Ali ,he was printed on the page as Cassius Clay. Fleischer ,like a lot of others, considered his Christian name still legitimate and proper..Fleischer was Jewish and that always struck me as funny.
If you watch the replay of Ali's first comeback fight against Jerry Quarry the announcer ,Tom Harmon,the All American at Michigan and former running back for the LA Rams ,kept calling Ali " Cassius Clay" while he was giving the TV call. I thought he had a lot of nerve doing that. But Harmon didn't have any balls when after the fight he was in the ring interviewing Ali,and guess what? Now Harmon was calling him "Champ." You just knew by slighting him on the ring call that Harmon wanted to see Ali lose. But he didn't, and now he was "Champ" according to Harmon.
So I guess Harmon was still an advocate of Ring Msgazine's ranking of Ali (oops sorry.Clay)by calling him "Champ". But then again Harmon had to call him something.It would have shown Harmon to be gutless if he had called him "Ali" after going through the fight referring to him as "Cassius Clay." So Harmon called him "Champ." I guess that sounds better than saying "Hey you".
Muhammad Ali
I remember when Ring Magazine's rating of fighters was Gospel ,according to editor Nat Fleischer, who coined the name of his rag,"The Bible Of Boxing".Fight fans considered Ring's ratings as the true guideline. That was one of the reasons when Muhammad Ali was banished from every commission in the 50 states Ring Magazine still had him listed as the Heavyweight Champion of The World and many people especially his followers would point to Ring and say "Lookie here.".The only discrepancy was that instead of Ring calling him Muhammad Ali ,he was printed on the page as Cassius Clay. Fleischer ,like a lot of others, considered his Christian name still legitimate and proper..Fleischer was Jewish and that always struck me as funny.
If you watch the replay of Ali's first comeback fight against Jerry Quarry the announcer ,Tom Harmon,the All American at Michigan and former running back for the LA Rams ,kept calling Ali " Cassius Clay" while he was giving the TV call. I thought he had a lot of nerve doing that. But Harmon didn't have any balls when after the fight he was in the ring interviewing Ali,and guess what? Now Harmon was calling him "Champ." You just knew by slighting him on the ring call that Harmon wanted to see Ali lose. But he didn't, and now he was "Champ" according to Harmon.
So I guess Harmon was still an advocate of Ring Msgazine's ranking of Ali (oops sorry.Clay)by calling him "Champ". But then again Harmon had to call him something.It would have shown Harmon to be gutless if he had called him "Ali" after going through the fight referring to him as "Cassius Clay." So Harmon called him "Champ." I guess that sounds better than saying "Hey you".
Muhammad Ali
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Nice card by you tonight, Roger ; are you going to it ?
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Goose
Sorry I got back late to you.Was up in LA at the West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame Banquet over the weekend.Will post later about it.
Goose
Just looked up the card you were referring to.It was at Pechanga which for me is out in the sticks at one of those Indian reservations.Saw all the fights went the distance. I don't like driving out there much. Have done it but those country roads are dark and winding and by the time I would have gotten home it would have been the next day.
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
In A Little Corner Of The World
They finally got the restart on the West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame banquet over the weekend. I could feel my lungs breathing in the airagain.It was Rick Farris going all out again.He doesn't leave a leaf unturned. I don't know how he does it but I am sure of one thing-he's got a passion for his baby and when it's over his adrenal glands are on empty.
The event took place at the Loews Hollywood Hotel inside the banquet room on the mezzanine.400 tables filled to capacity with hardcore fans.A roll call of deserving names who traded leather inside Tinsel Towns venues ,some that are no loner standing but leaving a mental footprint.That's why there's this convening.-to bring back the memories that make up our lives. Of course there were the people behind the scenes who put the matches together who were recognized,and the scribes who described the action getting their kudos. And those awards? A brilliant stroke of Rick's to have the boxing's foremost artist of the sport,Jun Aquino ,who was in attendance,paint a personal portrait on a Reyes glove(BTW:Cleto Reyes received an award posthumously)of each inductee..NIce touch.Unique to say the least.
At the tables were the old guard and some new faces but all shared the love of a sport that's struggling to keep fighting and acquire some fresh blood in order to go the distance. Danny and Bonnie Lopez were there of course. Rodolfo Gonzalez,Alex Ramos,Gene Aguilera,Erik Gomez,John Scully,Johnny Bumphus,Ryan O'Neal,Carlos Zarate,to name a few were with friend and family soaking in Southland lore of when that neck of the woods was a cauldron of boxing activity.I'll hear about it if I don't type a few words about my Chi Town buddy Dan Hanley who flies out from the Windy City every year to give a last minute hand to Rick setting things up,and then when it's final bell time we all go down to the bar and swap a few lies over a brewskie.
There was a special award given to a kind of of new kid on the block but who in the last year wrote a blockbuster biography of Eder Jofre.By now you've maybe caught his name,Chris Smith. He had the moxie and the drive to bring Eder Jofre with his son and daughter from Sao Paulo to the festivities and bask in the ambience.I'll put my money on Chris,When it's all said and done, this transplanted Englishman will sit alongside the foremost historians and communicators of the sport of boxing.He'll have to quit his day job(I don't think he'll mind) because he'll be in demand to share what's inside his head about what has gone down in pugilistic history and give boxing a shot of some his adrenaline to keep the pulse beating strongly.
I got a hold of Carlos Zarate for a moment and told him that I had coached a kid on the high school football team whose father had fought the Pride Of Tepito when Zarate was in the midst of destroying any bantamweight who walked out of his corner (before making the sign of the cross)to go toe to toe with the future champ.
"The son always was bragging that his dad had once fought the great Zarate.(It was over inside 2 rounds)". I communicated to Carlos in my broken Spanish.
The great champ paused before commenting ,and then when he did, he displayed an equal greatness of class.
"If you see him again tell him that of course I remember his father and that he was a brave fighter and I give him my respect.Give my blessings to his son."
Another KO.
The late Johnny Tapia was inducted.Perhaps amongst all the moving memories this moment touched me to the heart.Johnny's wife ,Teresa, was with her two sons to receive her husband's award. As she was being introduced with some background stories from the emcee accenting her husband's chaotic life I could see she was wiping away a few tears.When she got to the microphone there was no need for any script in hand. The emotion poured from her heart, through her lips and I thought maybe she wouldn't make it but she gathered herself and said that she was the luckiest woman on earth to have been married to Johnny Tapia.
"Johnny,wherever you are right now I want you to know I'll always love you."
Teresa.I just want to tell you that while you were wearing your heart on your sleeve Johnny was standing beside you all that time and he'll never leave your side.
The West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame.A little corner of the world that will go the distance as long as the memories continue.
Rick Farris
Eder Jofre
They finally got the restart on the West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame banquet over the weekend. I could feel my lungs breathing in the airagain.It was Rick Farris going all out again.He doesn't leave a leaf unturned. I don't know how he does it but I am sure of one thing-he's got a passion for his baby and when it's over his adrenal glands are on empty.
The event took place at the Loews Hollywood Hotel inside the banquet room on the mezzanine.400 tables filled to capacity with hardcore fans.A roll call of deserving names who traded leather inside Tinsel Towns venues ,some that are no loner standing but leaving a mental footprint.That's why there's this convening.-to bring back the memories that make up our lives. Of course there were the people behind the scenes who put the matches together who were recognized,and the scribes who described the action getting their kudos. And those awards? A brilliant stroke of Rick's to have the boxing's foremost artist of the sport,Jun Aquino ,who was in attendance,paint a personal portrait on a Reyes glove(BTW:Cleto Reyes received an award posthumously)of each inductee..NIce touch.Unique to say the least.
At the tables were the old guard and some new faces but all shared the love of a sport that's struggling to keep fighting and acquire some fresh blood in order to go the distance. Danny and Bonnie Lopez were there of course. Rodolfo Gonzalez,Alex Ramos,Gene Aguilera,Erik Gomez,John Scully,Johnny Bumphus,Ryan O'Neal,Carlos Zarate,to name a few were with friend and family soaking in Southland lore of when that neck of the woods was a cauldron of boxing activity.I'll hear about it if I don't type a few words about my Chi Town buddy Dan Hanley who flies out from the Windy City every year to give a last minute hand to Rick setting things up,and then when it's final bell time we all go down to the bar and swap a few lies over a brewskie.
There was a special award given to a kind of of new kid on the block but who in the last year wrote a blockbuster biography of Eder Jofre.By now you've maybe caught his name,Chris Smith. He had the moxie and the drive to bring Eder Jofre with his son and daughter from Sao Paulo to the festivities and bask in the ambience.I'll put my money on Chris,When it's all said and done, this transplanted Englishman will sit alongside the foremost historians and communicators of the sport of boxing.He'll have to quit his day job(I don't think he'll mind) because he'll be in demand to share what's inside his head about what has gone down in pugilistic history and give boxing a shot of some his adrenaline to keep the pulse beating strongly.
I got a hold of Carlos Zarate for a moment and told him that I had coached a kid on the high school football team whose father had fought the Pride Of Tepito when Zarate was in the midst of destroying any bantamweight who walked out of his corner (before making the sign of the cross)to go toe to toe with the future champ.
"The son always was bragging that his dad had once fought the great Zarate.(It was over inside 2 rounds)". I communicated to Carlos in my broken Spanish.
The great champ paused before commenting ,and then when he did, he displayed an equal greatness of class.
"If you see him again tell him that of course I remember his father and that he was a brave fighter and I give him my respect.Give my blessings to his son."
Another KO.
The late Johnny Tapia was inducted.Perhaps amongst all the moving memories this moment touched me to the heart.Johnny's wife ,Teresa, was with her two sons to receive her husband's award. As she was being introduced with some background stories from the emcee accenting her husband's chaotic life I could see she was wiping away a few tears.When she got to the microphone there was no need for any script in hand. The emotion poured from her heart, through her lips and I thought maybe she wouldn't make it but she gathered herself and said that she was the luckiest woman on earth to have been married to Johnny Tapia.
"Johnny,wherever you are right now I want you to know I'll always love you."
Teresa.I just want to tell you that while you were wearing your heart on your sleeve Johnny was standing beside you all that time and he'll never leave your side.
The West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame.A little corner of the world that will go the distance as long as the memories continue.
Rick Farris
Eder Jofre
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dagosd2000
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 8638
- Joined: 01 Sep 2007, 03:31
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Carlos Zarate
Michael Nunn
Chris Smith
Jun Aquino
Pals
Re: Classic American West Coast Boxing
Have you read Sugar Ray Robinson: Beyond The Boxer ? It's free on amazon if you have a kindle. Well worth reading, Roger.