Classic American West Coast Boxing

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Great Cerdan stuff, Roger.

Thanks Goose
Marcel Jr. didn't like Edith Piaf.She tried to form a bond with Marcel's kids but they didn't take to her.

The appeal between Marcel and Edith was that they were so different. She was caught up in the swirl of entertainment.Next to Sinatra she was the highest paid singer in the world. She knew nothing of the mundane routine of domestic life let alone boxing .In the beginning she was uncultered. Her parents were circus people. Her mother left her a with woman who ran a whore house. A young Edith and a female friend would live in the streets of Paris and Edith would sing and her friend would pass the cup.One day an owner of a club in the Montmarte heard her sing and was captivated by her voice.Her took her to his club and polished her style and dress. To make a long story short she took off from there.When she met Cerdan it was such a totally different world she was used to that she became smitten with the crude yet affable boxer.

Cerdan was born in Algeria .He boxed during the war on the side of the Free French winning the armed services title. After the war he dominated what was to offer in Europe winning the European middleweight title.Soon he was brought to the U.S. Edith was then in his life.He fought some of the top guys like Harold Green and Georgie Abrams but still left a lot of questions unanswered. but remained unbeaten until he returned to Europe and lost his European title to Cyrille Dellanoit in Brussels.It was then that Jo Longman was beginning to see Piaf as a distraction to his fighter. Cerdan won the rematch with Dellanoit. He then returned to the U.S. and won the world title from Tony Zale. Then there was the La Motta fight.After it was over there were a lot of pundits that predicted Cerdan would win back the title.But fate stepped in and the fight never came off.

BTW:Dan Hanley told me he once talked to Zale about the night he lost his championship.Zale said he felt fine in dressing room before the fight warming up.Then when he got in the ring he was stale as poorhouse cake and couldn't do nothing.

Marcel Cerdan is a hard fighter to sum up.He never fought much in the U.S. He never fought Robinson.He did fight Homan Williams but tat was in France and that fight could have been rigged. The Black Murderers Row group was left untouched as was Graziano,Janiro,and Bell.Even Cerdan's fellow countrymen Laurent Dauthuille and Robert Villamain were never opponents.


Marcel Cerdan

Edith Piaf

[goose 5]

I suspect Cerdan was the second shortest middleweight champ ever- no way he stood 5'8". Only Tiger was shorter, imo.

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Every time Piaf and Cerdan were pictured together he dwarfed her.Must remember she was only 4'10".


Here's Edith again with Msarcel's son,Marcel Jr. He took after the mom in stature and facial features.

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Here's a good one for you Goose. Cerdan standing between Edith Piaf and her secretary,composer,and friend,Marguerite Monnot.Piaf always wore platform shoes that made her seem taller. Marcel could have donned a pair for this picture.

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A Kind Of Rat Pack

Art Aragon and Cisco Andrade were the top local lightweights in Los Angeles during the 50's.The two met up with each other at LA's Wrigley Field for local bragging rights in 1957..The Golden Boy stopped Andrade in 7 seven rounds.It was pretty one sided.Art had 7 pounds on Cisco.There's nothing on YouTube on Andrade.I can tell you this though.He was a tough guy all the way around and the fans loved to see him in action. They also were also fond of Aragon.Don't have to mention that Wrigley Field was a sellout.

I remember seeing Andrade when he got a crack at Joe Brown's lightweight title in 1960.The fight was on TV.Joe boxed his ears off.After losing to Brown Andrade was pretty much finished.In his last fight Davey Moore KO'd him without much rebuttal from Cisco.

The Hollywood crowd didn't have a lot to cheer about when it came to area sporting events in the 50's. The LA Rams and the two minor league baseball teams,the Hollywood Stars and the Los Angeles Angels were around. The Dodgers didn't make the move out of Brooklyn to the coast until 1958.It wasn't until 1960 that the Minneapolis Lakers resettled in The City Of The Angels.

So boxing at the Olympic Auditorium and the Hollywood Legion Stadium was a big draw. The major film studios were close by and the stars of the Silver Screen were frequently in attendance.

Frank Sinatra liked to think of himself as a tough guy.He was as long as he had his body guards with him or he could size up someone he knew he could push around. Being seen at the fights was part of his macho mantra.His father was a fighter back in Hoboken. Sinatra liked to tell everybody he was a pug back in the day but that was a lot of wind and smoke.

Sinatra ,to keep up appearances, wanted a piece of a fighter. That piece belonged to Cisco Andrade.Ralph Gambina a fight manager who had been around the block, was the guy who pushed the buttons regarding Andrade. For a trainer they had one of the best-Al Silvani, another paisan.

Silvani had been around since the 30's learning his trade from Whitey Bimstein.Silvani was in touch with over 20 world champions before he was done.He also was a trainer for some of the beautiful people of Hollywood, When Frank Sinatra put together his notorious "Rat Pack" he kept Al close by.

I was watching on Netflix the other night this documentary they had on Sinatra.There's a scene where there's a lot of people on this set before they start filming. Sinatra is the star.Before Frank takes his spot he yells for Silvani. Silvani is seen running out of this the door and stops behind Sinatra and rubs a kink out of his neck.Took abut 3 seconds.

I"m thinking.When Sinatra calls you better hustle.It was kind of funny. I mean what would have happened if Silvani had walked instead of ran?Get his legs broke?Sinatra didn't have that much clout.


Frank Sinatra

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When people say that boxing doesn't have trainers who are teachers they are talking about guys like Silvani-a great, great trainer/teacher.

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When people say that boxing doesn't have trainers who are teachers they are talking about guys like Silvani-a great, great trainer/teacher.

To counter what you said about Silvani being a great trainer/teacher.When they asked Jake LaMotta if he ever listened to Silvani who was his trainer Jake said he never paid attention to him.I think it was LaMotta's stubbornness that made him live as long as he did.



Jake LaMotta

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Man Crush

The sport of boxing probably lends itself to hero worship more than just about anything. I'm talking about this from the male perspective. I know there are movie stars and entertainers that are idolized but on a per capita basis I think the fighter is the pipe dream of all the Walter Mitty's who lie awake at night and wish they were someone else.

Let's face it. The fighter is testing himself against another male for the distinction of who is the more macho. Oh,it's one thing to climb a mountain or to star on the screen as a war hero(but that's just an act) but to conquer another man with your fists is a primal satisfaction. The only thing left would to be ,after winning the fight, is to either kill the enemy and leave him to rot or bring him back to the lair and feed him to your family.But we human beings are civilized.You don't have to be good looking to win the hearts and private parts of the opposite sex. You have it all-you can beat any man up and have all the pussy you want.To exhibit your physical dominance suffices.

How many times do you forum posters get the sense that some of the contributors are living their lives through a past or present fighter?Muhammad Ali probably has more posters on the "man crush" list.God forbid if anyone challenges an Ali fanatic that The Greatest wasn't really.It's not enough for an Ali booster just to say "That's your opinion and you're entitled to it" and leave it at that. No. You're wrong and I'll contest your arguments until hell freezes over and I'll have the last word on this and if you still don't agree with me then you're either a moron or a faggot or both.

Some may call this an example of OCD.or some other psychotic malfunction. I call it the "man crush." It's not a sexual thing. The idolizer just lives his life through his hero.He can do no wrong.He could have beaten up anyone present and past in a fight even though he shows losses on his record.But these defeats don't really count because the the guy infected with the "man crush" has a defense for his alter ego.An excuse usually as weird as his undying reasoning that his boy could lick the world.

After awhile it gets to be a combination of being funny transgressing into the pathetic.You see the "man crusher" coming at you and you walk across the street.I think the best thing you can offer to one of these individuals is to tell him that they now have a pill for this kind of malady..


Roberto Duran.Another fighter who has many "man crushers" in his camp

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Something To Do

San Diego wasn't exactly New York City or LA or even Miami where there were all those Cuban refugee fighters training in Chris Dundee's 5th Street Gym, but back then if you had nothing to do there where gyms around where you could find fighters plying their trade on a daily basis. Burke Emery at one time had his gym in North Park.Rodolfo Gonzalez was running the gym on Logan Avenue.There was the 32nd Street Naval Gym on the base . Junior Robles had his fighters at the National City Rec Center on National Boulevard.Spud Murphy's Gym was on Broadway downtown.Then of coruse there was the San Diego Coliseum where Burke Emery would open up around 2 in the afternoon and let the boys go at it. If you wanted to go for a drive you could head out to Lyons Valley to Sid Flaherty's camp. He and Danny Rodriguez would be there with their stable of fighters. If you went down the road farther there was Joe Sayatovich's facility in Campo.And at one time there was Archie Moore's salt mine out in Ramona.

At one time or another you could watch Ken Norton,Hedgemon Lewis,Denny Moyer,Art Hafey,Terry Norris,James Kinchen,,Ronnie Wilson,David Love,Renato Garcia,and a good variety of the out of town fighters that would blow into town to get some last minute prep work in before fighting in San Diego.

Then if you wanted to cross the border there was a multitude of gyms and top notch fighters working out in gyms like the CREA where every Mexican fighter wanted to leave his mark. Romulo Quiratre was in charge and he worked with the best of them-Jose Napoles,Ruben Oliveres,Vicente Saldivar,and J.C. Chavez to name a few.

Yeah,back then you didn't starve to death having to look for for a venue where the pugs broke a sweat.

Today it's a lot different.You've got these all in one gyms with girls inside and you can pay your money to have some young whipper snapper explain to you the rudiments of just about every hand to hand combat sport and walk away hoping that no one ever calls you out.

You'll never get those days back again.They're lost to the ages.


Chetos Gym in Plaza Santa Cecilia in Tijuana.Julio Cesar Chavez opened the place up and then sold it way back to Cheto.

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Spud Murphy's Gym on Broadway

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It Was No Act

I saw Redd Foxx once in Las Vegas do his stand up routine.He was at the Dunes.It was during the time he was doing Sanford And Son.The show was Redd hot.He was on top of the world then.

I remember as a kid the big thing was to go to the black neighborhood and get some black guy to buy you a Redd Foxx comedy album.Since he used dirty words they didn't sell his stuff to kids.And they didn't sell Foxx's records in the white neigh neighborhoods.That went for James Brown too. Now I'm talking about the early 50's. I guess the censors(who had to be all white). thought that Redd Foxx's stuff was too nasty for white folks to hear but I guess it was OK for blacks to listen to it.They probably figured blacks were already low lifes and it wouldn't matter anyway. Same with James Brown. Behind closed doors James Brown was talked about as something abhorrent coming out of Africa. But then you have to remember that these critics were mostly older white folk.White kids couldn't get enough of Redd Foxx and James Brown.BTW:if you ever saw one of their albums of that time the producers of the record companies(all white guys) wouldn't allow their faces on the covers.

But by the time Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement were locked arm in arm Redd Foxx and James Brown were a mainstream part of the white culture of the baby boomers.Foxx's show Sanford and Son was not off the mark when it came to representing Redd Foxx's true life.I can't believe had to do any acting or much rehearsing that wasn't instilled in him.He used a lot of those black entertainers he associated with back in his nightclub days in the black neighborhoods.and put them in his show.

Redd Foxx was also a big boxing fan.He did some fighting himself inside and outside the ring. But that wasn't unusual for a cat like himself.I remember he had a piece of a heavyweight.The guy's name was Fred Houpe. He called himself "Young Sanford".It was more of novelty than serious business.Houpe never amounted to much. His claim to fame was beating a washed up Leon Spinks in a prelim fight.

It's hard to figure what the young blacks would think of Redd Foxx today. They'd probably say he was an outdated stereotype. Not militant enough. His comedy was demeaning of blacks. Maybe.They don't show Sanford and Son on those old rerun stations anymore.Did the NAACP have anything to do witth that?Maybe.

But for me Redd Foxx will always be eternal and funny as hell.I know a lot of black dudes my age that think the same way.


Redd Foxx


How many people would think this is wrong and laugh anyway?

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The Big Fight

When Carlos Zarate and Alfonso Zamora finally inked the contract for their fight neither was going to put his version of the bantamweight title on the line.The fight wasn't going to be aired on national TV. I don't think it was on closed circuit in TJ.

The fight was hyped up a lot in the Mexican media. Mexico had the corner on the 118 pound division for some time. Ruben Olivares was their superstar and biggest draw.But he had outgrown the weight and moved up to be competitive at featherweight. When Zarate and Zamora had each won a version of the bantamweight title with spotless records Mexico felt the world was back in its proper perspective.

Both fighters had fought in Tijuana. They were from Mexico City but by that time the Mexican fighter, to prove his worth, had to establish his rep in northern Mexico and the Southland unless he was a flyweight and most of those fighters who had the mettle fought in Veracruz.I had seen Zarate dispose of a tomato can in the Arena 72 in Tijuana. The fight was over so fast I couldn't get a handle on Zarate's talent.Zamora I had never seen in person .

In Tijuana the pubic was split down the middle on the two. To tell the truth although it was a big fight the Tijuaneros couldn't get behind either boy that much. Since they were both from Mexico City that was the albatross around their necks. Tijuaneros back then hated people from Mexico City -more known as "Chilangos."TJ thought (as did a lot of Mexico) that people from Mexico City looked down on the rest of the country. It all had to do with Mexico City being on sacred Aztec land and then there was the heavy Spanish influence.It was all a lot of crap. But it was a two way street. Chilangos thought Tijuaneros were "Americanized" Mexicans.A big fight in TJ was a Tijuanero against a Chilango.

Both boys had built their reps against competition in arenas west of the Sierra Nevadas.Bantamweights were never that much of a draw on the East Coast.So the focus was contained to a small section of geography.

The fight was kind of a dud. Zamora was a crude dude in the ring. Zarate sent him packing in the 4th round.Then Zamora's papa stormed into the ring pissed off about something. His protest was better than the fight.

After the Zarate loss Zamora tried to right himself at the Forum against Jorge Lujan and was handed his lunch.He struggled to the end of his career.

It now looked like Zamora was the second coming of El Puas. But like Ruben he struggled scaling down to 118 pounds. So now it was the perfect storm for the undefeated Puerto Rican Wilfredo Gomez to take on the now heavier Zarate from Mexico. It was the star from Puerto Rico against Mexico's comet. The two fighters may have spoken the same language but that was about all they had in common. Mexicans think Puerto Ricans are a bit too flashy. Mexicans want their killers not to throw out their chests.

Well Gomez just about threw Zarate out of the ring.The fight was in Roberto Clemente Stadium and Zarate found himself in no man's land.After that loss he seemed to lose his focus. He lost the bantamweight title to Lupe Pintor in a shocker.He tried a comeback after a 7 year absence and was OK beating a bunch of no names but then quality guys like Jeff Fenech and Daniel Zaragoza put an end to his hopes.

Transplanted author and Brit Chris James is going to have a get together this Saturday in The Arts District in LA with some of the former champs living in LA. I went to one of these gatherings last year. It's a good way to mingle and start a chat with some of these guys.Carlos Zarate will be there.I was set to go but I got word this morning that it's my great granddaughter's birthday Saturday.I'm sure Chris will have others.


Carlos Zarate

Carlos at Chris' Meet And Greet in the LA Arts District last year

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The Coolest Guy In The Room

I've done my share of Mike Tyson bashing.You never know when he's going to go off on someone for no reason at all.He was put in jail on a rape beef which I thought was sketchy. He's bullied reporters that ask him a normal question. Robin Givins on national TV said she was scared to death of him.She never knew what his next move was.And then he tries to bite Holyfield's ear off (twice)

Then the other night he's in a comedy club in Hollywood and this nut pulls a gun on him. So what does Mike do? He gives him a hug.

For the life of me I'll never figure this guy out.



Just was thinking.Teddy Atlas never said when pulled a gun on Mike Tyson if he ever got a hug.

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She's Smart But That's About All She Is

I can't remember the name of the show but it had to go back 30 or so years ago. It was one of those Christmas specials that featured a lot of Hollywood stars and they did a lot of their acts.You know-the song and dance bits and some comedy routines.Like I said I don't recall the name of the show .I don't think it was one of Bob Hope's annual Christmas shows. I think he was done doing those by that time.But I do remember two of the guest stars:Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mike Tyson.

There was this bit where all the stars at the end of the program entertained and mingled with these handicapped kids from this orphan school.Arnoid was there with his wife Maria Shriver. I think he might have been the governor of California at the time.She had been his campaign manager.

Maria Shriver was one of those Kennedy girls whose parents were Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy ,one of Joe Kennedy's daughters.Maria's poppy,Sargent Shriver was a key force in his brother in law's,John Kennedy's, administration. He founded the Peace Corps,the Job Corps,Head Start,VISTA,Upward Bound,and an organizer of The War On Poverty.He was also an Ambassador To France.He was a mucky muck lawyer serving with the firm Fried,Frank,Harris,Shriver,and Jacobson that focused on big business clients and how they could in other words not pay taxes. This guy was all about image and no substance.

Maria was the pride and joy of the family and especially her daddy Sarge..She was raised not be a stereotype of the typical "Kennedy girl" who was subservient to the men of the family.She would say that she didn't want to be another "Jackie."Her daddy sent her to school in France.She returned to finish her high school education at the illustrious Stone Ridge School Of The Sacred Heart that cost an arm and a leg.

In her ironic autobiography,Ten Things I Wish I Knew Before I went Out Into The Real World,Shriver said she developed a "passion "about journalism.Her alma mater was the bed of the spin doctors in the media,Georgetown U.Because she was connected to the hilt she didn't find it difficult to land work.Some of her prestigious gigs included co hosting The CBS Morning News,NBC News Sunday Today,The NBC Nightly News,and Dateline NBC. That's a pretty impressive list. No "Kennedy" girls ever aspired to reach those heights.In the meantime she found the love of her life Arnold Schwarzenegger.Don't think that this guy had equal love in his heart .He not only wanted to be Conan The Barbarian but President Of The United States. He married a "sponsor/shill" in this non "Kennedy" girl

Time to get back to this Christmas program. Well there's Arnold and Mike standing by this enormous Christmas tree choked with presents underneath and out come these orphan handicapped kids.Everyone starts singing Christmas songs and begins handing out the presents to the kids. Well, Mike and Arnold were having the times of their lives. They were bouncing the kids on their knees,laughing and singing and the kids acted like they were Santa's Toyland.But off to the side was Maria Shriver. She looked shellshocked.She tried to approach these kids but her body language had a noose around her neck. She backed away with this forced smile on her face that was downright ugly..She didn't want to touch any of the kids or take one in her arms.She couldn't have tried to be more uncomfortable.

Maria Shriver didn't want to be like any of the "Kennedy" girls.She didn't like that stereotype. Well, honey, I don't know what you called yourself but I call you a big phony.


Conan The Barbarian and The Smartest Non "Kennedy"Girl In The World

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A Payday

When John Henry Lewis lost to Joe Louis in a bid to win the heavyweight championship it was to be John Henry's last fight. He was the light heavyweight champ at the time. He won the title from Bob Olin in 1935 and still was wearing that crown when he lost to the Brown Bomber in 1939 in Madison Square Garden.J.H. Lewis was an active fighter.He had over 130 fights,51 of those non title goes.As electrifying as Joe Louis was in the ring J.H. was as dull as your mother's butter knife.

It was well known by that time that J.H. was to try his luck with Joe Louis with a blind left eye.He said he suffered the injury in a fight with Al Gainer. Commissions were reluctant to gran J.H. a license.To make matters worse his other lamp was burning out.He told his friend Joe louis he needed an operation. Of course Joe had to make a plea to Mike Jacobs to insure this happen. Jacobs figured there was no way Joe could lose. J.H. figured there was o way he could win. He needed the money for an operation.

When Joe louis was being groomed on his way to the heavyweight title he was badgered from all sides to behave himself like a good negro. Don't gloat over your victims in the ring. Don't shoot your mouth off to the press. If you have a white babe lined up for a roll in the sack make sure you aren't seen with her in public. And stay away from Jack Johnson.

Joe Louis wasn't in the good ol' boys club of white fighting legends. Jack Dempsey stayed clear of him.Gene Tunney didn't like anyone. Jack Sharkey was an ornery cuss.Max Baer might have liked to clown around but he had to eat his hat when he was counted out resting on a knee looking up at Arthur Donovan.Ray Robinsin hadn't arrived yet. The Black Murderers Row bunch felt marginalized by Joe's corner. J.H. wasn't riding with that crew anyway. He. was a friend against outsiders so to speak and a friend of Joe Louis as a fact.

While J.H. was as popular as a girls' softball team beating a list of weak sisters in the ring, The Brown Bomber was beating an equally inept roster of what the press described as "Bum Of The Months."But Joe was a draw. J.H. was on the public's pay no mind list.

I wonder what Joe Louis was thinking before that fight.It must have been like having to shoot your horse after he broke his leg. The "fight" didn't last a round.After the loss to Joe J.H. couldn't get a license to fight anywhere.The operation never came off.Although he didn't drink he landed a job with a liquor distributor. He did smoke and died at the age of 59 from emphysema and dementia.His name doesn't appear on the forum much. I would have liked to have posted one of my paintings of him on this post but I never made the effort to put his image on canvas. I promise I'll do something about that. It's the least I can do.

Joe Louis

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Hamlet On The Forum

What if Joe louis hadn't been around? Who would have been the champ? The better question is who's out there today that could be the heavyweight champion instead of Tyson Fury and the rest of the underlings?

There have been more men of talent who have gone by the wayside for various reasons and not even left a shallow imprint.Joe louis was knocked down 7 times losing his first amateur fight.Maybe most men would have stopped there.As time passes Joe louis is as ingrained in the culture as much as Muhammad Ali. Of course the times they both lived in were significant backdrops. So ask the same question regarding Ali.If he hadn't been around who would have been the champ?

The conjecture isn't difficult to come up with the common names. Knowing who Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali were makes you shudder perhaps if they were lost in a dream.. But you take it in stride that Tyson Fury is the best of a mediocre lot, and if he keeps on winning the perception will transcend into something greater,

Is there another Joe Louis or a Muhammad Ali out there in no mans land?There have probably been millions of uncultivated Lincolns and Churchills who never knew what greatness awaited them.The posters who speculate and come up with the garden variety names to fill in the vacuum is like shooting fish in a barrel.The mystery is that we'll never know about the ones would could have been.

Like Hamlet telling Horatio:"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy" Which brings me to the next question."What if there had been no Shakespeare?"



Neville Chamberlain instead of Old Winnie? Heil Hitler!

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The Punch No One Talks About.

In 1889 middleweights George LaBlanche ,who was called "The Marine" ,was disqualified in the 32nd round in his fight with Jack Dempsey ,who called himself "The Nonpareil", when he used the "Pivot Punch" ,which was an illegal blow in the rule book,to put Dempsey .into dreamland.

In essence the "Pivot Punch" is a backhand punch that's delivered after throwing a punch with the same hand properly.It happens in a blink of an eye. I've never seen a fighter use it. Maybe because it's an illegal punch.But even it was amended to legal status I can't see it as being overly effective. A backhand punch is more of a slap than a punch.You can't get much on it because you can't get much of your back and shoulder behind it.

The only time I've seen a fighter throw a "Pivot Punch" was watching the replay of Max Baer's demolishing of Max Schmeling in 1939. Baer would often get carried away when he fiought.He'd lose his head.In this case he had Schmeling on his heels and in his combinations he let lose with a few "Pivot Punches."But it wasn't the "Pivot Punches" that had any dramatic affect. Baer had a big right hand and that was the weapon that put Schmeling on the seat of his pants.

I don't think there are any boxing rules committees that want go legalize the "Pivot Punch."It's a punch that isn't going to cause great harm anyway.A "Rabbit Punch" is a dangerous strike. It's delivered from the back and is a chicken s--t blow. A "Low Blow" is just that. It became an expression that's part of the vernacular.

But then again "The Marine" did KO "The Nonparaeril" with a "Pivot Punch."But it was thec32nd round. Hell, by that time you probably could have knocked either of them out with a feather duster.



Max Baer demonstrating the "Pivot Punch." Referee Arthur Donovan let's him get away with it.


Max Baer

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Hit 'Em Where It Hurts

They talk about fighters that have good chins-a tough beard.But I've never heard it said of a fighter that he can take it in the gut.Np fighter likes to get hit in the stomach.Over the years fighters trained their stomachs to be able to take a punch in the 'ol breadbasket. I don't see it anymore but the big drill was to have someone throw the medicine ball against a fighter's stomach and as he caught it and then tossed it back When Muhammad Ali came back after that layoff he knew that he'd be doing a lot of his fighting against the ropes.So in training he'd lie against the ropes and have his sparring partners tee off on his midsection.But over time these two methods have been discontinued because the damage done to a man's kidneys does more harm than good in the long run. Today,various types of abdominal exercises suffice.

I heard Archie Moore say once that he'd probe his opponents lookinf for a weak spot and then focus his punches there instead of attacking a target where his challenger wasn't as susceptible.I heard Moore talk about one time in ring when every punch he landed didn't see to phase him. Then in a clinch Moore said he whacked the guy on top of the head and felt the guy's knees buckle.That's where Archie went to work thereafter.He said he get in a clinch with the guy and then start tapping him on top of the head.The fight was over soon afterwards. Moore said he got that advice about finding an opponent's weakness from Sam Langford.Thia was long after the old guy had hung up his gloves.

Today you don't see many fighters who vary their punches. Most fighters are headhunters.They seldom go downstairs.Maybe they think that a punch on the chin is more lethal than a sock to the stomach. Maybe if they worked downstairs more they'd bring the other guy's guard down and leave his chin exposed. But that's the responsibility of the trainer to teach that. But when you look at most of today's trainers they weren't even fighters and if they were they had trainers who lacked the resources to teach the proper skills.The lack of good training perpetuates.

Mexican fighters still like that gancho to the higado.(Punch to the liver).It's been a tradition since the get go. Like if a Mexican fighter doesn't throw that hook to the liver is considered some sort of Commie.


Sam Langford

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Just Can't Let This Go

I'm not into watching the Oscars anymore. because I'm not into many of the recent movies nor the stars. I guess what happened the other night was that Will Smith smacked Chris Rock because Rock made a crack about Smith's wife's shaved head. I guess she has alopecia. So Rock made a crack about Smith's wife and now he's catching flack for it.Even some of the black celebrities are coming down on him.

I read what Kareem Abdul Jabbar had to say.

"With a single petulant blow, he(Rock)advocated violence,dininished women,insulted the entertainment industry,and perpetuated stereotypes about the black community."

Hey ,Rock took a cheap shot at Smith's wife? What if he hadn't done anything? What would his wife had to think? I mean didn't Harry Truman say ,after some music critic panned his daughter Margaret's singing performance,that if he ever saw the guy on the street he'd "kick him in the balls."Don't think every father who had a daughter gave Harry a slap on the back?And Harry never laid a hand on the guy.

You can insult me and I may respond.Insult my wife and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't react.Oh,by the way.Here's a clip of Kareem taking a cheap shot on a player in a game.In his mind I guess he didn't think he demeaned the black community.



What an asshole.Lucky he didn't break more than his hand.

[dagosd2000]

The Letter

Yesterday I wrote about Harry Truman's response to a music critic who panned Margaret , Harry's daughter, music recital. She aspired to be a concert soprano but never could reach those heights. Her voice never had the resonance nor the range to put her up there with the great divas like Sutherland or Tebaldi. However,she was very popular with the public. She was Harry and Bess's only child.They adored her as she did them.When Truman read the revue of his daughter's performance by this critic he reacted with a jerk in the knee that if he ever encountered this pundit on the street he'd "kick him in the balls."

Truman's advisors told him he shouldn't have sounded off like he did. They believed his outburst would hurt him politically. Truman responded to that that every red blooded American father who had a daughter would sympathize with him.

A little while later Truman received a letter(he read his mail)from a father who had lost his son in the Korean War.The war was becoming very unpopular with the American public and would eventually make Truman not accept the Democrat nomination for re election. This is the father's letter.

"Mr.Truman,
As you have been directly responsible for our son's life in Korea,you might just as well keep this emblem(the son's Purple Heart)on display in your trophy room,as a memory of one of your historic deeds.Our major regret is at this time is that your daughter was not there to receive the same treatment as our son received in Korea."
Signed
William Banning."

The letter was found in Harry Truman's desk at his Missouri Home after his death in 1972,almost 20 yeas after he left office.

[dagosd2000]

For What It's Worth

Harry Truman had an aversion towards boxing and fighters.

[dagosd2000]

A Quarter For The Jukebox

Me and Ray used to go to the fights in Tijuana from time to time.Ray owned the Burro Bar on Coahuila Street in the Zona Norte.The bars in the Zona Norte catered to the Mexican clientele. The Burro was across the street from The Monaco that was mainly a dancehall.The dancefloor was in the middle and the girls would sit on benches around the perimeter and wait for the guys to ask them to dance.Back then it was 50 cents to dance with one of the girls. The ceiling was low and the strobe lights would circle around the dancefloor while the music played.The music was always very loud and it was hard to talk and have anyone hear you because the music was so loud.The girls in the Monaco were mostly fat and old and if you wanted they'd go to the room but most of the time it was about some guy that just wanted some female company and wanted to dance.Of course you had to buy them a drink and they'd split the tab with the bar.They called the split "La Ficha." and you could sit with them in one of the many booths.it was easier to be heard in a booth.But it was mostly guys who had lost their wives and just wanted some female company.Most of those guys were as old as the girls and couldn't f--k anymore anyway.

I've got some stories to tell about The Monaco but right now I'll bring up the time me and Ray went to the Jai Alai Palace to take in the fights.. There were no big names on the card but every fight was packed with toe to toe action and after every fight lots of money was thrown into the ring.The Jai Alai Palace is still on Revolution Street but it doesn't have anymore Jai Alai games nor fights.It's one of those Agua Caliente off track gambling casinos.It does pretty good business. There are a lot of them in Tijuana.

Me and Ray were sitting ringside. Ray was a little older than me and sported a big handlebar mustache and a crop of wavy black hair.HIs skin was mahogany in tone and he always had a 5 o'clock shadow.Ray didn't talk much but that didn't mean that he didn't know what was going on around him.We bought a couple of beers and were settled in pretty good.The fights moved fast and you didn't hear any "chifles",that derogatory Mexican whistle that meant for the fighters to pick up the pace,

Sitting next to me was this Mexican kid I'd say was around 14 years old give or take. He was sitting next to two older guys.I got to talking with him and he said that this was the first time that he'd been to the fights.The two guys with him were his father and his uncle.The fights were exciting and the crowd was really into it and it rubbed off on the kid.

Back then Revolution Street was full of bars but these joints were contoured for the gringos. You never saw any Mexicans in them.You never saw any whores standing in the street like in the Coahuila.But for raunchiness the bars on Revolution Street were a lot more ribald than the joints in the Coahuila like Ray's place,The Burro.They had bars on Revolution were when the girls came out to dance on the stage you could eat their pussies (you had to lean backwards over the rail) while they were dancing.Sometimes when the mood struck you could even f--k them on the stage.They didn't have those kind of places in the Coahuila.

Well,me and this kid are really striking up a conversation when he asks me something that kind of caught me off guard.
"What goes on inside those bars on Revolution Street?"
"You don't know?"
"I'm too young. Besides there is a place where the Mexican men go but I'm too young.My father would kill me."
Well, I told him.To tell the truth I thought he'd get a little excited and ask me more questions about it. But when I finished he was slouched down in his chair and looked away from me.I could tell he didn't want to talk to me anymore. The fights continued going on great guns but had lost his enthusiasm.

When the crowd chaser finished the kid got up and turned his back to me.He left without saying anything. Ray tapped me on the shoulder and said he wanted to get back to The Burro. I said I'd go along.I told him that I wanted to stop at a "casa de cambio" to get a roll of quarters. I always liked to put a quarter in the jukebox to hear the Mexican songs.The music wasn't so loud in The Burro.The Coahuila is a good place to learn about Mexican music.You can't find that on Revolution Street.




Sobervia-Los Diamantes.I learned about Mexican music and some other things in the Coahuila.

[goose 5]

I wonder if that young man eventually got himself a mouthful ?

[dagosd2000]

I wonder if that young man eventually got himself a mouthful ?

In all the years that Revolution Street was going pedal to the metal I never saw a Mexican in one of those whorehouses except for the girls who worked inside and the bartenders and waiters.It was all male U.S. high school and college kids and swabbies.(there were a few dance clubs-The Aloha,The Convoy, and Mike's Bar where you could take a gringa and go dancing.BTW That's where Carlos Santana got his start) Then the military made Tijuana off limits. But the sailors would dress in their civvies. There was no way the Mexican government allowed a U.S. serviceman to walk around Tijuana in his uniform. He'd get thrown in the Tijuana jail and on top of it have to answer to the brass on the U.S. side. The bars ,maybe,you'd see some Mexicans but not cantinas like The Green Note,The Chicago Club,or Manhattan Club(those were three of the big ones of the dozens that were up and down the street.).To think that that kind of entertainment was on your city's main drag is kind of amazing. Later, beginning in the mid to late 70'sd they closed all those joints down and wanted to draw the average run of the mill tourists.When the Mexican kids began getting more liberated from their parents they opened some nightclubs where they'd let the girls in unescorted. It's still that way today but the American kids and the tourists stay away from TJ thinking something bad may happen to them. About the only tourists you see now are these groups of Chinese.They go everywhere with their camreras.They even take pictures in the Coahuila posing with the girls on the street and the cops .but they don't go inside any of the bars or whorehouses.

To get back to that kid. You'd be surprised that even in the Coahuila you don't see many Mexicans in their 20's or 30's. It's always been a hangout for older Mexicans. They either get tired of banging their wives or just want something different. Or they are old guys like I said that can't get it up anymore and just want to talk and dance with a woman.

You asked me about that kid and I answered you with a short story.


THe notorious Adelita Bar in the Coahuila

[dagosd2000]

It's How You Lose

Mexico is noted for fighters coming out of the starting gate like a house on fire.They cut a swathe through the division winning KO after KO.The win streaks are almost surreal.Because of an everlasting Mexican economy that's sinking in quicksand amateur fighting is almost non existent. Fighters either have just a handful of amateur fights or they jump in with both feet from the get go.

Going back in time you can think of Mexican fighters like Ruben Olivares,Battling Torres,Julio Cesar Chavez,and Carlos Zarate who looked unstoppable.Recently there has been a new breed of killers that have donned practically spotless records making heads turn. They are the epitome dream of what the aficianados wanted from their warriors. Every fight a victory that ends within the scheduled distance.Featherweight Leo Santa Cruz,bantamweight Luis Nery,lightweight Miguel Berchelt,lightweight Oscar Valdez,featherweight Emanual Navarrete,and middleweight Jaime Munguia are the new breed of killers..Navarrete suffered an early loss in a prelim as did Berchelt so you can look the other way.But last week Berchelt lost his second fight in a row by knockout.Oscar Valdez got him the first time by stoppage and then Jeremia Nakathila really put Berchelt to sleep the other night. I've never seen a guy as gun shy as Berchelt in that fight. At the end the referee could have counted him out with a calendar.If Berchelt's people care about him they shouldn't let him fight again.

So in a way you're waiting for Valdez,Munguia,and Navarrete to taste the inevitable defeat.And checking past history it's going to be devastating.Then after they lose in such catastrophic manner they will alit from the heavens and become mortal men again. Sometimes the continuation is just as dramatic except in a 180 degree course. Now THEY are the fighters who get photographed lying prone on the canvas.

Alfonso Zamora was another one. You can include Pipino Cuevas in that group.Granted, he lost some fights wen he was 14 years old but then those bouts wee kind of like amateur stuff.How about "Pajarito" Moreno?After he got blitzed by Hogan "Kid" Basssy in front of the home crowd you could have nicknamed the Little Bird,"Canvasback."

It's not easy being a fighter.And being a Mexican fighter he has to uphold his machismo every time he enters the ring.If he wins he's more of a man than the guy he beat. And afterwards it's sometimes tough to face the crowd. But sometimes you get two Mexicans in the ring and though there can be only one winner if the guy on the short end holds his feet to the fire there's no shame,and usually a rematch. What comes to my mind is the first three fights between Fernando Marquez and Israel Vasquez.(I'm not counting the fourth fight.Vasquez was almost blind for that one).Bobby Chacon and Bazooka Limon had the crowd on their feet twice. It's like the brave bull in the arena who's willing to die on his feet against the matador. The aficiandos will let the bull live to fight another day.


Bobby Chacon