Classic American West Coast Boxing

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Gene LeBell vs. Milo Savage

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Robinson took jiu jitsu lessons from LeBell and famously used the art to subdue a man who was out of control at the weigh-in for a fight .

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Judge for yourself.Did Gene Lebell choke out Steven Seagal?

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The Fighter's Wife

It was after Sugar Ray Robinson had passed away. i saw an interview on TV(I forgot the name of the host)who was talking to Edna Mae Robinson and Vicky LaMotta about what it was like being married to their husbands.Also sitting in was the wife of Pinklon Thomas.(I'm sorry I can't remember her name).Her husband had just come off of an impressive victory KO'ing Mike Weaver hanging him with his first loss.

Thomas's wife seemed a sweet shy thing who was all ears listening to the tales of Edna Mae and Vicky describing what it was like being wed to a pug and predicting what was in store for Mrs. Pinklon.
"Oh you're husband will be the man of the house for sure.No doubt he'll let you know about that right away,"exclaimed Vicky LaMotta.
Mrs. PInklon began shifting in her seat.
"And once in awhile you'll get smacked around,"said Edna Mae with a Chesire Cat smile
Both exes focused in on Mrs. Pinklon .watching her breaking into a sweat.
"Oh my God,"she sighed.
She then couldn't go on.
Both Vicky LaMotta and Edna Mae Robinson were selected at one time by Sport Magazine as being "The Wife Of The Year" an award given to the better half of a famous athlete.Now that they had gotten Thomas' wife to the edge of having a nervous breakdown they both seemed to be gloating over their success.

I don't know how Pinklon Thomas and his wife made out down the road.After his victory over Mike Weaver he petered out.As far as Vicky LaMotta and Edna Mae Robinson were concerned I hope they were both happy about what they laid on that poor woman. At least it wasn't a sock on the jaw like their ex husbands used to hit them with.


Jake LaMotta

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Now Who Would Want To Kill Ol' Sonny?

Sonny Liston was a guy with so many unanswered questions that his name should be inked in the Guinness World Book Of Records. The two Ali fights and their peculiar outcomes, and then at the end his mysterious death. Can you spell conspiracy theory? Of course many of the theories revolve around Liston's association with the Mob.Ever since the JFK assassination you can always blame it on the Mob, and no one will censor you, or put you six feet under.

There was mention the other day of Liston's connection with organized crime that may have led to his demise. Liston's wife,after returning home from a trip,found her husband dead in their bedroom. The coroner said the death resulted from an accidental heroin overdose.Well, that's too easy an alibi. Besides,you couldn't feed much into a boxing forum with Sonny having the bad luck of OD ing because he took a hot shot.No.Someone had to have purposely wanted to give Sonny a permanent ten count..It had to be the Mob.Start the threads.

Now my daddy was part of one of the biggest organized crime blocs in the country,the Chicago Outfit. A fraternity started by a fella' named Alphonse Capone. My grandfather Diamond Joe Esposito ,who I've talked about numerous times,gave Scarface his start as a crime boss.I must have listened to my father describe what it was like in The Patch growing up around all the mobsters.I won't go into detail but my father missed the boat on not writing about all his experiences.If Mario Puzo could write The Godfather,my old man would have put Puzo's book in the fiction section of the library.But my old just liked to talk about it,and it was 24/7.

So here's my take on the demise of Sonny Liston after getting schooled on why a guy gets whacked from guys who did the whacking.First of all why would Liston get whacked? He wasn't being subpoened by a grand jury.So he wouldn't be a rat.He wasn't talking to the Feds. He wasn't trying to take control of any boss's territory.He wasn't skimming anything out of Las Vegas or anywhere else. He wasn't f---ing a made man's wife.He hadn't whacked anyone without getting an OK.Maybe broke a few limbs as a goon but that's nothing.

They say Sonny didn't like drugs.His wife said he was afraid of needles.So what did they do? Hold him Sonny Liston down and give him a hot shot? I doubt that. A bullet in the brain would have been quicker. No. Sonny killed himself.It was an accident. Once you get hooked on heroin you ain't afraid of needles anymore. And do you really believe the cops had any energy to investigate what happened?


Sonny Liston

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Might Makes White

None of them were champions but they left their marks and put on a good show. I'm talking about the white fighters who fought in the ring in the Southland. Let's put it at the 60's through the 90's.

I remember Mike Nixon,Jimmy Heair,Greg Haugen,Frankie Crawford,Ronnie Wilson,Art Hafey,and of course the Quarry brothers. I'd have to put the Lopez's in that group too even though "Lopez" connotes something of a more swarthy texture. Windmill White certainly qualifies.Andy Kendall,Wayne Thornton,Roger Rouse;bigger men; were worth the price of admission.And Tony Doyle and Dave Centi,heavyweights ,get a call.

The above mentioned fought a lot of Mexican guys so they didn't have the crowd behind them because most of that ilk had roots that took root from across the border.If a white guy fought a white guy it was different.Jerry Quarry was the most popular blanched skin fighter in the area.

But white fighters are a dwindling breed today where they once could form their fraternity and make a few bucks.

It always seemed to me that that "Great white Hope" moniker pertained to vanilla American fighters. But that was back in a day were the color line was etched wherever your feet took you. Doesn't make a bit of difference now. Maybe you could call it "A Great American Hope." Also a dwindling breed.


Frankie Crawford

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And Then There Was Moyer

You might be wondering why yesterday I didn't include Denny Moyer in my list of white fighters who the fans went to see in the Southland. The fighters I mentioned yesterday weren't champs. Moyer however won the WBA Super Welterweight Title beating Joey Giambra in Denny's backyard up in Portland. He later defended against Stan Harrington and then lost the belt two months down the road to Ralph Dupas. That counts for something but the real reason I didn't list Moyer was because by the time he took root in the Southland he was pretty much on the downslide.

Denny's manager was Sid Flaherty and along with Danny Rodriguez doing the training Moyer was always fighting somewhere on the planet.By the time he fought his last one in 1975 he could claim more than 135 fights under his belt.

Flaherty had a stable of fighters here in San Diego and a training facility in the foothills outside the city.Flaherty brought Denny down from his hometown of Portland to be sort of a mentor to a young Ronnie Wilson who was beginning to have his ups and downs in the ring. Part of that problem was that Wilson had a fondness for the grape.However,Moyer liked to indulge also so it was like throwing gas on the fire. They made quite a team when they went out to kick up their heels.Once in awhile I'd join them in their merrymaking and I couldn't keep up the pace.

Though Moyer had fought everybody in just about all the arenas in the world Ronnie was more popular. Denny wasn't unpopular in San Diego but he didn't get the cheers like Ronnie got. At the end both fighters were pretty much shopworn.But Flaherty would send them out there like it was nothing ,and except for those two's families, they didn't gripe. They liked fighting more than punching a time clock.

After they had given all their blood and left the scene they dropped into the abyss. Ronnie moved back to his native Canada and got free medical and lived homeless in a bleak park in Vancouver. Denny moved back to Portland. Both got the dementia and there was no way you win that fight.

When I watched that documentary "After The Last Round" that depicts fighters with dementia and how it affects the families, it was kind of a tough pill to swallow.To see Denny in that nursing home ,along with his brother Phil,wearng that leather helmet ,with his name "Denny" inscribed on the front, so he wouldn't hurt himself put another nail in the coffin to bury the sport.

It some sense boxing is an anomaly.With all these sports putting safety as the number one priority there's not much you can say for boxing where the object is to hit the other guy in the head as hard as you can. And if you cut his eye you aim for it with your blows.

Pisses me off so much that I want to go out and make a list of the sports they ought to s--t can.Boxing would be on that iist.


Denny Moyer

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Mumbo Jumbo

He sure got fat at the end. it hurt him as a fighter.After he was caught with PED's in his system after his fight with John Ruiz, he started getting fat. But before porking out James Toney was a very good fighter.

He was kind of like a Bernard Hopkins or a Winky Wright;mostly thinking defensive,rolling with punches,not a lot of offense. Not especially a crowd favorite. But he got the job done.He beat Michael Nunn ,Iran Barkley,and Mike McCallum.He can go on record saying he KO'd Evander Holyfield(I think Evander was still trying to find the right dosage for his PED use)In 90 fights he was never stopped.You can't say he was a world champion but he beat some future ones.

I remember his showdown with Roy Jones Jr. A lot of people, including myself, thought that Toney had too much for Jones,but it wasn't even close.Jones danced circles around him.Later,after his big win over Holyfield, Toney never weighed in under 200 pounds.In fact he ballooned up to 250 pounds in some of those later fights.

Toney for a time was managed by Jackie Kallen. A cute little blond.But you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to seey her getting KO'd by Toney down the road. Toney was very self absorbed.It was a relationship that eventually broke her heart but just made Toney eat more barbeque.Kallen later wrote a book."Hit Me With Your Best Shot A fight Plan For Dealing with All Of Life's Hard Knocks." She couldn't see that comin'?

James Toney was inducted into the West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame two weeks ago at The Biltmore Hotel. I saw him enter the hotel lobby with some friends. He swiftly drew a crowd. They all wanted to have their picture taken with Mr. Tough Guy. He ate it up.He had them at his feet. When he got to the mic to get his award he was full of bluster and bravado speaking that mumbo jumbo street jive. I couldn't figure out a word he said.The guy who introduced him got clipped at the knees when something he said about Toney's record wasn't impressive enough and James let him know it very bluntly.

Reading a quick bio of "LIghts Out" he said he was offered a football scholarship at the University of Michigan but turned it down citing that he" wasn't a team player" and he didn't like "taking orders."Really? Just ask Jackie Kallen.

I also read where he took on a mixed martial artist and tapped out when the guy got him in some wrestling hold.I just wish he would have tapped out the day he got his award at The Biltmore.


Guess who?

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The Tire Busters

Denny Moyer always said he could pick up a quick 15 hundred fighting at The Silver Slipper in Las Vegas. A lot of fighters in the Southland made some extra scratch at The Slipper. It was before the mega fights at the big hotels like Caesar's Palace and the colossus ones they have now on the strip that weren't built then. But sometimes there was a need for a guy like Moyer to make some extra money between fights. That meant he had o get a job. It was nothing permanent,just something to tide him over.

Moyer and his stablemate and drinking buddy Ronnie Wilson from time to time used to work at the Goodyear tire store on the corner of 10th and Broadway in San Diego which was a few blocks from The Coliseum.They were a couple of tire busters.

One night I was supposed to meet them after closing hours and go out on the town. When I arrived I couldn't believe what I saw. Both of them were crawling on the floor drunk ,empty beer cans scattered all over the place. I don't know when they began drinking but they certainly were in no shape to go bar hopping.At least I didn't want to have to drive them around. When they got like that they had no qualms about starting a ruckus. So I just found the nearest liquor store and bought some more beer.

While I was trying to catch up with them Moyer was talking about how he had a fight lined up at The Silver Slipper the next week.I don't see how he could make it. Him and Ronnie could burn the candle at both ends and get away with it.By that time they were fighting mainly for a paycheck. However,when they were right they could upset the applecart. They both had enough skills to make it rough on a fighter who might have had youth on his side but couldn't put it together in e ring like those two guys.


Ronnie Wilson

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Borrow 5, Payback 3

Sugar Ray Robinson for the most part was always broke. He liked to live the high life and that always put him in the red. He bought a block of businesses in Harlem which included a bar of course and hung a sign on his office door that read "Ray Robinson Enterprises."He soon went belly up. He was his own negotiator when it came to putting together his fights but the bottom line was he was always spending more than he made.When he went to Europe the first time(and in the end losing his title to Randy Turpin)he brought along in his entourage a court jester and a golf pro,But he knew everyone would pay to see him fight so the money kept flowing in. Imagine what he could have made today against all these marginal fighters?Oh,he fought a lot of so so guys too but today's qualifiers aren't much to look at. They build them up (like this Caleb Plant who fought Benavides the other night)but he they don't show much. Today's contenders would have been just been another easy payday for Robinson.

I told you about the time that my father was working for Capone's dairy they named Meadowmoor in Chicago. They invited Robinson to make a deal to put his name on a chocolate milk. Now there would have been some easy scratch for the champ,but in usual fashion he wanted too much and that soured the deal.After getting the thumbs down he walked outside and was standing on the corner when a car drove by with button men firing their Thompsons out the window, Robby thought the lead was meant for him and he deposited chocolate in his pressed pants. Turned out the hit squad had aimed their weapons at some lawyer that had dropped a dime on The Outfit. My old man would always tease Robinson about that whenever they crossed paths.

At the end of Robinson's career when he was out on The Coast fighting in bullrings and small venues. A young Cassius approached his idol and asked him to be his trainer.Robinson said "thanks but no thanks." Imagine all the money Robinson could have made being in Clay's corner? I'm sure he wasn't going to pull an Archie Moore and try to reinvent him and give him all kinds of orders.But Robby didn't want to be the second billing.When he got that trophy in Madison Garden when they gave him that send off and called him the greatest pound per pound pug of the last 50 years he brought the award to his scantly furnished apartment and put it in a card table.

So Robinson bummed around living off handouts that weren't hard to come by. He'd borrow 5 hundred and payback 3. Who cared? They could always say I helped out my pal Sugar Ray Robinson.I bet those guys never gave a nickel to any homeless people.

Sugar Ray Robinson

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Had Me Fooled

I ran across this on YouTube the other day. It was one of those Saturday Night Live skits.This one had to to with Donald Trump giving a presidential pardon to past heavyweight champion Jack Johnson who was imprisoned for violating the Mann Act back in the day. The underlying irony was biting to say the least.It had me in stitches. The actors portraying those fellas' was a riot.That guy who played Sylvester Stallone was really funny.....Wait a minute. Someone is tapping me on my shoulder and interrupting me.
"You say this isn't Saturday Night Live?You're saying this was real?This actually took place in the White House?Excuse me."
Like I was alluding to before,when you talk about what needs to take precedent and be resolved in our country that is in the throes of earth shattering events, the exoneration of Jack Johnson makes the world a better place. It was a long time coming.....Excuse me.I'm being tapped on the shoulder again.
"You say he's running again for president?"
And to think that this man will again want to be president of the United States. All I can say is that there's also room to exonerate James Brown. Then I can justify my "Free James Brown " sticker that I have on my Corvair.



Now I can sleep at night

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A Legal Doormat

The undisputed heavyweight title, or whatever you want to call it,was certainly legitimate and so was the so called "Colored Heavyweight Title." Will the argument evolve into something like you have today in baseball?-Include the records of the Negro Leagues into the archives of Major League Baseball when there was a color line? Then you could take it a step further and include the records of the Japanese Leagues and throw them in. When would you draw the line on the redefinition?

The one thing with boxing is when Jack Johnson erased that color line in 1908 beating Tommy Burns to win the World Heavyweight Title you could say "by by" to that debate. But then Johnson drew the color line when he refused to defend against Langford,McVey,and Jeanette. When Dempsey ducked Wills there was a return of the color line but there wasn't any "colored championship" anymore.

During the 40's there was the Black Murderers' Row contingent on the outside looking in but there was no championship for them either because they weren't lily white. Pro football,baseball,and basketball were still segregated but boxing had Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson.

Before there was Jackie Robinson there was Joe Gans,Barbados Joe Wolcott,Tiger Flowers,Battling Siki,George Dixon;Henry Armstrong,John Henry Lewis;not to mention those fellas' I named before.who wore World Title Belts.

A lot of boxing historians make the case that Sam Langford was the greatest fighter ever and all he wore around his waist was his jockey strap.

Too bad Trump isn't president anymore.He could use his Executive Order and straighten everything out,but I think that would be to get votes.Blacks don't think much of him anyway.


TIger Flowers

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Career Change

See where that New York grand jury is going to indict Trump on a hush money beef. I think of all the dirt they have on other past presidents and they came out smelling like roses.They really wanted to get Donald.Well,that'll finish his presidential hopes. Maybe he can switch careers and get into something where payoffs and bribes are the norm and right up his alley. Boxing promoter?

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If You Want To Play You Have To Pay

It was a while back. I won't mention any names but this kid's father ,who was handling his fight career, ran it by me that if he could get his hands on 5 thousand dollars this fight promoter would get him in the ring with somebody and if the kid won he'd be ranked in the top 30. I pretended that my hearing aids were on the blink.

I don't know if the kid's old man ever found someone who would bite, but I can tell you this-the kid doesn't fight anymore. But that's how it works in boxing,especially now.If you've got a fighter and want to move him up you have to sell your soul to the devil, aka the promoters.

It doesn't matter what the public wants.It matters that the promoters aren't left holding the bag. This kid I was telling you about,well, his father didn't help him out. The kid was tall and had a reach advantage and looked like he might amount to something. But the father wanted to call all the shots.He put him in there with stiffs that looked like they were yanked off the street.After a dozen fights or so his record didn't show a loss.But the guys he fought all had losing records-and I mean really losing records-like no wins and 20 defeats.You might ask how could they let guys like that into the ring?Well, we're talking about fights that were put on in those dingy bars in Tijuana. I saw a few of those fights and it looked like some of those Mexicans were sick,maybe had tested positive for HIV or should have belonged to AA..There were some cases of that.

Well, the kid finally got a decent shot with another guy who hadn't lost a fight.The fight was in Las Vegas,not at Caesar's Palace, but some .smaller hotel in one of the banquet rooms. The kid got run over.He almost didn't finish.I thought the ref might stop it. After the loss it was back in TJ fighting those ghosts again.

I quit watching the kid.The old man had lost any leverage he had with any promoter north or south of the border.

All I can say is that I was glad I didn't fork over 5 g's so some shady promoter would cover his losses and make a few bucks all on my dime. Why doesn't that DA in Manhattan that's going to nail Trump practice law over here and clean up boxing? But let's face it.What's left to clean up?


Don King.I always liked it when he was waving the American flag.

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So Little To Show For It.

With the possible exception of Sam Langford,I can't think of a fighter who dominated his opponents and a division and had so little to show for it.Exceopt for a 90 day stay of holding the welterweight championship,Luis Rodriguez cut through the welterweight division like molten lava.

The reason he doesn't get the ink like he deserves(he was late getting into the IBHOF) is because he lost 3 out of 4 to Emile Griffith.Unbiased fight buffs know that that figure should be reversed. Actually ,if you want to say that El Feo lost one to Emile is when he WON the welterweight championship in Los Angeles.But for the passing fan,he can check the archives and see for himself the official result was 3 wins for Emile and that 1 win in LA for The Nose.

When Rodriguez made his break with Castro's ridiculous ban on pro boxing, he first tried to find a home in Mexico.He didn't take to Mexico like his compatriots Jose Napoles and Sugar Ramos so he found refuge in Chris Dundee's 5th Street Gym in Miami.There was a big Cuban community there comprised of fellow Cubans like him that gave the finger to Fidel or were released from prison after The Bay Of Pigs.

But Luis bounced around ( like his boxing style) and would find himself often fighting in his opponent's backyard. He was unbeatable it seemed. It was terrible what they did to him when he fought Griffith. I remember years later when he had moved up in weight to fight at middleweight.He was here in San Diego to fight the Mexican champ (and regional favorite), ,Rafael Gutierrez. When interviewed about his upcoming bout all Luis would gripe about was how he got shafted by the judges when he fought Griffith.Rodriguez scored a KO and that put him in line for a challenge for Nino Benvenuti's middleweight title. Luis was outsized but he was out boxing the Italian and looked like he'd be a two division champ. But late in the fight Benvenuti caught Luis with the best punch he ever landed during his career. After that it was just to make a buck Louie.

When I was hanging around The San Diego Coliseum watching the then veteran Denny Moyer in his autumn years I heard him mention once that the best fighter he ever fought was Louie,and Denny had fought them all.

When I saw Memo Ayon,the Mexican,gore Sugar Ray Robinson the the downtown bullring,Memo journeyed up to LA to fight Rodriguez.Mexico and Memo thought they had something.Well, Luis handed Memo his head.

Louie,like Moyer and Griffith, fought too long. By that time it was for a paycheck.When he finally couldn't hold his own anymore he was beginning to get the you know what that brings one brings back to his childhood.

I "Googled" Luis Rodriguez to get some further caveats. When I clicked the search nothing showed. Then I typed "Luis Rodriguez boxer" Another boxer named Luis Rodriguez showed. Finally,I found something on Wikipedia. It amounted to more or less a quick rehash of his career and how he was on an Eastern airlines flight that was hijacked to Cuba. Louie was afraid that Castro would keep him this time and put him jail.But the plane was allowed to return to the U.S.

You could say that for once Luis had something to show for being the great fighter that he was.


Luis Rodriguez

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It's Better Than Nothing-I guess?

I was reading an article on the internet by the "San Diego Red." From what I can put together I think it's a San Diego publication that does stories on what's happening across the border. The article that caught my attention was a story about a forthcoming exhibition match called "El Ultimo Adios" between two of Mexico's boxing legends,Julio Cesar Chavez and Erik Morales.The event is scheduled for May 20th.It will be Chavez's 60th birthday.

The event was announced in front of the TJ press with Chavez's and Morales present along with Chavez's son ,Omar;Julio Jr.who says he's planning a comeback;and Jackie Nava "La Princesa Azteca" ,a native of TJ who recently retired from the ring.There was no mention yet of a venue .That will be decided later. Prices for the match range from 16 dollars(300 pesos) to $410 dollars(7500 pesos) for ringside. There was no mention about if the money raised would be donated to charity.

At the bottom of the article there were no responses in the "Comment Section."


Julio Cesar Chavez

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A Short Conversation

I went to Tijuana today to buy gas and stop at the drug store to get some antibiotics that if I went through my HMO I would have needed to make a doctor's appointment(probably in 2 days) and get him to fill out a prescription. It would have cost me more money even though I have Medicare and a prescription plan.Now don't give me the business that Mexican medicine is no good. Hell, 70 percnt of our medicines are made in either China or India.Less hassle going to TJ.As for the gas it's around 5 dollars for regular in San Diego.Across the border premium is around 4 dollars 20 cents. a liter.Now I know the first thing you might say is that Mexican gas(Pemex) is lousy gas.Got news for you.Mexican gas is what Chevron uses in California. Besides,the gas stations in TJ are all foreign brands including Chevron,Shell,Arco,and BP. Never had a problem with Mexican gas buying it in TJ. Oh,there used to be back in the day ,but no more.

Ok.Got that over with. I parked my car at the usual parking lot I go to.The kid attendant there is a boxing nut.After leaving the drug store I asked him if he had heard about that exhibition thing with Julio Cesar Chavez and Erik Morales.
"Where are they going to have that?"I asked him.
"At the Caliente racetrack."
"Are you going?"
"No.Are you?"
"No."
I switched gears.
"Hey.Whatever happened to Jaime Munguia? Has he got anything lined up?"
"Not that I' know."
"Erik Morales is his trainer."
"And he's going to fight Julio Cesar Chavez," the kid said smiling.
"How much do I owe you?The drug store validated my ticket."
The kid looked at my ticket, then his watch.
"Nothing."
Somehow that summed up more than just our conversation.


Erik Morales

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When The Anger Goes Away

Remembering that fight when Roberto Duran won the lightweight championship from Ken Buchanan made me think about how all the Roberto aficianados (at least a big majority) have this perception that Duran is still that "raging animal" that he resembled that night in Madison Square Garden in 1972. The cult still wants to believe that Duran,at the drop of the hat,would unleash his fury on anyone who crossed his path.

Roberto is 70 years old now,a grandpa,and I'm sure his body is experiencing the aches and twinges of what it feels like to be a septuagenarian. But I know how a lot of these acolytes think. They believe that Roberto,regardless of time marching on,still has the eye and the muscle of the tiger. Only that eye probably has a cataract and his sinew is crinkly from hardening of the arteries. He must cringe when his followers still expect him to want to hit someone for no reason at all, unless they are the target.

I'm sure he gets weary of people wanting him to recount about the fury he unleashed on so many of his opponents. But after "No Mas" from time to time the adrenalin rush would be blocked behind his shutoff valve. from time .Where in the end his adrenal glands became withered like old prunes. It's pathetic about how his minions want him to be like the old Roberto, who today is just growing older

Duran no longer lays that macho intimidation crap on anyone. He's the better man for it.I heard Emanuel Stewart say that Tommy Hearns didn't fall for it. That was part of Duran's mantra at that time.Have the opponent scared before he climbed into the ring thinking he was in there with a crazy man.Tyson is a good example of that. He still has enough youth and brawn with him where he still pulls that baloney. But if he ever makes it to 70,or even a few ticks before,he'll know what it's like to go to walk the streets at night and realize that all that wind and smoke is just that-nothing really to be afraid of.


Mike Tyson

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The Jazz Concert

They once had a jazz concert at The San Diego Coliseum. They might have had more music there but I know they had a jazz concert there featuring the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. It was before more time.I was a kid living in Chicago. But I always imagined what it must have been like.

The Coliseum's max capacity was round 1500.Most of the seating was bleachers that circled the perimeter of the walls. But the arena was so small that if you were sitting in the bleachers you were almost right on top of things.


From what I remember reading about the concert it was held in 1952. Now I know Archie Moore was maestro of the light heavyweights by then, and had made San Diego his home, and him being a rabid jazz fan he had to have been there . They said they put the musicians up in the ring.Charlie Parker would play anywhere(when he wasn't on the nod and sometimes even he was)so it must have been an experience that lived up tp expectations or it could have been a drag,depending if Parker got his fix or not.

Charlie Parker was a cult figure back then and today he's a legend,an icon.The Ali of modern jazz. However, the perception today is seen with an kind of eye of royalty.While other black jazz musicians rose to greater stardom and financial wealth,Charlie Parker put most of his earnings into a syringe and then into any vein that still flowed blood.. But even though the other cats like Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis got their faces out there to the public they knew who was the boss.It was like he fell from heaven. No one had ever played a reed like him and no one ever will.Evey jazz musician,regardless of his axe, tried to copy the way he played, but it was a pale imitation.

Parker really didn't care if the others were getting more of the glory and the scratch.He was a dope addict since he was a teenager.He loved music and dope(I think in that order)and that was all that mattered.

He died at the age of 34 from a heart attack in New York City at the Stanhope Hotel watching television in a baroness' apartment.The coroner estimated his age at being 60.

Charlie Parker must have played thousands of gigs.To think he let it roll in the old San Diego Coliseum one night.I bet Archie Moore was gassed


Charlie parker and the cats performing at The LA Philharminic Auditorium 1942, Look at the names on that album cover.He was on stage with the best but when he takes his solo he blows them away.Yo don't have a PHD to figure out when he takes his cue.It's a headset and the band jumps in with both feet when he starts to solo.


Charlie Parker

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A Cubbyhole Of A Coliseum

When Charley Norkus was inducted into the California Boxing Hall Of Fame in Los Angeles awhile back,his son,Charley Jr. accepted the award on behalf of his late dad.Junior ,you could tell, was totally enamored with his late father.He never stopped talking about what a great fighter he was. I believe the son lived in New Jersey at that time and had to make the trip across the U.S. to take his place at the podium in LA.

I talked with Charley Jr. at the banquet and he seemed disappointed by the size of The San Diego Coliseum.It was there that his dad lost a rematch to charley Powell by decision. Evidently, Junior had taken a drive down to San Diego to see the old building. By that time was a furniture warehouse.
"I thought I'd see something bigger,"said Junior.
I think when he heard the word "coliseum" he was thinking of something along the lines of what they have in Rome.
"No," I said in response,"The San Diego Coliseum was kind of a rickety structure. It only held around 1500 people."

Charley Norkus Jr. idolized his father.The son wanted his dad to get all the credit he deserved which he thought wasn't enough.His win over the previously unbeaten Powell the first time was one of the highwater marks of dad's up and down career. Junior also told me that Marciano used to looked at dad's opponents when considering choosing future fighters for defenses.I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that.

Sifting through the Ring Record Book I see that Charley Norkus was never ranked by that body in the top 10 heavyweights nor light heavies, But then again Charley Norkus had his days in the sun.Too bad he had to be cooped up in that cubbyhole of the San Diego Coliseum when he fought Charley Powell.


The San Diego Coliseum after they turned off the lights.

[dagosd2000]

The San Diego Coliseum today. The Navarro family sold The Coliseum after they had turned it into a furniture store, and later a warehouse. The people who bought the property gutted the structure and remolded it into I guess what you would call a social club: a millennial hangout for the lively drinkers. A fully stocked bar with all the trendy tequilas and mixed drinks in the 20 dollar and up range f;every craft beer under the sun; full array of games:shuffleboard,pinball machines,and of course al that electronic stuff;bowling alleys.They named the joint "the Punch Bowl Social."

I went in there once during the day.The place was empty.I ordered a club soda from the Ken doll bartender, who was nice enough but looked like he was having trouble to get any hair to grow above his upper lip ,and asked him if he knew the history of his place of employment.
"You say this place used to be a boxing arena?"he said with a kind of goofy expression on his face.
"They used to have fights here every week."
"I think I heard something about that.I think that's how it got its name,"Punch Bowl.Get it?"
"You know that old arena went back quite aways in this town.Archie Moore started off here.So did Ken Norton They'd pack this place on a Tuesday night and it was loud and full of cigarette smoke.If the fights were good they'd throw money in the ring.If they were bad they threw beer.And then there were the wrestling matches once a week.Freddie Blassie and Mr. Moto. I even saw Andre The Giant.The dressing room smelled of cheap cologne to drown out the sweat and body odor.There was mold on the walls and water all over the floor.The shower heads always were leaking. Yeah,the old Coliseum brings back a lot of memories."
"Say can I top off your club soda?"asked the kid as he was wiping the bar that didn't need wiping.
"I got to get going,"I said."What do I owe you?"
"A dollar."
I pulled out two and put it on the counter.
"It was good talking to you ,"said the kid. "See you again."
I left thinking I'll die before I ever go back to that place.




The kid bartender said they had a band come in on the weekends.I don't think it was these guys.

[dagosd2000]

Community Contradiction

When The San Diego Coliseum was rollin' every week with a fight card and the wrestling matches you could say that the neighborhood had a certain charm,a notch below middle class, but there was swagger.A little long in the tooth maybe,but still plenty of enamel.Mexican roots mostly spread underneath the community. Old families going back to the upstart days in San Diego. Blacks were represented;a working class that came home in the evening and sat down to dinner,opened a can of beer,and read the paper. Then a little TV ending with the 11 o'clock news and off to bed.

Though maybe needing a brush up the streets were safe to walk at night so the womenfolk could go to the corner store and buy a quart of milk and a pack of smokes.The kids would play outside till dark.They went to the same schools and there were the same problems as the schools in all the neighborhoods which didn't amount to much.Grafitti was unheard of.Dope addicts were something you read about in Confidential Magazine.There were no Crips and Bloods. And The San Diego Coliseum was apropos. After the fights were over you walked back to your car that was parked on the street and didn't find your windows smashed.You didn't get rolled.It was a tough part of town but it had its code.

Today,in reference to that millennial hangout I wrote about yesterday ,The Punch Bowl Social, that was reconstructed on the site of the old Coliseum,the area has decayed to the point that just walking through the streets is something out of a Third World Country.It's estimated more than 10 thousand homeless live tin that part of town now. Blocks and blocks of those powder blue tents with grocery carts in front packed with one's possessions. Empty beer cans,broken wine bottles,used needles on the sidewalks. People pissing and s--tting in the bushes or just in front of everybody..You can hear screaming and see people talking to themselves.Dogs and little kids running amok.There's a stench in the air of sweat,vomit, and urine. And The Punch Bowl Social is in the middle of all that with all the new high rise condos that cost a million dollars alongside.The recently built PetCo Park complex ,the home of the San Diego Padres, brings in the fans from the suburbs and they fill the venue to capacity.

There's no more boxing arena. The mom and pop store is the liquor store. The few gas stations there are the most expensive in town. There's one school for al grades and that's reserved for the homeless kids who go to school if they like.Hepatitis is like the common cold.Overdoses are the norm. Getting knifed is par.

They call the area "The East Village". It may have its million dollar condos and the Punch bowl Social but they can have it.I'll take the days when you could go to the fights at The Coliseum and not have to fight your way back to your car.Now that's when it was a village.



You don't see vendors pushing their carts in "The East Village." They wouldn't sell a popsicle. And besides,why take chance of getting held up?

[dagosd2000]

Downtown San Diego's "East Village." The proposed solutions:
1.Prevention(Never been fully explained.Just say no? )
2.ReHab(The brain damage is irreversible)
3.Find them a job(They don't want to work.They're already on the governmant dole.They get free medicare.And who would want to to take a risk hiring any of them anyway ?)
When they do their surveys the homeless problem is always at the top of the list.

There are a handful of agencies(government funded with added private donors)but it's a racket. At the top there are a handful of people who have a lock on administration.They pull in 6 figure salaries. There's dorms and meals provided for the few homeless who want to straighten themselves out. They work mostly clean up details on the side of the roads. But if you look at the few who turn the corner FOR GOOD it's not even a drop in the bucket. Sure,these agencies will show off a poster child but it's really a scam for those fast talkers to bilk money from the government and the bleeding hearts so they can go out and buy their Beemers.