Classic American West Coast Boxing

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Second Thoughts

I used to think there was something funny about the fight when Floyd Patterson beat Archie Moore for the vacant heavyweight title after Rocky Marciano retired from boxing. Moore was the favorite be it at only 6 to 5 but Moore had so much more experience.He had fought every quality fighter worth mentioning. Floyd's top opponent was Joey Maxim who had beaten Patterson handing him his first loss via a 6 round decision. Moore never had much of a problem with Joey winning the light heavyweight championship from him and then going on to skin him twice more,

The thing that puzzled me the most was how Patterson got the title shot in the first place. The International Boxing Club, under the guise of Jim Norris and huis entourage of sordid souls, controlled boxing back then. It was also a time when Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo were making closed door deals and fixing the outcomes.(later they'd all go to jail)

With Patterson having a guru like Cus D'Amato I figured there was a bargain made to get Floyd into the ring with Moore. A little payola both ways. Then there was the agreement to have the fight away from new York yet within reach of the claws of the IBC having it staged in Chicago. With The Chicago Outfit familiar with pre arranging fights you could smell a rat.

The fight was a cakewalk for Patterson. Moore was scrambled to the deck in the 5th round and counted out by referee Frank Sikora.Moore ,who had been on a quest it seemed forever to fight Mariano for the chance for the biggest prize in the sport,looked inept against Patterson. Dan Florio,Patterson's game planner trainer,worked out a strategy to offset Moore's guile with Floyd's speed of hand. But that didn't quash my doubts.

Moore said after it was over that a woman had been trying to blackmail him and those overtures affected his focus.He also said that the ring mat was too soft and it deadened his legs. Again my doubts were still in my head. For a long time I couldn't accept the fact that the fight was on the up and up. But after looking at the tape of the fight over and over again over the years I've relented-there was nothing dubious about the affair. Moore was throwing mean intentions but they were idle threats.Floyd was the better man.

Later ,Archie Moore would say regarding his career that he had lost some for sure but that his failure against Patterson was his worst effort. And you could make the claim that Patterson's victory over The Mongoose was his sweetest.

I surrender dear.



Archie Moore

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I Surrender Dear

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Pipino Is My Champion

"Pipino can beat Muhammad Ali,"boasted Fano as we were on the loading dock stacking bags of fertilizer onto the pallets waiting for the trucks to deliver them to the nurseries.
"That' a pretty big order,"I remarked.
"Pipino is indestructible,"said Fano finishing his crow with a laugh. His round soft face was all aglow as he was getting revved up talking about his idol.
"He was in that car accident and his head went through the window,Fano went on almost running out of breath," and he just shrugged it off."
"I heard a song on the Mexican radio called 'Pipino Es Mi Campeon.' "
"He is the idol of the country.He is adored.Did you see what he did to Scott Clark? He destroyed him.Scott Clark",said Fano with disgust shaking his head and laughing again so hard trying not to control himself."What a joke."
"Eventually he'll have to fight Hearns."
"Hearns is just another Memin Pinguin,Pipino will kill him,"he said jokingly and slapping his fat hairless arms on his chest.

I never saw a guy so worked up about anyone as Fano was with Pipinio Cuevas.All Fano talked about was Pipino Cuevas. It was like he was his alter ego. Fano was the Walter Mitty and Pipino Cuevas was what he wished he could be. I got to believe that Fano had somehow injected Cuevas' DNA somehow into his brain. Pipino Cuevas soared with the Olympian gods .His face should have been chiseled into Mt. Rushmore. Pipino Cuevas should have been on the cover of Time Magazine as the world's most celebrated figure of the 20th century.

Well,we all know what happened.Pipino finally met Tommy Hearns' right hand that toppled Pipino from the mountain top, stumbling around and falling flat on his face. Shortly after, Roger Stafford pulled off the upset of the year against him.And then Roberto Duran finished off what was left of him in a match to determine who was the most macho. The fight had the tagline>"Somebody's Gonna' Fall."Pipino did the falling. He fell off onto the road to oblivion. I saw his last fight .it was in Tijuana against Lupe Aquino. Cuevas looked sick and tired.He was gone in inside two rounds. The aficianados were throwing things at him as he headed for the showers.

At one time Pipino Cuevas was as popular a Mexican champion as Olivares,Chavez,and Canelo.His demise was a one eighty. Mexico relegated him to a footnote. That mettle was an illusion. And I never heard that song Pipino Es Mi Campeon on the radio again.And I never knew what happened to Fano.


Memin Pinguin-Mexican comic book character

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Pipino Cuevas

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Your Host,Rocky

I used to like to watch that show in the 50's where Rocky Marciano would be the host and he'd invite a guest celebrity and Rocky would talk to them about their careers and what was in store and then they'd watch a past fight and Rocky would comment like the action was taking place live. The show was a half hour long and I wish they had a show like that today.

Two things that stood out for me about that show(and it always had to do with the fighter's welfare)
!. He'd criticize a fighter if he didn't come into the fight in top condition.
2. If the referee was slow to halt the action if one of the fighters was taking a beating.

Like I said ,Rocky would do the commentary like the fight was just taking place.One time Rocky had as his guest Jackie Gleason. The fight they watched together was Joe Miceli and Honey Boy Bratton. Rocky was saying that at one time Joe Miceli was very highly thought of.Miceli would come into the gym and dazzle everyone with his talent. But as his career went on he shrugged training and began spending too much time hanging around with the wrong crowd,He let himself slip. As they were watching the replay Rocky was saying stuff like,"Joe your starting to wear out.You didn't do enough roadwork, You tried to cut corners.I wish you'd retire.Your best days are behind you." Stuff like that.

Rocky Marciano was always trying to scrape together something after he retired.In the process he was also tryng to find himslf.Even his brother ,Peter, was puzzled. Rocky didn't spend much time at home with his wife and daughters.He llked to go on the banquet circuit .These good 'ol boys groups(unions,LIon's clubs,Moose Lodges,etc.) would pay him money (always 1500 hundred cash up front before he'd go to the microphone)and then Rocky would tell them about the time he caught Jersey Joe with his iconic Suzy Q. These guys would follow him around like the Pied Piper.My father was a member Chicago's Moose Lodge number 3 and Rocky was a guest one night. He had everyone on the edge of their seats. Rocky used to frequent Vegas when the Mob was skimming from the casinos. He was connected with those guys.He'd bring one of his girlfriend along and they'd be having a good time and then they would have it out in front of everybody.

Rocky was always tight with a buck.The day he crashed in that small plane he was on his way back east to celebrate his daughter's birthday.He could have taken a regular flight but he was trying to cut corners taking the single engine plane, I wonder what Joe Miceli was thinking after that?



Rocky calling the shots.Great stuff.

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Jackie Gleason telling Rocky Marciano about the time Tony Galento beat him up. Funny stuff.

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Honeymooners theme song.Makes me think of better times.Shrinks will tell you to not think in the past.Keep your head in the present. Psychiatry is a dying profession.

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I Want To Hold Your Hand

I used to like Lomochenko. I still do kinda'. I remember when they were really building this guy up. He had something like 10 fights (and he had lost 1) and they were saying he was gonna' be one of the all time greats.He had had all this brilliant amateur backround including the Olympics and they were equating this with what he was doing as a pro. Fighters were not only losing to him but they were quitting in the process.He'd rush out at them and they'd have a fainting spell.He was all pressure and everybody was caving into it.This was a time that I liked him, but I wasn't going gaga.C'mon,10 fights?

Then he signed to fight this Teofimo Lopez.I'd never heard of Lopez. His old man, who was handling him, was saying to bet everything you had on his son. You'd be a rich man. I wasn't doing handstands about that promoting either. Then there was all the typical pre fight buildup and hype. You know how they go into the training camps and talk to both sides and give you all the nuts and bolts about everything from how they grew up to what their favorite flavor of ice cream is.

I don't know what it is with these Ukranian fighters. They come off as kind of cold.Maybr it's the weather back there that has something to do with it.But the Ruskies and their cousins are the same way.They're kind of stiff in public. Did you ever see this Putin crack a funny?The Kiitschkos were the same way. They have this serious look all the time.Oh,they're gentlemen, but they talk real deliberately and are very serious and sometimes I wonder if they're hiding some deep down secret.Lomochenko gives me this impression.

Well, they're interviewing Lomochenko and they ask him about his training methodology.I'm not paying too much attention but then he says he has a psychologist that he talks to after every training session,and the shrink talks to him.That did it for me. A psychologist? What's the problem Lomo? You feel insecure about something and you need Sigmund to talk to you about it? You need someone to hold your hand? You come off a little arrogant anyway but your saying you need to talk to a shrink. I've heard of fighters having a nutritionist to cook their food. Ray Robinson even had a midget jester and a golf pro he took with him when he went to Europe to fight,but a psychologist?

Well, Lopez smacked him around pretty good and last week Haney put his gloves on him enough to win. Now I'm thinking Lomochenko might really have a reason to talk to a shrink. .


John Lennon. Maybe if he was alive he could hold Lomo's hand(from the song of the same name)

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Some of those better times I was talking about.RIP Tina

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Love Is All We Need

I had three daughters and one son. He was the last one. I never really cared if it came out a boy or a girl. I would probably say i was closer with my daughters as they were to me. i figure the son wants to set out on his own and be himself,and if he has a father hovering over him it just causes friction. You can introduce him to things and then see if he bites.If not,then that wasn't his cup of tea.Don't worry about it.

Daughters on the other hand( and I'm talking now of my three)are always there through thick and thin. My daughters wait on me and are worry about if I'm Ok. I always say I'm fine. But I know if something happens they'll be there.

My wife is the same way. She'll give me hell once in a while but she always has my back.

I see a lot of these fighters who are now being consumed by the dementia. Keeping a close eye are the women in their lives.The fighters don't whine or wrap themselves around self pity. The women in their lives certainly aren't in the bitch category. They're always aware of the surroundings. If it's safe to do this or that.They're always o the lookout for intruders.They field questions and don't let the inevitable undermine their moral..They're like saints. Maybe it's the female in them;like they're taking care of their little boy again.I know it must be hard but they bear with it with grace.What in the hell what we'd do without them?



Bonnie and Danny Lopez. When I asked to take the picture Bonnie said to Danny,"Now don't touch your glasses."God bless 'em.

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A Tale Of Two Cities

When Sugar Robinson was going strong he lived in New York City.Later, he moved out to Los Angeles but this was when he was pretty much through. He had met his future wife,Milly ,out here so that's why he made the move.Archie Moore finally settled down in San Diego. When he won the light heavyweight title from Joey Maxim he was living in San Diego.Moore's last fling at marriage he asked Robinson to stand up for him.

Sugar Ray Robinson hit a glitch when he tried to wrest the light heavyweight title from Joey Maxim. He retired after that fight but came back later.George Gainsford ,Robby's manager who usually let Robinson make up his own mind, talked him into fighting Joey. Maxim wasn't a big light heavyweight. He was small in the chest and didn't pack a wallop. Robinson was winning the fight until the heat(and Joey Maxim)put him out.

There was a time when Moore and Robinson were champs at the same time during a spell in the 50's. Robby at 160.Archie ruling the light heavyweights. They never fought each other. While both were great fighters the burgs they lived in were not only at opposite ends of the country but their ID's couldn't have been more different.

Now I live in San Diego and I've been to The Apple enough times to note the differences.New York is steeped with tradition a la Americana. They've got the most famous baseball team,the Yankees(at one time thy had three-the Giants and the Brooklyn bums).The Yankees have won more world seriouses than any of the other nines. They had rosters that included household names like Ruth and Gehrig,Dimaggio,Mantle,Yogi,and Whitey Ford,and they played ball in the old Yankee Stadium.Match that.If your thinking boxing you can't help but picture Madison Square garden and all the names that fought in that arena-Dempsey,Louis,Marciano ,and a young Cassius Clay.New York had Tin Pan Alley with song writers like Gershwin.Berlin,and Porter cranking out standards like Autumn in New York and Manhattan that will live on forever. If you had play on Broadway you had made it in the bigtime.Hotels like The Waldorf Astoria and The St. Regis were swank to hit the hay along with eateries like Delmonicos and the 21 Club to stuff your face, If you wanted great Italian food you'd find it on Mulberry Street. If you had a taste for Kosher it was Katz's on the lower East Side.New York had the tallest building in the world,The Empire State.There were the rich and famous living on Park Avenue.For the long hairs there was the Met and Carnegie Hall to get an earful. If jazz was your sound of preference there was Harlem uptown after hours and the latest riffs you could hear inside the clubs on 52nd Street. And there was the old standby ,the Copa,where you could catch sinatra singing before a packed house.Wall Street was the financial center of the planet. The Statue Of Liberty,the Brooklyn Bridge,Coney Island,Central Park,Times Square,42nd Street. - names so popular they made it into Websters.

Now on the the other side you've got San Diego. To make a long story short they've got none of the s--t like I mentioned above.No one has written a song about San Diego. San Diego has always been a Navy town.There's a lot of Mexicans but even the Mexican food here is sub par. You have to go to Tijuana for good tacos.San Diego though does have a good zoo.OK, San Diego has a better zoo than New York.I haven't been to the zoo in over 40 years.

But you can have the weather in New York and all the traffic and the noise.I think of all the people that lived in New York like Sugar Ray Robinson and moved out to the coast.I"ve ever met anyone in San Diego that has said to me that I've got to break my ass so I can live in New York City.



KIndred spirits

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Ella Fitzgerald

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We Don't Need No Stinking Rules

Dog fighting and cock fighting are against the law in Caifornia;so is unsanctioned boxing. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I haven't heard anything lately but there was a time that that kind of stuff was going on pretty much without much interference.I don't mean to say that law enforcement was getting payola for looking the other way.I guess they just had bigger fish to fry.

The area in San Diego where these things were going on was mostly in the South Bay,an area south of San Diego proper running down around 10 miles to the border.It was kind of desolate. Mostly small farms,small houses dotted happenstance.There were no banks.No chain stores.Mom and pop novelty shops and produce stands.

The population was comprised mostly of Mexicans.all legal. They didn't bother anyone and in turn wanted no interference. They did what they felt like doing,and that was typical of the lifestyle in Mexico. There are as many rules in Mexico as there are here but the rules are often bent.For instance if there's a red light at the intersection and no cars are coning why stop?The same with dog fighting,cock fighting and sub rosa boxing matches.We're not bothering anybody.It's legal in Mexico.

I was once caught up and partook in a illegal boxing match inside a bar in National City called the 21 Club.Looking back I didn't see the red flags.There was no weigh in.No commission doc.I was fighting an amateur fight I didn't wear a headgear.

But that's the way it was back then.No harm no foul. BTW,if you wanted to get a phony green card ,a bogus passport,or a funny driver's license you couldn't swing dead cat and not find a guy on the street who'd sell you one.


My nephew Chelis with one of his fighting roosters.

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Alfonso Bedoya telling Humphrey Bogart that he "don't need no stinkin' badges" from the movie The Treasure Of Sierra Madre.

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A Memorial For Carmen

I remember Carmen Basilio saying that he had two goals as a young man;one,to be a boxing champion and two,to be a Marine.When the dust settled he had accomplished both. When they asked him what he was most proud of he said that being a Marine in World War 11.He wasn't boasting.There was no swagger. He didn't pound his chest.He didn't give a reason.

I think they made the right decision putting the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in his hometown.

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Instant Replay

"What are you watching?"asked my father as he walked into the living room.
" A replay of last night's fight."
"Who fought?"
"Jose Napoles and Billy Backus."
"Never heard of them."
My father's interest with boxing had dwindled since Marciano's retirement and the advent of Cassius Clay.
"Isn't that Carmen Basilio ?"asked my father as he moved closer to the TV set.
Now he perked up.
"Yeah. He trains Backus,Backus is his nephew"I answered.
"Well,Backus must have won then."
I think my father even liked Basilio more than Marciano.They were both Italian but Carmen was a Marine like him in World War II.
"No Backus lost.He was knocked out."
"You watch Backus will take this guy.With Basilio in his corner he cant lose."
"This is a replay.Backus lost the fight,"I stressed.
I looked at my father.He had his hands on his hips and was smiling at the TV.
"You watch. if this Backus is anything like Carmen he'll knock this guy out."
I figured I wouldn't embellish on my explanation and just let my father see for himself. As the fight wore on and Napoles began asserting his authority my father wasn't saying anything.Finally,the end came when the ring doctor decided to stop the fight because of the beating Backus was taking
I looked again at my father.He had this incredulous look on his face.
"What did you say this other guy's name was?"
"Jose Napoles."
My father gathered himself and looked satisfied.
"Napoles? Well, he must be Italian.And to top it off he's where my people are from,Naples."
My father turned and walked out of the living room. I could hear him singing Chattanooga Choo Choo to himself in the other room.


Carmen Basilio


GLenn Miller.Chattanooga Cnoo Choo.My father was always singing this.He thought Tex Beneke was the greatest singer.And then comes the Nicholas Brothers.Forget Michael Jackson and his Space Walk.

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My father when was in The Corps back in the day of WW II

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Two Revolutionaries

When the famous west coast entrepreneur and boxing promoter Jack Curley approached heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in 1915 about a proposed defense of his title against the White Hope ,Jess Willard,Curley was thinking of having the affair take place in Ciudad Juarez,Mexico. The bankroll was to be provided by the Mexican revolutionary ,Pancho Villa- 100 thousand dollars in gold bars. But there was a problem.

In 1915 the Mexican Revolution was still going great guns. Venustiano Carranza was the president of the republic,though hanging by a string, and his forces led by his brilliant general Alvaro Obregon were engaged in a hammer and tong slugfest with Villa's Division Of The North in northern Mexico. Carranza, when hearing of the proposed fight, told Johnson that if he set foot foot anywhere on Mexican soil he'd be immediately arrested and handed over pronto to U.S. authorities.

There was also the threat of Johnson getting caught in a hail of lead in some crossfire or maybe kidnapped by Villa and held for ransom.Ciudad Juarez was right across the line from El Paso,Texas.It didn't take Curley and Johnson long to decide to put the fight in another venue and in another country.

Johnson was tired of globetrotting to avoid going to jail on his Mann Act conviction and wanted to return to U.S. soil.His mother was ill and was asking for him.Johnson believed he'd get a retrial and be forgiven in a sense and he could then continue with his old lifestyle of doing what he wanted to do when he felt like it.But it didn't work out that way. He lost his title to Willard in Havana(he said it was part of the bargain but then again Jack was known to stretch the truth)He didn't get back in time to be with his mother when she passed nor did he get a second look from the U.S. government when he finally turned himself in after crossing the border into San Diego and giving himself up. He was immediately whisked away to Leavenworth to serve a year in the stir. But the warden took a liking to the ex champ(he was the gov of the state of Nevada when Johnson fought Jeff) and put him in charge of an exercise program where Johnson spent most of his time boxing exhibitions with imported heavyweight lugs.In eight months Jack was back out on the street commingling back to his old Bon vivant ways sans the heavyweight championship. No one wanted to see that again.

Pancho Villa on the other hand didn't fare as well. When he and his Dorados finally had had enough of ducking bullets he was granted, by the interim president De La Huerta, a ranch and a pension where he could take his wives and kids and 50 of his most loyal men to start a fresh life. The ranch was in the state of Durango where Villa was raised .He named the property Canutillo.He was getting along peacefully for the most part taking an interest in farming and cattle raising.But the government always kept an eye on him. One day he decided to take himself and seven of his pals to Parral,a town south of his ranch ,to celebrate a friend's wedding.Villa also was going to spend quality time to see his girlfriend, Manuela, who was running his hotel in town.One morning ,as Villa and his compadres riding in Pancho's big Dodge,they stopped at the railroad tracks before proceeding. Assassins opened up with a fusillade of lead killing all inside the car.Villa was practically cut in half.

Pancho Villa and Jack Johnson almost crossed paths.You could say they threw the mold away when they made those two guys.They were similar in tone. They never looked over their shoulders and second guessed themselves.They did what their instincts dictated, and though they came up from the bottom they always believed that beyond the stars was within their grasps.


Jack Johnson


Pancho Villa laid out in the hotel across the street from where he was shot

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The Post Fight Skit

I was watching the replay of the Rumble In The Jungle last night from the beginning to the end when both fighters entered the ring to Ali holding court in the dressing room after it was over.There weren't many people picking Ali to win that fight. Even though Angelo Dundee was saying beforehand that Ali was going to knockout Foreman it was an idle threat.

As the fight progressed it became apparent that Foreman was tiring himself out.Wild swings , struggling to keep constant pressure, putting everything behind his throws and having the not desired effect, was not only flagging the champ physically but undermining his confidence.

Foreman's brain trust of Dick Saddler and his sidekick,Archie Moore put together one of the worst game plans in the history of boxing.As the fight moved along they wouldn't adjust Foreman's method of attack.They let him continue to wear himself out while his hopes of retaining the crown dwindled.

After the outcome was decided the pandemonium followed Ali into the locker room. Everyone wanted to become a symbiotic part of Ali's victory and now it was time for Ali to hold court.David Frost,one of the four men at ringside making the call,hovered over the new champ, ,microphone in hand,and pummelled him with self serving rhetorical questioning that any Tom ,Dick,and Harry could have spun off at the top of their heads.

Americans amuse me at times.They think they need to have some English bloke present to add some sort of intellect to the proceedings.Give it some credibility. His accent is his calling card.For The Rumble In The Jungle Frost was that safari guide.Frost was asking such penetrating queries like"Isn't this the greatest moment of you life?" expecting Ali to answer in the affirmative.

Instead,Ali ranted on that his introduction to the the reverential Elijah Muhammad and The Nation Of islam was the most important thing that ever happened to him. It was "Praise Allah and Elijah Muhammad" from then on.Ali was showing as much mettle in his praise of the Muslim world as he did giving a wupping to George Foreman.In the meantime Frost is still wailing away asking questions that he thought Ali would concur with Frost's innuendos. They were both on different wave links.You'd think that Frost would change course and ask Ali something about The Nation Of Islam or what he tought of Elijah Muhammad's part in his hair.Frost might have reeled him in.It was like Ali wasn't even listening to him.It was really kind of funny. For a moment I was thinking they should have done a parody of this on Saturday Night Live.


Ali-a one man revival meeting

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Touching A Star

There hasn't ever been an athlete,or maybe anyone,who has had such a lasting effect on the person who has been by his side than Muhammad Ali. Characters have been shaped by walking in his shadow. Ring opponents;former wives; handlers, either with his boxing chores or his business dealings;writers;personalities in the media,

There's a thread going around about boxing's era around Liston's time that perhaps there was a lack of thrill. Let's face it boxing's tone is defined by what action is going on at the top. of the heavyweight division. If the heavyweight champion lacks luster then everything else below has to struggle for assurance.

Sonny Liston was a dead pan figure.Doesn't necessarily mean he was a stiff,but the interest wasn't there. This had happened before.Dempsey couldn't beat Tunney but Tunney put a cloud over the sport by looking down his nose at the fans. When he retired there was a doldrum that continued until Joe Louis came to be..When Joe was through there was another lack of wind with Charles and Walcott moving slowly.Marciano gave it new life.

The great John L.,Corbett,Fitz,and Jeff had the fans agog. Then came Johnson who shattered the illusion that his race had no business nor the merit to be the best man. .It wasn't until Dempsey exploded on the scene did the record needle get back in the groove.

They talk about a Mount Rushmore of fighters. It has to be composed of heavyweights. Their impact on the sport is what counts for everyone else or at least embellshes what they've accomplished. Sullivan was the toast of all the continents,Johnson had everyone wanting him to be brought down by a White Hope,,Joe Louis was never an underdog in a fight he was so dominant,and the there was Ali the most recognized face on the planet.There's you granite figures.

Muhammad Ali saved boxing when it looked like the sport was going to just fade away. All the people he touched were in his grace.Even the ones that are left are wrapped around the name. What would be of Sonny Liston's memory if he hadn't quit against The Greatest?He's talked about with those bouts.

People write with vigor on the forums but what could they find on the internet if Ali hadn't stepped forward?Boxing today still lives in his wake. He was a Svengali to the people who touched him.Tyson had a shot for immortality but he self destructed.Fury is game but he's goofy and will be a fad.

Muhammad Ali may just be a vague name to the Z generation but who will remember us?The world waits in line to be forgotten.

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Encore

When George Foreman stepped up to the podium to get his award at the West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame his speech was probably a template that he carried around in his briefcase. He probably pulls it out every time he gets asked to speak in public.

Foreman didn't talk about any of his successes in the ring.He didn't thump his chest about how he punched Frazier into the air or how he sent Norton through the ropes. No. His address was about the time he got shot in that Rumble In The Jungle by Muhammad Ali.

Foreman's manner was light hearted. He knew how to make fun of himself. Ali had outfoxed him and played on his naivate. Foreman didn't fear Ali. He was just held accountable for not having enough boxing IQ.

I don't think any of Ali's ring adversaries were trembling at center ring getting final instructions from the referee.Hanging around Ken Norton I can assure you that Norton never feared what Ali could muster behind his blows. I can't imagine Liston getting weak in the knees even though he embarrassed himself in both fights.Joe Frazier seemed like he liked getting hit by Ali.That way Smokin' Joe could get close enough to hit back.

But Foreman,Norton ,and Frazier will always be attached to Muhammad Ali more than any other of the fighter who chanced to beat them.Granted,Ali's rep was built fighting those three but the glue was on Ali's frame. They needed to stick to him on that road to notoriety.

When I think of Angelo Dundee I surmise that his legend would have been paltry if not he had stuck with Ali. Futch,Stewart,and Arcel were noteworthy contemporaries but if Angelo hadn't been in Ali's corner he would be mentioned in the same breath with the three I just mentioned.

Ali's wives were all overthrown when the next perky female would catch his eye. The last wife ,Lonnie, was the exception.She became a mother/caretaker at the end. Sex was no longer a possibility.Yet the jilted exes wear his T shirts.

Ferdie Pacheco was Ali';s doc.Name another fighter's physician.

Howard Cosell would have never made it inside the Monday Night Football booth if he hadn't had the moxie to press himself against Ali's coattails.Howard didn't care if Ali teased him. Cosell was smart enough to know that that was the way it was going to play out.

The entourage still lives off the name. Rudy,his brother;Bundini(now gone) could recite" float like butterfly and sting like bee" in his sleep.He called Ali a prophet.

And I write on this forum daily. My favorite yarn is when I watched Ali wind down his training for Norton in San Diego. I can hum that song forever.


George Foreman-his fight with Ali made him not necessitate hiring a speechwriter.

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A young Cassius Clay back in his hometown of Louisville,Kentucky after winning the championship holding court with some of the local kids.The little girl he's talking too is little Lonnie Williams. Little did he know it at the time that she would become his last wife. She later remarked about this picture saying that she always considered herself as being ugly because she had freckles.Yound Cassius didn't know this and told her that she was "pretty." She was smitten with him forever after.

George Foreman said that it was hard for him to imagine that Ali ever becoming a prizefighter.

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The Fighter's Life And The Fighter's Wife

I'm an envelope pusher. I try not to be that way. I feel I've toned it down lately,but I'm still guilty of it from time to time. When I posted yesterday about Ali and the people who were close to him I stepped on his last wife's toes I think. I referred to Lonnie Ali as a "Mother/Caretaker."That was a little bit too blunt.

In that photograph I posted of her as a little girl in Ali's presence in Louisville she was 6 years old. Ali was 21.Lonnie said she had a crush on him when she was 17 but then added "But I think I always loved him.I knew at the end that I was going to be the one married to him."Yeah,I pushed the envelope.

In a 2016 interview with USA Today she was asked if Ali sees his 9 children Lonnie answered that it's difficult because they are all married and have kids and he can't travel much because of the Parkinsons.

The thing that struck me most was when she was asked if Ali had any regrets.She said that he lives in the moment mostly and doesn't dwell in the past. But she did add that when he sees a documentary of himself he'll say something like,"I was crazy wasn't I?" So what's he saying?

Maybe what bothers us old folks today is that everything back then was wrong. Oh,I'm just generally speaking, but today the world is askew maybe because we were putting too much value in the wrong things, and now it's hard to right the ship

Lonnie said that Ali had withdrawn from the Nation Of Islam because they were separatists..I remember in the 90's when Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes had shown Ali that iconic photo of him in the ring standing over the prone Liston in Maine. Ali left the room without saying a word .The interview was over.

Lonnie Ali was a lot more than that slash term I put on her.When she was asked about if she was puzzled by Ali's lack of finances when she married him she replied that she was "stunned."

But she wasn't in it for the money. I'm sure Ali realized that as well.

I usually don't go back and read what I post the day before.But this time I did.I had to say something further . But tomorrow I won't read what I've been typing now. Life will be back to normal.


Ali in his twilight

[dagosd2000]

In 2002 Muhammad Ali had his star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame. It is the only star that's mounted on the wall instead of an the ground.Now before you start getting teary eyed the reason was that Ali didn't want his star to get stepped on.

[dagosd2000]

Now I'm teary eyed