BoxRec

kikibalt wrote:

Close fight. Duke dropped Jesse in the middle rounds and that separated them in the end. Duke was a sharp fighter, a particularly good body puncher. I have chatted to him several times and he is one of those ex-fighters who really doesn't know his own worth, an incredibly modest guy.

Courtesy of a Wop, guess who....

Italian firefighters

One dark night in the small town of Garfield , NJ, a fire
started inside the local sausage factory. In a blink the
building was engulfed in flames. The alarm went out to all
the fire departments for miles around. When th e first
volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the sausage
company president rushed to the fire chief and said,
'All of our secret sausage recipes are in the vault in
the center of the plant. They have to be saved, so I will
donate $50,000 to the fire company that brings them out and
delivers them to me.'

But the roaring flames held the firefighters off. Soon more
fire departments had to be called in because the situation
became desperate. As the firemen arrived, the president
shouted out that the offe r to extricate the secret recipes
was now $100,000 to the fire department that could
save them.

Suddenly from up the road, a lone siren was heard as
another fire truck came into sight. It was the fire engine
of the nearby Lodi , NJ volunteer
fire department composed mainly of Italian firefighters
over the age of 65.

To everyone's amazement, the little run-down fire
engine, operated by these Italian firefighters, passed fire
engines parked outside the plant, and drove straight into
the middle of the inferno. Outside, the other firemen
watched in amazement as the Italian old timers jumped off
and began to fight the fire as if they were fighting to save
their own lives. Within a short time, the Lodi old timers
had extinguished the fire and saved the secret recipes.

The grateful sausage company president joyfully announced
that for such a superhuman accomplishment he was raising the
reward to $200,000, and walked over to personally thank each
of the brave elderly Italian firefighters.

A TV news crew rushed in after capturing the event on film.
The 'on camera' reporter asked the Italian fire
chief, 'What are you going to do with all that
money?'

'Wella,' said Chief Pasquale De
Luccinellavanti, the 70-year-old fire chief, 'de
fursta tinga we gonnna do isza fixa de brakes on dat
fockinna truck!!

kikibalt wrote:

In the end three Brits fought on the card: Glenn McCrory, Gary de Roux and Adrian Dodson.
De Roux lost.

This one's a real heartbreaker. Such a contrast in fortunes. Two former stablemates. Ex featherweight champ Raul Rojas and ex lightweight boss Rodolfo Gonzalez, with Rick Farris and Rodolfo's lady Barb Cornell looking on.

Sammy Angott & Harold "Baby Face" Jones & Don Jones
August 1950 Detroit, Michigan

Fritzie Zivic

Tommy 'The Duke' Morrison

THE RHYTHM SHINE

Henry Brown had finished up playing football at San Diego High. I had another year at my school. Henry wanted to be a fighter, He had gotten married to an Italian girl he;d net at school. She lived in Little italy with her parents. Her parents were upset when she married Henry who was Black.

Henry was training to be a fighter at the Coliseum in the afternoons with a group of Navy boys. He was a quick read. Henry was a tall welterweight ,long reach,fast hands ,coordinated,and he liked fighting.

Henry's wife was pregnant before he was about to have his first amateur fight. She worried that Henry would get hurt fighting and that there wasn't any money in it. They argued a lot about this.

Before the fight,Henry bought a blue satin robe that had inscribed on the back"Downtown " Henry Brown. We went to TJ to get him a pair of white boxing shoes.

Before I played a football game,I'd go downtown to get my football shoes polished at the Rhythm Shine shoe shine parlor. The Rhythm Shine was on lower Broadway. That area catered to the servicemen. Locker clubs,Oriental Bars,tattoo parlors,arcades,and even a burlesque house would make sure they got the last nickel from those kids. They always changed into civvies when they went out on the town,but you could still tell they were sailors. They ran in packs. Dough head kids from the Midwest and the South. The pimps,B girls,and hustlers found them to be easy prey,but those sailors always knew they had sanctuary back aboard ship.

I told Henry he should get a "good luck shine" before his first fight. I brought the cleats, and Henry the boxing shoes. Johnny and OB owned the Rhythm Shine and were making good money with all those sailors walking up and down Broadway. They named the place Rhythm Shine because there was a jukebox they put your money in and then dance as thay shined your shoes. They'd snap their towels to the beat of the music and even sing.

They liked good jazz with a heavy dose of Rhythm and Blues. I'd play songs like "The Sidewinder" and "Song For My Father." Johnny and OB would get worked up and after thay finished I was ready to play the game right now.

When football season ended for me,I'd still go down to the Rhythm Shine with Henry before a fight. After a while though,Henry was fighting less and we drifted apart. Years later I saw him again when i began my student teaching at Juvenile Hall. Henry was already teaching there.

He told me his wife had left him.I guess her parents had something to do with that.They had a son they named Anthony. Henry told me he was in prison. I never asked why.

One day we went to lunch. We went to the Mexican place down the block. While eating ,I thought of the Rhythm Shine.
"Henry,remember when we'd get our shoes shined on Broadway,"
"Sure do,"said Henry with thar wide friendly smile.
"Who do you rhink was a better dancer,Johnny or OB?"
Henry stopped eating. He turned his head looking out the window.
"They were both good."
Then there was a silence.
"I wish I was back there watching them dance while they shined my shoes listening to the music."

kikibalt wrote:

Barron's manager, Sparky Rudolph, was related to Babe McCoy. Arturo Barron was KOed twice by John Thomas, in 1946 & '47.

-Rick Farris

Rick Farris wrote:

Ron C wrote:What is Mando Ramos' nationality? Is he Mexican? I see that he was born and raised in California but what's running through his blood?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mando_Ramos


I see this at the bottom of his Wikipedia profile:


"This biographical article related to a Mexican boxer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
This biographical article related to an United States boxer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it."


Were his parents born in the USA too?

Ron . . . Mando Ramos is an American of Mexican ancestory (Mexican-American) and was born in East Los Angeles, and raised in Long Beach, Cal. He was living in San Pedro with wife Sylvia at the time of his death. His father, Ray Ramos, was also born in the U.S. but I'm not sure where. I don't know Mando's mother's birthplace.

As a kid, Mando worked at his grandmother's Mexican restaurant in Long Beach and became a very good Mexican chef, according to his former stablemate and friend, former lightweight champ Rodolfo Gonzalez. When Gonzalez came to this country from Mexico, he became close to the Ramos family and would also work in the restaurant. "El Gato" fondly remembers he and a teenage Mando working late each night, into the early morning, cleaning up the restaurant after closing. Afterwards, the two boxers would do roadwork and Rodolfo tells of how great a distance runner Mando was. "His legs were so long, I'd have to run two steps to every one of Mando's." This was in the early 60's, and a few years later Mando would become the youngest boxer to win the World Lightweight title (20yrs. 3mos.), a record that still exists forty years later. Three months after losing the title to Chango Carmona in 1972, Rodolfo Gonzalez would avenge his friend's loss and knockout Carmona, bringing the title back to Los Angeles and the Jackie McCoy stable.

I need to call Sylvia Ramos this week and will ask her for more info regarding Mando's parents, etc.

-Rick Farris

It appears that the relationship between the Ramos family and Rodolfo Gonzales was a special one. I beleive that Gato wrote in this thread that when he was a teen Mando's father, Ray, taught him how to write his name and he celebrated by buying a carton of milk and sitting down at the curb and drinking it. Stories like these are why I've been addicted to this thread for some 460 pages! As much as I love boxing at my age it's the human element that draws me.
Bobbin & Weavin

kikibalt wrote:

Fritzie Zivic

You know, I'd hire Zivic as an MC. He was pretty sharp for a guy who had so many brutal fights. His look, that classic busted nose really seals the deal. Long dead, of course, but I would just want him to stand up and tell stories from his career. I'm serious. OF course, he's been dead a long time but "what if" somebody had recorded some of those stories? We'd have a "living history", not just words from a writer or a second-hand source.

-Rick Farris

Bobbin & Weavin wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:

Ron C wrote:What is Mando Ramos' nationality? Is he Mexican? I see that he was born and raised in California but what's running through his blood?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mando_Ramos


I see this at the bottom of his Wikipedia profile:


"This biographical article related to a Mexican boxer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
This biographical article related to an United States boxer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it."


Were his parents born in the USA too?

Ron . . . Mando Ramos is an American of Mexican ancestory (Mexican-American) and was born in East Los Angeles, and raised in Long Beach, Cal. He was living in San Pedro with wife Sylvia at the time of his death. His father, Ray Ramos, was also born in the U.S. but I'm not sure where. I don't know Mando's mother's birthplace.

As a kid, Mando worked at his grandmother's Mexican restaurant in Long Beach and became a very good Mexican chef, according to his former stablemate and friend, former lightweight champ Rodolfo Gonzalez. When Gonzalez came to this country from Mexico, he became close to the Ramos family and would also work in the restaurant. "El Gato" fondly remembers he and a teenage Mando working late each night, into the early morning, cleaning up the restaurant after closing. Afterwards, the two boxers would do roadwork and Rodolfo tells of how great a distance runner Mando was. "His legs were so long, I'd have to run two steps to every one of Mando's." This was in the early 60's, and a few years later Mando would become the youngest boxer to win the World Lightweight title (20yrs. 3mos.), a record that still exists forty years later. Three months after losing the title to Chango Carmona in 1972, Rodolfo Gonzalez would avenge his friend's loss and knockout Carmona, bringing the title back to Los Angeles and the Jackie McCoy stable.

I need to call Sylvia Ramos this week and will ask her for more info regarding Mando's parents, etc.

-Rick Farris

It appears that the relationship between the Ramos family and Rodolfo Gonzales was a special one. I beleive that Gato wrote in this thread that when he was a teen Mando's father, Ray, taught him how to write his name and he celebrated by buying a carton of milk and sitting down at the curb and drinking it. Stories like these are why I've been addicted to this thread for some 460 pages! As much as I love boxing at my age it's the human element that draws me.
Bobbin & Weavin

Bruce . . . I've spent a lot of time with Mando Ramos and "El Gato" Gonzalez. I can't help but think of these two great lightweights, and their history, both held the same World title seperated by one common opponent; Chango Carmona. Both hold unchallenegd World Championship records, Mando the youngest lightweight champ ever, and "El Gato", the only world champ in history (any weight-any era) to score 35 consecutive KO's. When you think of great punchers like Foreman, Dempsey, Louis, Robinson, Olivares, Duran, Armstrong, Moore, etc. none could put together more consecutive KO's than Rodolfo Gonzalez. Just for the record, the #2 consecutive KO Champ was Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Gomez, who was 32-0 (32 KO's) when KO'ed by Salvador Sanchez. Even more amazing, is that Gonzalez would be carried the distance in his 36th bout, then KO the guy three weeks later, and racking up more than a dozen more KO's. Rodolfo would have a record of 52-0 (50 KO's) before suffering his first loss as a professional.

-Rick Farris

Rick Farris wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

Fritzie Zivic

You know, I'd hire Zivic as an MC. He was pretty sharp for a guy who had so many brutal fights. His look, that classic busted nose really seals the deal. Long dead, of course, but I would just want him to stand up and tell stories from his career. I'm serious. OF course, he's been dead a long time but "what if" somebody had recorded some of those stories? We'd have a "living history", not just words from a writer or a second-hand source.

-Rick Farris

Zivic is another favorite of mine.
Lew Jenkins said Zivic could start a fight in an empty room.
Or maybe it was Zivic that said that about Jenkins.
Doesnt matter , because those two were two of a kind.
I can only imagine what their fights were like.And of course Zivics fights with another street fighter, Bummy Davis must have been epic wars.
Davis was dqd the first time they fought when after Zivic gave him the buisness, Davis belted Fritzie low about twenty times in a row setting of a melee .Davis was suspended indefinitely .
Fritzie was a classic.He fought anyone . If he lost a fight, he would just shrug his shoulders and say"what the hell , I didnt do too bad, I ran second".
Hed just fight again a week later.
He was a guy that no fighter should go near if they didnt really know how to fight.Zivic knew every trick in the book. He could ruin a guy.
He also has one of the best resumes in boxing history . He fought a whos who of all time greats.
Funny thing is, he would beat a Henry Armstrong or Charley Burley and then lose to Joe Palooka.

Rick Farris wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

Barron's manager, Sparky Rudolph, was related to Babe McCoy. Arturo Barron was KOed twice by John Thomas, in 1946 & '47.

-Rick Farris

The late John Thomas was not only a top lightweight contender, but a Hall of Fame world championship referee. He was one of my personal favorites and ironically, kind of a good luck referee for me. When I scored my first professional knockout, Thomas was the ref, just as he was for my first amateur KO at the Olympic.

-Rick

Expug wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

Fritzie Zivic

You know, I'd hire Zivic as an MC. He was pretty sharp for a guy who had so many brutal fights. His look, that classic busted nose really seals the deal. Long dead, of course, but I would just want him to stand up and tell stories from his career. I'm serious. OF course, he's been dead a long time but "what if" somebody had recorded some of those stories? We'd have a "living history", not just words from a writer or a second-hand source.

-Rick Farris

Zivic is another favorite of mine.
Lew Jenkins said Zivic could start a fight in an empty room.
Or maybe it was Zivic that said that about Jenkins.
Doesnt matter , because those two were two of a kind.
I can only imagine what their fights were like.And of course Zivics fights with another street fighter, Bummy Davis must have been epic wars.
Davis was dqd the first time they fought when after Zivic gave him the buisness, Davis belted Fritzie low about twenty times in a row setting of a melee .Davis was suspended indefinitely .
Fritzie was a classic.He fought anyone . If he lost a fight, he would just shrug his shoulders and say"what the hell , I didnt do too bad, I ran second".
Hed just fight again a week later.
He was a guy that no fighter should go near if they didnt really know how to fight.Zivic knew every trick in the book. He could ruin a guy.
He also has one of the best resumes in boxing history . He fought a whos who of all time greats.
Funny thing is, he would beat a Henry Armstrong or Charley Burley and then lose to Joe Palooka.

Hey Brian . . . In 1971, I was contacted by a boxing historian from Lancaster, Pa. His name was Johnny Hauck, and he was the younger brother of a former heavyweight great from the turn of the last century, Leo Hauck. Hauck and I corresponded after he'd seen me fight on TV in a Pennsylvania broadcast of an Olympic Auditorium fight card. He sent me a lot of great history from his brother's era, etc. He also sent me a photo of him with Fritzie Zivic and I'll try to dig it up this weekend and have Frank post it. Real classic!

Wouldn't it be great if there was a time machine and we could . . . never mind. But I'd really have loved to see Zivic in action.

-Rick

Hey Roger . . .

I'll give you a call when Monica and I plan to go to TJ. We'd really like to get together with you and Maria, and nobody knows TJ like you so I'll be seeing better than ever. Why don't we just give the women a handful of money and they can go shop while we relax at the BOOM-BOOM Room?

-Rick

Rick, I'd love to see that photo.
Yep, a time machine back to that era would be outstanding.
Or.. do you think we might be able to recreate those times?I wish we could, I have my doubts.

Expug wrote:Rick, I'd love to see that photo.
Yep, a time machine back to that era would be outstanding.
Or.. do you think we might be able to recreate those times?I wish we could, I have my doubts.

Sadly, not a chance, Pug. Not in boxing.

-Rick

kikibalt wrote:

Fritzie Zivic

Is Fritzie wearing a syrup? Anyway, Fritzie was never disqualified in a career spanning 230 fights, which shows you how clever he was.
Long after retirement, author Pete Heller, in his book 'In this Corner', asked for Zivic's opinion on the newest crop of fighters. Fritzie looked glum. "These young kids are so inexperienced," he said, "they think the laces are for tying up the gloves."

Mia St.John, George Chuvalo, Carlos Ortiz, Yaqui Lopez,
Gaspar Ortega and Bobby Chacon

kikibalt wrote:
This one's a real heartbreaker. Such a contrast in fortunes. Two former stablemates. Ex featherweight champ Raul Rojas and ex lightweight boss Rodolfo Gonzalez, with Rick Farris and Rodolfo's lady Barb Cornell looking on.

Great, great shot.

bennie wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

Fritzie Zivic

Is Fritzie wearing a syrup? Anyway, Fritzie was never disqualified in a career spanning 230 fights, which shows you how clever he was.
Long after retirement, author Pete Heller, in his book 'In this Corner', asked for Zivic's opinion on the newest crop of fighters. Fritzie looked glum. "These young kids are so inexperienced," he said, "they think the laces are for tying up the gloves."

It looks like it, Bennie. My cockney mate Dave Westcott would say, he's wearing an "Irish", as in Irish jig- "Wig". Syrup is a new one to me, can you explain?

-Rick

Rick Farris wrote:

bennie wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

Fritzie Zivic

Is Fritzie wearing a syrup? Anyway, Fritzie was never disqualified in a career spanning 230 fights, which shows you how clever he was.
Long after retirement, author Pete Heller, in his book 'In this Corner', asked for Zivic's opinion on the newest crop of fighters. Fritzie looked glum. "These young kids are so inexperienced," he said, "they think the laces are for tying up the gloves."

It looks like it, Bennie. My cockney mate Dave Westcott would say, he's wearing an "Irish", as in Irish jig- "Wig". Syrup is a new one to me, can you explain?

-Rick

Syrup of figs.