Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Randyman]

Randy...Up the block (West) from the Golden Gate was the United Artist Theater, did you go there too?

Frank, It rings a bell but for some reason it's vague. It'll come to me. I do remember going to all the clothing stores. I bought my first dress coat at Victor's, when I was in the 9th grade. it's still there (the store, not the coat). I bought most of my clothes at Robert's. I know you remember Robert's. East L.A. is not the same East L.A, we knew.

[kikibalt]

Frank, Hap, Rick and Randy:

There have been a number of movies in recent years about LA as it was back in the 1940s and early 1950s. Two that come to mind are LA Confidential (a great picture) and The Black Dahlia (a horrible picture). Also, Mullholland Drive. And that movie about the suicide of the George Reeve, Hollywoodland.

I guess this is more for Frank and Hap (since Rick and Randy weren't alive yet or just kids), but what recent movies are accurate in describing the flavor of LA as it was in those days? The way LA felt in those days.

I hope LA Confidential is one. I really love that movie!!

Tom, there is a movie that was made in 1952 Called "The Ring" that takes place in Los Angeles. It's somewhat of a low budget movie but might give a little insight to an earlier L.A.. The beautiful Rita Moreno is in the movie but the big thrill for guys like us is Art Aragon, and in a small part in the gym skipping rope is a young Keeny Teran. Off the screen and unseen, with Keeny, was our very own Frank Baltazar. It's worth watching. It's a personal favorite of mine. Frank can tell you more.

I'm a fan of all the above movies. Admittedly, the Black Dahlia, while not the best of the bunch was at least tolerable.

Back in the days before the malls and before the homogenization of the big cities, Downtown Los Angeles was the place to go shopping. I made regular trips with my father, who bought most of his clothing in the old downtown haberdasheries. Sometimes we would stop and see a movie at one of the grand downtown theaters, and we would always stop by the Main Street Gym. I can see the changes. Like Hap, Frank and Rick, I am a born and bred Angeleno. We don't like the changes.

Randy

Between the ages of 6 and 11, I lived in an area of Kansas City called "Kansas City north" (not to be confused with North Kansas City, which was just south of us). It, too, was the place to go shopping. On Thursday mornings during the Summer, I used to take the bus downtown with my Mom and meet her mother - my Swedish grandmother - to go shopping. I liked going downtown to see the buildings and all the people and take the bridge across the w - i - d - e Missouri River, but - gosh - I hated shopping with my Mom and my grandmother, especially my grandmother who was always after me to "stand-up straight," "don't chew gum with your mouth open," "watch where you're walking," "oh my God, did you spit on the sidewalk?" etc., etc., etc.

My grandmother was a private care nurse, and she took care of a very elderly - and rich - lawyer near downtown Kansas City. I remember visiting her at his huge mansion, where she lived on the 4th floor upstairs in the servant's quarters. His mansion was quite impressive - when he got old, they installed a special elevator so he could avoid the stairs. I remember that he had a golf putter made of gold. That's when I decided to become a lawyer, I suppose.

However, something went arwy because I don't have a gold putter or live in a mansion with a elevator . . . Oh well, maybe if I've stood up straight, chewed my gum with my mouth closed . . . etc . . . etc. I'd have done better for myself.

Tom...Your grandma was a wise woman....

[kikibalt]

Randy...Up the block (West) from the Golden Gate was the United Artist Theater, did you go there too?

Frank, It rings a bell but for some reason it's vague. It'll come to me. I do remember going to all the clothing stores. I bought my first dress coat at Victor's, when I was in the 9th grade. it's still there (the store, not the coat). I bought most of my clothes at Robert's. I know you remember Robert's. East L.A. is not the same East L.A, we knew.

Randy..Yes, I do remember Robert's, there was also a men's store where I used to buy all my dress clothes, "Curly's" they had the best mens clothes in E.L.A.

[Randyman]

Frank, Hap, Rick and Randy:

There have been a number of movies in recent years about LA as it was back in the 1940s and early 1950s. Two that come to mind are LA Confidential (a great picture) and The Black Dahlia (a horrible picture). Also, Mullholland Drive. And that movie about the suicide of the George Reeve, Hollywoodland.

I guess this is more for Frank and Hap (since Rick and Randy weren't alive yet or just kids), but what recent movies are accurate in describing the flavor of LA as it was in those days? The way LA felt in those days.

I hope LA Confidential is one. I really love that movie!!

Tom, there is a movie that was made in 1952 Called "The Ring" that takes place in Los Angeles. It's somewhat of a low budget movie but might give a little insight to an earlier L.A.. The beautiful Rita Moreno is in the movie but the big thrill for guys like us is Art Aragon, and in a small part in the gym skipping rope is a young Keeny Teran. Off the screen and unseen, with Keeny, was our very own Frank Baltazar. It's worth watching. It's a personal favorite of mine. Frank can tell you more.

I'm a fan of all the above movies. Admittedly, the Black Dahlia, while not the best of the bunch was at least tolerable.

Back in the days before the malls and before the homogenization of the big cities, Downtown Los Angeles was the place to go shopping. I made regular trips with my father, who bought most of his clothing in the old downtown haberdasheries. Sometimes we would stop and see a movie at one of the grand downtown theaters, and we would always stop by the Main Street Gym. I can see the changes. Like Hap, Frank and Rick, I am a born and bred Angeleno. We don't like the changes.

Randy

Between the ages of 6 and 11, I lived in an area of Kansas City called "Kansas City north" (not to be confused with North Kansas City, which was just south of us). It, too, was the place to go shopping. On Thursday mornings during the Summer, I used to take the bus downtown with my Mom and meet her mother - my Swedish grandmother - to go shopping. I liked going downtown to see the buildings and all the people and take the bridge across the w - i - d - e Missouri River, but - gosh - I hated shopping with my Mom and my grandmother, especially my grandmother who was always after me to "stand-up straight," "don't chew gum with your mouth open," "watch where you're walking," "oh my God, did you spit on the sidewalk?" etc., etc., etc.

My grandmother was a private care nurse, and she took care of a very elderly - and rich - lawyer near downtown Kansas City. I remember visiting her at his huge mansion, where she lived on the 4th floor upstairs in the servant's quarters. His mansion was quite impressive - when he got old, they installed a special elevator so he could avoid the stairs. I remember that he had a golf putter made of gold. That's when I decided to become a lawyer, I suppose.

However, something went arwy because I don't have a gold putter or live in a mansion with a elevator . . . Oh well, maybe if I've stood up straight, chewed my gum with my mouth closed . . . etc . . . etc. I'd have done better for myself.

I was waiting for that punchline Tom. Good one. Seriously, my instincts tell methat you have your priorities straight. The law and justice before the almighty dollar. Compared to a honest man and Lawyer, a mansion and a gold putter are a dime a dozen.

Randy

[Randyman]

Randy...Up the block (West) from the Golden Gate was the United Artist Theater, did you go there too?

Frank, It rings a bell but for some reason it's vague. It'll come to me. I do remember going to all the clothing stores. I bought my first dress coat at Victor's, when I was in the 9th grade. it's still there (the store, not the coat). I bought most of my clothes at Robert's. I know you remember Robert's. East L.A. is not the same East L.A, we knew.

Randy..Yes, I do remember Robert's, there was also a men's store where I used to buy all my dress clothes, "Curly's" they had the best mens clothes in E.L.A.

I can't recall Curly's but I'm sure if I asked my mother she would remember. My grandfather Santiago De La O is buried just up the street at the cemetery on Eastern and Whittier.

We used to go cruising on Sunday nights on Whittier blvd. It was the spot to be at. We drove from Pico rivera to East Los for the parties. Oh man, the parties!!

Randy

[Randyman]

Frank and hap, my uncle larry had a pawn shop (Larry's pawn shop)on Atlantic, just north of Whittier Blvd. It was a hang out for a lot of guys back then. my uncle was always into some type of deal or another. Do either of you ever go there? There was also a lot of book being made there.

Randy

[raylawpc]

Tom...Your grandma was a wise woman....

Yeah, well, you weren't the one she was always on to "tuck in your shirt," "why are you acting so goofy" (geez, I was six years old - who isn't goofy when they're six years old!!), and the clincher, "were you raised in a barn?" I think that one always got all over my Mom . . .

But I'm sure my grandmother meant well.

[kikibalt]

Tom...Your grandma was a wise woman....

Yeah, well, you weren't the one she was always on to "tuck in your shirt," "why are you acting so goofy" (geez, I was six years old - who isn't goofy when they're six years old!!), and the clincher, "were you raised in a barn?" I think that one always got all over my Mom . . .

But I'm sure my grandmother meant well.

Well, yeah! but look at the way you turned out, with out them, who know what you might have turned out to be..

[kikibalt]

Frank and hap, my uncle larry had a pawn shop (Larry's pawn shop)on Atlantic, just north of Whittier Blvd. It was a hang out for a lot of guys back then. my uncle was always into some type of deal or another. Do either of you ever go there? There was also a lot of book being made there.

Randy

Never did, Randy...

[kikibalt]

Randy...Up the block (West) from the Golden Gate was the United Artist Theater, did you go there too?

Frank, It rings a bell but for some reason it's vague. It'll come to me. I do remember going to all the clothing stores. I bought my first dress coat at Victor's, when I was in the 9th grade. it's still there (the store, not the coat). I bought most of my clothes at Robert's. I know you remember Robert's. East L.A. is not the same East L.A, we knew.

Randy..Yes, I do remember Robert's, there was also a men's store where I used to buy all my dress clothes, "Curly's" they had the best mens clothes in E.L.A.

Randy...A door or two from Curly's was a jewelry store, "Birks" I used to buy Connie her jewelry there, you could always count on running into some local fighter at either Curly's or Birks. Back when I was in Jr and high school we used to buy our clothes at the "Army and Navy" store in E.L.A, they used to carry some sharp looking clothes for school.

[Randyman]

Friday Update From Louie Burke From Torreon, Mexico

Great news! Nacho Huizar and the WBA are going to make Austin's fight for the WBC continental belt, which should be good for a world ranking. The fight is a scheduled 12 rounder.

All the guys looked good at wiegh-ins and made weight fairly easy. The weights were called out in kilos, so I didn't get the exact weights, just that they were under the max.

The guys were at the weigh-ins at 1:00 and by 1:15 the wiegh-ins started and by 1:45 they were finished and were off to eat a pasta meal. Why can't it be this easy in the states?
The guys had thier medicals done last night, so the weigh-ins were the fastest most organized I've ever been too.

As I write the guys are all in bed napping. There is another promotional event scheduled for tonight from 6 to 8 but we may hang back and rest.

Thanks for the support

Louie

[Randyman]

Randy...A door or two from Curly's was a jewelry store, "Birks" I used to buy Connie her jewelry there, you could always count on running into some local fighter at either Curly's or Birks. Back when I was in Jr and high school we used to buy our clothes at the "Army and Navy" store in E.L.A, they used to carry some sharp looking clothes for school.

I remember the Army and Navy store. Is it still there? The Army and Navy store that I bought all my camping gear; sleeping bags, camp stoves, tents, etc, was Circle Sales in Pico Rivera, just before crossing the bridge on Whittier blvd to Montebello. They had it all. That was my first stop before leaving town.

Randy

[Dongee]

Fellas:

Maybe it was my age at the time, or the inspiring neighborhood in those days, but I have never been able to recapture the feeling we used to get going to "downtown L.A." on a Saturday afternnon or evening. The Lowe's State Theatre. the May Company, Bullock's, Clifton's Cafeteria, the Paramount Theatre, Pershing Square, the Orpheum, the Rialto, and perhaps the daddy of them all, the fantastically modern Los Angeles Theatre, where my dad's good friend Ramon Novarro broke in as an usher.

And there was another bright spot, on 12th street between Broadway and Hill. Chances are you fellas all missed it because it came and left in a flash. It was a superbly appointed (upstairs) boxing gym called the "Ringside" which was opened to compete with the two established training centers, the original Main St. Gym (run by Carlo Curtis) and the Manhattan, operated first by Barney Dempsey and at his death by his widow.

The "Ringside" didn't last long despite its dark stained, hardwood flooring and clean, airy atmosphere. Every time I went there, I felt a little cheated, as there were only a couple of "name" fighters working out, mainly those managed by Hymie Caplan, who had Abe Feldman and Lou Salica at the time.(1935) Just before it closed it was rummored that Babe McCoy had taken it over.
More memories.

hap navarro

[kikibalt]

Paul Coates -- Confidential File, March 13, 1959

CONFIDENTIAL FILE
Troubled Boxer Finds Glory Faded

A year and a half ago I received a letter from a badly confused kid.

He was 22. But his life was behind him.

Mentally -- well, he never graduated from grammar school.

Physically, he was maimed, chewed up and probably incapable of a full day's work.

In his letter he admitted he was a washout. A bum. Broke. Just about friendless. And it hurt a little extra, he said, because he knew what it was like to live big.

He'd had half a dozen years of it. Big paychecks. Big friends. Big following. Big write-ups in the newspapers.

In his set, the little guy had been a big man.

There was a lot of bitterness in the kid's letter. It was scatter-gunned bitterness, aimed at everybody and nobody at the same time.

At everybody but himself, that is. He couldn't quite figure out how he could have been, in part, to blame.

The kid's name, if you haven't already guessed, is Bobby Woods. As a boxer, he was once the 10th-ranked lightweight of the world. He fought against the best -- Jimmy Carter, Sandy Saddler, Joey Lopes, Willie Pep, Cisco Andrade.

Sports writers kept the public informed on him in those days.

But yesterday, this town's police reporters took over the job. Bobby made Page 1 the hard way.

Jobless and broke, he was picked up and booked on suspicion of robbery after bungling an attempt to hold up a 60-year-old woman clerk in a liquor store.

I remember a year and a half ago, that I answered Bobby's letter. I suggested that he drop by some time.

I remember that he did. We sat, and we talked for quite a while.

He told me about how he grew up in boxing, in CYO gyms. One of his buddies was a kid named Keeny Teran.

I asked him what was the difference between him and Keeny. How he'd managed to stay straight.

Bobby couldn't put his finger on the answer.

"There was some bad in my crowd. Plenty of temptation," he said. "Maybe I was just too busy."

Bobby told be about his last fight, in July of '56, and about his eyes -- how a detached retina in the right one and a cataract on the left on had forced him out of the ring.

Boxing Damages Sight

He said he'd fought with his bad eyes for quite a while, that most states didn't bother to examine them before a match. As a result, when I talked with him, he was almost blind.

He also admitted that when he was through and broke, nobody in boxing offered him so much as a cup of coffee. But he wouldn't blame them completely. The memories were still too near and too sweet. There was a lot of glory.

I told Bobby that I'd like to interview him on my television show, to let him tell his story.

"Do you think I might get a job offer out of it?" he asked. "I need work. I'm not doing anything."

I said maybe. People do call up after shows sometimes.

Bobby went on the program, and told his story. And there were some calls, about three or for of them job offers.

I passed them along to Bobby to check out. I remember there was one which interested him especially. An automobile dealer was willing to take the young, washed-up ex-fighter and teach him the ropes of selling cars.

"I can make a topflight salesman out of that kid," the dealer told me.

I haven't seen Bobby since the day I told him about the offer. But I'm sorry -- damned sorry -- it didn't work out.

[Randyman]

Hey Frank, a little closer to where you live now. Do you remember the two buffalo at the edge of Azusa Ave before it went into Azusa Canyon? You couldn't miss them. Talk about a place that has changed. It's almost unrecognizable now. I was up in the canyon 2-3 times a week fishing, so it was a stomping grounds for my buddies and I. We drank a lot of beer in that canyon. Did a lot of four wheeling too. being a fisherman you have probably fished up there too.

Randy

[Randyman]

Fellas:

Maybe it was my age at the time, or the inspiring neighborhood in those days, but I have never been able to recapture the feeling we used to get going to "downtown L.A." on a Saturday afternnon or evening. The Lowe's State Theatre. the May Company, Bullock's, Clifton's Cafeteria, the Paramount Theatre, Pershing Square, the Orpheum, the Rialto, and perhaps the daddy of them all, the fantastically modern Los Angeles Theatre, where my dad's good friend Ramon Novarro broke in as an usher.

And there was another bright spot, on 12th street between Broadway and Hill. Chances are you fellas all missed it because it came and left in a flash. It was a superbly appointed (upstairs) boxing gym called the "Ringside" which was opened to compete with the two established training centers, the original Main St. Gym (run by Carlo Curtis) and the Manhattan, operated first by Barney Dempsey and at his death by his widow.

The "Ringside" didn't last long despite its dark stained, hardwood flooring and clean, airy atmosphere. Every time I went there, I felt a little cheated, as there were only a couple of "name" fighters working out, mainly those managed by Hymie Caplan, who had Abe Feldman and Lou Salica at the time.(1935) Just before it closed it was rummored that Babe McCoy had taken it over.
More memories.

hap navarro

Hap, thanks a million for sharing that little gem of info with us. That's a bit of history I knew nothing about. Another, almost forgotten piece of L.A.Boxing history.

Clifton's is a place I know well. It was a favorite place for Mel Epstein so I got to know it quite well. My mother and my aunts and my great grandmother would go to one of the theaters along Broadway and then go to Clifton's before heading home. This was in the 1940's.

The May Company was the place to shop. The malls changed that in later years. My mother was attacked and robbed at that May Co. in the early 50's


Ramon Novarro (1899-1968)

Randy

[kikibalt]

Randy...A door or two from Curly's was a jewelry store, "Birks" I used to buy Connie her jewelry there, you could always count on running into some local fighter at either Curly's or Birks. Back when I was in Jr and high school we used to buy our clothes at the "Army and Navy" store in E.L.A, they used to carry some sharp looking clothes for school.

I remember the Army and Navy store. Is it still there? The Army and Navy store that I bought all my camping gear; sleeping bags, camp stoves, tents, etc, was Circle Sales in Pico Rivera, just before crossing the bridge on Whittier blvd to Montebello. They had it all. That was my first stop before leaving town.

Randy

Randy, the Army & Navy store is long gone, they sold mostly clothes. I do remember Circle Sales real well, bought lots of fishing stuff there.

[Randyman]

Paul Coates -- Confidential File, March 13, 1959

CONFIDENTIAL FILE
Troubled Boxer Finds Glory Faded

A year and a half ago I received a letter from a badly confused kid.

He was 22. But his life was behind him.

Mentally -- well, he never graduated from grammar school.

Physically, he was maimed, chewed up and probably incapable of a full day's work.

In his letter he admitted he was a washout. A bum. Broke. Just about friendless. And it hurt a little extra, he said, because he knew what it was like to live big.

He'd had half a dozen years of it. Big paychecks. Big friends. Big following. Big write-ups in the newspapers.

In his set, the little guy had been a big man.

There was a lot of bitterness in the kid's letter. It was scatter-gunned bitterness, aimed at everybody and nobody at the same time.

At everybody but himself, that is. He couldn't quite figure out how he could have been, in part, to blame.

The kid's name, if you haven't already guessed, is Bobby Woods. As a boxer, he was once the 10th-ranked lightweight of the world. He fought against the best -- Jimmy Carter, Sandy Saddler, Joey Lopes, Willie Pep, Cisco Andrade.

Sports writers kept the public informed on him in those days.

But yesterday, this town's police reporters took over the job. Bobby made Page 1 the hard way.

Jobless and broke, he was picked up and booked on suspicion of robbery after bungling an attempt to hold up a 60-year-old woman clerk in a liquor store.

I remember a year and a half ago, that I answered Bobby's letter. I suggested that he drop by some time.

I remember that he did. We sat, and we talked for quite a while.

He told me about how he grew up in boxing, in CYO gyms. One of his buddies was a kid named Keeny Teran.

I asked him what was the difference between him and Keeny. How he'd managed to stay straight.

Bobby couldn't put his finger on the answer.

"There was some bad in my crowd. Plenty of temptation," he said. "Maybe I was just too busy."

Bobby told be about his last fight, in July of '56, and about his eyes -- how a detached retina in the right one and a cataract on the left on had forced him out of the ring.

Boxing Damages Sight

He said he'd fought with his bad eyes for quite a while, that most states didn't bother to examine them before a match. As a result, when I talked with him, he was almost blind.

He also admitted that when he was through and broke, nobody in boxing offered him so much as a cup of coffee. But he wouldn't blame them completely. The memories were still too near and too sweet. There was a lot of glory.

I told Bobby that I'd like to interview him on my television show, to let him tell his story.

"Do you think I might get a job offer out of it?" he asked. "I need work. I'm not doing anything."

I said maybe. People do call up after shows sometimes.

Bobby went on the program, and told his story. And there were some calls, about three or for of them job offers.

I passed them along to Bobby to check out. I remember there was one which interested him especially. An automobile dealer was willing to take the young, washed-up ex-fighter and teach him the ropes of selling cars.

"I can make a topflight salesman out of that kid," the dealer told me.

I haven't seen Bobby since the day I told him about the offer. But I'm sorry -- damned sorry -- it didn't work out.

God Bless all the exfighters and the people that love them and care about them. That was a little sad Frank.

Randy

[Randyman]

Randy...A door or two from Curly's was a jewelry store, "Birks" I used to buy Connie her jewelry there, you could always count on running into some local fighter at either Curly's or Birks. Back when I was in Jr and high school we used to buy our clothes at the "Army and Navy" store in E.L.A, they used to carry some sharp looking clothes for school.

I remember the Army and Navy store. Is it still there? The Army and Navy store that I bought all my camping gear; sleeping bags, camp stoves, tents, etc, was Circle Sales in Pico Rivera, just before crossing the bridge on Whittier blvd to Montebello. They had it all. That was my first stop before leaving town.

Randy

Randy, the Army & Navy store is long gone, they sold mostly clothes. I do remember Circle Sales real well, bought lots of fishing stuff there.

Nothing stays the same Frank. (sigh)

[kikibalt]

Hey Frank, a little closer to where you live now. Do you remember the two buffalo at the edge of Azusa Ave before it went into Azusa Canyon? You couldn't miss them. Talk about a place that has changed. It's almost unrecognizable now. I was up in the canyon 2-3 times a week fishing, so it was a stomping grounds for my buddies and I. We drank a lot of beer in that canyon. Did a lot of four wheeling too. being a fisherman you have probably fished up there too.

Randy

Randy, I been up the canyon lots of times fishing, but never seen any buffalo...

Speaking of fishing, opening day is coming up, next month, we rent a cabin for 3-4 days, want to go?

[kikibalt]

Paul Coates -- Confidential File, March 13, 1959

CONFIDENTIAL FILE
Troubled Boxer Finds Glory Faded

A year and a half ago I received a letter from a badly confused kid.

He was 22. But his life was behind him.

Mentally -- well, he never graduated from grammar school.

Physically, he was maimed, chewed up and probably incapable of a full day's work.

In his letter he admitted he was a washout. A bum. Broke. Just about friendless. And it hurt a little extra, he said, because he knew what it was like to live big.

He'd had half a dozen years of it. Big paychecks. Big friends. Big following. Big write-ups in the newspapers.

In his set, the little guy had been a big man.

There was a lot of bitterness in the kid's letter. It was scatter-gunned bitterness, aimed at everybody and nobody at the same time.

At everybody but himself, that is. He couldn't quite figure out how he could have been, in part, to blame.

The kid's name, if you haven't already guessed, is Bobby Woods. As a boxer, he was once the 10th-ranked lightweight of the world. He fought against the best -- Jimmy Carter, Sandy Saddler, Joey Lopes, Willie Pep, Cisco Andrade.

Sports writers kept the public informed on him in those days.

But yesterday, this town's police reporters took over the job. Bobby made Page 1 the hard way.

Jobless and broke, he was picked up and booked on suspicion of robbery after bungling an attempt to hold up a 60-year-old woman clerk in a liquor store.

I remember a year and a half ago, that I answered Bobby's letter. I suggested that he drop by some time.

I remember that he did. We sat, and we talked for quite a while.

He told me about how he grew up in boxing, in CYO gyms. One of his buddies was a kid named Keeny Teran.

I asked him what was the difference between him and Keeny. How he'd managed to stay straight.

Bobby couldn't put his finger on the answer.

"There was some bad in my crowd. Plenty of temptation," he said. "Maybe I was just too busy."

Bobby told be about his last fight, in July of '56, and about his eyes -- how a detached retina in the right one and a cataract on the left on had forced him out of the ring.

Boxing Damages Sight

He said he'd fought with his bad eyes for quite a while, that most states didn't bother to examine them before a match. As a result, when I talked with him, he was almost blind.

He also admitted that when he was through and broke, nobody in boxing offered him so much as a cup of coffee. But he wouldn't blame them completely. The memories were still too near and too sweet. There was a lot of glory.

I told Bobby that I'd like to interview him on my television show, to let him tell his story.

"Do you think I might get a job offer out of it?" he asked. "I need work. I'm not doing anything."

I said maybe. People do call up after shows sometimes.

Bobby went on the program, and told his story. And there were some calls, about three or for of them job offers.

I passed them along to Bobby to check out. I remember there was one which interested him especially. An automobile dealer was willing to take the young, washed-up ex-fighter and teach him the ropes of selling cars.

"I can make a topflight salesman out of that kid," the dealer told me.

I haven't seen Bobby since the day I told him about the offer. But I'm sorry -- damned sorry -- it didn't work out.

God Bless all the exfighters and the people that love them and care about them. That was a little sad Frank.

Randy

Yes, Randy, its sad, I remeber Bobby Woods real well from the gyms and seeing him fight, I'm sure Hap knew him well.

[Randyman]

Hey Frank, a little closer to where you live now. Do you remember the two buffalo at the edge of Azusa Ave before it went into Azusa Canyon? You couldn't miss them. Talk about a place that has changed. It's almost unrecognizable now. I was up in the canyon 2-3 times a week fishing, so it was a stomping grounds for my buddies and I. We drank a lot of beer in that canyon. Did a lot of four wheeling too. being a fisherman you have probably fished up there too.

Randy

Randy, I been up the canyon lots of times fishing, but never seen any buffalo...

Speaking of fishing, opening day is coming up, next month, we rent a cabin for 3-4 days, want to go?

This is one of them. There were two. It was at the end of the road before it veered right, into the canyon. Ther were a few cows too. There's some really nice condos there now. I preferred the buffalo. I took this photo about 1979.

[kikibalt]

Bobby Woods
From Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia
(Redirected from Human:12862)


Birth Name: Bobby Max Wood
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Spokane, Washington, USA
Born: 1934-12-26
Died: 1996-05-14
Age at Death: 61
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 9″
Reach: 175
Managers: Spike Carney, Urgell Bell, Lou Viscusi
Photo #2


Bobby Woods, who turned pro at 15-years-old, retired at the age of 21, due to encroaching blindness. He had a detached retina in his right eye, and a cataract in his left eye. In the late 1960s, he was training amateurs in Seattle, Washington.

His birth name is Bobby Max Wood; however, in all the news clippings when Woods was boxing, they added the letter "s" to his last name. His amateur boxing record was 55 wins, 3 losses, and no draws.

Circumstances of Death
Bobby Wood had been drinking the afternoon of May 14th with a friend, Mark Allen Vermillion, in Medford, Oregon. Around 6:00 pm he entered Rose Grocery Store. He tried to purchase some beer, but it was obvious he had been drinking. The clerk refused to sell it to him. He was teetering, not walking straight and reeking of beer. After Wood was sent out David Delano Francis came in and bought a beer. When he went outside he gave the beer to Wood. A few hours later, about 8:00 pm, David Francis came back into the store but only bought candy, as the clerk refused to sell him beer because he had given the beer he bought earlier to Wood.

By 8:30 pm, Wood, Francis and Mark had found the alcohol they sought elsewhere. They were drinking on the corner of Cedar and Clark streets. There was a photo studio on the corner. It was closed for the evening. There were some hedges in the front of the building. The hedges were high enough that you could stand behind them and not be seen from the street. Sometime betwween 8:30 and 8:45, Wood and Francis begain to argue. Francis insisted that Wood should take off his hat. Wood wore a white hat to hide his baldness. Francis was worried that the white hat might draw attention to them, meaning the police. Wood refused to take his hat off. The argument grew more violent, then it turned into a physical altercation. Sometime during the altercation, Francis pulled a knife and stabbed Wood at least three times. Wood broke away from Francis and tried to get away. Yelling for help, he collapsed after only a few steps--his upper body on the sidewalk, his legs in the street. He died before the paramedics could get to him. David Francis was arrested a short time later. He was charged with first degree murder. At his trial he was found guilty and sentenced to serve 25 years to life in prison.

[kikibalt]

Hey Frank, a little closer to where you live now. Do you remember the two buffalo at the edge of Azusa Ave before it went into Azusa Canyon? You couldn't miss them. Talk about a place that has changed. It's almost unrecognizable now. I was up in the canyon 2-3 times a week fishing, so it was a stomping grounds for my buddies and I. We drank a lot of beer in that canyon. Did a lot of four wheeling too. being a fisherman you have probably fished up there too.

Randy

Randy, I been up the canyon lots of times fishing, but never seen any buffalo...

Speaking of fishing, opening day is coming up, next month, we rent a cabin for 3-4 days, want to go?

This is one of them. There were two. It was at the end of the road before it veered right, into the canyon. Ther were a few cows too. There's some really nice condos there now. I preferred the buffalo. I took this photo about 1979.

Now that you posted that pic., I vaguely remember them.

[Randyman]

Frank Said:
Speaking of fishing, opening day is coming up, next month, we rent a cabin for 3-4 days, want to go?

I don't have any vacation days left. I won't get any until May. My son is coming down from Seattle. We're going to jump in my truck and just go wherever the wind blows. We're taking our poles with us. I might stop in Las Cruces and visit Louie and Rocky. This will be the first time in five years that my son Andrew and I have had a chance to get together.

If it wasn't for that Frank, I would jump at the chance.

Randy