BoxRec

kikibalt wrote:
Felipe Torres

Frank, that's exactly the way I remember Torres. Nothing much in the way of muscle-tone, a nose that cried out for it to be hit, but what a jaw and he could really smack when he wanted to as well, especially to the body. Felipe "The flash" Torres they would call him.

Scartissue

kikibalt wrote:
Felipe Torres

I worked many rounds with this guy at the Main Street Gym.
He wasn't a big hitter but he was busy & clever, fast, elusive.
Working with Felipe Torres got me in the best shape of my time in boxing.

-Rick Farris

A Kid Named Lopez . . .

I'm having a lot of fun volunteering my time Mon-Wed-Fri. nights to my friend Steve Harpst's boxing club in Burbank.
He's got a good group kids and it's fun for me to workout with them, and do some teaching.

Today I met a skinny kid about eleven or twelve.
The boy was bouncing around, attempting to get his feet under him, just starting out.

On the back of his white t-shirt the name "Lopez" was written across the back with a felt pen.
He was a real quiet kid. "Still waters run deep" crossed my mind

I helped he kid with his balance, got him throwing a jab.
The boy had a serious look out of eyes, he wasn't a silly kid. There was an unusual maturity to the boy.
Something told me his eyes had seen a lot in his young life. Just a feeling I had.

When I finished working with the kid, I asked Steve about the boy. What he knew about him?
"His dad was a fighter," Steve informed me. "Have you ever heard of Hector Lopez?"

Hector Lopez? Oh yes, I knew of Hector Lopez, a helluva prospect in the 80's.
Hector was a Glendale kid that had been born in Mexico.
Before the '84 Olympics, Lopez was a good amateur, but USA Boxing team politics would work against him making the U.S. Olympic Team.
What did he do? He went back to Mexico and he made the Mexican Olympic Team.
He came to Los Angeles, his hometown, repping Mexico in the Olympics and won a silver medal.

There were a lot of pro offers and Lopez had great potential, and a style that resembled that of former champ, Salvador Sanchez.
However, there would be bumps in his road to success. He would have a violent domestic history and serve time in State Prison.
Whe he came out, he was covered with tattoos and anxious to get back into boxing.

I met Hector in 1986, when he was training at the original Ten Goose Gym in North Hollywood.
He was sparring with Goossen's lightweight, a guy named Walter Smith.
From that point on, after prison, Hector Lopez's potential was long gone. He became a club fighter and eventually disappeared.

I told the boy I thought his father was a helluva a fighter.
A look of sadness crossed his face, he shrugged his shoulders, "I guess?", the boy answered.
Something told me this was not a good subject. I then remember the domestic issues, there was a gun involved.

"OK son, grab a jump rope" I tell him.
You could see the look of the father in the son, nice looking kid, curly hair just like the old man had.
In the beginning, you build the foundation, once it's solid, you add the rest. First things first.


-Rick Farris

Rick Farris wrote:A Kid Named Lopez . . .

I'm having a lot of fun volunteering my time Mon-Wed-Fri. nights to my friend Steve Harpst's boxing club in Burbank.
He's got a good group kids and it's fun for me to workout with them, and do some teaching.

Today I met a skinny kid about eleven or twelve.
The boy was bouncing around, attempting to get his feet under him, just starting out.

On the back of his white t-shirt the name "Lopez" was written across the back with a felt pen.
He was a real quiet kid. "Still waters run deep" crossed my mind

I helped he kid with his balance, got him throwing a jab.
The boy had a serious look out of eyes, he wasn't a silly kid. There was an unusual maturity to the boy.
Something told me his eyes had seen a lot in his young life. Just a feeling I had.

When I finished working with the kid, I asked Steve about the boy. What he knew about him?
"His dad was a fighter," Steve informed me. "Have you ever heard of Hector Lopez?"

Hector Lopez? Oh yes, I knew of Hector Lopez, a helluva prospect in the 80's.
Hector was a Glendale kid that had been born in Mexico.
Before the '84 Olympics, Lopez was a good amateur, but USA Boxing team politics would work against him making the U.S. Olympic Team.
What did he do? He went back to Mexico and he made the Mexican Olympic Team.
He came to Los Angeles, his hometown, repping Mexico in the Olympics and won a silver medal.

There were a lot of pro offers and Lopez had great potential, and a style that resembled that of former champ, Salvador Sanchez.
However, there would be bumps in his road to success. He would have a violent domestic history and serve time in State Prison.
Whe he came out, he was covered with tattoos and anxious to get back into boxing.

I met Hector in 1986, when he was training at the original Ten Goose Gym in North Hollywood.
He was sparring with Goossen's lightweight, a guy named Walter Smith.
From that point on, after prison, Hector Lopez's potential was long gone. He became a club fighter and eventually disappeared.

I told the boy I thought his father was a helluva a fighter.
A look of sadness crossed his face, he shrugged his shoulders, "I guess?", the boy answered.
Something told me this was not a good subject. I then remember the domestic issues, there was a gun involved.

"OK son, grab a jump rope" I tell him.
You could see the look of the father in the son, nice looking kid, curly hair just like the old man had.
In the beginning, you build the foundation, once it's solid, you add the rest. First things first.


-Rick Farris

I remember Lopez from the '84 Olympics. The bantamweight division was hot and I'm pretty sure Lopez beat Juan Molina (John-John) on the way to the final, where he lost to to the classy Italian Maurizio Stecca but made it tough. He later gave Kostya Tszyu a very tough fight in the pros and looked a little unlucky to drop the verdict.

Joe Sayatovich

Beto Nunez

Rick and I were talking last night and the subject came up of favorite fighters. Awhile back I saw on another thread on boxrec that someone asked about ones favorite fighter in each division and I thought that would be cool to ask the same question here. Now remember, not who you think was the greatest, but your favorite. I mean the guy that would make your skin bristle when you knew he was fighting. So many variables effect this decision. The region you're from, the era you were raised, the styles you enjoyed and I think we have a very diverse crowd here geographically and age-wise. Anyways, here's mine:

Heavyweight - Muhammad Ali
Lt Heavy - Victor Galindez
Middle - Vito Antuofermo
Jr Middle - Ayub Kalule
Welter - Armando Muniz
Jr Welter - Antonio Cervantes
Light - Rodolfo Gonzalez
Jr Light - Bobby Chacon
Feather - Ruben Olivares
Bantam - Ruben Olivares (again)
Fly - Halimi Gutierrez

You're not going to get more diverse than this except for the fact that I believe you can see the era which most effected me. Love to see your lists. Remember, your favorite.

Scartissue

Heavyweight: Joe Frazier or Rocky Marciano.
Light-Heavyweight: Matthew Saad Muhammad
Middleweight: Sugar Ray Robinson
Jr. Middleweight: Koichi Wajima
Welterweight: Carmen Basilio, Jose Napoles, or Armando Muniz
Jr. Welterweight: Aaron Pryor
Lightweight: Sean O'Grady or Roberto Duran
Jr. Lightweight: Alexis Arguello
Featherweight: Danny Lopez or Ruben Olivares
Jr. Featherweight: no opinion
Bantamweight: Ruben Olivares
Flyweight: no opinion

All-time favorite: Ruben Olivares!

“Turn-of-the-century” old-timers I would go back in time to see live:

Heavyweight: Jim Jeffries
Light-heavyweight (if they had had light-heavyweights before 1903): Joe Choynski
Middleweight: Bob Fitzsimmons
Welterweight: Joe Walcott / Mysterious Billy Smith
Lightweight: Joe Gans / George Lavigne
Featherweight: George Dixon / Young Griffo
Bantamweight: Terry McGovern
Flyweight: Jimmy Barry

All-time favorite old timer: George Dixon

scartissue wrote:Rick and I were talking last night and the subject came up of favorite fighters. Awhile back I saw on another thread on boxrec that someone asked about ones favorite fighter in each division and I thought that would be cool to ask the same question here. Now remember, not who you think was the greatest, but your favorite. I mean the guy that would make your skin bristle when you knew he was fighting. So many variables effect this decision. The region you're from, the era you were raised, the styles you enjoyed and I think we have a very diverse crowd here geographically and age-wise. Anyways, here's mine:

Heavyweight - Muhammad Ali
Lt Heavy - Victor Galindez
Middle - Vito Antuofermo
Jr Middle - Ayub Kalule
Welter - Armando Muniz
Jr Welter - Antonio Cervantes
Light - Rodolfo Gonzalez
Jr Light - Bobby Chacon
Feather - Ruben Olivares
Bantam - Ruben Olivares (again)
Fly - Halimi Gutierrez

You're not going to get more diverse than this except for the fact that I believe you can see the era which most effected me. Love to see your lists. Remember, your favorite.

Scartissue

Here's mine . . .

Heavyweight- Mike Tyson
light heavy- Bob Foster
Middleweight- Carlos Monzon
Welterweight- Jose Napoles/Emile Griffith
Jr. Welter- Adolph Pruitt
Lightweight- Mando Ramos
Jr. Lightweight Alexis Arguello
Featherweight- Dwight Hawkins
Bantamweight- Ruben Olivares
Flyweight- Efren "Alacran" Torres


These are the guys who really got me excited.
These are the guys I'd buy a ticket to see fight, any day of the week.


-Rick Farris

Heavyweight: Joe Frazier
Light-heavyweight: Victor Galindez
Middleweight: Carlos Monzon
Light-middleweight: Wilfred Benitez
Welterweight: Sugar Ray Leonard
Light-welterweight: Aaron Pryor
Lightweight: Roberto Duran
Super-featherweight: Rolando Navarette
Featherweight: Alexis Arguello
bantamweight: Lupe Pintor
flyweight: Santos Laciar

I don't like to get into this kind thing, because I have my boys to think about, but here goes.

Hw.-Joe Louis

LtH-Archie Moore

Middle-Sugar Ray Robinson

Welter-Joe Napoles

Jr Welter-Eddie Perkins

Ltw.-Enrique Bolanos/Tony Baltazar

Jr Ltw-Flash Elorde/Frankie Baltazar

Feather-Davey Moore

Bantam-Manuel Ortiz

Fly-Keeny Teran

Guys, I absolutely love your lists. It really reflects the era that we loved. Rick, you got it right, those are the fighters we would get absolutely giddy about a week before their fight. Frank, I think you negotiated your son's divisions extremely well and it was good to see the name Keeny Teran pop up once again. Tom, great list as well as the touch of oldtimers. Bennie, I'm surprised, being from merry old, I thought I would see a 'Boy' Green or a Johnny Clark in there somewhere. I think it shows how you and I are really a product of the TV boom and our favorites lie therein. Again, great lists and just thinking of them gets me daydreaming of how I would pace in front of the TV when my fighter was getting into the ring. Great memories.

Scartissue

bennie wrote:Heavyweight: Joe Frazier
Light-heavyweight: Victor Galindez
Middleweight: Carlos Monzon
Light-middleweight: Wilfred Benitez
Welterweight: Sugar Ray Leonard
Light-welterweight: Aaron Pryor
Lightweight: Roberto Duran
Super-featherweight: Rolando Navarette
Featherweight: Alexis Arguello
bantamweight: Lupe Pintor
flyweight: Santos Laciar

Bennie . . . Santos Laciar will be on this year's WBHOF ballot.

-Rick Farris

As per Scar's request, I listed boxers whom really used to excite me. My list does not necessarily reflect whom I believe the all-time best of their divisions, just ones that that I enjoyed watching box. For example, at lightweight, Mando Ramos generated so much energy in Southern California, his name stood alone. However, if asked who I thought the best lightweights were of my era, I'd have said Roberto Duran and Rodolfo Gonzalez. Of those I never saw live, Ike Williams would have topped the list.

I think this was a great subject.


-Rick Farris

The following fighters were my favorites over the last forty years:

Heavyweight- Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier
Light-heavyweight- Mathew Saad Muhammad
Middleweight- Marvin Hagler
Welterweight- Mando Muniz
Junior welterweight- Aaron Pryor.
Lightweight- Roberto Duran
Junior lightweight- Bobby Chacon
Featherweight- Danny Lopez
Bantamweight- Alberto Davila
Flyweight- Miguel Canto

These are my favorite oldtimers:

Heavyweight- Jack Dempsey/Joe Louis
Light-heavyweight- Sam Langford
Middleweight- Harry Greb
Welterweight- Sugar Ray Robinson
Lightweight- Joe Gans/Benny Leonard
Featherweight- Willie Pep
Bantamweight- Manuel Ortiz
Flyweight- Midget Wolgast

- Chuck Johnston

Rick Farris wrote:As per Scar's request, I listed boxers whom really used to excite me. My list does not necessarily reflect whom I believe the all-time best of their divisions, just ones that that I enjoyed watching box. For example, at lightweight, Mando Ramos generated so much energy in Southern California, his name stood alone. However, if asked who I thought the best lightweights were of my era, I'd have said Roberto Duran and Rodolfo Gonzalez. Of those I never saw live, Ike Williams would have topped the list.

I think this was a great subject.


-Rick Farris

Agreed!! These are just the guys we liked to watch and read about.

kikibalt wrote:I don't like to get into this kind thing, because I have my boys to think about, but here goes.

Hw.-Joe Louis

LtH-Archie Moore

Middle-Sugar Ray Robinson

Welter-Joe Napoles

Jr Welter-Eddie Perkins

Ltw.-Enrique Bolanos/Tony Baltazar

Jr Ltw-Flash Elorde/Frankie Baltazar

Feather-Davey Moore

Bantam-Manuel Ortiz

Fly-Keeny Teran

I was wondering who you'd list because you've seen so many over the years. I hope that Hap participates, too!! Given all the fighters he seen throughout the years, his list should really be interesting!

(I hasten to add that I'm not denigrating anybody's lists . . . but Hap and Frank have seen so many through the years, I'm very interested in who they liked!)

Chuck1052 wrote:The following fighters were my favorites over the last forty years:

Heavyweight- Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier
Light-heavyweight- Mathew Saad Muhammad
Middleweight- Marvin Hagler
Welterweight- Mando Muniz
Junior welterweight- Aaron Pryor.
Lightweight- Roberto Duran
Junior lightweight- Bobby Chacon
Featherweight- Danny Lopez
Bantamweight- Alberto Davila
Flyweight- Miguel Canto

These are my favorite oldtimers:

Heavyweight- Jack Dempsey/Joe Louis
Light-heavyweight- Sam Langford
Middleweight- Harry Greb
Welterweight- Sugar Ray Robinson
Lightweight- Joe Gans/Benny Leonard
Featherweight- Willie Pep
Bantamweight- Manuel Ortiz
Flyweight- Midget Wolgast

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck . . .

Your list includes a couple of L.A. guys who are also personal favorites of mine, as well as long time friends I knew from our amateur days, Mando Muniz and Albert Davila.
Frank made many of Davila's Jr. amateur bouts. I remember "Tweety" was a master boxer long before he joined the USA Amateur Boxing Team.
He's the closest thing to a Willie Pep I saw come out of the era. Beautiful boxer, a guy who could stand in the pocket, and make his opponent miss, and then make him pay.

By the way, this past saturday I saw Vince Delgado in the morning.
He had brought a couple scrap books he had saved from his career, as well as that of his Uncle, Carlos Chavez.
Along with his scrap book he proudly pulled out a book that featured his picture.
It was the one that you and Tracy Callis published awhile back.
"Have you seen this?" Vince asked as he opened the book. I smiled and told him, "Yes. I've not only seen it, but I own it."

Thought you might like to know that the book you and Tracy put together has done a lot of L.A. headliners proud.
You did good, my friend!


-Rick Farris

raylawpc wrote:

kikibalt wrote:I don't like to get into this kind thing, because I have my boys to think about, but here goes.

Hw.-Joe Louis

LtH-Archie Moore

Middle-Sugar Ray Robinson

Welter-Joe Napoles

Jr Welter-Eddie Perkins

Ltw.-Enrique Bolanos/Tony Baltazar

Jr Ltw-Flash Elorde/Frankie Baltazar

Feather-Davey Moore

Bantam-Manuel Ortiz

Fly-Keeny Teran

I was wondering who you'd list because you've seen so many over the years. I hope that Hap participates, too!! Given all the fighters he seen throughout the years, his list should really be interesting!

(I hasten to add that I'm not denigrating anybody's lists . . . but Hap and Frank have seen so many through the years, I'm very interested in who they liked!)

I was wondering the same thing, Tom. I knew their lists would be rich. I never had the chance to watch Manuel Ortiz, Bolanos, Moore, etc. up close like they did. So I kept it to my era.

-Rick

scartissue wrote:Rick and I were talking last night and the subject came up of favorite fighters. Awhile back I saw on another thread on boxrec that someone asked about ones favorite fighter in each division and I thought that would be cool to ask the same question here. Now remember, not who you think was the greatest, but your favorite. I mean the guy that would make your skin bristle when you knew he was fighting. So many variables effect this decision. The region you're from, the era you were raised, the styles you enjoyed and I think we have a very diverse crowd here geographically and age-wise. Anyways, here's mine:

Heavyweight - Muhammad Ali
Lt Heavy - Victor Galindez
Middle - Vito Antuofermo
Jr Middle - Ayub Kalule
Welter - Armando Muniz
Jr Welter - Antonio Cervantes
Light - Rodolfo Gonzalez
Jr Light - Bobby Chacon
Feather - Ruben Olivares
Bantam - Ruben Olivares (again)
Fly - Halimi Gutierrez

You're not going to get more diverse than this except for the fact that I believe you can see the era which most effected me. Love to see your lists. Remember, your favorite.

Scartissue

Great Call Scar.

Heavy - Loved to watch my dads films of Joe Louis
But my era - George Foreman
Lt. Heavy - On Film - Archie Moore
My era - Bob Foster
Middle - Film - Sugar Ray Robinson
Local favorite - Nate Collins
Welter - Film Robinson again
My era- Tommy Hearns
Lightweight - Kept Close eye on Mondo Ramos' career from NorCAl
Featherweight - Alexis Arguello
Jr. Feather - Local favorite - Ray Lunny III
Batam- Ruban Olivares

I remember the biggest excitment in my life was when we knew we were going to the fights soon, the guys I named above as local favorites provided a lot of that excitement for me and a lot of day dreaming during school too.
Bruce

Rick Farris wrote:

raylawpc wrote:

kikibalt wrote:I don't like to get into this kind thing, because I have my boys to think about, but here goes.

Hw.-Joe Louis

LtH-Archie Moore

Middle-Sugar Ray Robinson

Welter-Joe Napoles

Jr Welter-Eddie Perkins

Ltw.-Enrique Bolanos/Tony Baltazar

Jr Ltw-Flash Elorde/Frankie Baltazar

Feather-Davey Moore

Bantam-Manuel Ortiz

Fly-Keeny Teran

I was wondering who you'd list because you've seen so many over the years. I hope that Hap participates, too!! Given all the fighters he seen throughout the years, his list should really be interesting!

(I hasten to add that I'm not denigrating anybody's lists . . . but Hap and Frank have seen so many through the years, I'm very interested in who they liked!)

I was wondering the same thing, Tom. I knew their lists would be rich. I never had the chance to watch Manuel Ortiz, Bolanos, Moore, etc. up close like they did. So I kept it to my era.

-Rick

Yes, I was surprised to see Flash Elorde's name on Frank's list (not surprised that he would pick him - its his list, after all!) because you rarely hear anyone talk about Elorde anymore.

All of you guys were lucky to be living in So. Cal. I saw most of these guys only on closed circuit or after-the-fact on film or DVD. (I only saw Mando Ramos live at the very end of his career when he fought Al Franklin in OKC. At that time, he looked very ordinary, and only showed flashes of his former greatness. In fact, I think the Franklin fight was Mando's last win.) You got to see many of them up close, live, and in their primes!! You guys don't know how lucky you are!! I truly envy you. . .

Bill Miller

Hap will know this guy, and so will you if you read the Ring 50 years ago, "In Sunny California"

Johnny Lira vs unknown

Thank you, Frank, for remembering Bill Miller. Fellas, there never was and never will be a better boxing publicity man than Bill. We were friendly rivals when I was doing publicity for the Legion Stadium and he was across town at the Olympic.
He had gone the full route as boxing man from his earliest days as Sports Editor of a Manila, Philippines daily newspaper. It was there that he hooked up with Frank Churchill and his stable of terrific Filipino fighters, all of whom he publicized during most of their careers. Pancho Villa, Clever Senciio, Dencio Cabanella, to name a few. But Bill also handled much of the booking for Churchill's boys, which is how he laid the ground work for becoming a fight manager much later, when he had settled for good in southern California.

A great story teller, Miller also authored a few boxing books back in the 1930s, and his in-depth series of articles in Ring Magazine titled "Boxing's Mosquito Fleet" traced the history of the fight game from its earliest point in the Philippine Islands.

I really liked this man, and his friendly attitude towards others.

hap navarro

scartissue wrote:Rick and I were talking last night and the subject came up of favorite fighters. Awhile back I saw on another thread on boxrec that someone asked about ones favorite fighter in each division and I thought that would be cool to ask the same question here. Now remember, not who you think was the greatest, but your favorite. I mean the guy that would make your skin bristle when you knew he was fighting. So many variables effect this decision. The region you're from, the era you were raised, the styles you enjoyed and I think we have a very diverse crowd here geographically and age-wise. Anyways, here's mine:

Heavyweight - Muhammad Ali
Lt Heavy - Victor Galindez
Middle - Vito Antuofermo
Jr Middle - Ayub Kalule
Welter - Armando Muniz
Jr Welter - Antonio Cervantes
Light - Rodolfo Gonzalez
Jr Light - Bobby Chacon
Feather - Ruben Olivares
Bantam - Ruben Olivares (again)
Fly - Halimi Gutierrez

You're not going to get more diverse than this except for the fact that I believe you can see the era which most effected me. Love to see your lists. Remember, your favorite.

Scartissue

This is my list. Going with what you asked Dan, not necessarily the best but my favorites. Though in some cases they may very well be the best. Duran is my favorite all time fighter. That won't change, tomorrow, next month or in ten years. I never saw Sugar Ray Robinson fight live or if I did I can't remember, I was too young but I have seen enough footage to know why he is considered the all time "Pound for Pound". When any of these guys were fighting I couldn't wait for fight night. Almost without fail you were assured of a fight. With Alberto Davila you were almost always given a textbook clinic on boxing.

Historically, my favorite fighter is Jack Dempsey. Three fighters that I never saw fight but wish I had are Manuel Ortiz and Keeny Teran and Benny Leonard. I knew Keeny but I didn't meet him til after he was done fighting. Thanks to Hap and Frank for giving us a Boxing 101 primer on Manny and Keeny.

There are so many other fighters I could list but if I had to choose, this is it, though at another time I might tweak it one way or another.

Heavyweight- Muhammed Ali/Evander Holyfield
Light Heavyweight- Matthew Saad Muhammed
Middleweight- Sugar Ray Robinson/ Marvin Hagler
Jr. Middleweight- Tommy Hearns
Welterweight- Carlos Palomino/Mando Muniz/Oscar De La Hoya
Jr.Welterweight- Julio Cesar Chavez
Lightweight- Roberto Duran/Mando Ramos
Jr. Lightweight- Alexis Arguello/Bobby Chacon
Featherweight- Danny Lopez/Salvador Sanchez
Bantamweight- Carlos Zarate/Alberto Davila

Randy