Classic American West Coast Boxing

[Rick Farris]

Great story Tellers . . .

A great writer or story teller can take you back in time.
It's a rare talent, they can sit you in a time machine and hit reverse.
They use words, they tap into the imagination.

That's what we have here.
Thanks Hap Navarro.
And to the rest of you, as well.


-Rick Farris

[Rick Farris]

deleted

[bennie]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

There's some real resin in that ring. Jack looks like he's just kneeled to Dempsey.

[Rick Farris]

Boxing Gloves . . .


My first pair came at Christmas, very late 50's, about the time Castro took over Cuba.
I remember opening the present, it was from my grandparents.
They knew what I wanted and needed.

When I asked for a clue as to what it might be, just these letters were given. . . LFG.
LFG was a challenge . . . (L)eather (F)ighting (G)loves.

They got me on that one, but I got two pairs of gloves, which meant I'd have a pair for somebody else to wear.
I now needed sparring partners, and maybe somebody to give me a few tips, not necessarily in that order.

I was now a step closer to becoming a boxer.
I couldn't wait for coach, I wanted to trade leather right away.
I'm about eight-years-old, my friend Jimmy is the same age, he lived acorss the street.

I go outside and find Jimmy and his older brother in their front yard.
They were on the driveway shooting baskets with a new basketball.
I run across the street with the box containing the two pairs of boxing gloves.

"Look what I got . . . " I shout.
Jimmy turns and walks toward me, leaving his older brother shooting hoops.
Jim was my best friend, about a head taller than me, but we were equal in fighting spirit.

Jimmy and I fought most of the kids on neighborhood, including each other more than once.
Neither of us ever won the fights with each other, we'd end up in headlocks in the morning, and playing baseball together in the afternoon.
But if we were together and there was trouble from others, we'd stand up for each other.

Jimmy and I were troublemakers when bored.
I was a small boy who had this stupid habit of "daring" older, bigger kids to fight.
I'd do this with deliberation as a pre-emptive strike on a potential bully.
A bully would shy away, unable to assure his chances of winning in his mind, a non-threat would just blow it off.
But the bottom line was, when it was time to fight, I needed to make a statement, one that would discourage others from trying me

You all can relate to this. Different neighborhoods, but similar challenges. Nobody wants to live in discomfort.
I didn't grow up in as tough a neighborhood, as many would who'd find a career in professional boxing, but kids experience crap everywhere.

My grandfather was the closest thing to a boxer I knew. After WWI he'd returned to America with his English bride.
He went to work in the oil fields of Oklahoma and would fight in "smokers".
My grandfather had raised me on stories of Jack Dempsey.
Dempsey "riding the rails", Dempsey "destroying Willard," Dempsey being "knocked out of the ring by Firpo," only to return and flatten the 'Wild Bull of the Pampas', Dempsey's "long count" fight with Tunney. Dempsey "flattening wrestler Comboy Lutrell."

Now it was time for Grandpa to show me a few things, and he started with the jab.
He told me, "If you can throw a good jab, you can control a fight, and set up a knockout, or discourage an opponent, It can save your ass."
When he said that, I knew the jab was going to be important to me, and it was!

Jump ahead half a decade to:

The mid-60's . . . promoters Cal and Aileen Eaton had just started televising "Boxing From The Olympic" on thursday nights.
I'm nearly 13, still have my gloves, lots of wear & tear.
My neighborhood has changed. I've moved from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley.

I'd come from a tougher neighborhood. My generation in Burbank were not fighters, it was the 60's. Peace & Love.
I was expecting to have to prove myself in a fight. Not necessary. But I was ready.

On thursday nights my grandad and I would watch boxing from the Olympic.
I would look closely at the gloves. When featured in a close-up, I would see the gloves labeled on the wrist support- "SEYER"
I would later learn this was the name "REYES" spelled backwards. Cleto Reyes founded a boxing equipment empire in Mexico.

The SEYER gloves were different from the pillow-like boxing gloves I had been given as a XMAS present years before.
The SEYER gloves were perfectly formed, tight, and shiny. In my young mind, they were beautiful.
I wanted a pair of SEYER gloves. What I really wanted was to become a boxer.

When I became a boxer, I was privatly disappointed that the Junior Golden Gloves matches I fought would not use "SEYER" (or "Reyes") gloves.
However, I really didn't care. All that mattered to me, I was a boxer.
We fought in pillow-like Wilson boxing gloves. They were good gloves, could be used over & over, and would be worn by future world champs.
Some of those champs are legends today. I believe most of the junior amateur gloves used in the mid-60's were 10 oz. but Frank knows for sure.

In 2008, Alberto Reyes, President of Reyes Boxing Equipment, was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
The previous year, while conducting interviews with Dan Hanley at the 2007 WBHOF banquet, Reyes donated a pair of his gloves to our production.
Dan and I hung the gloves in the background, as set decoration for our video interviews of boxing legends.
After each interview we had the fighters sign the gloves.

I gave the gloves to one of our "volunteer" film techs, Lance, whom I recruited to help Dan and I record boxing history.
Dan and I both would have liked to keep those gloves, and could have. However, the gloves were just a prop.
Today, our friend Lance has the background boxing gloves, but Dan and I have the very last filmed interview with Mando Ramos.

What Dan and I have is priceless, and you shall be seeing it very soon.
It all started with a pair of boxing gloves.


Rick Farris

[dagosd2000]

That s about as American as you can get on the 4th. A great place for young men to develop character and boxing skills from an American icon. HAPPY 4th FELLAS!!!!

[bennie]

Adams follows his own path
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

LAS VEGAS – Ken Adams attacks a question with the ferocity a great white shark would a wounded sea creature.

He’s nearly 69, but there has been no discernible softening of the man who nearly lost his chance to coach the 1988 U.S. Olympic boxing team because of an altercation with the U.S. Amateur Boxing Federation.

Adams is blunt, direct, demanding and, oh yeah, probably boxing’s finest trainer. He’s not a household name, even though he has trained 18 world champions and led the 1988 U.S. Olympic team to three gold (which would have been four had Roy Jones Jr. not been cheated), three silver and two bronze medals.

“He’s right up there as one of the best trainers we have,” said former light heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, now one of the top trainers himself. “He’s a disciplinarian and he forces the guys to work hard and work correctly. He won’t accept second-best. He instills discipline and pride in his fighters and some guys don’t like having someone who is so disciplined and so demanding. He demands excellence each and every time he’s in the gym.”

Adams has never been Trainer of the Year. Nobody has mentioned him as a candidate for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. And you won’t see him on television doing ringside analysis.

He’s as likely to decline the opportunity to train a boxer as he is to guide one to the world championship. And he’ll quickly walk away from one he does train if he believes the fighter isn’t listening to him.

“Absolutely,” says Adams, the one-time U.S. Army master sergeant. “Not only would I do it, I have done it and just did it recently.”

The latest to get the “Adams Axe” is unbeaten World Boxing Council lightweight champion Edwin Valero, a guy with otherworldly power and great charisma who is exactly the type who could become a star.

Becoming a star means making money, and that would make him attractive to just about every trainer in the business.

Valero, though, was not without plenty of faults. His boxing skills were primitive at best and he fights as if he’s never heard of a jab or of defense.

Adams, in a very short stint, made great progress in correcting many of those flaws and Valero was a much better technical fighter by the time they had decided to part ways. Had Adams continued to work with Valero, he certainly could have developed into one of the finest fighters in the world.

Valero, though, is an independent sort who has his own thoughts on how things should be done. Those thoughts didn’t mesh with the hard-nosed Adams, who walked away when he determined Valero wasn’t going to do things his way.

“I will not sell my soul for the sake of training a fighter,” Adams said. “With Valero, I would come to the gym and tell him, ‘We need to work on this.’ I’ve been around a long time and I knew what he needed. It was obvious. But he would say to me, ‘No, I want to work on this.’ He wanted to do things his way. I wanted him to do things my way, the right way.”

And so he left, thereby saying goodbye to the potentially lucrative paydays he could have earned while working with Valero.

Despite the split, there’s no hard feelings on Valero’s end. Valero still calls Adams to speak with him about boxing and he praised his skills. “Edwin is very grateful to Kenny for what he’s done for him and it was an amicable split,” Jose Castillo, Valero’s manager, said. “Also, Edwin wanted to move and work in California (and Adams is based in Las Vegas). His family is used to California and they feel comfortable there. “The other thing is that Edwin felt he needed a trainer who could keep up with his pace. Kenny is a little older and Edwin felt he wasn’t doing 100 percent of the way he liked to train, because Kenny couldn’t keep up that pace. But Edwin has great respect for him and feels he did a lot to help him.” Adams laughs softly as he’s asked how much he estimates he has lost over the years as a result of cutting ties with recalcitrant fighters or refusing to take them on in the first place.

“It’s got to be in the millions,” he says. “Millions. My wife tells me all the time that I don’t need to be so hard on them. What you see in boxing today is that too many guys want to hire a yes man. I’m no yes man.

“Maybe I’ve been a little harder than I’ve needed to be, but you can’t mess around in this sport. This is serious business. I’m not going to deal with all the [expletive] that these fighters want you to deal with. Maybe it’s my drill sergeant days coming out.”

He proudly says he hasn’t compromised and he never will. He spent 30 years in the Army and has a good pension and medical benefits. He won’t go hungry if he never trains another fighter.

And so they’ll do it his way or he’ll walk.

The result is that those who work with him become beautiful technicians, capable of mastery in the ring. Those who don’t usually wind up far less than they could have been. He suspects he’ll never be Trainer of the Year – “Too outspoken,” I guess – and he accepts the fact there isn’t a strong possibility that he’ll find his way into the Hall of Fame.

He’ll be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame later this year, an honor that he says “is really what I wanted most anyway.”

He was born in Springfield, but was raised in Cape Girardeau, the same town that produced conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

He’s a Missourian to the core, demanding that fighters “show me” they want to do it. He trains Jorge Linares, the classy World Boxing Association super featherweight champion, and up-and-coming lightweight Sharif Bogere. He also works with a few young Japanese fighters, whom he adores because of their willingness to heed each of his very direct and precisely chosen words.

He’s never been a man who has suffered fools and he’s not going to start as he’s closing in on 70.

“I’ve had 18 world champions and I had five champions at one time,” Adams said. “I’ve had my success. I’m satisfied with what I’ve done. And I walk with my head held high, because I have done things my way, the right way, and I haven’t compromised my values for a paycheck.

“I love to train and work with fighters, but they have to want to do it and want to learn. They have to be committed to getting into the best possible shape they can. If they do those things, I’ll give everything of myself to these kids. If they don’t, you know what, I don’t need the aggravation, no matter how good someone thinks they may be.”

Kenny sounds old school. His results in Seoul speak for themselves. Christ, he even got Maynard a gold medal!

[raylawpc]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

Thanks Frank. Classic shot. I love this photo!
The Olympic, Dempsey.
That does it for me.

Very interesting to me is how people dressed when attending boxing of the day.
Look up to the balcony, suits, coats & ties.

Hap, during your reign at the Hollywood Legion, 40's-to-50's, how did the average ringsiders dress?
At your club, a high profile celeb crowd was common.


--Rick Farris

Remember that this was opening night at the Olympic. Folks were probably a bit overdressed that night.
Trivia question: Who dug the first shovel full of dirt at the ground breaking for the Olympic?

[raylawpc]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

There's some real resin in that ring. Jack looks like he's just kneeled to Dempsey.

And probably kissed Dempsey's ring, too.

[kikibalt]

Ortiz draws criticism after loss at Staples
By Robert Morales
Los Angeles Daily News

Victor Ortiz was stopped in the sixth round of a slugfest with Marcos Maidana last Saturday at Staples Center. At stake was an interim junior welterweight world title. As it turns out, there was much more on the line — such as Ortiz's reputation.

After Ortiz went down in the sixth round — he had a gruesome cut over his right eye and a large lump under his left eye — he got up, and his body language said he did not want anymore. The doctor advised referee Raul Caiz to stop it, and he did.

Ortiz then said in a postfight television interview he took way too many punches and, "I won't go out on my shield for anyone."

Wrong thing to say because all that did was solidify the belief of many that Ortiz quit when the going got tough.

He was ahead by three points on all scorecards. Just about every expert who covered that fight believes Ortiz should have wanted to fight on, his injuries notwithstanding.

Ortiz and his promotional company, Golden Boy Promotions, tried to do some damage control this week.

"I made some comments after the fight that were an emotional response to the loss," Ortiz said. "I take full responsibility for my mistakes and actions, but I didn't mean what I said."

Ortiz, 22, went on to guarantee he will become champion.

He once was promoted by Bob Arum before a nasty split. Arum still retains a financial interest in Ortiz, but he ripped the young fighter after hearing what transpired at Staples Center.

Arum had just promoted a card in Atlantic City. After it was over, he held court with a group of reporters. Arum said his matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, always thought Ortiz had all the tools but lacked courage. That when the chips were down, Ortiz would fold.

"Can you imagine a fighter saying, 'Well, I got knocked down and I wasn't going to go out on my shield?'" Arum said.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said Golden Boy is going to stand by Ortiz. He said Ortiz is not a quitter and he was angry about Arum's comments.

"If Bob Arum thinks so little of Victor, that he is a quitter and has no heart, maybe he should give up his financial interest," Schaefer said. "For Bob Arum to make these malicious comments about Victor, I don't like it, I don't appreciate it.

"I think Bob Arum should apologize to Victor."

[kikibalt]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

Thanks Frank. Classic shot. I love this photo!
The Olympic, Dempsey.
That does it for me.

Very interesting to me is how people dressed when attending boxing of the day.
Look up to the balcony, suits, coats & ties.

Hap, during your reign at the Hollywood Legion, 40's-to-50's, how did the average ringsiders dress?
At your club, a high profile celeb crowd was common.


--Rick Farris

Rick...Thank Tom for that photo, he is the one that gave us a heads up on it.

I remember going to the fights in the late 1940s-early 1950s and most of the guys & gals were dress to the nines, suits, coats & ties for the guys and high heels for the gals were the norms for that exciting era. I myself used to get decked out in suit and tie, Connie all prettied up in a tight fitted dress, ready to do the town after the fights, hit some nite clubs, mingle with the fight crowd. what an era!, what an era!!.

[kikibalt]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

There's some real resin in that ring. Jack looks like he's just kneeled to Dempsey.

I miss seeing that old resin box in a corner of the ring....

[Randyman]

Happy Fourth of July to my pals on West Coast Boxing!





Randy

[Randyman]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

There's some real resin in that ring. Jack looks like he's just kneeled to Dempsey.

I miss seeing that old resin box in a corner of the ring....

I hear you Frank, it's funny how things come and go. The first thing a fighter did when he stepped into the ring, whether it was a fight or a sparring session, was to step into the resin box. Mel had me scrape the bottom of my shoes with a can opener for added traction.

By the way, great photo!

Randy

[Randyman]

I have that book. I read it years ago. It's stored in a box somewhere in the house. Good reading for a kid or anyone else that loves boxing!

Randy

[Randyman]

Ortiz draws criticism after loss at Staples
By Robert Morales
Los Angeles Daily News

Victor Ortiz was stopped in the sixth round of a slugfest with Marcos Maidana last Saturday at Staples Center. At stake was an interim junior welterweight world title. As it turns out, there was much more on the line — such as Ortiz's reputation.

After Ortiz went down in the sixth round — he had a gruesome cut over his right eye and a large lump under his left eye — he got up, and his body language said he did not want anymore. The doctor advised referee Raul Caiz to stop it, and he did.

Ortiz then said in a postfight television interview he took way too many punches and, "I won't go out on my shield for anyone."

Wrong thing to say because all that did was solidify the belief of many that Ortiz quit when the going got tough.

He was ahead by three points on all scorecards. Just about every expert who covered that fight believes Ortiz should have wanted to fight on, his injuries notwithstanding.

Ortiz and his promotional company, Golden Boy Promotions, tried to do some damage control this week.

"I made some comments after the fight that were an emotional response to the loss," Ortiz said. "I take full responsibility for my mistakes and actions, but I didn't mean what I said."

Ortiz, 22, went on to guarantee he will become champion.

He once was promoted by Bob Arum before a nasty split. Arum still retains a financial interest in Ortiz, but he ripped the young fighter after hearing what transpired at Staples Center.

Arum had just promoted a card in Atlantic City. After it was over, he held court with a group of reporters. Arum said his matchmaker, Bruce Trampler, always thought Ortiz had all the tools but lacked courage. That when the chips were down, Ortiz would fold.

"Can you imagine a fighter saying, 'Well, I got knocked down and I wasn't going to go out on my shield?'" Arum said.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said Golden Boy is going to stand by Ortiz. He said Ortiz is not a quitter and he was angry about Arum's comments.

"If Bob Arum thinks so little of Victor, that he is a quitter and has no heart, maybe he should give up his financial interest," Schaefer said. "For Bob Arum to make these malicious comments about Victor, I don't like it, I don't appreciate it.

"I think Bob Arum should apologize to Victor."

Easy for me to say, I know but the criticism of Ortiz is not unjust. If Ortiz believes he shouldn't go out on his shield, or that he doesn't deserve to get beat up the way he did, fair enough but you can't have it both ways. His first response, regardless of whether he regrets saying them or not were his real thoughts. Golden boy Productions could spin it any way they want but the bottom line is when the fight heated up and Ortiz had a fighter in front of him that had no quit in him, that was trying to find a way to win, Ortiz folded. You can't fool boxing fans into believing they didn't see what they saw, or as the old adage goes: You can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

Randy

[kikibalt]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

There's some real resin in that ring. Jack looks like he's just kneeled to Dempsey.
I miss seeing that old resin box in a corner of the ring....

I hear you Frank, it's funny how things come and go. The first thing a fighter did when he stepped into the ring, whether it was a fight or a sparring session, was to step into the resin box. Mel had me scrape the bottom of my shoes with a can opener for added traction.

By the way, great photo!

Randy

Randy,

I would do the same, scarping of the shoes for the boys and other fighters I work with.

[Rick Farris]

Jack Dempsey and Jack Root - opening night at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 5, 1925. Root was the first managere (matchmaker and promoter) at Auditorium.

Thanks Frank. Classic shot. I love this photo!
The Olympic, Dempsey.
That does it for me.

Very interesting to me is how people dressed when attending boxing of the day.
Look up to the balcony, suits, coats & ties.

Hap, during your reign at the Hollywood Legion, 40's-to-50's, how did the average ringsiders dress?
At your club, a high profile celeb crowd was common.


--Rick Farris

Remember that this was opening night at the Olympic. Folks were probably a bit overdressed that night.
Trivia question: Who dug the first shovel full of dirt at the ground breaking for the Olympic?

I believe it was Dempsey.

[Rick Farris]

I would do the same, scarping of the shoes for the boys and other fighters I work with.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Rosin Box . . .

Frank, I can remember keeping a can opener in my gym bag to scrape the bottoms of my boxing shoes.
The kangaroo hide used on the bottom would get very slick.

My grandfather used to take my boxing shoes to the Warner Brothers Studio Wardrobe dept.
At the studio, a shoemaker would glue a thin rubber soul to the bottom of my shoes, just as he did for dancers shoes.
It was the first time I had ever seen boxing shoes with rubber souls, and it worked better for me than rosin.

When Johnny Flores saw the shoes, he asked my grandfather if he could do the same for Jerry Quarry's ring shoes.
My grandfather took three pairs of Jerry's shoes to the studio and, like myself, the rubber worked good for Jerry.
My grandfather ended up doing the favor for several of Johnnie's boxers including Ruben Navarro.

A few years later, rubber became the norm on all boxing footwear, thus spelling the end for the classic ring rosin box.


-Rick Farris

[kikibalt]

I would do the same, scarping of the shoes for the boys and other fighters I work with.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Rosin Box . . .

Frank, I can remember keeping a can opener in my gym bag to scrape the bottoms of my boxing shoes.
The kangaroo hide used on the bottom would get very slick.

My grandfather used to take my boxing shoes to the Warner Brothers Studio Wardrobe dept.
At the studio, a shoemaker would glue a thin rubber soul to the bottom of my shoes, just as he did for dancers shoes.
It was the first time I had ever seen boxing shoes with rubber souls, and it worked better for me than rosin.

When Johnny Flores saw the shoes, he asked my grandfather if he could do the same for Jerry Quarry's ring shoes.
My grandfather took three pairs of Jerry's shoes to the studio and, like myself, the rubber worked good for Jerry.
My grandfather ended up doing the favor for several of Johnnie's boxers including Ruben Navarro.

A few years later, rubber became the norm on all boxing footwear, thus spelling the end for the classic ring rosin box.


-Rick Farris

Rick,

Frankie Fought most of his career with leather sole shoes, he did used rubber sole shoes late in his career, Tony's first used the rubber soles shoes in his fight with Howard Davis, after that, thats all he used.

[Randyman]

Boxing Gloves . . .


My first pair came at Christmas, very late 50's, about the time Castro took over Cuba.
I remember opening the present, it was from my grandparents.
They knew what I wanted and needed.

When I asked for a clue as to what it might be, just these letters were given. . . LFG.
LFG was a challenge . . . (L)eather (F)ighting (G)loves.

They got me on that one, but I got two pairs of gloves, which meant I'd have a pair for somebody else to wear.
I now needed sparring partners, and maybe somebody to give me a few tips, not necessarily in that order.

I was now a step closer to becoming a boxer.
I couldn't wait for coach, I wanted to trade leather right away.
I'm about eight-years-old, my friend Jimmy is the same age, he lived acorss the street.

I go outside and find Jimmy and his older brother in their front yard.
They were on the driveway shooting baskets with a new basketball.
I run across the street with the box containing the two pairs of boxing gloves.

"Look what I got . . . " I shout.
Jimmy turns and walks toward me, leaving his older brother shooting hoops.
Jim was my best friend, about a head taller than me, but we were equal in fighting spirit.

Jimmy and I fought most of the kids on neighborhood, including each other more than once.
Neither of us ever won the fights with each other, we'd end up in headlocks in the morning, and playing baseball together in the afternoon.
But if we were together and there was trouble from others, we'd stand up for each other.

Jimmy and I were troublemakers when bored.
I was a small boy who had this stupid habit of "daring" older, bigger kids to fight.
I'd do this with deliberation as a pre-emptive strike on a potential bully.
A bully would shy away, unable to assure his chances of winning in his mind, a non-threat would just blow it off.
But the bottom line was, when it was time to fight, I needed to make a statement, one that would discourage others from trying me

You all can relate to this. Different neighborhoods, but similar challenges. Nobody wants to live in discomfort.
I didn't grow up in as tough a neighborhood, as many would who'd find a career in professional boxing, but kids experience crap everywhere.

My grandfather was the closest thing to a boxer I knew. After WWI he'd returned to America with his English bride.
He went to work in the oil fields of Oklahoma and would fight in "smokers".
My grandfather had raised me on stories of Jack Dempsey.
Dempsey "riding the rails", Dempsey "destroying Willard," Dempsey being "knocked out of the ring by Firpo," only to return and flatten the 'Wild Bull of the Pampas', Dempsey's "long count" fight with Tunney. Dempsey "flattening wrestler Comboy Lutrell."

Now it was time for Grandpa to show me a few things, and he started with the jab.
He told me, "If you can throw a good jab, you can control a fight, and set up a knockout, or discourage an opponent, It can save your ass."
When he said that, I knew the jab was going to be important to me, and it was!

Jump ahead half a decade to:

The mid-60's . . . promoters Cal and Aileen Eaton had just started televising "Boxing From The Olympic" on thursday nights.
I'm nearly 13, still have my gloves, lots of wear & tear.
My neighborhood has changed. I've moved from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley.

I'd come from a tougher neighborhood. My generation in Burbank were not fighters, it was the 60's. Peace & Love.
I was expecting to have to prove myself in a fight. Not necessary. But I was ready.

On thursday nights my grandad and I would watch boxing from the Olympic.
I would look closely at the gloves. When featured in a close-up, I would see the gloves labeled on the wrist support- "SEYER"
I would later learn this was the name "REYES" spelled backwards. Cleto Reyes founded a boxing equipment empire in Mexico.

The SEYER gloves were different from the pillow-like boxing gloves I had been given as a XMAS present years before.
The SEYER gloves were perfectly formed, tight, and shiny. In my young mind, they were beautiful.
I wanted a pair of SEYER gloves. What I really wanted was to become a boxer.

When I became a boxer, I was privatly disappointed that the Junior Golden Gloves matches I fought would not use "SEYER" (or "Reyes") gloves.
However, I really didn't care. All that mattered to me, I was a boxer.
We fought in pillow-like Wilson boxing gloves. They were good gloves, could be used over & over, and would be worn by future world champs.
Some of those champs are legends today. I believe most of the junior amateur gloves used in the mid-60's were 10 oz. but Frank knows for sure.

In 2008, Alberto Reyes, President of Reyes Boxing Equipment, was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
The previous year, while conducting interviews with Dan Hanley at the 2007 WBHOF banquet, Reyes donated a pair of his gloves to our production.
Dan and I hung the gloves in the background, as set decoration for our video interviews of boxing legends.
After each interview we had the fighters sign the gloves.

I gave the gloves to one of our "volunteer" film techs, Lance, whom I recruited to help Dan and I record boxing history.
Dan and I both would have liked to keep those gloves, and could have. However, the gloves were just a prop.
Today, our friend Lance has the background boxing gloves, but Dan and I have the very last filmed interview with Mando Ramos.

What Dan and I have is priceless, and you shall be seeing it very soon.
It all started with a pair of boxing gloves.


Rick Farris

Frank and Rick, my first pair of gloves were Everlast, given to me by my father, either for a birthday or Christmas, I forget which. The gloves my buddies and I would spar with years later, in our teens, were a set of fight gloves that Keeny Teran had given Mike, and were used in one of his fights. I'm sure we ruined them. Too bad.

Randy

[Rick Farris]

Boxing Gloves . . .


My first pair came at Christmas, very late 50's, about the time Castro took over Cuba.
I remember opening the present, it was from my grandparents.
They knew what I wanted and needed.

When I asked for a clue as to what it might be, just these letters were given. . . LFG.
LFG was a challenge . . . (L)eather (F)ighting (G)loves.

They got me on that one, but I got two pairs of gloves, which meant I'd have a pair for somebody else to wear.
I now needed sparring partners, and maybe somebody to give me a few tips, not necessarily in that order.

I was now a step closer to becoming a boxer.
I couldn't wait for coach, I wanted to trade leather right away.
I'm about eight-years-old, my friend Jimmy is the same age, he lived acorss the street.

I go outside and find Jimmy and his older brother in their front yard.
They were on the driveway shooting baskets with a new basketball.
I run across the street with the box containing the two pairs of boxing gloves.

"Look what I got . . . " I shout.
Jimmy turns and walks toward me, leaving his older brother shooting hoops.
Jim was my best friend, about a head taller than me, but we were equal in fighting spirit.

Jimmy and I fought most of the kids on neighborhood, including each other more than once.
Neither of us ever won the fights with each other, we'd end up in headlocks in the morning, and playing baseball together in the afternoon.
But if we were together and there was trouble from others, we'd stand up for each other.

Jimmy and I were troublemakers when bored.
I was a small boy who had this stupid habit of "daring" older, bigger kids to fight.
I'd do this with deliberation as a pre-emptive strike on a potential bully.
A bully would shy away, unable to assure his chances of winning in his mind, a non-threat would just blow it off.
But the bottom line was, when it was time to fight, I needed to make a statement, one that would discourage others from trying me

You all can relate to this. Different neighborhoods, but similar challenges. Nobody wants to live in discomfort.
I didn't grow up in as tough a neighborhood, as many would who'd find a career in professional boxing, but kids experience crap everywhere.

My grandfather was the closest thing to a boxer I knew. After WWI he'd returned to America with his English bride.
He went to work in the oil fields of Oklahoma and would fight in "smokers".
My grandfather had raised me on stories of Jack Dempsey.
Dempsey "riding the rails", Dempsey "destroying Willard," Dempsey being "knocked out of the ring by Firpo," only to return and flatten the 'Wild Bull of the Pampas', Dempsey's "long count" fight with Tunney. Dempsey "flattening wrestler Comboy Lutrell."

Now it was time for Grandpa to show me a few things, and he started with the jab.
He told me, "If you can throw a good jab, you can control a fight, and set up a knockout, or discourage an opponent, It can save your ass."
When he said that, I knew the jab was going to be important to me, and it was!

Jump ahead half a decade to:

The mid-60's . . . promoters Cal and Aileen Eaton had just started televising "Boxing From The Olympic" on thursday nights.
I'm nearly 13, still have my gloves, lots of wear & tear.
My neighborhood has changed. I've moved from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley.

I'd come from a tougher neighborhood. My generation in Burbank were not fighters, it was the 60's. Peace & Love.
I was expecting to have to prove myself in a fight. Not necessary. But I was ready.

On thursday nights my grandad and I would watch boxing from the Olympic.
I would look closely at the gloves. When featured in a close-up, I would see the gloves labeled on the wrist support- "SEYER"
I would later learn this was the name "REYES" spelled backwards. Cleto Reyes founded a boxing equipment empire in Mexico.

The SEYER gloves were different from the pillow-like boxing gloves I had been given as a XMAS present years before.
The SEYER gloves were perfectly formed, tight, and shiny. In my young mind, they were beautiful.
I wanted a pair of SEYER gloves. What I really wanted was to become a boxer.

When I became a boxer, I was privatly disappointed that the Junior Golden Gloves matches I fought would not use "SEYER" (or "Reyes") gloves.
However, I really didn't care. All that mattered to me, I was a boxer.
We fought in pillow-like Wilson boxing gloves. They were good gloves, could be used over & over, and would be worn by future world champs.
Some of those champs are legends today. I believe most of the junior amateur gloves used in the mid-60's were 10 oz. but Frank knows for sure.

In 2008, Alberto Reyes, President of Reyes Boxing Equipment, was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
The previous year, while conducting interviews with Dan Hanley at the 2007 WBHOF banquet, Reyes donated a pair of his gloves to our production.
Dan and I hung the gloves in the background, as set decoration for our video interviews of boxing legends.
After each interview we had the fighters sign the gloves.

I gave the gloves to one of our "volunteer" film techs, Lance, whom I recruited to help Dan and I record boxing history.
Dan and I both would have liked to keep those gloves, and could have. However, the gloves were just a prop.
Today, our friend Lance has the background boxing gloves, but Dan and I have the very last filmed interview with Mando Ramos.

What Dan and I have is priceless, and you shall be seeing it very soon.
It all started with a pair of boxing gloves.


Rick Farris

Frank and Rick, my first pair of gloves were Everlast, given to me by my father, either for a birthday or Christmas, I forget which. The gloves my buddies and I would spar with years later, in our teens, were a set of fight gloves that Keeny Teran had given Mike, and were used in one of his fights. I'm sure we ruined them. Too bad.

Randy

Randy . . . Kenny Teran's gloves! That's cool.

-Rick

[kikibalt]

Boxing Gloves . . .


My first pair came at Christmas, very late 50's, about the time Castro took over Cuba.
I remember opening the present, it was from my grandparents.
They knew what I wanted and needed.

When I asked for a clue as to what it might be, just these letters were given. . . LFG.
LFG was a challenge . . . (L)eather (F)ighting (G)loves.

They got me on that one, but I got two pairs of gloves, which meant I'd have a pair for somebody else to wear.
I now needed sparring partners, and maybe somebody to give me a few tips, not necessarily in that order.

I was now a step closer to becoming a boxer.
I couldn't wait for coach, I wanted to trade leather right away.
I'm about eight-years-old, my friend Jimmy is the same age, he lived acorss the street.

I go outside and find Jimmy and his older brother in their front yard.
They were on the driveway shooting baskets with a new basketball.
I run across the street with the box containing the two pairs of boxing gloves.

"Look what I got . . . " I shout.
Jimmy turns and walks toward me, leaving his older brother shooting hoops.
Jim was my best friend, about a head taller than me, but we were equal in fighting spirit.

Jimmy and I fought most of the kids on neighborhood, including each other more than once.
Neither of us ever won the fights with each other, we'd end up in headlocks in the morning, and playing baseball together in the afternoon.
But if we were together and there was trouble from others, we'd stand up for each other.

Jimmy and I were troublemakers when bored.
I was a small boy who had this stupid habit of "daring" older, bigger kids to fight.
I'd do this with deliberation as a pre-emptive strike on a potential bully.
A bully would shy away, unable to assure his chances of winning in his mind, a non-threat would just blow it off.
But the bottom line was, when it was time to fight, I needed to make a statement, one that would discourage others from trying me

You all can relate to this. Different neighborhoods, but similar challenges. Nobody wants to live in discomfort.
I didn't grow up in as tough a neighborhood, as many would who'd find a career in professional boxing, but kids experience crap everywhere.

My grandfather was the closest thing to a boxer I knew. After WWI he'd returned to America with his English bride.
He went to work in the oil fields of Oklahoma and would fight in "smokers".
My grandfather had raised me on stories of Jack Dempsey.
Dempsey "riding the rails", Dempsey "destroying Willard," Dempsey being "knocked out of the ring by Firpo," only to return and flatten the 'Wild Bull of the Pampas', Dempsey's "long count" fight with Tunney. Dempsey "flattening wrestler Comboy Lutrell."

Now it was time for Grandpa to show me a few things, and he started with the jab.
He told me, "If you can throw a good jab, you can control a fight, and set up a knockout, or discourage an opponent, It can save your ass."
When he said that, I knew the jab was going to be important to me, and it was!

Jump ahead half a decade to:

The mid-60's . . . promoters Cal and Aileen Eaton had just started televising "Boxing From The Olympic" on thursday nights.
I'm nearly 13, still have my gloves, lots of wear & tear.
My neighborhood has changed. I've moved from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley.

I'd come from a tougher neighborhood. My generation in Burbank were not fighters, it was the 60's. Peace & Love.
I was expecting to have to prove myself in a fight. Not necessary. But I was ready.

On thursday nights my grandad and I would watch boxing from the Olympic.
I would look closely at the gloves. When featured in a close-up, I would see the gloves labeled on the wrist support- "SEYER"
I would later learn this was the name "REYES" spelled backwards. Cleto Reyes founded a boxing equipment empire in Mexico.

The SEYER gloves were different from the pillow-like boxing gloves I had been given as a XMAS present years before.
The SEYER gloves were perfectly formed, tight, and shiny. In my young mind, they were beautiful.
I wanted a pair of SEYER gloves. What I really wanted was to become a boxer.

When I became a boxer, I was privatly disappointed that the Junior Golden Gloves matches I fought would not use "SEYER" (or "Reyes") gloves.
However, I really didn't care. All that mattered to me, I was a boxer.
We fought in pillow-like Wilson boxing gloves. They were good gloves, could be used over & over, and would be worn by future world champs.
Some of those champs are legends today. I believe most of the junior amateur gloves used in the mid-60's were 10 oz. but Frank knows for sure.

In 2008, Alberto Reyes, President of Reyes Boxing Equipment, was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
The previous year, while conducting interviews with Dan Hanley at the 2007 WBHOF banquet, Reyes donated a pair of his gloves to our production.
Dan and I hung the gloves in the background, as set decoration for our video interviews of boxing legends.
After each interview we had the fighters sign the gloves.

I gave the gloves to one of our "volunteer" film techs, Lance, whom I recruited to help Dan and I record boxing history.
Dan and I both would have liked to keep those gloves, and could have. However, the gloves were just a prop.
Today, our friend Lance has the background boxing gloves, but Dan and I have the very last filmed interview with Mando Ramos.

What Dan and I have is priceless, and you shall be seeing it very soon.
It all started with a pair of boxing gloves.


Rick Farris

Frank and Rick, my first pair of gloves were Everlast, given to me by my father, either for a birthday or Christmas, I forget which. The gloves my buddies and I would spar with years later, in our teens, were a set of fight gloves that Keeny Teran had given Mike, and were used in one of his fights. I'm sure we ruined them. Too bad.

Randy

Guys,...My first pair of boxing gloves were a set of J.C. Higgins from Sears that I got from my late uncle John, I was about 10 years old, I would throw'em over my shoulder and go out in the barrio (Simons) and try to fine somebody to box with, we had a dirt floor ring we had put together with poles and some rope to box in, we used to box and get black eyes just about everyday....

Btw, it was an outside arena....

[Boxingnut]

Happy 4th of July to all my American buddies on here.

[kikibalt]

Happy 4th of July to all my American buddies on here.

Thank you, Robbie....

[Randyman]

Happy 4th of July to all my American buddies on here.

Thanks Rob!