BoxRec

Rick Farris wrote:Is that Manny Pacquiao?


The question came from Felicity Huffman, who plays "Lynette Scavo" on Desperate Housewives.
"Flicka" as she is known to the crew, had just stepped into the air conditioned video tent, located inside the "Scavo House" garage set.
On this hot July afternoon, the garage is like an oven, and the small air conditioning unit cooling the tent is cranking full bore.

The tent is full, about a half-dozen crew members sitting in fold-up directors chairs, and a handful more just standing, staring at the video monitor.
The fight is just about over, the ninth round has just started. The favorite is battered and taking a whipping.

I answer the actress' question, "No that's not Pacquiao, that's Frankie Baltazar Jr. . . ."

She steps closer to the screen, "Oh, he's a southpaw, like Pacquiao."
Suddenly Chango Cruz hits the deck, the actress' eyes grow big, "Oh look, he's down . . ."
A moment later the fight is over, Frankie Jr. runs across the ring and hugs Johnnie Flores and his father.

Before the audience in the air conditioned tent could comment on the fight, a big figure steps inside.
It's Mark Cherry, creator and Executive Producer of Desprate Housewives. He wants to review the shot we did before lunch.
We all stand up, the video-assist tech disconnects my lap top from the monitor, Flicka hugs the heavyset producer and exits with the rest of us.

A camera assistant catches up with me, "That kid was a good fighter, you said he only had five fights?"
I answer, "Yeah, he was just eighteen. Today he's in the California Hall of Fame, so's his brother Tony, and their father."
"Well, tomorrow bring in that other fight you have with Tony, OK?" he asks.

"You got it. Manana!"


-Rick Farris

Rick, its looks like you guys are having fun...

kikibalt wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:Is that Manny Pacquiao?


The question came from Felicity Huffman, who plays "Lynette Scavo" on Desperate Housewives.
"Flicka" as she is known to the crew, had just stepped into the air conditioned video tent, located inside the "Scavo House" garage set.
On this hot July afternoon, the garage is like an oven, and the small air conditioning unit cooling the tent is cranking full bore.

The tent is full, about a half-dozen crew members sitting in fold-up directors chairs, and a handful more just standing, staring at the video monitor.
The fight is just about over, the ninth round has just started. The favorite is battered and taking a whipping.

I answer the actress' question, "No that's not Pacquiao, that's Frankie Baltazar Jr. . . ."

She steps closer to the screen, "Oh, he's a southpaw, like Pacquiao."
Suddenly Chango Cruz hits the deck, the actress' eyes grow big, "Oh look, he's down . . ."
A moment later the fight is over, Frankie Jr. runs across the ring and hugs Johnnie Flores and his father.

Before the audience in the air conditioned tent could comment on the fight, a big figure steps inside.
It's Mark Cherry, creator and Executive Producer of Desprate Housewives. He wants to review the shot we did before lunch.
We all stand up, the video-assist tech disconnects my lap top from the monitor, Flicka hugs the heavyset producer and exits with the rest of us.

A camera assistant catches up with me, "That kid was a good fighter, you said he only had five fights?"
I answer, "Yeah, he was just eighteen. Today he's in the California Hall of Fame, so's his brother Tony, and their father."
"Well, tomorrow bring in that other fight you have with Tony, OK?" he asks.

"You got it. Manana!"


-Rick Farris

Rick, its looks like you guys are having fun...

Well Frank, now that the boys seem to have a lunch break audience, I'll show them more than videos.
I'll show some old still photos of the boys when they were kids, a pre-school Tony flooring another pee-wee, etc.
I can pull it up on my lap-top from a variety of on-line sources, here, the CBZ, etc.
As you know, these pics really add some spice to the Baltazar story.
I know the boys were both top ten contenders, but I see them as accomplished little pugs when they were pee-wee's.
Some of the guys remembered the Baltazar boys, others are too young or weren't around.
People have been brought up with Leonard, and Roy Jones, etc. They've never been exposed to L.A. boxing as we have known it.
I give them a little at a time, eventually I'll show them Ramos-Ramos, Chacon-Lopez, a few barn burners we saw up close.
It will open up a whole new world to them. DD

Now I guess we should all join Archie Bunker and Edith around the piano, "Those were the days . . . ".

A BAR IN ANOTHER PLACE

Why do people in one country seem to have little problems behaving in a way that if they were in another country would have disaterous results?

After Amanda's dance classes were finished around 9 in the evening,the dancers would dine at a nearby cafe and then go out for drinks. The bodegas are open until very late or early depending how you see it. Kids are in these places with their parents. Many people are smoking cigarretes. The drinking age is 16,but I never saw anyone around that age drinking in the bodegas.

In the streets illuminated by the lanterns, each bodega has its charm and feel. They are not big and are strewn around side streets and narrow passage ways. There are no juke boxes . Once in a while a television,but seldom on unless it's a futbol game.

Beer and gin. Wine. White and Red. Some local liquers are just about it for selection. Conversation with the regular neighborhood gathering is what entertains. I've never seen a clock on a wall.

All this wouldn't fly here. It's not condusive to an Ameraican lifestyle nor would the laws allow such things.

It's a shame,but I wouldn't try to talk anyone into it here. Bars here are to let off steam.The anxieties and tension during the work day are drown into a drunkeness. In Spain,the bodegas serve to give a light headed perspective to the clientele ,that when entering ,already see the world with a mellow vision.

Rick Farris wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:Is that Manny Pacquiao?


The question came from Felicity Huffman, who plays "Lynette Scavo" on Desperate Housewives.
"Flicka" as she is known to the crew, had just stepped into the air conditioned video tent, located inside the "Scavo House" garage set.
On this hot July afternoon, the garage is like an oven, and the small air conditioning unit cooling the tent is cranking full bore.

The tent is full, about a half-dozen crew members sitting in fold-up directors chairs, and a handful more just standing, staring at the video monitor.
The fight is just about over, the ninth round has just started. The favorite is battered and taking a whipping.

I answer the actress' question, "No that's not Pacquiao, that's Frankie Baltazar Jr. . . ."

She steps closer to the screen, "Oh, he's a southpaw, like Pacquiao."
Suddenly Chango Cruz hits the deck, the actress' eyes grow big, "Oh look, he's down . . ."
A moment later the fight is over, Frankie Jr. runs across the ring and hugs Johnnie Flores and his father.

Before the audience in the air conditioned tent could comment on the fight, a big figure steps inside.
It's Mark Cherry, creator and Executive Producer of Desprate Housewives. He wants to review the shot we did before lunch.
We all stand up, the video-assist tech disconnects my lap top from the monitor, Flicka hugs the heavyset producer and exits with the rest of us.

A camera assistant catches up with me, "That kid was a good fighter, you said he only had five fights?"
I answer, "Yeah, he was just eighteen. Today he's in the California Hall of Fame, so's his brother Tony, and their father."
"Well, tomorrow bring in that other fight you have with Tony, OK?" he asks.

"You got it. Manana!"


-Rick Farris

Rick, its looks like you guys are having fun...

Well Frank, now that the boys seem to have a lunch break audience, I'll show them more than videos.
I'll show some old still photos of the boys when they were kids, a pre-school Tony flooring another pee-wee, etc.
I can pull it up on my lap-top from a variety of on-line sources, here, the CBZ, etc.
As you know, these pics really add some spice to the Baltazar story.
I know the boys were both top ten contenders, but I see them as accomplished little pugs when they were pee-wee's.
Some of the guys remembered the Baltazar boys, others are too young or weren't around.
People have been brought up with Leonard, and Roy Jones, etc. They've never been exposed to L.A. boxing as we have known it.
I give them a little at a time, eventually I'll show them Ramos-Ramos, Chacon-Lopez, a few barn burners we saw up close.
It will open up a whole new world to them. DD

Now I guess we should all join Archie Bunker and Edith around the piano, "Those were the days . . . ".

dagosd2000 wrote:A BAR IN ANOTHER PLACE

Why do people in one country seem to have little problems behaving in a way that if they were in another country would have disaterous results?

After Amanda's dance classes were finished around 9 in the evening,the dancers would dine at a nearby cafe and then go out for drinks. The bodegas are open until very late or early depending how you see it. Kids are in these places with their parents. Many people are smoking cigarretes. The drinking age is 16,but I never saw anyone around that age drinking in the bodegas.

In the streets illuminated by the lanterns, each bodega has its charm and feel. They are not big and are strewn around side streets and narrow passage ways. There are no juke boxes . Once in a while a television,but seldom on unless it's a futbol game.

Beer and gin. Wine. White and Red. Some local liquers are just about it for selection. Conversation with the regular neighborhood gathering is what entertains. I've never seen a clock on a wall.

All this wouldn't fly here. It's not condusive to an Ameraican lifestyle nor would the laws allow such things.

It's a shame,but I wouldn't try to talk anyone into it here. Bars here are to let off steam.The anxieties and tension during the work day are drown into a drunkeness. In Spain,the bodegas serve to give a light headed perspective to the clientele ,that when entering ,already see the world with a mellow vision.

Roger . . . Great story with a very strong point. I had to read this one to my wife, as it reflects conversations we have had.
Monica has always been surprised by the way American's drink. A lot she believes is the "forbidden" nature of things in this country.
In Brazil, she said smoking and drinking were never a forbidden activity for young people when she was growing up, but few actually did so.
People in this country are stressed out, and as your post pointed out, they drink, smoke or whatever their way into a stupor.
Of course, not everybody suffers from this behavior, but we all know how common it is.

I'm not writing this to pass judgement on anything or anybody, just to acknowledge your writing.
I look forward to enjoying many of the same things you did recently. It's on the horizon.


-Rick Farris

BARE SUN

A man sees a woman and knows that the softer sex is just that. A woman may see the results of testosterone in the male. It's what attracts their eye. Then there are the personal qualities that close the deal. Women say men have to be sensitive also. Especially to them.

It's a double double though with woman. They're soft and pretty ,AND sensitive. In Spain a woman plays her hand to the hilt. A beach in Spain is evidence of femininity that would bring an arrest here in this country. Topless beaches are apropos in Spain. Basking bare topped and soaking in the sun's rays are a way of life. It's like a woman is saying "Yes,I'm a woman. My body is something beautifull and I feel comfortable in my skin."

Not all the topless women have the fashion model shape. Most do not. They are happy being women and this part of the culture enhances their feelings about being female.String thongs are for the more modest. Woman young and old. Inhibition isn't what lies on the sand.

Here in the U.S.... let's face it. If a girl were to take her top off, most men would come across to her with vulgarity . The soft feminine object that U.S. men want,want real badly would be the object of degeneracy that would call out the police,not only to quell the riot,but to arrest the woman on a morals charge.

On a Spanish beach a woman doesn't have to worry about being molested. She's a woman. She's beautifull. Why ruin beauty with ugliness?

dagosd2000 wrote:BARE SUN

A man sees a woman and knows that the softer sex is just that. A woman may see the results of testosterone in the male. It's what attracts their eye. Then there are the personal qualities that close the deal. Women say men have to be sensitive also. Especially to them.

It's a double double though with woman. They're soft and pretty ,AND sensitive. In Spain a woman plays her hand to the hilt. A beach in Spain is evidence of femininity that would bring an arrest here in this country. Topless beaches are apropos in Spain. Basking bare topped and soaking in the sun's rays are a way of life. It's like a woman is saying "Yes,I'm a woman. My body is something beautifull and I feel comfortable in my skin."

Not all the topless women have the fashion model shape. Most do not. They are happy being women and this part of the culture enhances their feelings about being female.String thongs are for the more modest. Woman young and old. Inhibition isn't what lies on the sand.

Here in the U.S.... let's face it. If a girl were to take her top off, most men would come across to her with vulgarity . The soft feminine object that U.S. men want,want real badly would be the object of degeneracy that would call out the police,not only to quell the riot,but to arrest the woman on a morals charge.

On a Spanish beach a woman doesn't have to worry about being molested. She's a woman. She's beautifull. Why ruin beauty with ugliness?

I want to go there!...

Where is everybody?

kikibalt wrote:Where is everybody?

I don't know, Frank?

What I'm finding is that I prefer discussing "the way it was" with our group, than I do exploring "what's new" in boxing.
Not much exciting out there. To attend a match in Southern Cal, you have a handful of events that pop up during the year in town.

Once in awhile Golden Boy will put a show in the Staples Center.
Last time out, Oscar showcased the next L.A. "superstar."
I watched the young man reach an important decision in that bout, that boxing was fine as long as the other guy didn't hit back.
When other guy chose to fight back, the contemporary example of an L.A. prizefighter turned his back and "quit".
You have to doubt a guy that turns the tables on the fans, they thought they were going to see a whipping, not at Victor Ortiz's expense.

I didn't care much for boxing downtown anyway. Why drive 15 or 20 minutes to attend a fight downtown at the Olympic, when today we can drive a couple hours thru the hot desert to attend a lesser event in an Indian Casino. These promoters know what they are doing. If the fights strangle the crowd they can wander into the casino and lose their paycheck on the blackjack table. If you are going to lose, you might as well do it right and lose everything.

Sometimes I desire something new in boxing and I'm really getting desperate with my options.
We used to laugh at the notion of women boxing. They are weak, can't hit hard, etc. that was the mind set.
However, today the women are offering just as much or more than they guys. More heart, anyway.
We may put our heads down in shame when we see what's happening with the guys, and the girls are quickly stepping in to fill the void, trying.

I remember the best days of my boxing life took place in the junior amateurs, L.A. was once a breeding ground for champions.
Watching today's pee-wees, struggling to supress their desire to fight and adhere to silly rules that lead to a game of tag, is depressing.
I'd like to see some of these kids matched with what we had a few decades back.

Instead, I prefer to root for something completely different, something with spirit, something trying to over come.
That's the essence of boxing, over coming difficulty, turning things around, succeeding.

I said I appreciate something different from what is common today.
Check out this junior, I'm more impressed with this boxer than most I see today.
I hope this link can be accessed here:

http://www.babelgum.com/browser.php#pla ... /0,3003029

God Bless East Los Angeles!


-Rick Farris

“Assault in the Ring” a chilling tale

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

Antonio Margarito had his boxing license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission in February after his trainer inserted an illegal knuckle pad that contained traces of Plaster of Paris into his hand wraps before a fight against Shane Mosley on Jan. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Fortunately for Margarito, Mosley’s trainer, Naazim Richardson, suspected something was amiss and demanded that Margarito’s hands be rewrapped. Richardson’s insistence led to the discovery of the potentially lethal pad.

Had the illegal pad not been discovered, Mosley could have been seriously injured and Margarito could have had his next 25 years much like Luis Resto has lived his past 25, in agony over what had occurred in the ring.

Resto is the middling one-time junior middleweight contender who had an ounce of the stuffing pulled out of each of his eight-ounce gloves and his hand wraps tampered with before a June 16, 1983 fight in New York’s Madison Square Garden with unbeaten prospect Billy Collins Jr.

Resto and trainer Panama Lewis were each convicted of assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a deadly weapon. Lewis was also convicted of tampering with a sports contest and both men were banned from sanctioned boxing for life, though Lewis still trains fighters in Florida.

Producer/director Eric Drath was long intrigued by the case and its aftermath and has produced a brilliant documentary, “Assault in the Ring,” which will begin airing on HBO on Aug. 1.

Collins died in an auto accident not long after the brutal, and highly unexpected, loss to Resto, a tragic end to a highly promising career. Collins was a charismatic and good-looking boxer who had an entertaining style that attracted fans by the droves.

Collins was promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank, who knew a future star when he saw one. Arum was convinced that once Collins got past the lightly regarded Resto, a world title was in his future.

“Man, he was tremendous,” Arum said in the film. “He was a great-looking kid. He had all the moves. He punched like a mule. I mean, if this kid can make it through [the Resto fight], we have a gold mine here.”

Instead, what Collins got was a frightful beating and permanently blurred vision.

Randy Gordon, who at the time was the editor of The Ring magazine and would go on to become chairman and executive officer of the New York State Athletic Commission, was in Los Angeles preparing for a television broadcast on the day of the Collins-Resto fight.

He was walking through the Los Angeles International Airport when he was paged with a phone call. It was Ben Sharav, a New York attorney who at the time was shooting photographs for Ring.

Sharav told Gordon about the fight and about the allegations that the gloves had been tampered with. Gordon suggested that Sharav call Collins in the morning to arrange to have photographs taken.

The attorney did as he was instructed and took a now-famous shot of Collins’ battered and grotesquely swollen face. Gordon was pleased from a journalistic standpoint, though he indicated to Sharav that he wished Sharav had asked Collins to open his eyes for the photograph.

“He said, ‘His eyes were open,’ ” Gordon recalled. “The beating he took was unthinkable.”

Resto, whom Drath met in a New York gym after his release from prison, intrigued Drath. Resto was a soft-spoken sort who had steadfastly denied knowing anything had been done to his gloves or his hand wraps.

Drath, a former producer at CNN and FOX, opted to produce a film from Resto’s point of view.

“When I first met him, I found a tortured soul who was struggling every day with what had occurred and who lived with these whispers behind his back, if you will, that he’d murdered Billy Collins,” Drath said.

Drath does a masterful job not only of telling the story of the fight, but of its impact upon Resto and his family. Resto was living in near-squalor in a dungeon-like apartment, in New York apart from his wife and sons when he first met with Drath.

The personal relationship Drath built with Resto paid dividends because Resto opens up in the documentary and reveals facts about the night and what had gone on in his locker room that he had never before shared.

Among the many revelations Resto makes is that Lewis crushed a pill used to treat asthma and put it in his water bottle. The effect, Resto said, “was to open up the lungs” and allow him to get more oxygen in the latter stages of a fight.

Drath also stumbled upon many well-known trainers, who told him it was common for plaster to be put on fighters’ knuckles. Drath didn’t include that in the documentary that will be on HBO, but he did include it in the extras on the DVD that will be released in September.

Not long after the fight, Gordon did a television spot in which he showed how quickly the horsehair that was used to fill the gloves in those days could be removed from the gloves with a sharp instrument and quick fingers.

“Even with an inspector watching you, hovering over you, all you had to do was watch for an opportunity where you had just a couple of seconds and it could be done,” Gordon said.

He said it took him nine seconds a glove to stab a pair of scissors into the palm of a glove and yank out enough padding to turn the glove from a piece of athletic equipment into a weapon.

“You know, even if you have a guy really concentrating and paying close attention, 18 seconds isn’t a lot of time and if there’s even the smallest little distraction, like the guy sneezes or has to blow his nose, that’s plenty of time to get it done,” Gordon said.

Lewis declined to immediately glove Resto when the commission inspector assigned to his locker room ordered Resto to be gloved. The inspector stuck his head out the door and called for Jack Prenderville, the commission chairman. When the inspector returned, Lewis said he was ready to comply.

Lewis had a bad reputation in boxing circles even before the Collins-Resto fight said Jerry Izenberg, the wonderful sports columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger who was ringside for the bout.

Lewis was widely suspected of having tampered with the water he was giving to Aaron Pryor in his 1982 fight with the late Alexis Arguello, though nothing was ever proven and Lewis was never charged with a crime or accused of breaking a rule in that fight by the Florida Athletic Commission.

“There are a lot of low people in boxing, but even they would look down at him,” Izenberg said of Lewis.

Though Collins was getting beaten unmercifully, Izenberg said none of the reporters watching the fight from ringside initially suspected anything.

“It seemed inconceivable that anyone would pull the padding from the gloves with an inspector right there,” Izenberg said.

But when the fight ended and Collins Sr. went to shake hands with Resto, he realized the padding was missing. He shouted for help. Izenberg and several of his colleagues began to shout at athletic commission officials, urging them to grab the gloves.

Drath’s storytelling is marvelous and he intricately details the plot, the execution and its aftermath.

He brings Resto to Nashville, Tenn., to apologize to Collins Sr., and he flies him to Florida to confront Lewis.

It’s an emotionally charged film, but the saddest aspect is that more than a quarter of a century later, little has changed in boxing. Some trainers still try to alter the hand wraps in order to give their fighters an edge.

And the fighters, much like Resto, continue to plead ignorance.

If those fighters or those trainers who resort to such despicable tactics in order to win a sporting contest were to watch Drath’s marvelously done film, and see the pain it has caused Resto, let alone Collins, that alone might be the impetus for change.

Kevin Iole covers boxing and mixed martial arts for Yahoo! Sports. Click Here to read his Archive.

Today's Desperate Housewives "Lunch Break Main Event" will feature . . .

A double-header: Tony Baltazar vs. Chucho DeLaCruz / Tony Baltazar vs. Ron Johnson

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Next week:

Ramos vs. Ramos
Lopez vs. Chacon
Duarte vs. Davila II
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After this, they'll never appreciate boxing of today.


-Rick Farris

kikibalt wrote:“Assault in the Ring” a chilling tale

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports

Antonio Margarito had his boxing license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission in February after his trainer inserted an illegal knuckle pad that contained traces of Plaster of Paris into his hand wraps before a fight against Shane Mosley on Jan. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Fortunately for Margarito, Mosley’s trainer, Naazim Richardson, suspected something was amiss and demanded that Margarito’s hands be rewrapped. Richardson’s insistence led to the discovery of the potentially lethal pad.

Had the illegal pad not been discovered, Mosley could have been seriously injured and Margarito could have had his next 25 years much like Luis Resto has lived his past 25, in agony over what had occurred in the ring.

Resto is the middling one-time junior middleweight contender who had an ounce of the stuffing pulled out of each of his eight-ounce gloves and his hand wraps tampered with before a June 16, 1983 fight in New York’s Madison Square Garden with unbeaten prospect Billy Collins Jr.

Resto and trainer Panama Lewis were each convicted of assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a deadly weapon. Lewis was also convicted of tampering with a sports contest and both men were banned from sanctioned boxing for life, though Lewis still trains fighters in Florida.

Producer/director Eric Drath was long intrigued by the case and its aftermath and has produced a brilliant documentary, “Assault in the Ring,” which will begin airing on HBO on Aug. 1.

Collins died in an auto accident not long after the brutal, and highly unexpected, loss to Resto, a tragic end to a highly promising career. Collins was a charismatic and good-looking boxer who had an entertaining style that attracted fans by the droves.

Collins was promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank, who knew a future star when he saw one. Arum was convinced that once Collins got past the lightly regarded Resto, a world title was in his future.

“Man, he was tremendous,” Arum said in the film. “He was a great-looking kid. He had all the moves. He punched like a mule. I mean, if this kid can make it through [the Resto fight], we have a gold mine here.”

Instead, what Collins got was a frightful beating and permanently blurred vision.

Randy Gordon, who at the time was the editor of The Ring magazine and would go on to become chairman and executive officer of the New York State Athletic Commission, was in Los Angeles preparing for a television broadcast on the day of the Collins-Resto fight.

He was walking through the Los Angeles International Airport when he was paged with a phone call. It was Ben Sharav, a New York attorney who at the time was shooting photographs for Ring.

Sharav told Gordon about the fight and about the allegations that the gloves had been tampered with. Gordon suggested that Sharav call Collins in the morning to arrange to have photographs taken.

The attorney did as he was instructed and took a now-famous shot of Collins’ battered and grotesquely swollen face. Gordon was pleased from a journalistic standpoint, though he indicated to Sharav that he wished Sharav had asked Collins to open his eyes for the photograph.

“He said, ‘His eyes were open,’ ” Gordon recalled. “The beating he took was unthinkable.”

Resto, whom Drath met in a New York gym after his release from prison, intrigued Drath. Resto was a soft-spoken sort who had steadfastly denied knowing anything had been done to his gloves or his hand wraps.

Drath, a former producer at CNN and FOX, opted to produce a film from Resto’s point of view.

“When I first met him, I found a tortured soul who was struggling every day with what had occurred and who lived with these whispers behind his back, if you will, that he’d murdered Billy Collins,” Drath said.

Drath does a masterful job not only of telling the story of the fight, but of its impact upon Resto and his family. Resto was living in near-squalor in a dungeon-like apartment, in New York apart from his wife and sons when he first met with Drath.

The personal relationship Drath built with Resto paid dividends because Resto opens up in the documentary and reveals facts about the night and what had gone on in his locker room that he had never before shared.

Among the many revelations Resto makes is that Lewis crushed a pill used to treat asthma and put it in his water bottle. The effect, Resto said, “was to open up the lungs” and allow him to get more oxygen in the latter stages of a fight.

Drath also stumbled upon many well-known trainers, who told him it was common for plaster to be put on fighters’ knuckles. Drath didn’t include that in the documentary that will be on HBO, but he did include it in the extras on the DVD that will be released in September.

Not long after the fight, Gordon did a television spot in which he showed how quickly the horsehair that was used to fill the gloves in those days could be removed from the gloves with a sharp instrument and quick fingers.

“Even with an inspector watching you, hovering over you, all you had to do was watch for an opportunity where you had just a couple of seconds and it could be done,” Gordon said.

He said it took him nine seconds a glove to stab a pair of scissors into the palm of a glove and yank out enough padding to turn the glove from a piece of athletic equipment into a weapon.

“You know, even if you have a guy really concentrating and paying close attention, 18 seconds isn’t a lot of time and if there’s even the smallest little distraction, like the guy sneezes or has to blow his nose, that’s plenty of time to get it done,” Gordon said.

Lewis declined to immediately glove Resto when the commission inspector assigned to his locker room ordered Resto to be gloved. The inspector stuck his head out the door and called for Jack Prenderville, the commission chairman. When the inspector returned, Lewis said he was ready to comply.

Lewis had a bad reputation in boxing circles even before the Collins-Resto fight said Jerry Izenberg, the wonderful sports columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger who was ringside for the bout.

Lewis was widely suspected of having tampered with the water he was giving to Aaron Pryor in his 1982 fight with the late Alexis Arguello, though nothing was ever proven and Lewis was never charged with a crime or accused of breaking a rule in that fight by the Florida Athletic Commission.

“There are a lot of low people in boxing, but even they would look down at him,” Izenberg said of Lewis.

Though Collins was getting beaten unmercifully, Izenberg said none of the reporters watching the fight from ringside initially suspected anything.

“It seemed inconceivable that anyone would pull the padding from the gloves with an inspector right there,” Izenberg said.

But when the fight ended and Collins Sr. went to shake hands with Resto, he realized the padding was missing. He shouted for help. Izenberg and several of his colleagues began to shout at athletic commission officials, urging them to grab the gloves.

Drath’s storytelling is marvelous and he intricately details the plot, the execution and its aftermath.

He brings Resto to Nashville, Tenn., to apologize to Collins Sr., and he flies him to Florida to confront Lewis.

It’s an emotionally charged film, but the saddest aspect is that more than a quarter of a century later, little has changed in boxing. Some trainers still try to alter the hand wraps in order to give their fighters an edge.

And the fighters, much like Resto, continue to plead ignorance.

If those fighters or those trainers who resort to such despicable tactics in order to win a sporting contest were to watch Drath’s marvelously done film, and see the pain it has caused Resto, let alone Collins, that alone might be the impetus for change.

Kevin Iole covers boxing and mixed martial arts for Yahoo! Sports. Click Here to read his Archive.

Panama Lewis, its a sickening story and I remember watching that fight and following the aftermath.
Billy Collins went into a deep depression after that fight and its easy to see why. The whole scumbag episode weighed heavily in his death.
Just a thought, Lewis was also suspected of tampering with Pryors water bottle when he fought Alexis.
Who knows what kind of effect that had on Arguello later in life .He was stopped and took tons of punishment at the end of that fight. We now know, Alexis was battling some demons also.

Rick Farris wrote:Today's Desperate Housewives "Lunch Break Main Event" will feature . . .

A double-header: Tony Baltazar vs. Chucho DeLaCruz / Tony Baltazar vs. Ron Johnson

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Next week:

Ramos vs. Ramos
Lopez vs. Chacon
Duarte vs. Davila II
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After this, they'll never appreciate boxing of today.


-Rick Farris

Jose Napoles

My nephew, Dr. Robert Egan at the Piazza Di San Marco


The Gondolas in the Grand


Dr. Robert Egan
The Cliff near Santorini

Esperanza Fernandez. Spains foremost Flamenco singer with the portrait I did of her. Cadiz.Spain 2009

RAPHAELA

Amanda's new best friend in Spain this year was Raphaela. A German girl,29 years of age,has her own Flamenco studio in Berlin,speaks four languages,and dances like Salome. Alluring and sensual. The best female Flamenco dancer I've seen. I couldn't take my eyes off her when I wasn't watching Amanda.

After the courses were fininished in Cadiz,the company put on a show on Saturday night. The dancers performed three of their choreograhies that they had learned during the week. Miguel Vargas,the instructor,put Amanda beside Raphaela. It was an honor for my grand daughter. Amanda was in step with the luscious Raphaela. Amanda's innocence of movement was a beautifull contrast beside Raphaela.

Raphaela took Amanda in as a little sister. They were inseperable. I loved every moment . It moved me to tears. Amanda visited her at the student residency. They sat next to each other when we out afterwards for food and drink.

I mentioned to Raphaela that I would like to see Amanda have her own studio one day.
"Oh,of course,"Raphaela nodded like I made a baiting comment.

When Amanda can travel on her own,she can stay with Raphaela in Berlin. Or maybe stay with Miguel Vargas and his wife Esperanza Fernandez and dance with the company. Her friend from Dubais,Neerma,another siren of the Flamenco floor wants Amanda to work with her in Europe. Then there's Amanda's teacher here in San Diego,Rocio. She told Amanda that one day she is going to turn the studio over to Amanda.

My heart soars. Maybe next year we will travel to Berlin to see Raphaela. She said that Amanda could teach a class. That will happen as long as I'm alive.

dagosd2000 wrote:

Jose Napoles

That's a great painting.

Hey guys did any of you guys see or come across a hard hitting
journeyman-near contender named Harold Blackshear ?

I have been trying to dig up some footage of even some pics
of him.

I have come across him a few times in my readings

Thanks lads.

My little green car. Note, after all I've said, that it happens to be French. Note the dent, too. I reversed into a mini-skip and took out the whole back windscreen.

The small number of VCs awarded to RAF personnel. They say you have to be mad or dead to win a Victoria Cross.

A Rolls Royce jet engine (these shots were taken at RAF Cosford Musuem).

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

War veterans about to start their D-day rememberance parade.