BoxRec

Rick Farris wrote:WBHOF Honor Roll . . .

For those of you curious as to who has been inducted in to the WBHOF, I have just completed the final list.
If anybody is aware of somebody I have missed, let me know and I will investigate, however, I believe it is complete.
I'm going to run it past a couple L.A. Boxing Icons who have been familiar with the WBHOF since it's inception, before I submit it for publication.

Tom, I'll see you that you get a copy and you'll notice a couple names we thought had been overlooked, but actually were inducted back in the 80's.
Ad Wolgast is already a member, his name was lost along with several others, but I found it.

At the moment I'mattempting to find an efficient matter in which to E-mail this long list of hundreds of names.
I'm clearly lacking in secretarial skills and hate to just make one long, single file list of the inductees.
It would be better to use more of a page than just one long line down the left side.

All names will be in alphabetical order, and seperated by catagories (i.e. "boxers", "manager/trainers", "promoters/matchmakers", etc.).
They will not be listed by the year of their inductions, just A thru Z. This will make it very easy for future Selection Commitees to determine who is already an inductee.

When I figure out how to type this list properly, I'll make it available to anybody here who cares to see it.


-Rick Farris

raylawpc wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:WBHOF Honor Roll . . .

For those of you curious as to who has been inducted in to the WBHOF, I have just completed the final list.
If anybody is aware of somebody I have missed, let me know and I will investigate, however, I believe it is complete.
I'm going to run it past a couple L.A. Boxing Icons who have been familiar with the WBHOF since it's inception, before I submit it for publication.

Tom, I'll see you that you get a copy and you'll notice a couple names we thought had been overlooked, but actually were inducted back in the 80's.
Ad Wolgast is already a member, his name was lost along with several others, but I found it.

At the moment I'mattempting to find an efficient matter in which to E-mail this long list of hundreds of names.
I'm clearly lacking in secretarial skills and hate to just make one long, single file list of the inductees.
It would be better to use more of a page than just one long line down the left side.

All names will be in alphabetical order, and seperated by catagories (i.e. "boxers", "manager/trainers", "promoters/matchmakers", etc.).
They will not be listed by the year of their inductions, just A thru Z. This will make it very easy for future Selection Commitees to determine who is already an inductee.

When I figure out how to type this list properly, I'll make it available to anybody here who cares to see it.


-Rick Farris

I'd use an excel spreadsheet, and do it as an e-mail attachment. I wish I was in S. Cal. and I'd help you with it.

Rick Farris wrote:Barbados Joe Walcott . . .

When you think of Barbados Joe Walcott, he stood a fraction over 5'1", yet he fought a draw with the great Sam Langford.
He won the welterweight title by defeating James "Rube" Ferris.

The above notes are far from the most impressive thing in his career. Just a couple items that caught my eye.

Truly an amazing fighter, long overlooked and forgotten by those who enshrine boxing legends into Halls of Fame.
His day will come soon.


-Rick Farris

raylawpc wrote:When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife Linda kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first -- reading the sportspage, watching a movie, chatting with my friends on the Boxrec.com "Classic American West Coast Boxing" thread. Always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

Rick Farris wrote:America's "Hope" at the Joe Goossen Gym . . .

Just returned from a visit to Joe Goossen's Gym in the San Fernando Valley.
Today was a special event, the challeneger for Vitali Klitschko's world heavyweight title was in the house.
Chris Arreola wasn't the only person on hand, half of Southern Cal's news media was also present for this public workout/press conference event.

I strolled into the gym a few minutes before things got underway.
Saw a few old friends, like Goossen's brother Dan, who is co-promoting the event.
I also saw brother Greg, an old buddy whom I share a lot of past memories with from our wild days.
Greg was once a major league baseball player, a catcher who played with the Dodgers, Mets and Seattle Pilots during his career.
Greg worked for two decades as actor Gene Hackman's stunt double/stand-in.

As I stepped inside I met a few of my buddies from the WBHOF, such as ring photographer, Carlos Baeza.
"I heard you made a comeback recently?" Carlos joked. He was referring to an unscheduled confrontation I had recently with another board member.
The conversation quickly turned to photography, I commented on the nice stills he's been shooting for promoter, Ken Thompson.
"There's never a enought light," Baeza complained, "You know about light Rick, Kenny's shows always lack the light I need to get better shots."
I nodded, but didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Your work always look good to me," I responded.

Steve Harpst and Michele Chong were present. I know Michele hits all the media events, and I suspect in a few days her story of today's public workout will grace our thread.
I see Indian Willie coming my way and I say hello to him.
Willie was on our board of directors for awhile, and was promoting boxing at the Morongo Casino on Indian Reservation land in the desert.
Sadly for Indian Willie, as successful as his cards were at Morongo, a bigger promoter, "Golden Boy" stepped in and pushed Willie out of the driver's seat.
Even the Morongo Indian Nation will step over one of their own to do business with Oscar.
However, Willie isn't exactly suffering today, he'll be working the corner of Chris Arreola as a cut man, and wrap his hands for the bout.
He's part of Team Arreola and his team is fighting for the heavyweight title.

I watched quietly. The gym is small, and it was packed and, of course, it was hot as Hell. While others were uncomfortable, I was right at home.
Eventually the challenger stepped out of the dressing room area.
As Indian Willie wrapped his hands, the media circled him, TV cameras from all the networks, reporters shoving tape recorders and microphones in his face.
I didn't pay any attention to the questions or the answers, any question I might have could never be answered using words.

Arreola climbed into the ring, began to shadow box. He walked to his corner where Indian Willie tied on his gloves.
Another man, a smaller, younger version of Chris Arreola (looked like a younger brother) climbed into the ring wearing a thick pair of padded mitts.

I watched the fighter and his trainer work the pads for two rounds. I wasn't too impressed.
I had come to watch him box, but I don't know if he ever did any sparring. When I found my mind wandering away from what was going on in the ring, I knew it was time to go.

As I leave, Dan Goossen hands me something, "here Ricky," he said.
It was a button with the image of Chris Arreola standing, arms folded, the words "America's Hope" emblazed over the image.
In my mind all I could think, if this is America's hope, then we are in bid trouble.
Writer John Beyrooty told me that he has tried to watch Vitali Klischko training, but everything is kept quiet, that no visitors are allowed.

Suddenly, upon hearing Beyrotty's comments, I wondered to myself, "Whats the big secret?"
We have a heavyweight from Eastern Europe who is a bit light in the heart & chin department, fighting the weakest excuse of a Latino heavyweight prospect I have ever seen.
I'm starting to laugh at all this nonsense.

Maybe in the instructions the referee should say, "May the strongest heart win . . ."
Let them try to figure that one out.

Just for the record, I may have no confidence in Chris Arreola, but he is an Eastside guy and as bad as he is, I'd love to see him send big brother Lurch home on a gurney.
The funny things is, that's a real possibility.


-Rick Farris

raylawpc wrote:When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife Linda kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first -- reading the sportspage, watching a movie, chatting with my friends on the Boxrec.com "Classic American West Coast Boxing" thread. Always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

Rick Farris wrote:America's "Hope" at the Joe Goossen Gym . . .

Just returned from a visit to Joe Goossen's Gym in the San Fernando Valley.
Today was a special event, the challeneger for Vitali Klitschko's world heavyweight title was in the house.
Chris Arreola wasn't the only person on hand, half of Southern Cal's news media was also present for this public workout/press conference event.

I strolled into the gym a few minutes before things got underway.
Saw a few old friends, like Goossen's brother Dan, who is co-promoting the event.
I also saw brother Greg, an old buddy whom I share a lot of past memories with from our wild days.
Greg was once a major league baseball player, a catcher who played with the Dodgers, Mets and Seattle Pilots during his career.
Greg worked for two decades as actor Gene Hackman's stunt double/stand-in.

As I stepped inside I met a few of my buddies from the WBHOF, such as ring photographer, Carlos Baeza.
"I heard you made a comeback recently?" Carlos joked. He was referring to an unscheduled confrontation I had recently with another board member.
The conversation quickly turned to photography, I commented on the nice stills he's been shooting for promoter, Ken Thompson.
"There's never a enought light," Baeza complained, "You know about light Rick, Kenny's shows always lack the light I need to get better shots."
I nodded, but didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Your work always look good to me," I responded.

Steve Harpst and Michele Chong were present. I know Michele hits all the media events, and I suspect in a few days her story of today's public workout will grace our thread.
I see Indian Willie coming my way and I say hello to him.
Willie was on our board of directors for awhile, and was promoting boxing at the Morongo Casino on Indian Reservation land in the desert.
Sadly for Indian Willie, as successful as his cards were at Morongo, a bigger promoter, "Golden Boy" stepped in and pushed Willie out of the driver's seat.
Even the Morongo Indian Nation will step over one of their own to do business with Oscar.
However, Willie isn't exactly suffering today, he'll be working the corner of Chris Arreola as a cut man, and wrap his hands for the bout.
He's part of Team Arreola and his team is fighting for the heavyweight title.

I watched quietly. The gym is small, and it was packed and, of course, it was hot as Hell. While others were uncomfortable, I was right at home.
Eventually the challenger stepped out of the dressing room area.
As Indian Willie wrapped his hands, the media circled him, TV cameras from all the networks, reporters shoving tape recorders and microphones in his face.
I didn't pay any attention to the questions or the answers, any question I might have could never be answered using words.

Arreola climbed into the ring, began to shadow box. He walked to his corner where Indian Willie tied on his gloves.
Another man, a smaller, younger version of Chris Arreola (looked like a younger brother) climbed into the ring wearing a thick pair of padded mitts.

I watched the fighter and his trainer work the pads for two rounds. I wasn't too impressed.
I had come to watch him box, but I don't know if he ever did any sparring. When I found my mind wandering away from what was going on in the ring, I knew it was time to go.

As I leave, Dan Goossen hands me something, "here Ricky," he said.
It was a button with the image of Chris Arreola standing, arms folded, the words "America's Hope" emblazed over the image.
In my mind all I could think, if this is America's hope, then we are in bid trouble.
Writer John Beyrooty told me that he has tried to watch Vitali Klischko training, but everything is kept quiet, that no visitors are allowed.

Suddenly, upon hearing Beyrotty's comments, I wondered to myself, "Whats the big secret?"
We have a heavyweight from Eastern Europe who is a bit light in the heart & chin department, fighting the weakest excuse of a Latino heavyweight prospect I have ever seen.
I'm starting to laugh at all this nonsense.

Maybe in the instructions the referee should say, "May the strongest heart win . . ."
Let them try to figure that one out.

Just for the record, I may have no confidence in Chris Arreola, but he is an Eastside guy and as bad as he is, I'd love to see him send big brother Lurch home on a gurney.
The funny things is, that's a real possibility.


-Rick Farris

raylawpc wrote:Son in Fight of Alexis Arguello's Life

More than eight weeks have passed since boxing legend Alexis Arguello allegedly shot himself in the chest with a 9mm pistol. It was a suicide, declared Nicaraguan government officials, and they closed the case almost as quickly as they shut his casket.

But in an exclusive interview with FanHouse, Alexis Arguello, Jr., the son of the Hall of Fame great, says he plans to fight the government's findings and prove that his father was the victim of foul play.

"This was not a suicide. My dad had been through so much in his life, but he did not kill himself," the younger Arguello says. "My dad had been through three failed marriages, alcoholism, crack, the worst things someone could go through. But he would not do this."


******

Arguello, 57, was found dead July 1 in his home just outside of Managua, where he was the mayor. His life had been filled with adventures and paradox: he was a triple crown champion and one of the world's most acclaimed boxers in the 1970s and 1980s; he was a soldier, a freedom fighter for the Contras who dodged bullets from the Sandinista National Liberation Front, before later running for public office on the Sandinista ticket; he was a loving father and grandfather, a womanizer, a millionaire born into abject poverty who blew his fortune and nearly went bankrupt, a drug addict who was forever writing checks to charity and using his celebrity platform to crusade against injustices in his homeland and in Miami, his adopted city. He was El Caballero del Ring -- "The Gentleman of the Ring" -- incapable of belittling an opponent. Outside the ropes, Nicaragua's most acclaimed athlete never quit battling demons.

But take his own life by shoving the barrel of a gun against his heart -- the same gun he told his family was always jamming, and as far as they know, he never bothered to fix? Arguello Jr., a 37-year-old producer for CBS College Sports Network and the oldest of the boxing champ's seven children, was at his home in New York when he received a call from Carla, his father's latest wife.

"She said, 'Your dad shot himself in the chest.' She said she found him. I told her, 'Don't touch my dad. Don't do any autopsies,' " he says. "When I got to Nicaragua a couple days later, my dad's body had already been processed. He was already in his tuxedo, he was already in a coffin, he was already placed at a wake at the National Palace of Culture. He was already being viewed by the people.

"In reality, what I should have done is ask for privacy and brought him into a room and taken his shirt off to see if there were more bullet holes or marks. But during that time I wasn't thinking."

The son remembers noticing a cut on the bridge of his father's nose. Carla told him "it happened when dad fell forward." Arguello Jr. -- "A.J." to his father and family -- shakes his head. "How could someone fall forward if they shoot themselves in the chest? Wouldn't it propel you backward?" he asks. "No one with answers was available to talk to us. Not the doctors who supposedly did the autopsy, not the police commissioner, not the investigators.

"I put some rosary beads in the coffin and that was the last time I saw him. I guess they expected my questions would go with my dad into the ground."

Dora, his sister, is still in Nicaragua, and the family fears for her safety, so Arguello Jr. must tiptoe around some of the uncertainties regarding their father's death, and the circumstances that preceded it. Dora was an employee in the mayoral office, but hasn't returned to work since her father died.

Media reports from Nicaragua are vague, noting only that Dr. Zacarias Duarte, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, declared Arguello committed suicide by shooting himself. When did investigators have access to the Arguello house? Who cleaned up after Carla supposedly discovered her husband hunched forward? What did the lieutenant to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega tell Arguello when he visited the mayor's house a few hours before Arguello was found dead? Barely six months after winning an election tainted by allegations of fraud, had Arguello's power stretched beyond the designs of the Sandinista government? Was he being manipulated by nefarious, feuding political forces, some who feared Arguello's celebrity status, others who hoped he'd one day run for president?

"If the pieces fall into place like we think they will, we might never be able to return to Nicaragua," says the son, born in Managua and raised in Miami. "I'll do whatever I need to do to prove my dad didn't commit suicide. Like dad used to always say, 'Tough times don't last but tough guys do.' " He reaches for a napkin and dabs at his eyes. Once they know that Dora is safe, the family plans to hire lawyers who can help them exhume Arguello's body and, hopefully, solve the mysteries surrounding his death. A spokesman for Dr. Duarte would not comment.

The weekend before Arguello died, he attended ceremonies in Puerto Rico. There was the naming of a boxing academy in Arguello's honor, and a tribute honoring Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rico's Hall of Fame baseball player who perished in an airplane crash while trying to deliver relief aid to victims of a horrendous earthquake in Nicaragua in 1972. Arguello Jr. spoke to his father three days before he died, after he returned from the festivities.

While he was in Puerto Rico, Managua's city council, dominated by the Sandinistas, voted to "restructure" the mayoral office, thus diluting Arguello's powers. If he was worried or dismayed about these developments, Arguello did not say so during that last telephone conversation with his son.

"He was in great spirits, like always," Arguello Jr. says. "There wasn't the slightest hint of worry in his voice. If he were upset about something, he would tell me. He was always working to help the poor people of Nicaragua, that was his main objective. He was so proud to be honored with Clemente.

"I spoke to people who were with him in Puerto Rico to see if they sensed anything. They all said he was joking and in a good mood. No one believes he killed himself, no one. If he were going to do it, he would've called me and said, 'Look I'm thinking of doing this.' He never hid his emotions, he always spoke his mind. That's why the government didn't like him."


******

Sports Illustrated ran a fabulous profile of Arguello in 1985, when the boxer was on the verge of making a comeback. There is an anecdote that describes Arguello, fighting off the black dog of depression, sitting on a boat with his son A.J., then 12, and "staring down the black shaft of a loaded automatic pistol."

The story continues:

A.J. sat across from him, crying, begging him not to do it. Arguello cried too, saying that he must. There was no other sound except the ocean lapping at the boat, on which was painted THE CHAMP.

Arguello ached from the contradiction of his life, the way it lurched between opposites. Could it be that the distance between opposites was-nothing? So much seemed incomprehensible. No cause was pure, no motive clean, no external thing could be trusted. Everything a man needed to believe in in order to feel secure, life could rub his face again and again until he understood its opposite might also be true.

No resolution is possible in this life, a voice suggested. No, he cried-as long as he held this gun to his head, one resolution was possible.

"Don't do it, Dad!" pleaded A.J.

"That never happened," the son says now. "When that article came out, my mother and I looked at each other and were like, 'What? That never happened.' My dad is one of those people who maybe exaggerated a little to tell the story. He was a little lost during those years. But I know that never happened on the boat. "

Obituaries and media tributes cite the SI anecdote as an example of Arguello's troubled mind. Supposedly, he left a suicide note -- a single page, typed, unsigned letter brought forth by government officials to prove Arguello shot himself. The son scoffs at the note's tone and veracity.

"There were so many inconsistencies in it. It wasn't his voice," says Arguello Jr. "It says, I'm tired of politics, I've been cheated and lied to and used. It says he went back to drugs, that he did drugs the Monday or Tuesday before he supposedly killed himself. But in Nicaragua, once they did the autopsy, there was no drugs or alcohol found in the body.

"He passed on a Tuesday, I got to Nicaragua on Thursday. When I arrived I listened on the radio to the police giving a press conference about the ballistics, the autopsy report and their conclusions. In one day they had all that?"

Arguello Jr. and his siblings joined the thousands of mourners jamming the streets to honor the boxer during Friday's services. The man who was born and learned to fight in Managua's tough barrio was heralded by supporters as an athletic hero and political leader, the procession of his coffin to Sandinista-chosen burial grounds taking on a chaotic furor. He was an idol to the Nicaraguan people, a symbolic puppet to certain politicians.

At the journey's end, officials draped the red and black Sandinista flag over Arguello's coffin. Arguello Jr. pushed aside the flag, replacing it with the country's blue and white colors. Furious, he turned to the officials ringing his father's box and told them, "My dad is not going to be seen with this flag. He was a Nicaraguan first. He is going to be seen with the blue and white. This is not an event to stage political views. This has nothing to do with you guys and your views."

The government could not wait to usher Arguello's children out of the country. The son returned to his hotel, to discover his flight to the U.S. had been moved up from Monday to Saturday. Before he left, he wanted a memento that belonged to his father, preferably the belt Arguello had dedicated to his oldest son after beating lightweight champion Jim Watt in a fight that made Arguello only the sixth boxer to win world titles in three divisions. The son says Carla, his father's 31-year-old wife, made him wait for 90 minutes outside the gates of the mayor's house. Carla did not return phone calls from FanHouse.

"When she finally let us in, she opened up a closet and said, 'Take any suit or shirt or shoes you want.' Are you kidding me? You expect me to walk out with a pair of shoes?" Arguello Jr. says. "The last words I told her as I walked out of my father's house were, 'God sees everything and god knows everything. You will be punished someday.' "

He blots his eyes again, then purses his lips as if to halt more details from pouring forth. A.J. fought 15 amateur fights, winning 14 by knockouts. He says he was a decent body puncher with power in both hands, just like his dad. "But he sat me down and said, 'A.J., I support you, but I fought so you didn't have to.' That was the end of my boxing days," says the son, a smile chasing away the tears.


******

The memories of his father's transcendent career and wild escapades are as clear as the baubles on Arguello's championship belts. A sinewy 5 feet 10 inches, Arguello was known around the globe as El Flaco Explosivo, the Explosive Thin Man. With a brutal left jab and an elusive overhand right, Arguello knocked out Ray Mancini in 1981, a delicious prelude to his first fight with Aaron Pryor in front of more than 23,000 fans packed into Miami's Orange Bowl. Arguello stepped up in weight class, with the hopes he'd become the only man ever to win a fourth division title.

One of the sport's most legendary slugfests ended in the 14th round, with Pryor knocking out Arguello with a flurry of blows to the head. Arguello was left unconscious for several minutes, a doctor poking his eyelids. "Fight of the Decade," declared Ring Magazine. As he did with most of his father's fights, Arguello Jr. sat near the ropes, viewing every blow up close.

"After the fight, my dad told me he was sorry. I was like, 'Why?' " recalls the son. "He felt horrible. He wanted so desperately to win the title for the people."

Later, it was revealed that Pryor's trainer, Panama Lewis, gave his boxer a water bottle after round 13, prompting speculation that the black container was filled with illegal, unsanctioned material. The Florida State Boxing Commission failed to administer a post-fight urine test; while Pryor told Arguello there wasn't anything "suspicious" in the bottle, it was eventually discovered that Lewis broke apart antihistamine pills and poured the medicine into the water, giving Pryor greater lung capacity in the later rounds of a fight.

"I spoke to my dad about that years later. I pressed him about why he didn't ever make a big deal about it or go to the commission and have them test things," Arguello Jr. says. "He told me he wanted to win the championship fair and square. He wanted to win it in the ring. That shows a lot about who he was. He was by the books, everything had to be done the right way."

One day in 1983, A.J. accompanied his father to an Army-Navy surplus store in Miami. Arguello had decided to leave his mansion and yacht and wife and four children in South Florida and join the war against the Sandinistas in the hills of Nicaragua, after the Sandinista government seized his property and bank account. "He went into the store and bought fatigues and all these things he needed to be a soldier," Arguello Jr. says. "I didn't really think he was going to be on the front lines but he actually was. He shot some guns and he got shot at and he saw some people die. It was real war.

"He was only gone three weeks. I don't think my mom was going to let him stay too long."

In '92, Arguello regained some of the property that had been taken from him, and he returned to Nicaragua to start another of his many lives. "He was picking up the pieces," says his son. "That's when he battled his addictions. He had some bad times and dark days. It was something he had to go through because he didn't really know what to do with his life. I think that's where he came into experimenting with drugs and alcohol. The fighter that he is, he was able to fight back and pretty much reinvent himself. It's part of the cycle he goes through."

The final year of his life was as tumultuous as those that came before it. In the midst of his mayoral campaign last November, Arguello was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Since his death, the Nicaraguan media has speculated Arguello was felled by another bout of depression, but his son insists the real cause is far less mysterious. "My dad had a minor stroke, chest pains," he says.

Arguello won the mayoralty of the country's largest city with 51.3 percent of the vote, amidst allegations of voter fraud and illegal methods of intimidation employed by Sandinista supporters attempting to manipulate the election. It has since been reported that Arguello, in his short time as mayor, was accused of misappropriating 180 million cordobas (approximately $9 million) from public works projects and misusing municipal funds for personal travel.

"There were never reports of that before he passed," Arguello Jr. says. "To be honest, I think that's something they made up to help further the idea he committed suicide. I once told my dad his political career would end in two ways: You'll be president or you'll end up dead."

As a Los Angeles Times reporter writing from Nicaragua noted, the blighted, corrupt city of Managua is, "Cursed because recent mayors have had a tendency to drop dead, or drop into jail or, at best, drop off the political map." The city's new mayor was appointed July 2, barely 24 hours after Arguello died and one day before his funeral.

Arguello won 65 of his 90 bouts by knockout, took another 17 decisions and lost eight. There is a proven link between brain damage and depression, but Arguello Jr. doesn't believe the connection applies to his father. "Luckily he was in great shape. He never showed any signs of deterioration in his brain due to punches he accumulated and absorbed over the years. Nothing. No slurred speech, nothing," he says.

"He was finally wearing glasses but he was 57 years old. It's unbelievable the shape he was in but besides the cuts you'd see on his eyebrows and maybe his flat nose you could never tell he was a boxer. I don't know if he was lucky or if it's his defensive skills but he never took that much punishment, besides the Pryor fights."


******

On the night of Dec. 23, 1972, Alexis Arguello had a premonition. A.J. was a baby, about to go to sleep in his room of the family's small house in Managua. "Just by chance, he decided I should sleep with him and my mom instead," says the son. Just after midnight, a massive earthquake decimated the city, killing approximately 5,000, injuring 20,000 and leaving more than 250,000 homeless.

"My crib was crushed. My parents' room was the only one left standing," he says. "There must be a reason I survived that night."

"No," Alexis Arguello Jr. says again, "My father did not kill himself. He was just starting to become the father we all wanted." The son's eyes shine with clarity and resolve, as he prepares for the fight ahead.

Rick Farris wrote:Believe it or not . . .

As I finish up the WBHOF corrected "Role Call" for the annual banquet program, I reviewed every single inductee of the past.
I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns.
A six-time world champ in a tough era, a guy who fought everybody and beat most.
I thought his name was misplaced, like dozens of other past inductees. However, he has been totally ignored by the WBHOF.
President Armando Muniz wasn't surprised, and he didn't think it was important until I made an issue.
We inducted Greg Haugen last year, did he make a bigger mark than Tommy Hearns? What about Joey Barnum? He's also in.

The new Roll Call will be listed in alphabetical order. This will prevent future re-inductions or forgotten inductees. They must just maintain it, whoever they are?

I have this list of hundreds of names. Boxers, managers & trainers, doctors, writers, historians, promoters, matchmakers, referees, broadcasters, etc.
It's complete, but I'll run it past a few true expert/historians for reference.

It wasn't a bad excercise for me. It forced me to put my focus on who has been inducted into the WBHOF, and their place in boxing history.
It opened my eyes to just how bad the caretakers of boxing legend and history are doing their job.

Time for somebody to start over and do it right.


-Rick Farris

Rick Farris wrote:Freddie Norwood . . .

Hey guys, remember a former two-time feather champ, Freddie Norwood.
He's 39, and will be fighting on a Pechanga card this saturday that Dan Goossen is promoting.
James Toney, and some heavyweights ar fighting, not a bad card I guess, but I was unaware that Norwood was still fighting at 39.
Boxrec shows he fought in July, won in an eight-rounder. However, saturday he will be fighting in a six-rounder.

When I thought of a former champ in a six-rounder, I was disturbed. However, it really makes sense.
The man is 39. He has a great record 43-3-1 (23 KO's). He hasn't been very active.
A six-rounder works the body enough for an old guy, at least if he's trying to re-build.
A six-round ass whipping can be bad enough if an old guy ain't ready, let's not make it a ten for old times sake.

What a 39-year-old boxer takes home from a fight, he takes home forever. ;;-)
The punches that once barely left a mark now rip the flesh, the ones you never acknowledged suddenly can't be ignored.
Something used to supercede the pain, now the shock is a factor.
You see the opening right in front of you. You're a little slower, but like to believe you are now stronger and wiser. Wiser?
You see the opening and - , a little too late. You just got countered with your own move.
Maybe it's the trainer's fault, or somebody else's fault?

Good luck Freddie! Score a KO for us old guys on this thread, and do it quick. You've spent enought time in the ring.


-Rick Farris

Randyman wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:Believe it or not . . .

As I finish up the WBHOF corrected "Role Call" for the annual banquet program, I reviewed every single inductee of the past.
I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns.
A six-time world champ in a tough era, a guy who fought everybody and beat most.
I thought his name was misplaced, like dozens of other past inductees. However, he has been totally ignored by the WBHOF.
President Armando Muniz wasn't surprised, and he didn't think it was important until I made an issue.
We inducted Greg Haugen last year, did he make a bigger mark than Tommy Hearns? What about Joey Barnum? He's also in.

The new Roll Call will be listed in alphabetical order. This will prevent future re-inductions or forgotten inductees. They must just maintain it, whoever they are?

I have this list of hundreds of names. Boxers, managers & trainers, doctors, writers, historians, promoters, matchmakers, referees, broadcasters, etc.
It's complete, but I'll run it past a few true expert/historians for reference.

It wasn't a bad excercise for me. It forced me to put my focus on who has been inducted into the WBHOF, and their place in boxing history.
It opened my eyes to just how bad the caretakers of boxing legend and history are doing their job.

Time for somebody to start over and do it right.


-Rick Farris

"I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns."

Unbelievable, disgraceful and downright shameful.

Randy

Rick Farris wrote:

Randyman wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:Believe it or not . . .

As I finish up the WBHOF corrected "Role Call" for the annual banquet program, I reviewed every single inductee of the past.
I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns.
A six-time world champ in a tough era, a guy who fought everybody and beat most.
I thought his name was misplaced, like dozens of other past inductees. However, he has been totally ignored by the WBHOF.
President Armando Muniz wasn't surprised, and he didn't think it was important until I made an issue.
We inducted Greg Haugen last year, did he make a bigger mark than Tommy Hearns? What about Joey Barnum? He's also in.

The new Roll Call will be listed in alphabetical order. This will prevent future re-inductions or forgotten inductees. They must just maintain it, whoever they are?

I have this list of hundreds of names. Boxers, managers & trainers, doctors, writers, historians, promoters, matchmakers, referees, broadcasters, etc.
It's complete, but I'll run it past a few true expert/historians for reference.

It wasn't a bad excercise for me. It forced me to put my focus on who has been inducted into the WBHOF, and their place in boxing history.
It opened my eyes to just how bad the caretakers of boxing legend and history are doing their job.

Time for somebody to start over and do it right.


-Rick Farris

"I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns."

Unbelievable, disgraceful and downright shameful.

Randy

Randy, as this year's chairman of the WBHOF Selection Commitee, I "assumed" that Tommy was long ago inducted, as he was in the IBHOF.
Why didn't I know that he had not been inducted? Becasue of an incomplete list of current & past inductees, one that has been mishandled for decades.
IF a board member nominates a boxer, the first job is to make sure that he has not already been inducted. There was no list, just a fragmented version on-line & even worse, in the annual banquet's program. Hell, they even had lost the name of Jimmy Lennon. As a result, they have inducted several boxers on multiple occasions (i.e. Tommy Burns in '91 & '2000). Now, we have a complete list, and it seperates them by catagory, all listed in alphabetical order.

As I completed my final task for this challenged group I found myself looking at the list closer than ever. No Tommy Hearns. I call Mando Muniz and ask if he was aware of this. He didn't seem to concerned. Sorry Tommy, I hope you don't have to wait as long as George Dixon did.

Randyman wrote:The top photo was taken at the Beringer Winery in Napa Valley. The winery is beautiful. We actually did a wine tasting while we were there. We are officially wine snobs now. Actually Jeri enjoys wine but I'm a beer guy myself. In fact I had a chance to try a couple of bottles of Stella Artois beer from Belgium. It was good.



This photo was at the Fransican Winery. By this time Jeri and I had tried several glasses of wine (hic)



We were at the Fisherman's Grotto on the Fisherman's Wharf in Monterry, chowing down on some really good fish and chips.



The last thing I expected while touring the Beringer Winery was a taco truck but there it was, fine wine and tacos. I was going to buy a burrito but Jeri talked me out of it. "We didn't come all the way to Napa for burritos" she said. It was painful but I walked away.

Randy

Rick Farris wrote:

Randyman wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:Believe it or not . . .

As I finish up the WBHOF corrected "Role Call" for the annual banquet program, I reviewed every single inductee of the past.
I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns.
A six-time world champ in a tough era, a guy who fought everybody and beat most.
I thought his name was misplaced, like dozens of other past inductees. However, he has been totally ignored by the WBHOF.
President Armando Muniz wasn't surprised, and he didn't think it was important until I made an issue.
We inducted Greg Haugen last year, did he make a bigger mark than Tommy Hearns? What about Joey Barnum? He's also in.

The new Roll Call will be listed in alphabetical order. This will prevent future re-inductions or forgotten inductees. They must just maintain it, whoever they are?

I have this list of hundreds of names. Boxers, managers & trainers, doctors, writers, historians, promoters, matchmakers, referees, broadcasters, etc.
It's complete, but I'll run it past a few true expert/historians for reference.

It wasn't a bad excercise for me. It forced me to put my focus on who has been inducted into the WBHOF, and their place in boxing history.
It opened my eyes to just how bad the caretakers of boxing legend and history are doing their job.

Time for somebody to start over and do it right.


-Rick Farris

"I was surprised to see a name missing . . . Tommy Hearns."

Unbelievable, disgraceful and downright shameful.

Randy

Randy, as this year's chairman of the WBHOF Selection Commitee, I "assumed" that Tommy was long ago inducted, as he was in the IBHOF.
Why didn't I know that he had not been inducted? Becasue of an incomplete list of current & past inductees, one that has been mishandled for decades.
IF a board member nominates a boxer, the first job is to make sure that he has not already been inducted. There was no list, just a fragmented version on-line & even worse, in the annual banquet's program. Hell, they even had lost the name of Jimmy Lennon. As a result, they have inducted several boxers on multiple occasions (i.e. Tommy Burns in '91 & '2000). Now, we have a complete list, and it seperates them by catagory, all listed in alphabetical order.

As I completed my final task for this challenged group I found myself looking at the list closer than ever. No Tommy Hearns. I call Mando Muniz and ask if he was aware of this. He didn't seem to concerned. Sorry Tommy, I hope you don't have to wait as long as George Dixon did.

The WBHOF now has an accurate and complete guide. However, this isn't a bright organization, so this year it will be correct for the first time.I will always keep my records of the WBHOF Inductees updated.
If nothing else, I will always know who is or is not in. When the WBHOF gets lost again, they can always call on me to let them know who is on their honor roll.