THEHAMMER321 wrote:Rick I discovered yesterday on here where it says location and you type in the venue I saw you fight on a fantastic fight card featuring Armando Muniz,Frankie Crawford,Mando Ramos vs Raul Rojas ,I always just typed in a fighters name and looked up 1 fighter at a time now I can look up the whole fight card pretty nice
Hammer . . . that was a big event at the Olympic.
In the main, you had Mando Ramos vs. his former stablemate, Raul Rojas. It was a legitimate "grudge match".
Of course, Frankie Crawford was in the TV main event. He flattened Jose Luis Martinez with a left hook thrown a couple seconds after the final bell.
They gave it to Crawford via a unanimous decision, but he KOed the guy with a late blow.
Armando Muniz just kept winning with another KO, and I got a win, as well.
The Olympic was packed that thursday. Nobody could fill the place like Mando Ramos.
When I stepped into the ring that night I looked down to the ringside seats and saw Bill Cosby, Ryan O'Neal, Connie Stevens, Edie Williams, Mickey Cohen, Chuck Conners, Robert Goulet.
Mando really brought out the stars.
Mando Ramos boxed beautifully that night. In the sixth, he leveled Rojas with a picture-perfect left hook.
One big shot and it was all over. I've got some photos of the weigh-in somewhere.
My greatest moments in boxing were being a part of something big. I wasn't a headliner, but I was up close & personal with guys that were the best in boxing at the time. Today, I am so glad for having a place to relive that brilliant era, with guys like yourself who know it and understand it.
It's my goal to write of this era, to make sure these legends are not forgotten, and are remembered properly.
They need no exaggeration, no stretching of the truth, no rose colored glasses. Seeing them just as they were was something incredible.
When the Olympic was packed, and the stars were out, there was a magic energy that electrified the crowd. There were the bright TV lights illuminating the powder blue ring canvas, and you would not be treated to just one special fight, but to several world class barn burners.
The guys here who fought will all tell you what the energy of such a crowd can do to inspire ones personal power.
The prelim boys, like myself, would fight beyond themselves, like main eventers. It raises the bar, in a sense.
Speaking of Mando Ramos, I spent a lot of time with him in recent years. I have posted stories he told me, relating to his fight with Rojas. I have shared this story before, but I am motivated to repeat it here because you would enjoy the behind-the-scenes drama that played out between Ramos & Rojas in the weeks before the match. I'll share it with you in my next post, the others who've seen it can skip over it.
-Rick Farris
....but the rain is beautiful... 
