coach greg v wrote:raylawpc wrote:coach greg v wrote:
>RAY you got to tell us about champ thomas and mr o'grady. inquiring minds want to know....
As I wrote above:
"Pat and Champ Thomas went back many years. Pat got his start boxing on the carney circuit, and he and Champ were a team. Pat was the boxer, and Champ was the wrestler (and the barker). If you lasted three rounds boxing with Pat or 5 minutes wrestling with Champ, you'd get something like $25 or $50. They had a lot of adventures together on the carney circuit, and Pat could regale you for hours with stories about their adventures."
Champ didn't come around OKC very much during my time with the O'Grady's, so I knew him mostly by the stories Pat told. In fact, I can't remember specifically meeting him. I know Pat really liked him; however, I heard from somebody (Sean, I think) that they had a big falling out not long before Pat died.
I'll write up something about the old carnival fights, if you guys are interested.
>
always interested in all boxing history
I don't know if it qualifies as "boxing history," but it is interesting how the operation worked - as described by Pat. Champ and Pat traveled in the carnival circuit throughout the Midwest. The deal was (as I recall) last three rounds boxing with Pat, or five minutes wrestling with Champ, and win $25 or $50. In addition to wrestling, Champ was the barker.
Champ was a natural barker. He would pick out some young farm boy in the crowd who was there with his girl, and insult the guy (and his date) until the guy finally stepped up to make his challenge. You would think that the guy would challenge Champ but, no, Champ apparently was a pretty tough looking character. Pat, on the other hand, was a 140+/- pounder with pale Irish skin and, believe it or not, in those days had a bit of a baby face. Most guys would pick boxing Pat.
This is how it would work: Pat and his mark would go back into a little dressing room and begin changing. (They furnished the guy a pair of trunks.) Pat would start wrapping his hands wit those cotton training wraps we all used to wear. Sometimes the kid would ask, "What are you doing that for?" "So I don't break my hands when I punch you in the head." About that time, Champ would come in, and Pat would ask, "How's that kid I fought last night in Peoria? Is he out of the hospital yet?" "Not yet, but they think he'll get out in a couple of days." Sometimes that little exchange, the hand wrap comment, etc. would get to the mark, and he's starting to wonder if he's done the right thing. "Say mister," he might say, "I really don't want to fight you. That other guy just got me mad. But I don't want to back down in front of my girl either." "Tell you what I'll do," Pat would reply, "You seem like a nice guy. I'll carry you the three rounds, but I keep the 25 bucks. How does that sound?" The mark would readily agree, and Pat would carry him the three rounds. Pat said that was actually good for business because, if some local went the distance, others would figure they could too and they'd get more challenges.
If they didn't work out something in the dressing room, the first thing Pat did when the bell rang was hit him in the nose are hard as he could. Most of us, of course, know what it's like to get hit in the nose. But those farm boys didn't. Many a time, Pat said, he could tell the guy was thinking, "No girl is worth this sh*t," and he'd start looking for a soft place to lay down.
Occasionally, Pat would get a real scrapper, and he's have to knock him out for real. Sometimes, too, a ringer would get in, and Pat would find himself in a real fight with another professional - often times a light-heavyweight or heavyweight. Pat and Champ had a remedy for that. The back of the ring was set up right next to a curtain. If Pat had a ringer, Champ would sneak behind the curtain and Pat would maneuver the guy over to the ropes in the back of the ring. Champ would take the guy out with a nicely placed blackjack to the back of the head.
Anyway, that's how it worked. Pat rarely had to part with the $25.
I can tell you from personal experience that Pat was a good puncher. In the gym one afternoon, Pat told us that a good puncher could score a knockout with a four inch punch. Some of the guys questioned it (me being one of them), so he stepped up to me and threw a right that traveled about four inches and smacked into my left breast just below the nipple. The only reason I didn't cry was because I had too much pride. Darn, it hurt. I thought he'd broke my rib. I couldn't use my left arm the rest of the day, and I had a bruise for a week. Nobody questioned what Pat said after that.
cool because I have about a thousand ? for you and ricky