BoxRec

Cholo wrote:

El Gallo wrote:El Boxeo Trailer - Final
http://vimeo.com/83398275

Hi everyone,

This is the final version of our El Boxeo trailer. There will be others I'm sure but this is what we're going to market with.

Enjoy!

Love to hear your thoughts.

Abrazos,
Rick

Rick,when I sat behind you at the premier in Santa Monica,I tapped you on the shoulder and told you I thought Sulieman's comments were the most relevant.I hope "El Boxeo" gets attention not only in boxing circles,but throughout the public. It's a microcosm of Latino life. Rog

dagosd2000 wrote:Se Vende

You've probably read the horror stories about Mexico the last few years. Since Calderon was president there have been more than 70,000 violent deaths revolving around the cartels,the police ,and the federales.That's more human beings that were killed than in Nam. And Nam was ten years. Calderon was in office for eight. Recently the state of Michoacan has been in the news a lot. You probably know that my wife and I have a house there.

In the beginning the problems in Michoacan were in the eastern part of the state. Our house is in the small town of Jiquilpan,,located in the northwestern part of the state.But now the problems are everywhere.

The last few times we've been down there we've seen some pretty bad stuff. For example ,our neighbors grandson was missing for a week. Yeah,he was running around with the drug traffickers. What he was doing...I never asked. But later they found the kid in a field with his arms,legs,and head cut off,and his genitals stuffed in his mouth.When the cartels kill someone they like to make it as gruesome as possible.It enhances the fear factor.

My brother in law's wife's sister was kidnapped of the street walking home. She had a big enough family so the kidnappers demanded 10 g's.The family pooled their money and paid the ransom. i guess they paid it too fast so the kidnappers shook them down for another 10 thousand. The family never bothered to go to the police with this. I stopped taking my grandchildren down there anymore.

My nephew owns a garage a little outside of town. One afternoon three black Mercedes came rolling inside his place. Some guys jumped out of the cars with Uzi's.They told my nephew too hide the cars. They were listening to the police scanners and knew the army was following them. Of course my nephew complied.A few days later the cartel guys returned to my nephew's place with a case of shrimp. After that the army came around and stripped down my nephew's garage for his tools. Now my nephew is paying off the cartel for protection from the federales and in turn the fedrerales are helping themselves to anything in my nephew's garage.By the way,all my nephew's help has quit. They didn't want to get caught in the middle of something.

I won't be going back anymore to Michoacan. I told you that I threw my brother in law(the guy who calls himself the Mummy)out of our house because he got drunk one night and started a scene.Well he lost face because he thinks he's a big macho dude with everyone and has them all fearing him. After I told him to leave in front of the family,he came back later with a machete. He knew I wasn't home because my car wasn't there. I'd gone into town. But the Mummy,I know, is brooding about what happened. I never saw him again after that,but I know he's thinking about it. If I go back I'm in a lose lose situation.Either he kills me or I kill him.And if I kill him(even in self defense).Well,I really don't have to explain the obvious do I?

Well my wife is going to Jiquilpan in February with our daughter. I told her to sell the house even if we lose money on it. Everyone wants out of Mexico anyway. No jobs. No money. Crime running wild. Vigilantes taking over towns.It's hard to believe that a country like that is on our border. You never hear poo like that happening in Canada.

Many of entertainers like Vicente Fernandez have moved to the U.S. Texas is big with Mexicans who want to get away from all the problems. If you have money,like they have,they and their families aren't safe.That richest guy in the world,Carlos Slim, who controls the telecommunications in Mexico?Well he makes payments to people to insure his safety and his family. And when he leaves the house he has about a half dozen cars around him with armed bodyguards.Nice way to live.


So the next time some gringo gets all bent out of shape because he sees so many Mexicans here,remember this,they are happy to be here. I can't blame them.




My sister in law,wife ,and my son. Jiquilpan,Michoacan back in the day.

If I were Carlos Slim, I would move my family from Mexico to the U.S. rather than paying anything to extortionists.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:Se Vende

You've probably read the horror stories about Mexico the last few years. Since Calderon was president there have been more than 70,000 violent deaths revolving around the cartels,the police ,and the federales.That's more human beings that were killed than in Nam. And Nam was ten years. Calderon was in office for eight. Recently the state of Michoacan has been in the news a lot. You probably know that my wife and I have a house there.

In the beginning the problems in Michoacan were in the eastern part of the state. Our house is in the small town of Jiquilpan,,located in the northwestern part of the state.But now the problems are everywhere.

The last few times we've been down there we've seen some pretty bad stuff. For example ,our neighbors grandson was missing for a week. Yeah,he was running around with the drug traffickers. What he was doing...I never asked. But later they found the kid in a field with his arms,legs,and head cut off,and his genitals stuffed in his mouth.When the cartels kill someone they like to make it as gruesome as possible.It enhances the fear factor.

My brother in law's wife's sister was kidnapped of the street walking home. She had a big enough family so the kidnappers demanded 10 g's.The family pooled their money and paid the ransom. i guess they paid it too fast so the kidnappers shook them down for another 10 thousand. The family never bothered to go to the police with this. I stopped taking my grandchildren down there anymore.

My nephew owns a garage a little outside of town. One afternoon three black Mercedes came rolling inside his place. Some guys jumped out of the cars with Uzi's.They told my nephew too hide the cars. They were listening to the police scanners and knew the army was following them. Of course my nephew complied.A few days later the cartel guys returned to my nephew's place with a case of shrimp. After that the army came around and stripped down my nephew's garage for his tools. Now my nephew is paying off the cartel for protection from the federales and in turn the fedrerales are helping themselves to anything in my nephew's garage.By the way,all my nephew's help has quit. They didn't want to get caught in the middle of something.

I won't be going back anymore to Michoacan. I told you that I threw my brother in law(the guy who calls himself the Mummy)out of our house because he got drunk one night and started a scene.Well he lost face because he thinks he's a big macho dude with everyone and has them all fearing him. After I told him to leave in front of the family,he came back later with a machete. He knew I wasn't home because my car wasn't there. I'd gone into town. But the Mummy,I know, is brooding about what happened. I never saw him again after that,but I know he's thinking about it. If I go back I'm in a lose lose situation.Either he kills me or I kill him.And if I kill him(even in self defense).Well,I really don't have to explain the obvious do I?

Well my wife is going to Jiquilpan in February with our daughter. I told her to sell the house even if we lose money on it. Everyone wants out of Mexico anyway. No jobs. No money. Crime running wild. Vigilantes taking over towns.It's hard to believe that a country like that is on our border. You never hear poo like that happening in Canada.

Many of entertainers like Vicente Fernandez have moved to the U.S. Texas is big with Mexicans who want to get away from all the problems. If you have money,like they have,they and their families aren't safe.That richest guy in the world,Carlos Slim, who controls the telecommunications in Mexico?Well he makes payments to people to insure his safety and his family. And when he leaves the house he has about a half dozen cars around him with armed bodyguards.Nice way to live.


So the next time some gringo gets all bent out of shape because he sees so many Mexicans here,remember this,they are happy to be here. I can't blame them.




My sister in law,wife ,and my son. Jiquilpan,Michoacan back in the day.

If I were Carlos Slim, I would move my family from Mexico to the U.S. rather than paying anything to extortionists.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck,if Carlos Slim moved to the U.S. the Mexican government and the gangsters who influence them would confiscate his billions. He knows that.He wouldn't live in Mexico alone.The only people that he can trust is his family.He's in a Catch 22.As long as he pays off the right people he'll last,but sooner or later there's a power out there that will try to bring him down.Eventually he'll lose control of his telecommunications empire.I think in the end,he'll have to settle for less and move out of the country.

It is so bad in Mexico that I would get the heck out of there even if I had to sell my empire for a reduced price. I simply can't imagine living in a place where so many of the politicians are corrupt and the drug cartels run wild and kill people right and left. It is stunning to see a country go downhill like that over the last thirty or forty years.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 wrote:It is so bad in Mexico that I would get the heck out of there even if I had to sell my empire for a reduced price. I simply can't imagine living in a place where so many of the politicians are corrupt and the drug cartels run wild and kill people right and left. It is stunning to see a country go downhill like that over the last thirty or forty years.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck,it's like that in all of Central and South America. Maybe Carlos Slim can't leave on his terms. Too many people rely on his payoffs. I wouldn't want to be him. Sounds crazy. I wouldn't want to be the richest man in the world. With the global economy collapsing (you can break it down to the World Bank and the IMF lending billions of dollars to countries that they knew couldn't pay back the money)the world has been turned upside down.My advice to young people starting out...don't get yourself deep in debt. The common man winds up paying the price.

Roger, I can see your side of what is happening in Mexico and to Carlos Slim. Thinking more about it, I would rather be in the shoes of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett than in Slim's.

- Chuck Johnston

Rick and all, The El Boxeo trailer looks fantastic. Ive got to see this.
Good to see Alex Ramos in there too. Glad to see him doing well.
Best of luck and Happy New Year gents.

Expug wrote:Rick and all, The El Boxeo trailer looks fantastic. Ive got to see this.
Good to see Alex Ramos in there too. Glad to see him doing well.
Best of luck and Happy New Year gents.

Hey Brian, maybe we can hook up again when the Hawks come to L.A.
I enjoyed last season very much!
Have a Happy New Year.

Wall Of Corn

It was around the summer of 65. Yeah,that's when I started to notice the concern. You see the culture was changing pretty fast in the U.S. The Beatles and the "English Invasion",Vietnam,and all the anti establishment bullshit with the young people. The long hair and the sloppy dress.Things were moving in a different direction here.And this being the United States...well we were the trend setters. The youth generation began with Elvis and rock and roll took over the world.I was watching this Italian movie,Boccaccio 70 made in the early 60's the other night with the German actress Romy Schnieder.It's one of those heavy love movies about her husband cheating on her with a bunch of prostitutes. A lot of drama. Too much for American tastes.People in this country didn't exactly break down the doors to go see this one. Maybe in Greenich Village,but the movie was too avante garde andmelodramatic. But one thing that sticks out in my mind about that movie is in the final scene .Romy Schnieder is lying on the bed crying that her husband wants to pay her for a romp in the hay, thinking that would make her happy,when I see an album jacket beside her. It's "The Greatest Hits of Bill Haley and The Comets! So much for European culture.

But by the mid 60's Bill Haley and even Elvis and given way to psychedelic rock music.And beer had taken a back seat to the drug of choice. Now it was marijuana.Everyone was smoking it from the kids in school to the soldiers in Nam to the corporate heads of big business. Our fathers were against it.They didn't grow up with marijuana. Pot had been around long enough for sure,but it was in the black neighborhoods mostly and our parents didn't want us to be like them. Neither did Mexico.

I remember driving across to Tijuana back in the 60's.If you had long hair the Mexican cops thought that was an indicator. I remember a carload of us got pulled over to Mexican secondary one night. We had the long locks. Next thing you know the cops sat us on a chair and a barber comes out and shears off the unwanted hair. When that episode was done we walked back to the car and there's a Mexican cop standing in front of the car holding a bag of weed.
"You boys broke the law. We need to get your parents down here,"he said with that Chesire cat smile.

Well we didn't have any pot in the car .The Mexican cops planted it there. But it wasn't so much that they wanted to shake our parents down,they wanted to prevent their country,and especially their youth,into becoming hippies. No pot smoking. No talking back to their parents. No radical music.

But as time wore on the Mexican kids like the kids all over embraced American culture,which was a mode of the young. It's still that way today. Our parents couldn't fight it and neither could anyone else's mommies and daddies. And now the drug cartels have taken over Mexico. The thing they were afraid of happening.I bet there's no one around to give them a haircut.

Louis Armstrong. He smoked pot eveyday.

20 Questions

I used to see Teddy at the fights once in awhile.Before the main event, they'd announce him to step up into the ring.He'd always get a nice hand. He was the champ once. He fought out of San Diego and then after he retired ,he stayed here.The last card Bobby D,one of the local promoters,put on at the 5 Points Hotel I saw Teddy sitting at ringside. He looked to be by himself. Before the first undercard I walked over to talk to him. I'd met him through one of his sparring partners who used to work with me at the school I taught at. Sometimes I'd watch Teddy and my friend from school workout at the various gyms in San Diego.
"How you doing Teddy?",I asked the former champ.
Teddy was munching on some popcorn.
"Pretty good. How about yourself?"
I think he didn't remember my name,but remembered my face.
"I used to watch you and Gilbert workout at Burke's old gym in North Park,"I said.
"Oh yes.That was a long time ago,"he said.
"What ever happened to Gilbert?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in a long time."
"The last time I saw you was at the Hall of Fame event in LA."
"They inducted me that day."
"You deserved to get in,"I said.
Teddy still looked in pretty good shape.But I remember after he won the title things began to unravel for him. I know his marriage broke up. And then there was the problems with Radovich his manager. Teddy wasn't coming to the gym much anymore. When he lost the title to the Cuban it was quite a shock,but if you knew what was going on with him,it wasn't that much of a surprise.
"Not many people thought I'd beat Leonard,"said Teddy shoving his hand in the bag of popcorn."But I knew I'd have my way with him."
"He was trying to come back like he did before,but he'd lost a lot."
"I could have beat him in his prime,"he said giving me a hard look.
"I'm sure you could have."
"When I lost the belt,I found out who my friends were. All of the sudden the rats abandoned the ship."
"I know that Sports Illustrated article was negative."
"That lousy reporter interviewed me over the phone for twenty minutes and then wrote all those lies."
"You should have sued them."
"With what?I didn't have any money left. It was pointless to fight them."
"Those reporters are always looking for a story,"I said.
"They make up lies so people can read what they have to say. It sells more papers,"he said.
"Those guys never played the game anyway,"I said trying to make him feel better.
"They're nothing but a lot of wannabes."
The first prelim fight was about to start. The fighters were scuffing their shoes in the rosin box.
"Teddy,I write once in awhile on a boxing blog site,"I said.
"What's it called?"
"Boxrec."
"So what goes on there?"
"Oh,people make comments on boxing."
Teddy looked straight ahead up at the ring.
"I try not to get too opinionated ,"I said.
"So what do you write about?"
"I try to say what I'm thinking by putting it into a story."
Teddy still was looking up at the fighters in the ring.
"What did you say the name of the blog site was?"
"Boxrec."
"Never heard of it,"he said.

Jerry Quarry

dagosd2000 wrote:

Jerry Quarry

One of my favorite fighters. One of my favorite Roger Esty paintings.

El Gallo wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:

Jerry Quarry

One of my favorite fighters. One of my favorite Roger Esty paintings.

Thanks Rick. I've backed off with my paintings. I just finished clearing out a storage space I was renting. I had a lot of stuff in there. Art,books,sports memorabilia. I worked on it a week and still had to hire haulers to get rid of stuff. I threw out a lot of picture frames and books. I just didn't have any room in my condo. 2500 a year was killing me to store everything. The paintings I liked I stripped off the stretchers and kept the canvases.I did keep some on the stretchers and in frames. The Jerry Quarry I posted is still in the frame. One of my favorites also.BTW It was the first painting I posted on the thread.

dagosd2000 wrote:

El Gallo wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:

Jerry Quarry

One of my favorite fighters. One of my favorite Roger Esty paintings.

Thanks Rick. I've backed off with my paintings. I just finished clearing out a storage space I was renting. I had a lot of stuff in there. Art,books,sports memorabilia. I worked on it a week and still had to hire haulers to get rid of stuff. I threw out a lot of picture frames and books. I just didn't have any room in my condo. 2500 a year was killing me to store everything. The paintings I liked I stripped off the stretchers and kept the canvases.I did keep some on the stretchers and in frames. The Jerry Quarry I posted is still in the frame. One of my favorites also.BTW It was the first painting I posted on the thread.

El Gallo wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:

Jerry Quarry

One of my favorite fighters. One of my favorite Roger Esty paintings.

Fine work

CNorkusJr wrote:

El Gallo wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:

Jerry Quarry

One of my favorite fighters. One of my favorite Roger Esty paintings.

Fine work

Thanks Charley.Jerry Quarry was our West Coast guy that carried our hopes for a title,but he fought in an era of some great heavyweights and didn't have the skills to beat the Fraziers and the Alis. He had plenty of heart though.

Shouting Again

"So you're not going to Michoacan with Maria?"asked Pete the cop.
Pete the cop and I were watching the Charger game in my living room.It was half time.
"No,I've had it with that place,"I said.
"I've seen in the news that the vigilantes are taking over these towns,"he said.
"That's how the revolutions started in Mexico."
"The president wants the vigilantes to stand down and let the army take over."
"Why should those people give up what they've taken and give it up to the army?"
"The army is probably part of the problem,"said Pete with a laugh.
"They can't be trusted."
"The army.The police.The government .They've let the people down."
"And now the drug traffickers have taken over."
"Me and Anna like to go to Cabo,"said Pete."But the way things are now we'll vacation in Hawaii."
"You're a cop. I wouldn't go to Mexico."
"Well I sure hope the vigilantes get things done."
"With so many U.S. firms in Mexico and now the Mexican government wanting to sell off their oil to us,I don't think our government wants the vigilantes to win."
"Why's that?"
"We probably think they're Commies."
Pete opened up a bag of chips and poured the contents in a bowl.
"All I know is that me and Anna will go to Hawaii,"Pete said as he opened a can of beer.
"The first revolution that kicked the Spaniards out started in Michoacan,"I said.
"There was more than one?"
"There was another revolution a hundred years later."
"Why was that?"
"To kick the foreigners out."
"I guess Mexico celebrates their independence on Cinco de Mayo,"said Pete.
"No.Independence day in Mexico is on the 16th of September. That's when Father Hidalgo led the revolution in Michoacan in 1810."
"It's all confusing,"said Pete as he turned up the volume on the TV. The second half was to begin.
"The battle cry was called the Grito de Dolores.The shout of pain."
"How do you know all this stuff?,"Pete asked.
"I'm married to a Mexican."
"Well Anna's a Mexican and I don't know that."
"You need to assimilate more,"I said punching him on the shoulder.



Zapata

Ill Wind

I heard somewhere that the term"an ill wind blows no good" comes from the Santa Ana winds that blow east from the deserts in Arizona. A "Santa Ana" condition then exists on the Pacific coast that is very dry along with high temperatures.For many people this weather condition causes allergic reactions and headaches.Lethargy is also very common.The winds that gust through the mountain passes from the desert are very strong and because of the low humidity there is always a high fire alert.The "Santa Ana" seems to throw everything off. People walk around a little dazed.As hot as it is, the heat isn't welcomed.

Last night when I took my grandson Adam to the gym,I could feel the "Santa Ana" developing. The gusty dry wind.My loss of appetite. Things seemed askew.
"Pair up with the new kid when you spar tonight.You're both the same size."I said to Adam as he was wrapping his hands.
"He's a good guy,"said my grandson."He goes to the high school. He played football for the freshman team."
Tiger Smalls,the ex featherweight fighter,was coaching the boxing group. There was a good turnout. Tiger doesn't discourage anyone. His boxing group is growing and management has extended Tiger's sessions for five days a week from two.I sat down on the bench to watch Adam train. The new kid paired up with my grandson.A man sat down next to me with an IPad. He was involved with something on the screen.Then I saw the kid Adam had paired up with walk over to the man sitting next to me with the IPad.
"Dad,"said the kid."Can you wrap my hands again. The wraps are coming off."
The father of the boy re wrapped his son's hands.
"Now get back in there,"ordered the father.
After some calisthenics Tiger wanted the pairs to do some light sparring. I watched Adam spar with the new kid.The new kid didn't look like he was into it.He was going through the motions lazily.Adam didn't press him too much. Once in awhile Adam would put a little behind a shot,but the new kid didn't react with anything.
"Is that your son?"asked the man next to me .He had turned off the IPad.
"No,that's my grandson."
"How old is he?"asked the man.
"14."
"When did he turn 14?"
"In November. He's in his last year of middle school."
"How long has he been boxing?"
"Just over a year. He enjoys it. I never thought he would take to a contact sport,especially one like boxing.Tiger has been patient with him. Now my grandson is comfortable with it."
"My boy does this to help him with football,"said the father.
"It certainly is a good workout."
The workout session lasted a hour. Adam and the new kid walked over to where we were sitting.
"This is my son Corey,"said the father as his son took off his headgear.
I introduced Adam to the boy's father.
"Well, the boys got in a good workout ,"I said. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow."
"Nice meeting you two,"said the boy's father. His son didn't say anything.
"I'll see you tomorrow Corey,"said Adam. Corey was looking at the floor.
"Sure Adam .I'll see you tomorrow."
As we I walked back to the car with Adam,he turned to me and said,"Corey told me that his father makes him come here."
"That isn't right."
"Corey said that he's going to ask his father if he can quit."
"That's between them ,"I said.
"Do you want your usual tacos?"I asked my grandson.
"Not tonight,"answered my grandson."I don't feel hungry."

Archie Moore

In case you never saw Norkus vs. Powell 1 Oct 6th, 1954 San Francisco Aud. here it is, I posted several other Norkus fights on youtube.

http://youtu.be/HA7-TgX-FSc








Thank You Dan Hanley for the following article sent to me :

dagosd2000 wrote:

Archie Moore

Great painting-love the color choice

Though fight was on National TV- Steve Lott informed me a copy does not exist or sits in a private collection somewhere unknown.



Norkus vs Moore, San Francisco




Very Good Friends through the years-met each other often for dinner, the other fellow in picture is Irving Rudd, PR man for MSG.

CNorkusJr wrote:In case you never saw Norkus vs. Powell 1 Oct 6th, 1954 San Francisco Aud. here it is, I posted several other Norkus fights on youtube.

http://youtu.be/HA7-TgX-FSc








Thank You Dan Hanley for the following article sent to me :

Interesting footage Charley. Powell reminded me of Cleveland Williams in there. I remember seeing him a lot with his brother Art in Southeast San Diego. Two big dudes! I think if Charley would have stuck with football,he would have made it to the Hall Of Fame. After the beating your dad gave him ,he should have gone back to the gridiron.

In the articles covering the lead-up to the fight (my father had the forethought to bring home the dailies from the cities he fought in), the articles were all pro Powell as you can tell. After the first fight, some of the writers made sure Powell's broken hand was the lead cause of the loss. Maybe it did, but Powell's guard was let down by flying lefts. Many writers I see here praised my father for his ability to take punches and stay in the game. A few guys said exactly what you thought, for Powell to return to football. As a great athlete and former all-Pro star with the 49ers, Powell's mind was made up to stay in the ring. And rightly so.

My father said he had very good skills and talent, but his dejection over such a loss would take the heart out of any fighter rising up. He had a possible title shot with Rocky, and that was put on the back burner. The fight meant so much to Powell, and a loss in front of the fans had to be very tough on his ego.

It was the exact same story 10 months earlier with Danny Nardico- the same exact circumstances. Danny 3rd ranked Lt-Heavy moved up to 18o lbs to fight my dad under the same auspices. Nardico readily admitted he made a huge mistake after his 1st beating followed up by another loss 2 months later to my father.
What they probably didnt know was what was going on in New York when Rocky would pick and choose his opponents.

When Al Weill saw what my father was doing in the ring fighting out of New Jersey right out of the starting gate in 1948; he liked what he saw immediately. He petitioned those in charge to buy a piece of my father repeatedly. Officially-you will find no paper stating of that transaction.Al Weill likened my father's training and boxing skills to Rocky style. Weill, the match-maker at the Garden Productions office couldnt even claim Marciano as his boy because of his job there (conflict of interest). But he sure as hell ran his career. When Rocky got too big for his britches record wise-Weill left the Garden to go on record with Rocky.And a few others. Hal Boylston was another, Tommy Harrison after he left LA to go to Providence. But my father stayed put.

What Weill did was smart. Whether he had a piece of my father or not (my dad said no, never, but he might not have known himself), my father was Rocky's front man.
Rocky and Weill wanted to see what future possible opponents might look like against a guy with the same way Rocky fought. Low hands, hard head(can take a punch) and a KO punch to boot. Weill put my father in with no less than 6 guys before their possible fights with Rocky. LaStarza was the only delay because the Norkus-LaStarza fight was cancelled in Providence,RI because LaStarza had cuts still healing from a previous fight he had only weeks earlier. Harrison was substituted in (Rocky's sparring partner). Then Rocky fought LaStarza and almost beat him.Thats why my father fought Nardico,Powell, Boylston and others - so Rocky can get a look see. A "Ring Spoiler" they called my father.

The promise at the end of all this. Look at my dads career. 1954 ends with my dad as a top contender and Weill says to him- " Wait, Dont fight. Train. Tread Water Rocky has a few promises to take care of,then its your turn Charley if everything lines up".

Marciano HAD to fight Ezzard Charles. Top contender and money making fights.
Rocky was promised a rematch with Charles if he lost the first one, he didn't, but they decided to rematch anyway, too much money on line for Rocky to pass up. Thats why my father didnt fight in early months of 1955. If he did and lost-no possibile title fight. Dad had money to live on because of his fights in 1954 all on TV.

Ezzard Charles loses twice and Weill dropped a hammer on my father. He played my father liked he used to let my father play others for Rocky. Weill says " Fight Ezzard Charles- you beat Charles, you get Rocky". My father was pissed, but understood the game. Norkus-Charles goes 10 Rds but it wasnt close. My father closed Ezzard's right eye but the wily Ezzard protected it from my fathers left hooks. So much for that. He still was pay day fodder for others though. Changed management taking on a former high ranked middleweight Marty Sampson as his new trainer, and he got him some nice pay with TV fights with Moore and Pastrano and others.

I watched my father give many interviews for TV, magazines and papers over the years. My father always stuck with the same story, ALWAYS.

Magazine: Charlie -you never got a shot versus Rocky, you ever feel bad about that ?

Charley Norkus: No, I dont look back on things like that. I made a pretty good living for my family, my wife Margie and my son, Charlie Jr to be comfortable on at the
time.

Magazine: If you did face Rocky, do you think you could beat him ?

Charley Norkus: Rocky was the toughest and hardest puncher I ever saw. I knew Rocky well. I don't know if I would have beat him, but I can tell you that it would have
a very intersesting fight.

He made those statements with conviction, but deep down, I think he wanted that shot, who wouldnt when you were that close.
My father told me privately that he felt that Rocky had trouble with left handed punchers. THat was one thing he and Weill were looking out for in his fight previews.
Rocky let his right hand dangle after a hard thrown punch-and if he missed with it, left him with no defense of lefts coming over the top of it. My father was counting on that. My father would also end with- " You had to hope Rocky missed you-if he didnt- you could of had a sledge hammer of a left, it didnt matter"

Rocky and Charley at "The Town and Country" niteclub in Brooklyn, NY 1961 The place was mobbed run but every big named entertainer played it.



I downloaded a few other Norkus fights on Youtube.com. Trying to get a few more up there too.

CNorkusJr wrote:In the articles covering the lead-up to the fight (my father had the forethought to bring home the dailies from the cities he fought in), the articles were all pro Powell as you can tell. After the first fight, some of the writers made sure Powell's broken hand was the lead cause of the loss. Maybe it did, but Powell's guard was let down by flying lefts. Many writers I see here praised my father for his ability to take punches and stay in the game. A few guys said exactly what you thought, for Powell to return to football. As a great athlete and former all-Pro star with the 49ers, Powell's mind was made up to stay in the ring. And rightly so.

My father said he had very good skills and talent, but his dejection over such a loss would take the heart out of any fighter rising up. He had a possible title shot with Rocky, and that was put on the back burner. The fight meant so much to Powell, and a loss in front of the fans had to be very tough on his ego.

It was the exact same story 10 months earlier with Danny Nardico- the same exact circumstances. Danny 3rd ranked Lt-Heavy moved up to 18o lbs to fight my dad under the same auspices. Nardico readily admitted he made a huge mistake after his 1st beating followed up by another loss 2 months later to my father.
What they probably didnt know was what was going on in New York when Rocky would pick and choose his opponents.

When Al Weill saw what my father was doing in the ring fighting out of New Jersey right out of the starting gate in 1948; he liked what he saw immediately. He petitioned those in charge to buy a piece of my father repeatedly. Officially-you will find no paper stating of that transaction.Al Weill likened my father's training and boxing skills to Rocky style. Weill, the match-maker at the Garden Productions office couldnt even claim Marciano as his boy because of his job there (conflict of interest). But he sure as hell ran his career. When Rocky got too big for his britches record wise-Weill left the Garden to go on record with Rocky.And a few others. Hal Boylston was another, Tommy Harrison after he left LA to go to Providence. But my father stayed put.

What Weill did was smart. Whether he had a piece of my father or not (my dad said no, never, but he might not have known himself), my father was Rocky's front man.
Rocky and Weill wanted to see what future possible opponents might look like against a guy with the same way Rocky fought. Low hands, hard head(can take a punch) and a KO punch to boot. Weill put my father in with no less than 6 guys before their possible fights with Rocky. LaStarza was the only delay because the Norkus-LaStarza fight was cancelled in Providence,RI because LaStarza had cuts still healing from a previous fight he had only weeks earlier. Harrison was substituted in (Rocky's sparring partner). Then Rocky fought LaStarza and almost beat him.Thats why my father fought Nardico,Powell, Boylston and others - so Rocky can get a look see. A "Ring Spoiler" they called my father.

The promise at the end of all this. Look at my dads career. 1954 ends with my dad as a top contender and Weill says to him- " Wait, Dont fight. Train. Tread Water Rocky has a few promises to take care of,then its your turn Charley if everything lines up".

Marciano HAD to fight Ezzard Charles. Top contender and money making fights.
Rocky was promised a rematch with Charles if he lost the first one, he didn't, but they decided to rematch anyway, too much money on line for Rocky to pass up. Thats why my father didnt fight in early months of 1955. If he did and lost-no possibile title fight. Dad had money to live on because of his fights in 1954 all on TV.

Ezzard Charles loses twice and Weill dropped a hammer on my father. He played my father liked he used to let my father play others for Rocky. Weill says " Fight Ezzard Charles- you beat Charles, you get Rocky". My father was pissed, but understood the game. Norkus-Charles goes 10 Rds but it wasnt close. My father closed Ezzard's right eye but the wily Ezzard protected it from my fathers left hooks. So much for that. He still was pay day fodder for others though. Changed management taking on a former high ranked middleweight Marty Sampson as his new trainer, and he got him some nice pay with TV fights with Moore and Pastrano and others.

I watched my father give many interviews for TV, magazines and papers over the years. My father always stuck with the same story, ALWAYS.

Magazine: Charlie -you never got a shot versus Rocky, you ever feel bad about that ?

Charley Norkus: No, I dont look back on things like that. I made a pretty good living for my family, my wife Margie and my son, Charlie Jr to be comfortable on at the
time.

Magazine: If you did face Rocky, do you think you could beat him ?

Charley Norkus: Rocky was the toughest and hardest puncher I ever saw. I knew Rocky well. I don't know if I would have beat him, but I can tell you that it would have
a very intersesting fight.

He made those statements with conviction, but deep down, I think he wanted that shot, who wouldnt when you were that close.
My father told me privately that he felt that Rocky had trouble with left handed punchers. THat was one thing he and Weill were looking out for in his fight previews.
Rocky let his right hand dangle after a hard thrown punch-and if he missed with it, left him with no defense of lefts coming over the top of it. My father was counting on that. My father would also end with- " You had to hope Rocky missed you-if he didnt- you could of had a sledge hammer of a left, it didnt matter"

Rocky and Charley at "The Town and Country" niteclub in Brooklyn, NY 1961 The place was mobbed run but every big named entertainer played it.



I downloaded a few other Norkus fights on Youtube.com. Trying to get a few more up there too.

Charley,very informative. Tell me,after Marciano retired,where did your father stand with the promoters? I see he lost to Roy Harris and then later Harris got a shot at Patterson.I know Cus D'Amato was very careful with Floyd. I would think that you dad would have given Patterson a lot of problems.