BoxRec

I found a fairly good obituary for Roy DeFilippis on Legacy.com.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 wrote: ↑02 Nov 2019, 10:41 I found a fairly good obituary for Roy DeFilippis on Legacy.com.

- Chuck Johnston

Sorry to hear about the passing of Roy DeFilippis. When I was hanging around the gyms in San Diego,it was Roy DeFilippis who took a time out and approached me wanting to instruct me on how to throw a proper jab. I had been sparring with another heavyweight when Defilippis came up to me and said that was "flicking" the jab instead of getting my shoulder and back into the punch. The reason I was "flicking" the jab was because that was how Muhammad Ali delivered the punch. I told DeFilippis that and he kind of laughed.
"Ali does everything wrong,but because he's Ali he can get away with it,"said the little southpaw shaking his head.

I had watched DeFilppis fight a few times in San Diego.He had come out of the Navy fighting in the amateurs and turned pro fighting mostly in San Diego and the Olympic Auditorium. When he wanted to school me about the jab he was working out that day like I was at the 32nd Street Naval Gym. I didn't feel that he was trying to be rudely intrusive. He was just wanting to help out. DeFilippis was an unassuming guy. Quiet like most fighters I've been around(unless they get to drinking ,and I don't think DeFilippis was of that ilk)he told me that I wasn't getting any power into my jab. So he took me over to the heavy bag and began showing me by touch how to shift my back and shoulder to start the jab,shift my weight to my front foot, and then finish the punch at the end of my glove. He had me doing at least a hundred repetitions on the big bag.He never left me by myself.At the end I thought my arm was gong to fall off. After my last rep he said that I was coming around. Who said boxing is fun?

I saw Roy DeFilippis fight,what turned out to be his last bout against the veteran Mexican fighter,Benito Juarez, winning a close decision. I'd say he DeFilippis was popular in San Diego. He was toe head white and looked kind of like a hick,but he always got a decent hand when introduced in the ring .Of course when he was in there with a Mexican fighter the mostly Hispanic fans were not cheering for DeFilippis,but he was never perceived as being a villain.

DeFilippis was a smooth boxer and I think because of his skills and fighting from the left side,he had a hard time getting fights sometimes. He lost only once on a cut in Los Angeles.He could take a hit,but his drawback was that he didn't pack the big punch.

I'll never forget that time he showed sincerity in wanting to help me be a better fighter that afternoon at the 32nd Street Gym.If I could have only been a better person like Roy DeFilippis.

Spanish Eyes

Everyone will be watching the Canelo Alvarez fight on TV across the border tonight. If you want to get more than 2 channels you have to buy cable TV in Mexico. Depending where you live it comes to around 10 to 20 U.S. dollars a month. The fight is going to be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas,the city Chuck Johnston calls correctly the extension of big fights outside the Southland. Canelo is the ;perfect fit for having his taco and eating it too. His blockbuster fights have taken place in Vegas. This one with Kovalev has been hyped very nicely. Kovalev is bigger,taller,another type of Russian,and a real tough guy ala Triple G.

I was in Las Vegas with the wife this week at Caesar's Palace. I didn't hear much talk about the fight. In fact I had to bring it up and most of the time I got gaped mouth stares. However, I was talking to people with white faces. I'm sure there will be mucho people coming up from Los Angeles and south of the border to fill the seats at the MGM Grand.Canelo's prominence is head and shoulders above all the other fighters in Mexico.

Canelo's cut,I see, is 35 million. We know in this mega media age that that kind of revenue is generated from pay television. But getting back to fan interest-Canelo has Mexico's heart in the palm of his boxing glove,but with the average middle class white boy,Canelo Alvarez isn't a household name. MMA has cut into boxing. The millennials didn't see and become enthralled with the last American whirlwind, Mike Tyson . It's really not important anyway. Pretty soon there'll be more Hispanics living in the U.S. than the steady tuner inners of weekend basketball and football-and I don't mean soccer.

Yet Mexicans living near the U.S. border are gravitating to U.S. football and baseball.Soccer started to get popular in Tijuana only lately when people from the interior began migrating to Tijuana., Many Mexicans that live in the interior think Tijuana has bastardized their culture selling out to the U.S., but that train of thought is dissipating. Everyone in the entire republic has cable TV.And the programs? Half are American.

Getting back to the fight.I think Canelo will take him. I watched Kovalev on YouTube.He's gangly,pushes his punches,and hangs his chin out. But Kovalev has guts.He'll try to press and overwhelm, Alvarez,but that will make Kovalev an easy target.When Canelo finishes off Kovalev(I think it will be of a KO variety)he'll have more dollar signs to look at with Triple G waiting in the wings.But Father Time is not on his side. The longer the wait,the older grows Gennadiy.Now Chavez Junior is making noise. If he can get some good fights under his belt,Canelo could open up his own bank. If he's successful in these quests he could run for president of Mexico.

Julio Cesar Chavez,the dad, was and still is Mexico's most popular fighter,but Canelo is breathing down his neck. A win over Kovalev,another victory over Golovkin and Chavez,Junior,and Canelo will ascend to the top of Popocatetl. But the people looking up at the mountain top will be speaking Spanish. It's like I said-it's not important anyway. The ebbing breed of boxing fans who appreciate the brutal beauty of the sweet science are a tossed salad of different colors.If you dig around the bowl you'll even find a few cauliflowers-,and I don't mean ears.


Canelo

Trying For A New Image

"I never miss your show,"I said.
"Thank you coach."replied Jorge.
I was about to attack a couple of man size cheeseburgers inside a little place in Colonia Libertad called "Hamberguesas Tito's."Just about everybody that comes in calls the owner "Tito",but I used to coach the kid when I was coaching American football at the private school up on the hill in Otay called CETYs. When he was on the team we all called him "Grace" because he he had a big ass that stick out like that movie star Grace Slick. His real name is Jose.While I was chomping away on my first burger Jorge Mendoza walked in.It was quite a surprise. Jorge was also on that CETYs team.A lot of those players still stay in touch.
"I hear a lot of people talking about your show in San Diego. I hear that your going to syndicate it on other public broadcast stations,"I said.
"I'm working on a deal now,"said Jorge.
Jorge spoke English and Spanish without a hitch. He was born in Tijuana.A few years ago I stumbled upon his show,"Looking South" on the PBS channel here in San Diego. The show highlights places that might appeal to gringos to cross the border and find some safe Mexican diversion.
"I saw the show you did on the CETYs football team.That brought back a lot of memories,"I said.
"I was thinking of you when I put that together.You know CETYs has never won another game in the States since you left."
Jorge was an OK player.He was a lineman. He played off and on. He's kind of pudgy with a doughy round face that's hard not to like. He wears horn rimmed glasses and dresses without pretension. Always friendly never wanting to be combative,yet he's aware of what's in his environment. He sat down beside me while Grace was cooking up a couple of burgers on the griddle for him.
"Grace has got himself a pretty popular place here. Best burgers in TJ,"I said.
"I bring my family here quite often."
"I saw that show you did awhile back on the fish taco stand on the corner of 3rd and Madero.I go there all the time.They have great fish tacos."
"I've been going there since I was a little kid,"said Jorge.
"I also saw that show you did on all the new craft beer places in Rosarito.I didn't know Tijuana is into craft beer."
"We want to draw the gringo crowd back again."
"I don't see many white faces down here anymore."
"The Chicanos still come down to have a good time,but the gringos are afraid",said Jorge.
"Tijuana is trying to change its image. They want the tourists to start coming back.It's going to be a tough road."
"I'm trying to show places that would appeal to their likes,"said Jorge.""I've changed my approach."
"I notice your show is almost like a advertisement for the tourist bureau."
"Tijuana has that image of getting drunk and vomiting in the street and going down to the Coahuila and f===ing the whores.Now it's an added problem with all the murders and the cartels."
"It's going to be a tough sell."
Grace set the burgers on the counter in front of Jorge.
"You should do a show on Grace's hamburger joint,"I said to Jorge.
"I think Jorge wants to find a place more sophisticated,"said Grace with a smile."He doesn't do shows about where the common people go to eat.At least not the poor ones."
I looked over to Jorge.His face became flushed.
"Jorge.You should do a show on the CREA gym.Romulo Quirarte is still there running the place. He's got a lot of stories he could tell about Julio Cesar Chavez and Jibaro Perez and all the other fighters."
"I don't want to do a show about boxing.Maybe wrestling,but not boxing.In the beginning I would have,but I want to draw the Americans down here.I want them to think it's safe to take their families."
"You know pal.you're up against it. They have plenty of craft beer places in San Diego and fancy restaurants and trendy bars.Why would they come to TJ?"
"I know what you're saying. They think something bad is going to happen."
"You still should do a story on the CREA."
"We've got plenty of Mexicans that go to the fights."
"Well.They sure don't have any boxing in San Diego anymore."
"They probably think if they went to a fight in Tijuana they'd get stabbed."
"That does happen sometimes,"I said as I gripped my second cheeseburger."But that makes it more the fun unless I get stuck."


The fish taco stand on the corner of 3rd and Madero. Jorge doesn't have places like this on his show anymore. He doesn't want the gringo to think they'll get Montezuma's Revenge.

dagosd2000 wrote: ↑02 Nov 2019, 14:07

Chuck1052 wrote: ↑02 Nov 2019, 10:41 I found a fairly good obituary for Roy DeFilippis on Legacy.com.

- Chuck Johnston

.If I could have only been a better person like Roy DeFilippis.

You can still be!!!

AntonioMartin wrote: ↑04 Nov 2019, 01:29

dagosd2000 wrote: ↑02 Nov 2019, 14:07

.If I could have only been a better person like Roy DeFilippis.

You can still be!!!

Antonio,I'm still a work in progress.

Left Alone

Garbo never said "I want to be alone".She would remark that she actually said "I want to be LEFT alone."

There are some ex fighters that lament for the attention that was heaped upon them when it was a daily diet of free drinks,dope,and pussy, Edgy autograph hounds shoving pads and pens in their faces,guest appearances on the various media shows,endorsements local and national,feature stories in the periodicals, their faces on the covers of sports journals and national magazines,roles in movies and television;the world at their feet. As long as they were winning it didn't matter if behind the scenes their lives were sketchy.Mike Tyson never fell from grace when he was convicted of rape. In fact when he got his release his mystique enhanced.

But ex fighters like Ali,Tyson,Duran,and the elder Chavez will always be in the public eye.Down the road they may have imploded(in the case of Ali hung around too long)but their conceptions when they were on top remains in the minds of the fans who adored them like a blind faith.Father TIme will never scatter their legacies past the stars. But sometimes I come in touch with an ex pug who never reached the altitude of the boxing immortals,yet he wants to be remembered and recognized as one of the living legends.

When I mention Ali,Tyson,Duran ,and Chavez, these fellas' are similar to Garbo. They don't want to be smothered by adulators. Ex legends grow old,They find another life's path.Some can't deal with being an ex fighter, or worse having no title belt around their middle. With an unsophisticated vision of their futures there's often that collapse of ego that becomes the greatest of sports' tragedies- the fall of the ex fighter.

I know an ex fighter that calls me up every so often. I run into him at the boxing ceremonies.He was a great fighter,had a part of a title. He's one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. But the longer he's been away from fighting,the more anxious he becomes. His anxiety is creeping into paranoia. He wasn't on the same pedestal of Ali,Tyson,Duran,or Chavez. He was never running with that crowd. But as the years pass,Father Time casts a darker shadow on his pugilistic feats. I listen attentively when he broaches the subject of his past battles in the ring.
"Don't the people remember when I fought ---- at the Olympic Auditorium and came back after getting cut on the eye to knock him out?"
"Or when I won the championship and made 50 thousand dollars?"
"No one wanted to fight me.I asked ----and he was afraid to fight me."
The facial expression is contorted and reflects a desperation pleading for my validation.I give it. I tell him what he wants to hear. I agree totally.

He knows that I remembered his victories. I was at attendance at some of them. I was an adulator. But to see him groveling now is difficult. It's become a panic. I could say that I don't have an answer.Or that you need to be thankful for what you have and get on with your life.I don't want to kick him to the curb and tell him that no one cares.He's hurt so I don't want to open the wound. I don't want to be sharp, so I enable him.

He's a man that doesn't want to be left alone. He can't let go. I guess as long as he can call me up and spill his guts that serves as a form of therapy.-a catharsis. So the next time I hear from him I'll know what's coming. I'll be all ears. It'll be my pleasure.

The Statue

When the wife and I were in Las Vegas last week we stayed at Caesars Palace,I remember years ago when all those gargantuan hotels didn't exist.the Luxor,Treasure Island,Stratosphere,New York New York,that one with Eiffel Tower-it's a little over the top for me. We used to stay at the Dunes or the Sands,but they tore those landmarks down years ago to make way for these glass and steel elephants. These new erections have left me with a limp dick. They're too big. The intimacy is gone.So is Sinatra,and Dino,and the best show in town,Louie Prima. Across the street at Bally's were these huge images of Donny and Marie Osmond. Underneath it read "Voted Best Show In Las Vegas 3 Years In A Row". I like to watch Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights on my TV when I'm all tucked in under the covers.but to go watch bro and sis rib each other on a Las Vegas stage after paying a small fortune is something that doesn't ignite a spark inside me.But then again it is Las Vegas.Maybe Marie gives Donnie a "lap dance."

But it was a quick getaway.My wife likes to pull on the one arm bandits.Once she's gone through a roll of quarters she wants to eat. I'll play the poker machines.At least there's some strategy involved.I'll also find the sports book if there's something interesting to bet on. Canelo and that big Russian dude were to fight Saturday and I was pretty sure on how that one was going to turn out.I bet Canelo to win by KO past the 6th round.Now I've got an excuse to go back to Caesars to cash in my ticket.The craps and blackjack tables don't interest me. The people that bet a dollar get on my nerves. They're either dumb as donkeys or they act like they're rubbing elbows with Joe Pesci in that movie ,Casino. Then there's the 10 thousand dollar buy in tables.I like to watch ,but that's too rich for my blood.

In the middle of the casino off to the side at Caesars is a statue of Joe Louis striking a boxing pose. Ash Resnick,who was noted for bringing in the "whales" to the casinos put Joe Louis to work as a greeter on the front steps of Caesars Hotel. One time many moons ago me and the wife were staying at the Dunes which was across the street from Caesars. We took a walk to Caesars and low and behold there was Joe Louis on the front steps wearing this ten gallon Stetson.He's all smiles and i'm kicking myself in the ass for not bringing my camera. Anyway,I told this story before about how he said my wife was "pretty' and then he asked me who I thought the best fighter out there was. I said "Ali" and he agreed. Good 'ol Joe Louis. I don't think there was an ounce of jealousy in his body. He probably never said the word "pretentious" in his life and didn't know what it meant anyway.

My father knew him a little when my father was working at Al Capone's dairy,the Meadowmoor,in Chicago. They wanted to put Louis's and Sugar Ray Robinson's names on some of their products. They were shooting for chocolate milk ,but the deals turned out be a wash.I'm glad the milk turned sour on that one.

I can't imagine Joe Louis being vacant from the sport of boxing.He came along when this country was on the verge of morphing into something very different.Between The Great Depression and WW II,FDR and Joe Louis were Herculean figures to draw strength from.They seemed like they were there forever.(I wasn't around during thosetimes but if you live long enough and read about it and hear the stories you can empathize)You could always count on them to pull things through.They always found a way to win even when they were on the ropes.For the black man,Joe Louis put Frederick Douglass on the back burner. Fred never kicked Robert E. Lee's ass in the ring. But to see Max Baer with a swollen face and squinting through watery eyes sitting in the dressing room after Joe Louis made him take a count of ten on a knee looking up mouth agape at Arthur Donovan must have made all the bars in Harlem put any Mardi Gras to shame.

Joe Louis said my wife was pretty and he asked me for my two cents about who I thought was the best fighter.I f---ked up.I should have said Joe Louis. They should have made that statue bigger.

The Self Effacing Champ

A million things have been written about Joe Louis. It's all been good,most of it is bittersweet,but you can't walk away not feeling for him. After Marciano ended Louis' comeback,Rock entered Joe's dressing room crying for what he had done to him. Louis told Marciano not to feel sorry for him.
"I'm all right,"said Joe to Rocky through swollen lips.

Just about everyone wanted something from Joe Louis,and they got it and even more. Sometimes they didn't even have to ask. After winning the title from Braddock ,Louis went down to Alabama and gave the owners of the tenant farm that Louis' parents had worked on money because they had treated Louis' mother and father with kindness.

Louis got his shot at Braddock after Braddock's manager Joe Gould got a guarantee 5% of Louis' take on all the rest of Joe's fights -win, lose, or draw. He gave his purses away to charities when he was in the Army defending his title. Joe Jacobs,the MSG matchmaker never gave nothing away for free when he was making money hand over fist with Louis. John Roxborough,along with fellow policy operator Julian Black,made sure they got their cut. They also were familiar faces on the police blotters. Jack Blackburn,who desreves the credit for making Joe Louis Joe Louis the fighter was the only guy in the entourage who wasn't trying to dip into Joe's back pocket.

After Joe couldn't fight anymore the dock rats didn't let up and that included Uncle Sam. Joe owed so he took up being a wrestler. He started getting health problems(a bad ticker from a fall in the wrestling ring)and the genes he inherited from his father, who was institutionalized for mental illness, began to manifest. I remember the night Larry Holmes defended his title against Trevior Berbick at Caesars Palace in 1981. It might have been Sinatra who pushed Joe in his wheelchair to ringside. I'm guessing again, but one of the announcers on the TV broadcast.Gil Clancy,remarked how well Joe looked. I was shocked.Joe seemed like he was in a trance,a blank stare,purple lips,inaudible. He died that night.But I understand;like when he was the champ,so many people were pulling for him and they wanted to see him good again even though it was make believe.

One time they had Sinatra singing with the Count Basie Band on TV. Kicking off the intro was Sinatra's sycophant the creepy Don Rickles. Well, he's doing his schtick of working around the room insulting people to get his jollies when he eyes Joe Louis sitting at a table. Rickles started drooling saliva from his morbid mouth.
"Oh.Guess who's here?"gloated Mr. Insult."Joe Louis."
Before this troll could get out another word Sinatra cued up the band cutting out Baldy's sick spiel.
Bewildered ,Rickles turned to the band holding up his hands.
"I guess I'm through,"he stammered.

I could never get over these writers that called out Louis for jumping the fence with the likes of Lana Turner,Sonja Henie,and Lena Horne.Like these gals didn't want to know what it was like to get shagged by the heavyweight champ. Then there were the bloodsucking lawyers that convinced Louis' wife that she would be a big entertainment star if they could get a bankroll.A nice divorce settlement would turn the trick. I never saw Louis' ex in any movies or her face on the front of an album cover.

Just after Joe Louis passed away,by happenstance,I ran into one of Joe Louis' adopted sons,John. He was on the Point Loma High School football team where I was assisting. He was a cornerback,not all league caliber,but he held his own. He was very shy,never divulged anything about his surrogate father.I never approached him on the matter. Awhile back I saw a post on the forum from Joe Louis' son,Joe Barrow. He wanted to clarify something that was posted earlier by someone. I tried to PM him about the whereabouts of John Louis, who played on that football team. I never got a reply.

The only "boos" Joe Louis ever heard was the night he fought Walcott the first time. But that clamor was directed at the judges,not Joe Louis. Not so much then,but later I would think about those greaseballs in Little Italy laughing about the time Marciano sent Joe Louis through the ropes one leg dangling on the lower strand. Someone at ringside grabbed his leg and got it off the rope. It was hard to witness. It was a reflex on that guy's part. We didn't want to see Joe Louis like that. He shouldn't have finished that way. it even made Rocky Marciano cry.

Roger, I believe that Joe Louis was the greatest heavyweight ever with the possible exception of Muhammad Ali. Jack Dempsey didn't come close to matching Louis's feats. Yet Dempsey was named in one poll as the greatest fighter of the first half of the 20th Century. Of course, Dempsey was a world heavyweight champion during the 1920s, a time when professional boxing was never more popular, before or since.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 wrote: ↑06 Nov 2019, 21:57 Roger, I believe that Joe Louis was the greatest heavyweight ever with the possible exception of Muhammad Ali. Jack Dempsey didn't come close to matching Louis's feats. Yet Dempsey was named in one poll as the greatest fighter of the first half of the 20th Century. Of course, Dempsey was a world heavyweight champion during the 1920s, a time when professional boxing was never more popular, before or since.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck
I never get into these debates about who was the "greatest' or who was the "worst'. For some people it's their meat. However,I agree with you.

I've got nothing against Dempsey but in no way, shape or form could he come close to the upper echelon of all-time heavyweight greats. Most significant? Sure, he's up there. I'm not into mythical matches so I don't factor that in but he simply doesn't have the resume nor did he truly stand out as that much better than his peers. Some would argue Wills would have beaten him.

The Nutritionist

I knew this guy once who was a nutritionist.He said he had a degree in "sports nutrition". He looked like a prototype of the Southern California beachcomber. I'd go into a physical description,but if you ever saw Tab Hunter in the movies this guy could have been his understudy. His name was Flip. I met him in this gym awhile back where I was working out that was in the neighborhood. I'd go in there basically to get the blood pumping through my muscles. My heavy lifting days were far over. Two torn rotator cuffs,a torn achilles,no cartilage in my right knee,and hips that were bone on bone.I was finished as a serious lifter. So I joined this gym in my neighborhood around 15 years ago and just exercised on the machines. Sometimes I'd go on the treadmill to do some cardio work . This gym was very non threatening. The old ladies liked to gab with me about their grandchildren and their dead husbands as we walked side by side on the treadmills.

This nutritionist dude I was talking about made a big score in this gym with these old ladies. I think they still had some hormones left and liked to be around Mr. Hairless Tanned Chest.He was a real smooth operator and these old gals were standing in line to hire him to be their personal trainer. He knew how to listen to them going on about soap operas,the latest rumors(that they were spreading),and all their little dramas.

I never paid him much attention to Flip. .He knew that I wasn't his type of clientele. Besides,he just patronized women. He was like the hairdresser that is kind of a surrogate psychiatrist.He knew more about their lives and inner feelings than their dead husbands.Those gals knew he wasn't a threat.

However ,one day I heard him talking to the owner of the gym. Flip was saying that a fighter ,who lived in the same apartment complex, hired him to be his nutritionist.Flip was confident that if he could get this fighter on a certain regimen of diet and nutrition that this guy would go on to eclipse Muhammad Ali.
"It's all about what you put in your body.,"Flip went on."A proper diet will work miracles..If you're just an average athlete good nutrition will turn you into a champion."

I had no desire to step on his lines. Skip was so cocksure about his eating philosophy that I knew if I questioned him about it he'd give me that low brow look. Along with the food end of it, Flip had a menu of juices,vitamins,minerals,and herbs that would transform one's body into Charles Atlas kicking sand at the beach.

But I never heard Flip mention anything about the mental makeup. He thought if you put the right stuff in your mouth that was all that mattered. Now when I was hanging around the gym with the fighters I didn't hear much back and forth about nutrition unless it was what bar are we going to after working out. Will it be beer or hard liquor?

Well,you can bet I wanted to find out how Flip's protégé would handle himself in his next fight. To my surprise the local sports column had a write up about Flip's fighter. Turns out he was a local kid and was a heavyweight.He even looked a little like Flip. His record was two wins and no losses. He was going to fight on the undercard at one of the hotels downtown.

The next morning after the fight I bought a paper and immediately opened it to the sports page.Well there was nothing on page one.Page two was the same until I finally got to the back of the sports page and there it was,"Local Heavyweight Jim Clarkson KO'd In Round One." Two or three lines and that was it.The print was so small you needed a magnifying glass to read it.

When I went back to the gym I didn't see Flip.In fact I never saw him again.Later,I asked the owner about him and he told me that Flip had moved on to a different gym. I went over to one of the treadmills and I heard one of the old ladies say to another old gal,"Did you hear about Flip? He moved to Muscle Beach and is working there now."

I guess Muscle Beach would be more to his liking.



The famous Leo Sterns Gym in North Park in San Diego. I lifted there for a time. Three Mr. Universes trained there,Clancy Ross,Eddy Silvestre,and Bill Pearl. Never once did I see a fighter inside the place.

My Way

Jake LaMotta never did roadwork and he never listened to his trainers. Muhammad Ali flicked out his jab,backed straight back from punches,and never went to the body They were all great champions and had their own way of doing things. You could say their "faults" led to their undoings,but in the end they would have been undone by something. if they would have trained differently would they have achieved more?I doubt it.They did it their way and didn't look back over their shoulders.

In this day of age people are constantly searching for the right answer:what is the best way to invest my money ,what is the best movie,what kind of car should I buy,,the best place to eat,how to find the my life's partner,what is true beauty,who to vote for,the true religion,how to live healthier and longer,to be happy,These are just a few examples.

The media is the guru that the masses turn to for their faith so to speak. Television with its countless number of channels,the social medias like Facebook and Twitter,the eternal internet,or how about the guy next door who can't wait to tell you how to live your life? What is it to be socially and politically correct?There are sure plenty of people out there that want to tell you.

Without language the persuasion would be irrelevant.So here I am typing away trying to convince you of something. What if Hitler was born a deaf mute? Or Abe Lincoln?Or Roger Esty?

When I was working on my teacher's credential in college the professor took the class to a restaurant breaking up the students into thirds. One third was blindfolded,the second third had their thumbs tied with string,the last third had their mouths taped shut.I was in the last group. To my amazement I never felt so naturally at ease to express myself.I didn't have to come up with any words to get my point across,what I wanted. it was wonderful.

Since that time at the restaurant I've never taped my mouth shut again. I don't want to be illiterate. I want to speak words,be able to read and write and understand what I'm listening to.. But I know the coming apocalypse began with the first written word. Or the path to heaven would be impossible without a scripture.

In the end it all boils down to "your way." Too bad Ali and Jake aren't around anymore. I'd like to get their advice on a few things. But then again I'd only be seeking something that I have to work out for myself.


Jake LaMotta.He did it his way.

Jake LaMotta's least favorite song

dagosd2000 wrote: ↑04 Nov 2019, 11:39

AntonioMartin wrote: ↑04 Nov 2019, 01:29

You can still be!!!

Antonio,I'm still a work in progress.

Good, my friend!!

Type Cast

I'm sure a lot of you boxing fans saw the movie Cinderella Man that was based on the life of heavyweight champ Jim Braddock. Damon Runyon put that moniker on him when he was following Braddock's career on his way up the ladder and finally earning his shot at the champ Max Baer. I didn't go overboared with the movie. I know the producer /director Ron Howard grew up within TV and media industry,His father Rance Howard was a minor director,producer, and actor,so Ron had a good pedigree going for him. However, his acting in Happy Days was kind of corny for me and his movies were yawners except I liked Cocoon and Apollo 13. I thought his best acting role was as a young Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show. His brother Clint is a often guest at Rick Farris' West Coast Boxing Hall Of Fame ceremonies.But Opie(I mean Ronnie or now it's Ron)seems to have kept his head on his shoulders unlike many Hollywood offspring who have self destructed. Getting back to Cinderella Man.

Like I said,it isn't a flick I'll watch twice.i want to focus on the part of the then champ,Max Baer. His role was played by the actor,Craig Bierko.First of all when I see lousy acting I put the onus on the director and the screenwriter. Craig Bierko playing Max Baer didn't fit the bill for me. Bierko's portrayal was off the mark. Bierko's Baer was rude and arrogant,and though Max had some of those traits in him,the performance was kind of stilted-blame Opie.

I'm not the prime authority on Max Baer,but I did bump into him once,or I should say he purposely set it up that way. I was just a little kid.My parents had taken me and my sisters to the Del Mar Racetrack and afterwards they decided to get a bite to eat in the outside patio at the Del Mar Hotel that was up the road near the ocean. I had a dollar in my hand and took it to the snack bar and bought a hot dog. After getting it in my hands I turned around and smacked into a stone wall. The "wall" was Max Baer. At first I thought I had hit a lamppost.I looked up and saw this bear of a Baer smiling down at me with the cat that swallowed the canary grin.
"Oh,I'm sorry sonny,"he smirked."Are you all right?". Like he could have cared less.

This was in the late 50's. Max was in the championship rounds of his life ,but you could see he was losing the battle. He was paunchy and had bags under his eyes. he looked like he was now fighting in the ring ,Jim Beam. I had to go around him because he didn't budge an inch. They say a first impression is a lasting one.Well,bumping into Max Baer has stood the test of time with me.

I think if you want to get a handle on how the real Max Baer was like all you have to do is watch what movies and TV shows he showed his face in. For starters, he wasn't what you'd call a" method actor. " I don't think Hollywood saw the next Sir Laurence Olivier with the Livermore Larruper.In the movie The Lady And The Prizefighter he was the perfect foil for the prim and proper Belle (played by Myrna Loy)).Belle falls in love with this man/boy hunk Steve(played by Baer) who has a short fuse and likes to hit first and ask questions later. But Steve is not really a mean kind of guy,He thinks punching another fella is to be taken as seriously as playing tiddlywinks. It just takes a night of Steve working his boyish charm on Belle to get her into the sack and married.(In about as much time as when Max KO'd Comiskey).Belle's big spending beau Willie (Otto Kruger) is left in the rosin box as Steve is eyed by the promoters as being the next heavyweight champ of the world.But Steve is an uninhibited sort who does what he wants,especially with the opposite sex, without giving it a second thought.(Maybe Jake LaMotta saw the movie).In the end Steve "fights" the real champ Primo Carnera(Primo Carnera) and it ends in a draw. But at the finish little big man Steve says he's sorry to Belle for being a naughty boy and they live happily ever after.

Lou Costello liked to use Max and his bigger bro Buddy in some of his movies and later in The Abbott And Costello TV shows.Same kind of parts:Max punches before he thinks and is off like a loose cannon .The big pug is always thinking Costello is trying to move in on one of platinum blond molls.

Baer trained like he fought.Sometimes he did more talking and laughing in the ring than fighting.That's what undid him with Braddock. After bouncing Carnera up and down on the canvas like a rubber ball,the boxing public thought they saw the second coming of Dempsey. Jack also bought into the mirage and helped train Max.But after making a joke of himself with the Cinderella Man and then getting beaten to a pulp by Joe Louis,Max had to make his "funnies"fighting in towns like Silver Peak and Honolulu. He drew a second breath with Comiskey and looked like he might get another shot at a title,but Lou Nova was an obstacle that Baer could never hurdle.

I'm not a movie critic nor a boxing pundit,but I know a good entertainer when I see one. Max Baer was the best actor ever to step into the ring.


Max Baer



Baer looking out into ga ga land after getting floored by Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium. Like getting hit by Babe Ruth's bat.

Veterans Day

I've told you a lot about my father.A lot about his ties with the Outfit in Chicago.His father,Diamond Joe Esposito, was as big a big shot in the annals of whatever you want to call that kind of stuff;bootlegging,gambling,prostitution,extortion.contract hits;all those endeavors that are glamorized in movies like the Goodfather and Goodfellas.Diamond Joe was gunned down in street while he was walking home with his bodyguards from a union meeting.He was half a block from his house when my father,sister,and his wife were waiting for him on the front steps. A car drove by slowly near him. Diamond Joe thought the car had a flat tire.
"Hey you guys all right?You got a flat tire or something?"
They didn't have a flat tire,but they had something in mind and that was to rub out Diamond Joe.Two guys leaped from the car and pumped 56 garlic soaked shotgun shells into his body. The bodyguards had hit the pavement.

My father and the rest of Diamond Joe's family kind of went into a tailspin after the murder.My grandmother knew the killers and went to Al Capone. He reacted with a typical Mob response.
"It was an accident."
As a common gesture Capone offered to take in my father to live with his family.My father lived with the Capone's for several years.He was 13 years old. While living with the Capone's he became pals with Al's son,Al junior, who everyone called Sonny. After a spell, Al's wife,Mae, complained to her husband that my father was a bad influence on their boy. So my father was handed off to his one legged Uncle Chas who lived in New York. In the meantime my grandmother was blowing what was left of Diamond Joe's fortune.

Because my grandfather had tutored all the future Dons in the Chicago Outfit:Frank Nitti,Sam Giancana,Paul Ricca,Tony Accardo,and last but not least Capone himself,the Mob guys always had something for my father.When World War II broke out all the Wiseguys in Chicago got a pass from going into the service. The draft board put them on the pay no mind list.But my father's little brother ,Chuckie,wanted to enlist. He didn't want to get involved up with racketeers. Chuckie asked my father what branch of the service was the best.My father replied the Marine Corps.So my Uncle Chuck joined the Marines and was at Guadacanal,the first big U.S. land battle in the Pacific.

There was a spell at Guadacanal during the fighting when the country lost contact with those Marines. Admiral Halsey had gone and chased the Japanese fleet up the coast so there was no transmissions sent back home.Now my father was back in Chicago playing like Public Enemy Number One when he got overwhelmed with guilt about hearing the news that his little brother was MIA(turned out later he was OK).So my father does an about face and goes down to the recruiting station and joined the Marines.

My father was with the 1st Division 5 Corps.He was part of the "Old Breed";the Marines that had fought at Peleliu and Okinawa. The called those Marines "The Old Breed" because after the battle of Peleliu that was so horrific,5 Corps could opt out of going to Okinawa. My father and 3000 other Band Of Brothers were Gung Ho. Thus they were called "The Old Breed."

After the war my father got his service revolver and killed one of the gunmen who had murdered his father. The other guy was already dead from a Mob hit. My father had wanted to stay in the Marines, but my mother would have no part of it.
":I don't want to have babies in China",she griped(My father was in China after the war to help disarm the Japanese Kwantung army).
So my father returned to Chicago and buddied up with the Outfit.They looked at him as a coming home hero so to speak. He soaked it all up like dry sponge. But in the end he got in triouble.It made all the papers.-front page news. That was it.My mother wanted us to leave Chicago because of the scandal.

Let me tell you,San Diego was no Chicago as for as Italian Outfit guys getting a toe hold.My father was like a ship without a rudder. He never got a job or even wanted one.(Work for some white guy?).Most of the Italians in San Diego were fisherman.(Me go out with a pole in my hand standing on the side of a boat?) So he spent most of his days lamenting the past times running with the Wiseguys.He was on the phone to Chicago everyday talking to his old pals. However, Father Time was rubbing out those old friends. The last years of my father's life were bittersweet. He had health problems,but he never felt sorry for himself.I saw my father take stock in his days when he was a Marine. He had pictures on his bedroom wall of the battles he was in,a big Marine Corps emblem,his record player was constantly playing Glenn Miller records. The day he died in is room I heard him singing "I Got A Gal From Kalamazoo."

I'm glad my father turned it around the way he did. He took more pride serving his country with the 5 Corps than anything else besides his family. If only my mother would have consented. Hell,I wouldn't have minded about being born in China.


Corporal Joseph Jack Esposito 1st Division 5 Corps United States Marines

I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo-Glenn Miller Orchestra,Tex Beneke vocals,Marion Hutton and the Modernairers,(Jackie Gleason on the bass) the Nicholas Brothers tearing it apart.

Joe Louis Was A Fighting Man

13

They talk about the great middleweights of the 70's and 80's:Hagler,Leonard,Hearns,Duran,and Monzon. Some were blown up with weight like Leonard,Hearns,and Duran,but none the less they were great fighters,legends. But there was a spell during the 90's where I think the division was steeped with talent,maybe more than anytime in boxing history. Look up the records of fighters like McCallum,Benn,McClellan,Collins,Jackson,Eubank,Graham,Watson,and then add Jones Jr. and Toney and you have some pretty tough boys. Watch their fights on YouTube.Guys that could take you out with either hand. With the exception of Jones and Toney you don't hear their names mentioned much in the United States. They fought each other like a merry go round round robin tournament. They were complete fighters that exhibited the skills to take on any of the aforementioned middleweights I put down in the first sentence.

Hearns,Duran,Hagler,and Leonard were familiar with each other. The only fighter that I named in the first sentence,Monzon,never squared of with any of the others. Monzon retired in 1977 after compiling a record of 87-3 and 9 draws.I often wonder about the draws.

I'm going to stray from my normal mantra of not getting into the mythical matchups of fighters from different eras,but Monzon has always bothered me. Oh,I guess that's because he crushed my favorite Napoles when Jose thought all he had to do is show up in the ring and become the middleweight champ. Forget Benvenuti.He was one of those native mainland Italians.The second time he fought Monzon he went into the ring already licked.

If you look at Carlos' defenses (granted that's about all that was credible to put together) c'mon man:a tired bloated Moyer,an out of shape bloated Napoles,a worn out Griffith,an over the hill Briscoe,a stand up bland Bogs,an unspectacular Bouttier,a forgettable Tonna,a forgettable Licata,a flash in the pan Mundine,Valdes was a good fighter but that was Monzon's stiffest test. I would have liked to see Monzon fight any of those guys I named in that first paragraph. They were all in their primes then.

Don't get me wrong. Carlos fought them all.There just wasn't much left in the tank with most of them or they just never cut muster. Monzon deserves to sit on the throne with the immortals and the living legends. But if he had faced the 13 other fighters I named I think 13 would be have been his unlucky number.


Carlos Monzon

dagosd2000 wrote: ↑12 Nov 2019, 22:12 13

They talk about the great middleweights of the 70's and 80's:Hagler,Leonard,Hearns,Duran,and Monzon. Some were blown up with weight like Leonard,Hearns,and Duran,but none the less they were great fighters,legends. But there was a spell during the 90's where I think the division was steeped with talent,maybe more than anytime in boxing history. Look up the records of fighters like McCallum,Benn,McClellan,Collins,Jackson,Eubank,Graham,Watson,and then add Jones Jr. and Toney and you have some pretty tough boys. Watch their fights on YouTube.Guys that could take you out with either hand. With the exception of Jones and Toney you don't hear their names mentioned much in the United States. They fought each other like a merry go round round robin tournament. They were complete fighters that exhibited the skills to take on any of the aforementioned middleweights I put down in the first sentence.

Hearns,Duran,Hagler,and Leonard were familiar with each other. The only fighter that I named in the first sentence,Monzon,never squared of with any of the others. Monzon retired in 1977 after compiling a record of 87-3 and 9 draws.I often wonder about the draws.

I'm going to stray from my normal mantra of not getting into the mythical matchups of fighters from different eras,but Monzon has always bothered me. Oh,I guess that's because he crushed my favorite Napoles when Jose thought all he had to do is show up in the ring and become the middleweight champ. Forget Benvenuti.He was one of those native mainland Italians.The second time he fought Monzon he went into the ring already licked.

If you look at Carlos' defenses (granted that's about all that was credible to put together) c'mon man:a tired bloated Moyer,an out of shape bloated Napoles,a worn out Griffith,an over the hill Briscoe,a stand up bland Bogs,an unspectacular Bouttier,a forgettable Tonna,a forgettable Licata,a flash in the pan Mundine,Valdes was a good fighter but that was Monzon's stiffest test. I would have liked to see Monzon fight any of those guys I named in that first paragraph. They were all in their primes then.

Don't get me wrong. Carlos fought them all.There just wasn't much left in the tank with most of them or they just never cut muster. Monzon deserves to sit on the throne with the immortals and the living legends. But if he had faced the 13 other fighters I named I think 13 would be have been his unlucky number.


Carlos Monzon

Although far from being a classy boxer, Carlos Monzon knew what he was doing in the ring, including making the most of his height advantage.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 wrote: ↑13 Nov 2019, 00:58

dagosd2000 wrote: ↑12 Nov 2019, 22:12 13

They talk about the great middleweights of the 70's and 80's:Hagler,Leonard,Hearns,Duran,and Monzon. Some were blown up with weight like Leonard,Hearns,and Duran,but none the less they were great fighters,legends. But there was a spell during the 90's where I think the division was steeped with talent,maybe more than anytime in boxing history. Look up the records of fighters like McCallum,Benn,McClellan,Collins,Jackson,Eubank,Graham,Watson,and then add Jones Jr. and Toney and you have some pretty tough boys. Watch their fights on YouTube.Guys that could take you out with either hand. With the exception of Jones and Toney you don't hear their names mentioned much in the United States. They fought each other like a merry go round round robin tournament. They were complete fighters that exhibited the skills to take on any of the aforementioned middleweights I put down in the first sentence.

Hearns,Duran,Hagler,and Leonard were familiar with each other. The only fighter that I named in the first sentence,Monzon,never squared of with any of the others. Monzon retired in 1977 after compiling a record of 87-3 and 9 draws.I often wonder about the draws.

I'm going to stray from my normal mantra of not getting into the mythical matchups of fighters from different eras,but Monzon has always bothered me. Oh,I guess that's because he crushed my favorite Napoles when Jose thought all he had to do is show up in the ring and become the middleweight champ. Forget Benvenuti.He was one of those native mainland Italians.The second time he fought Monzon he went into the ring already licked.

If you look at Carlos' defenses (granted that's about all that was credible to put together) c'mon man:a tired bloated Moyer,an out of shape bloated Napoles,a worn out Griffith,an over the hill Briscoe,a stand up bland Bogs,an unspectacular Bouttier,a forgettable Tonna,a forgettable Licata,a flash in the pan Mundine,Valdes was a good fighter but that was Monzon's stiffest test. I would have liked to see Monzon fight any of those guys I named in that first paragraph. They were all in their primes then.

Don't get me wrong. Carlos fought them all.There just wasn't much left in the tank with most of them or they just never cut muster. Monzon deserves to sit on the throne with the immortals and the living legends. But if he had faced the 13 other fighters I named I think 13 would be have been his unlucky number.


Carlos Monzon

Although far from being a classy boxer, Carlos Monzon knew what he was doing in the ring, including making the most of his height advantage.

- Chuck Johnston

Oh he was no stiff. He was a tough guy and had a mean streak. But I would have liked to seen him fight in the States more or in the UK(howver when he was champ in the70's there were no Brit that he couldn't have handled) instead of his playground,Luna Park.And the story Charlie Austin told me once about Monzon weighing in on his "own" scale.He quit when he was on top.I'll hand that to him. Roy Jones' legacy will always be questioned because he hung around too long.

Down Mexico Way

Will be gone for two weeks.Going back down to my wife's hometown.We're taking out daughter with us. That's good for me.She'll back up her mother and provide more of a buffer between myself and my wife's brothers and sisters. The town hasn't changed much in the 45 years I've been going down there. For me that's good because the rat race isn't like it is here, but for the people their struggle gets harder and harder.Everything down there is more expensive than in San Diego. The only thing that's cheaper is rent or the price of a house. But if you don't have a job or are making 60 dollars a week the battle of the cost of living is like drowning on a sinking ship.



The street on where we live in Jiquilpan. That's our house,the beige one, on the left with my car(I sold it) parked in front.

Sorry, guys, I couldn't even comment on the Monzon thing. I'm still trying to crawl my way through the irony that Al Capone's wife thought Rog's Dad was a bad influence on Sonny.