geoffreysadao wrote: ↑10 Mar 2021, 22:46
I kind of figured that to be the case about Geraldo. Do you remember a fighter named Victor Abraham from the 70's and early 80's? What were your impressions of him? I thought he was pretty capable, and I only saw his fights against Rudy Barro and Milton McCrory. I know that he was Sugar Ray Leonard's sparring partner for a time.
I saw Abraham fight at The San Diego Coliseum against a journeyman fighter Mike Mayan,losing a very close decision in a very exciting fight. They fought again ,this time Abraham getting the decision.The rubber match also went to Abraham. I didn't see fights 2 and 3.What I remember about Abraham was that he didn't possess a lot of skills.He was slow and didn't get much behind his punches and left himself open,but he did have guts.At the end of career he became a stepping stone for the up and comer.A blue collar guy who gave the fans their money's worth.
The San Diego Coliseum 30 years after it closed its doors for the last time
You're taking a risk if you park your car on the street in Tijuana,especially at night. There isn't a section of the city where it's not uncommon to come out in the morning and see you car that has been left at the curb with its windows smashed and something stolen from it. In the cty parking lots are quite common and do a good business,but all but one that I know of closes at 9 pm. The parking lot in back of the Soriana on Revolution Street is open all night and they have security guards riding bicycles patrolling the block long lot. As for the lots that close at 9 pm. if your car is there after closing time you can't get it out till the next morning. But sometimes even leaving your car in the parking lot,especially when it gets dark,is dangerous.Gangs work with the attendant and wait for you to get back to your car and then you get mugged and robbed. Sometimes you read in the papers that some poor would got knifed to death. Also, drug deals go down in some of those parking lots.Ain't life swell?
Back in the day(here I go again)going to the fights it depended where you went if you there was a parking lot.The Municipal Auditorium out on Diaz Ordaz Boulevard has no parking lot.But there's a standard procedure that one should follow if he wants no harm to come to his car. You drive around the area until you find a spot on the street. The neighborhoods are pretty dark at night.Not many street lights.Then ,like cockroaches emerging from their hiding places,kids will approach you and say they will watch your car for a tip.You better leave them a tip BEFORE you go inside. Everyone does this. A dollar will suffice. I've done this dozens of times and I've never had a problem. However,one night I took my son and his friends to the lucha libre at the Auditorium and parked on the street.To my bewilderment no kids came out running to my car that I had parked about three blocks away. When we got back, to my sorrow, I saw that the driver's window was smashed and my tape deck(I'm dating myself) had been lifted.What really irked me was that there was a city cop car parked at the corner with a big fat cop behind the wheel. I asked him if he saw anything and of course he replied that "Me no see nutting." I might add that the kids(the thieves often) work together with the cops and at night's end they split the money, or in my case whoever got my tape deck.
The old downtown bullring had a dirt lot in front. I guess it was for parking but there was never any attendants showing you where to bring in your car.There were no lines for proper spacing. I never parked in there because,especially if you were one of the first ones,you would never get your car out after the fights were over unless you waited to wait for things to unclog that usually took hours. The cars were parked in there like a metal jigsaw puzzle. Those idiots knew it would be a mess if they parked their cars like that but their mentality said"Oh I won't have a problem getting out.I'll be all right" WRONG. So if I went to a fight at the bullring I'd look for a spot on one of the side streets and wait for the kids to come over.
The Jai Alai Palace on Revolution Street had a lot of fights and they had a parking lot with attendants.You had to pay but it was worth it.The only thing was that it was a small lot so you had to get there early.If not you drove around and parked on the street and waited for the kids. It was no good to park in a lot that closed early.The fights wouldn't be over by then.
I remember one time I parked my car in the Coahuila on the street. After a night of kicking up my heels I returned to find the driver's side window smashed and the glove compartment ransacked. They had taken the registration and my insurance card. i thought I would be safe parking my car there because the street was all lit up from the cantinas and little restaurants and taco stands and a there were a lot of people walking around.But then that didn't mean that there wasn't any den of thieves in that part of town.It was a breeding ground. The next day I get a phone call.The operator said that it was from Tijuana and if I would accept the charge. I said "no".In the backround I hear this Mexican in broken English.
"Meester.I find you papers on the ground for you car.I geev them to you for money."
I got the message. Besides,I had called the DMV and my insurance guy that morning.
In Tijuana you do what you have to do to make a buck.Making a buck isn't like it is up here.However,it's getting that way more and more.
This is the Arena Coliseo , a boxing venue in Tijuana,located on Agua Caliente Boulevard about a half mile before reaching the racetrack.No parking lot here. The place always reminded me in size and atmosphere of the Coliseum in San Diego. Didn't showcase any big fights in TJ. Rodolfo Gonzalez told me he fought there once before winning the WBC lightweight title. Fought a club fighter more to get a good workout. The place closed years ago. I don't know what the building's use is now.
This goes back almost 60 years ago. There suddenly erupted a rash of infant deaths in Tijuana.The causes of the deaths was poisoning from a toxic chemical. At first the police thought a homicidal maniac might be behind it. The death toll mounted daily and caused a panic. Then it was discovered that the poison was found in baby's formulas.Mothers were mixing the contaminated formula in their babies' bottles. But how did it get in there?After a lot of diligent investigating the authorities traced the poison to a shipment of insecticide that had been shipped in a freight car. Seems the cases of insecticide were stacked on top of cases of powdered baby formula. Somehow there was a leak in one of the cases of insecticide and the liquid had seeped into the boxes of baby formula. To think that they would pack insecticide on top of cases of baby formula was not only careless but stupid.
There was a fighter in Tijuana,a prelim kid,very popular with the fans who lost a baby son to this tragedy.He never fought after that.Never said why but I presume it had to do with the loss of his son.
There was some pressure on Marcel Cerdan Jr. to carry his father's torch. After his father died tragically in that airplane crash outside the Azores on his way back to the United States to fight the rematch with Jake La Motta,France was hungry for one their own to wreak revenge on their dead hero.Cerdan had built a a record in Europe,most of those fights in France and Algeria,against fighters that would have fallen in the rabbit hole here in America. Finally,when he ran out of Continental opposition he was brought to the U.S. to show his stuff. He won ,but not impressively,however a match with middleweight champ Tony Zale was about all that was left.
Tony was about as stale as poorhouse cake in the fight. It was after the war and a lot of former great fighters were beginning to lose their edge. The night Tony lost his title against Cerdan he couldn't have cut(or fought) his way out of a paper bag. Both men had the same style:come out charging like a battering ram until the other fell.it was Tony who was doing the falling.
After brushing aside Zale,Marcel went back to Europe to make a couple of defenses,but it was the same old song and dance. The quality of fighter over there was not on the level of the fighter over here. So Jake La Motts got his long awaited call. Jake wasn't the favorite. He fought a lot like Cerdan letting it all hang out but Marcel could hit harder, There's no film of the fight. I've some snippets from some guy who was in the crowd who was trying to steady his hand held camera but you really can't glean much from any of that footage.If you believe what your eyes saw of the fight in Scorsese's Raging Bull-well,there's a lot of bull,especially the part of La Motts clipping Cerdan with a hook knocking him to the canvas. From what the reporters saw,and I'm speaking of the U.S. ilk,they saw Jake give Marcel a martial arts flip during a clinch that evidently put his left shoulder out of commision. By the 10th round Marcel was a one arm fighter. He didn't come out of his corner at the bell.
Now it was time to heal up,train in France,and then return to America to get back the title that Marcel didn't want to loan to Jake. Many thought that was going to be the scenario.But fate's fickle finger intervened and France's treasure went crashing down into the sea. Now the country wanted to find one of their own to make things right again.
Robert Villemain was called upon to answer the bell,but Jake didn't want to put up his belt as the trophy.Villemain easily decisioned an uninspired La Motta in the Garden ,but for Bob it was like kissing his sister.Next Frenchman in line was Laurent Dauthuille who promised the tri color that he would take care of La Motta have his head on a platter and bring back the crown on a silver one. But Jake pulled the coals out of the fire in the last round and France still had no champion.
Marcel Cerdan had a son he named after himself.You could hear the pot brewing.In 1964 he began his pro career.He didn't look like his dad who was a stocky swarthy sort covered with hair and fought like an animal. Junior was a rangy kid,pasty skinned,stood straight up and flicked his punches. He had more of his mother's genes in him than his father's.He went along in France fighting a lot of claim horses.But the ruse was wearing thin.It was about time to find out who he was.
The promoters brought him to America to fight another fighter that spoke the same lingo-a French Canadian ,Donato Paduano. Both boys hadn't lost. It would be an acid test. They staged the fight in The Garden. Junior lost fair and square, the fight going the full ten. It was all there to see.He wasn't like Papa. The kid was a kid. A nice kid. He went back to France and returned to fighting no names. The people didn't hold it against him.They knew all along.He fought for the French welter title losing to Robert Gallois and had one more fight before calling it a career.
I don't think France was holding their breath with Junior.Marcel Cerdan was called the Moroccan Bombardier.I wouldn't say his son dropped a bombshell by not becoming a world champion..it was more like laying an egg.
When Oscar De La Hoya beat Julio Cesar Chavez it didn't sit well with Mexico.Then two years later he beat him again.In both fights Chavez was well behind before he was stopped.At the time of the first fight I didn't think Chavez could beat De La Hoya.When they fought two years later it was a no brainer.De La Hoya was at his peak then. He was tall and had a long reach.He had the skills,a smooth style,and most importantly he was confident. Later,after he lost to Trinidad his belief in himself started to wane,but when he was in there with Chavez he was on top of his game. He looked unstoppable.
When he beat Chavez he won over Mexico's most prized possession. Chavez was considered Mexico's greatest fighter. It's still kind of that way now,but it wouldn't be "Kind of" if he hadn't lost to Oscar.De La Hoya,a Chicano, never lost to a Mexican national.He never fought in Mexico and didn't marry a Mexican woman. I remember when he won his Olympic Gold Medal.I was in Mexico at the time and the Mexican press wasn't paying much attention to his success.One Mexican reporter at the end of his show said something to give that credence.
"Oscar De La Hoya,the American,won a Gold Medal in the flyweight division."All said with a deadpan face.That was it.
I don't think Americans realize the self inflicted feelings Latin America,and especially Mexico ,have comparing themselves with Europe and the United States.It was the dictator Diaz that said,"Mexico.So far from God.So near the United States."
The county being very Cathollc didn't appreciate his comment ,but what he wanted to convey was that Mexico is always playing second fiddle to the United States. I'll stick with sports along this line.
The best Mexican soccer players don't play on club teams in their country. You can find them on the pitch in Europe. And these players flaunt it. The Mexican national team will never win a World Cup. They've got it their minds that they'll never advance beyond the second round.They are not as good as the Europeans.Only Uruguay,Brazil,and Argentina have worked their magic.
When Mexico beat defending champion Germany in the opening game of the 2018 World Cup 1-0,it was like Douglas beating Tyson. I don't think any team in the world could have beaten Mexico that day. It was the moment when Mexico said to themselves no more second fiddle. No more mongrel complex-the mangy dog who's kicked to the side of road because that's what's expected.. And they beat not only the world champs but a team representing a country that has a history of thinking they are racially superior. Mexico ran them off the pitch that day. They had the eye of the tiger for all 90 minutes. Their dog had a bite that bit the German Shephard's head off.
But then when it was over Mexico regressed back to their feelings of inadequacy.They couldn't ride the wave.They fell off their boards and slowly drowned.World Cup soccer is a metaphor of a country's mettle. It's way more than a game. It's a study in psychology.The man in the street is living his life through his team. If they win,he's a winner.If they lose,it's the doldrums.
So when Oscar beat Julio it hurt. Chavez's only loss was to Randall prior(though let's face it Sweet Pea got jobbed against Chavez in San Antonio)Chavez was not the mongrel dog that got kicked around. He did the chomping. He was the top dog.He was what Mexico wanted in their hero. Bring them all on..That big mouth Yankee Haugen got it stuck up his culo in front of 120,000 cheering "ole" for their David. Chavez is the best in the world and he is US.
Then De La Hoya committed the sacrilege. He was everything Mexican except he was born in the wrong country thich nixed the whole deal.. Could Mexico still say Chavez is the best? No. Now they had use the past tense-"was".
"Canelo" Alvarez wants to be known as the best Mexican fighter ever when he finally retires.He's on his way. He lost to Mayweather,but Mayweather was something special and "Canelo" was too green.But Alvarez was on his feet after it was over and although his pride might have been hurt he left the arena without going to the hospital.But now he had to regroup and not fall to pieces like so many other Mexican fighters that had suffered that first loss after running up the long win streak.A lot of people,including a lot of aficianados thought Triple G would get the best of him.But after a draw and a "Canelo" win it looks he's in command.
But now if you compare Alvarez and Chavez about who ranks on top,you have to think that "Canelo" has caught a break. There's not much competition for him ahead. Chavez fought a lot of world champions where "Canelo's" wins, though impressive, haven't been face to face with many greats.
I think that "Canelo" will play it out without losing again. He's going to have to finish that way if he wants his name placed above Chavez's in the annals of Mexican fighters. But you never know. if some fighter is out there that acts like a Buster Douglas the night he pulled it off against Tyson,and if Alvarez is thinking he's going to kick the mongrel to the curb like expected,well...we can certainly open a thread on the forum about who was the best Mexican fighter and let the barking begin.
When Jake LaMotta won the middleweight championship from Marcel Cerdan some boxing scribe said that Jake was the best middleweight since Stanley Ketchel.WellJake wasn't the most humble guy around but when he heard the accolade he said something to the effect like,"Hell,that guy wasn't even born when Ketchel fought.What does he know?" If you look at Ketchel on film against Papke in their last fight and the one against Johnson ,Jake could have felt insulted.
Sometimes these pundits let their imaginations run away with themselves.There's been some argument on the thread about Peter Jackson being qualified as a legit non champion. All I can say is that the fact of the matter is that he was never a world champion.He tried to get John L. Sullivan into the ring with him but Johnny made no bones about drawing the color line. That tells me that The Great John L. was afraid he might lose to the colored man.You gonna say because Jackson was black that he didn't deserve to fight him? To touch a black man's sweaty skin and smell his body odor was degrading? Brings me to the old adage,"What makes you think your s--t don't stink?"
There's no film of any of Jackson's fights. The most remembered fight of his career was when he and Corbett fought that draw that lasted 61 rounds before both men called a truce.In 1898 he was knocked senseless by Jim Jeffries.Jackson was 38 years old and had been bending his elbow a lot and was in the initial stages of tuberculosis. He died in 1901.
Jackson was one of the founding inductees in the Pioneer Group of the IBHOF in 1990.Here a a few quotes from some that fought him,saw him, and one who wasn't even a twinkle in his daddy's eye.
"The greatest of all masters."-Frank Slavin
"The greatest fighter whoever breathed"-Bob Fitsimmons
"Jackson was more scientific than Jack Johnson,was faster and smoother than Joe Louis but hit as hard,and possessed footwork similar to Muhammad Ali,and in the opinion of this writer,was one of the greatest fighters in the history of the heavyweight division and deserves to be ranked among the all time best in the division."-Tracy Callis
OK.Slavin fought him.Fitz saw him fight.But Tracy? You weren't even born yet when Jackson got the final 10 count.Talk about imaginations running away with some people.
You think you're going to get the truth nothing but the truth when you read someone's autobiography. All the sordid details,the mistakes(and if there are any they were made with good intentions of course).Nothing there to give the prosecution any ammunition.
I've read Jack Johnson's story of himself before he turned 50 years of age. Listen to Jack tell it,there wasn't an ounce of deception in his manner. But if you put his book down at the end you think your pocket had been picked. I read Dempsey's self told story told to Bob Considine. Bob and Jack were joined at the hip. Pretty pedestrian stuff. I have Henry Armstrong's recollections. It's out of print. He's probably as honest with himself as he could get but the words gloss along like something you'd find in the children's section of your local library. Then there's Raging Bull that filled with bull.But to think that Jake LaMotta is going to even put his most naughty deeds in a bad light you're crazy.Like the time before he became a fighter he mugged that old man and robbed him thinking he might have killed him.He relates that little ditty like he was giving today's weather forecast. Or when he got out of the slammer and screwed(the way he described it it was more like rape) his best friend's girl.(He couldn't help himself) And he didn't go into the tank with Billy Fox.(He made sure he had a doctor's note saying he hurt his kidney in training and that's why he looked like a stumblebum that night)
But you gotta read about what they did. Of course they're not going to throw a lot of dirt on themselves. They keep the skeletons under lock and key.But I would do the same thing. I do it all the time.My lips are moving but what comes out is like taking the 5th-nothing to incriminate me.Sometimes I have these "regrets"-but not in words that would put me behind bars or live in hell.You can call it the survival of the fittest.When I was a kid I went to Catholic school.I'd go to Confession and tell the priest everything. I told him stuff that wasn't even bad but I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. Then he'd tell me to say 10 Our Fathers and 10 Hail Mary's.And then I'd go out and commit the same "sins" again. But talking to that priest every Friday was my salvation,or so I thought. I bet that priest could have written some kind of best seller.. But then he couldn't do that because he had made a vow.That's what pen names are for.
But who wants to tell the truth anyway?Or know it?Little white lies are applicable. My wife came in the other day after going to the beauty parlor.She asked me what I thought about her new hairdo. Now I have to go back to Confession and throw that in.But I won't tell you bout the "good" stuff.Besides,for 10 Our Fathers and 10 Hail Mary's he let's me off easy.
I thought you guys might like this.The first time I've seen it. Hagler was all right in my book. A man's man. A real good guy.Here he is in Italy promoting a movie.
Here he is when he still looked like he was in his prime.
My mythical matchup is Hagler and Monzon. Better watch your ass Carlos
Me again.Maybe I'm getting old and sentimental(I think there's a song by that title),but Hagler's death got to me.I'm still thinking about it. When watching the video of him walking(the first video in my last post)in that park being interviewed he cautions the reporter to "watch the dog."
Hagler was just an outstanding fighter and man. Such a skilled, tough craftsman. I first read about him in Fall of '77 in Sports Illustrated, and that's when I started following his career. He was clamoring for an title shot against Rodrigo Valdez, and he was beating guys like Finnegan, Colbert, Demmings, Warren, etc. By the time that Leonard fought him, he was understandably showing a lot of wear and tear. His death hit me hard too.
It was the first year that Disneyland opened its doors,1955. My father wanted to send my mother,my sisters,and his mother who we all called "Nana" out to California to say "hi" to Mickey Mouse. My father had been stationed at Camp Pendleton during the war and my mother drove out across the country from Chicago to visit him before he was sent out to the Pacific Theater.For me and my sisters and "Nana" it was our first time to the land of orange groves and Never Neverland.
My father had booked us into the Ambassador Hotel.We were there two weeks.This was during the summer and I was looking forward to going back to school and telling of my adventures in California mainly to make the other kids jealous. We did the usual tourist things.First, we rented a car.We went to Knotts Berry Farm.The highlight for me was going inside Jim Jeffries Barn and looking at all the old fight pictures on the walls.Then there was The Farmers Market that certainly was a contrast to any produce stand that was set up on the curb back on Polk and Oakley Boulevards.We got on a sightseeing bus and saw where all the movie stars lived. The Pike in Long Beach had the biggest roller coaster I'd ever seen.even bigger than the one in Chicago's amusement park,Riverview.that was called "The Bobs."We ate in the Brown Derby Restaurant and remembered my grandmother ordered spaghetti and the waiter said they didn't have it. Spaghetti wasn't on the menu but my grandmother insisted anyway. I think someone went to the store and got a can of Chef Boy R Dee and warmed it up and put in on a plate.She ate it and didn't put up a squawk.We spent a couple of days in San Diego.We drove down and stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado where they shot that movie "Some Like It Hot."We went to the zoo there and it blew away the Brookfield Zoo that was in Chicago.And of course we spent all day in Disneyland. I remember it being a very hot day.My favorite ride was in the Safari Boat and the fake hippos bursting out of the water splashing everyone on deck.
Staying at the Ambassador Hotel was quite an experience. Every morning a waiter would bring breakfast to our door.Dick Haymes was singing inside at the Coconut Grove.My mother and "Nana" went to see him. Me and my sisters were too young so we stayed with the house babysitter. But I did see Haymes' wife at the time ,Rita Hayworth ,at the swimming pool. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in person.Then there was Victor McLaglen. I didn't know who he was but my mother went up to him and started a conversation.She acted like a little girl. He seemed to enjoy talking to my mother. They didn't talk for too long. My mother came back, her face all flushed. My mother was really a "looker". Victor McLaglen looked like a walrus.
We spent a lot of time at the pool.It was the place to go during the day to spot movie stars. But there was only two(besides Rita Hayworth and Victor McLaglen)and they weren't really movie stars,Walter Cronkite and Eleanor Roosevelt.But getting to see Victor McLaglen was the highlight,at least for my mother. Victor McLaglen? I didn't know who he was but my mother did and she was enthralled.He was quite a brute and had a face to match.But what disarmed it all was his wide grin and amiable manner. He seemed to be alone and one day he set his towel on a lounge chair next to we were at the pool.At the time though Rita Hayworth was what I thought about when I went to bed.
Many years later when I was sinking my teeth into boxing I learned more about Victor McLaglen.In 1935 he won an Oscar for best leading role by an actor in the movie,The Informer.It was directed by John Ford who directed McLaglen in a lot of his films.He also fought Jack Johnson after Jack won the championship from Tommy Burns. Before his life in the movies,McLaglen was a fighter.A fair to middlin' sort. His fight with Johnson is listed as an exhibition. The scribes said that Johnson mostly held him up for the entire show.
To look at Victor McLaglen you'd think he was a better fighter than a movie star. But it was the other way around. If my mother was still alive she'd tell you.
Hagler's death has probably been my saddest celebrity death. I'm 35, so he was a little before my time, but I grew up watching and reading everything I could on him and he was my favorite of the Fab Four by approximately a million miles. About the same distance which he was my favorite middleweight champion by.
He's everything I like in a boxer. A complete fighter, who could box, and bang, and was precise. He didn't rush things, and he he fought with a calmness that only the great ones have. He was a great fighter and he took pride in what he did for a living. Boxing was an extremely serious profession to him. I get the sense that being champion meant more to him than it meant to almost any champion in history. I think that came from his background. He had to work hard to work his way up the ladder with no major promoter or network backing. They tried to freeze him out. He went to middleweight Mecca of Philadelphia and came out the best in the world, but he still had to wait for his shot at the title. He couldn't celebrate that title in the ring, first because he was robbed vs. Vito, then when he won the title, the thugs meant he couldn't have his moment in the ring. Then he fought for recognition as one of the great ones. I think he more than accomplished that and he was always loyal. Loyal to his profession, loyal to his trainers and managers, and loyal to his promoter and fans.
What a man. What a fighter. He is already sorely missed.
chrisjs1985 wrote: ↑16 Mar 2021, 15:28
Hagler's death has probably been my saddest celebrity death. I'm 35, so he was a little before my time, but I grew up watching and reading everything I could on him and he was my favorite of the Fab Four by approximately a million miles. About the same distance which he was my favorite middleweight champion by.
He's everything I like in a boxer. A complete fighter, who could box, and bang, and was precise. He didn't rush things, and he he fought with a calmness that only the great ones have. He was a great fighter and he took pride in what he did for a living. Boxing was an extremely serious profession to him. I get the sense that being champion meant more to him than it meant to almost any champion in history. I think that came from his background. He had to work hard to work his way up the ladder with no major promoter or network backing. They tried to freeze him out. He went to middleweight Mecca of Philadelphia and came out the best in the world, but he still had to wait for his shot at the title. He couldn't celebrate that title in the ring, first because he was robbed vs. Vito, then when he won the title, the thugs meant he couldn't have his moment in the ring. Then he fought for recognition as one of the great ones. I think he more than accomplished that and he was always loyal. Loyal to his profession, loyal to his trainers and managers, and loyal to his promoter and fans.
What a man. What a fighter. He is already sorely missed.
Well stated Chris.Again,it was the Petronellis that went out and got him the fights he needed to get to the top of the ladder.
Probably the most debated decision in boxing was his fight with Ray Leonard.It was so damn close. Hagler was bitter about that loss and made him retire.I was pulling for him to beat Leonard. I've got to hand it to Leonard that after 3 years of inactivity he jumped right into that fight with Hagler.Leonard said he never trained so hard and was so wary of an opponent. Leonard also said it took him 6 months before he felt like he was back on an even keel.
Looking back I thought that Hagler was slowing down a bit.Though he eventually stopped John Mugabi I thought Hagler had lost a step.For me the biggest mistake in strategy in Hagler's career was when he came out orthodox in the first two rounds of that fight. Did he think he was going to confuse Leonard? Hagler looked confused.It also sent a message to Leonard that Hagler needed to come up with a gimmick that gave confidence to Ray. In those two rounds he gave Leonard a two round edge. Granted ,Hagler pressed but he never had Leonard in deep trouble. Leonard would flurry at the end of each round and gained points stealing a few frames,at least in the minds of the judges that scored the fight for him. After the round Leonard would raise his arms and smile like he won the round and the ruse was effective.
I've scored the fight many times and it comes out about even every time. I wanted Hagler to win and no matter who says what anyone who watches a fight and scores it has one of the combatants in the back of his mind as the one he wants to win. Only when it's over can I go back and get a clearer image. In this case I can't.
Sugar Ray Leonard.BTW My first painting on canvas.Prior,I painted on tiles.
James Kinchen has found God.He says that God was always there but that he didn't know where ,or how, to look for Him.Today ,James Kinchen is a reverend at the Helping Hand Of God Church in Encanto,a suburb located in the east county of San Diego. The church is located on a corner. I don't think the building was originally constructed with any religious intentions in mind. it looks like it might have been a some kind of warehouse or maybe a store ,like a thrift store. But now it's a church,James Kinchen's church.I used to attend the services there but I quit going. it had nothing to do with a loss of faith or that I was one of the few white people that would show up on Sunday. I just felt I didn't need to go inside a building to talk to God. I'd see the same kinds of jealousies,hear the gossip,the cliques, and the betrayals that were outside the walls. No. It hadn't to do with a loss of faith.
The flock knew that James Kinchen was once a pro fighter but not many,the men surprisingly,cared to find out more.They didn't know that his nickname was "the Heat."He was the new reverend of the four and he was paying his dues being reminded of that.But when James "the Heat" Kinchen knew that I had followed his boxing career it formed a bond between us.
James didn't talk about his career much. It began in san Diego and he was managed by the local promoter,Bobby D'Filippis. He was damn good when he started out.He was undefeated with a 33 and no losses and a couple of draws when he was matched with James Shuler for a title eliminator for a shot at Marvin Hagler's crown.Prior to that fight James had KO'd Alex Ramos and that win put in line to fight Shuler.
James was born in Texas and was one of 14 kids that he had to fight at the dinner table. He said that fighting came natural to him.All he had to do was HOW to fight if he wanted to get paid handsomely.Though his base of operations was here in San Diego the interest was so so. San Diego was never a hotbed for fighting.It's more of I want to ride my bike at the beach and go windsailing mindsetGetting a tan is a priority.When the Shuler fight appeared there wasn't much talk or write up in the papers.
The fight was held in Atlantic City where Shuler had left his mark. I saw the fight on TV and unless there was something wrong with the picture James beat him fair and square. But it wasn't in the cards. Shuler got the shot at Hagler and the Marvelous one dispatched him in the 1st round. A week later Shuier was dead from a motorcycle accident.
James next test was against Iran Barkley,and again the fight was on the wrong side of the Mississippi. And again James went home the loser on the cards but not in the minds of the fans that witnessed the robbery.
His next fight was against Juan Domingo Roldan.James was stopped by the rugged Argentinian in Las Vegas.James told me he had the flu going into the ring that night and that he was dealing with some personal issues.He was licked before the bell sounded.
Tommy Hearns had previously had little trouble with Roldan stopping him in 4 rounds and thought he'd have a cakewalk with Kinchen when the two sat down and inked the contract. This was another big fight and James wasn't going to let it slip away. I remember he went out to Mike Sayonovich's camp in the mountains to train. Terry Norris was sparring with him.I went out to see them workout and I thought the upset was a sure deal.
Tommy Hearns packed a wallop.His right hand was a dangerous thing. He threw it straight over the shoulder and had all his weight pivoted behind it. But against Kinchen that night it had very little effect.it was James who was countering it and putting Hearns on wobbly legs. It went ten.The decision was another boxing shame.
So instead of James Kinchen gaining entrance into the hall of the 4 Kings and being number 5 ,Duran,Hagler,Leonard,and Tommy Hearns had it all to themselves to fight each other in grand fashion. All Hall Of Famers.All kings.All making money hand over fist.
After the Hearns loss there were no more big fights for James Kinchen. Some of the losses were dubious. Look at the Virgil Hill fight on YouTube.I never asked him what that was all about. James told me that when he bottomed out he had 40 bucks in his pocket and the wife and kids loaded in the broken down van outside a seedy motel in National City.
I never heard sour grapes from James Kinchen.He never kicks the dirt about the shafting he got with Shuler,Barkley,and Hearns.He feels that if he hadn't experienced the losses and gone through the tials and tribulations he might not have found God. He doesn't keep up with boxing much.He listens to what you have to say. BTW:of the four reverends at The Helping Hand Of God Church his arm is stretched the farthest.
James attending one of the fights in town. Looked like he wanted to get into the ring and make a comeback.
My favorite fighter,Jose Napoles,was a bleeder.He wasn't always one. The blood letting started when he fought L.C. Morgan in the rip roarin' town of Reynosa,Mexico right across from the south Texas border. Jose was on a roll at the time. He'd found his groove and was carving up everyone that challenged him to a fight. Well,not everyone wanted to fight him. At that time Jose's best weight was somewhere in the vicinity of 135 to 140 pounds.Ismael Laguna, who briefly held the lightweight title, wanted no part of him. Laguna's lame excuse was that "we're like cousins." Panama and Mexico cousins?Later Carlos Ortiz slammed the door on him. What Napoles possessed was more than Carlos could put on the table. Then there was the Italian, Lopopolo,the super lightweight champ who had built his name fighting pizza cookers in The Boot. Jose wanted to boot his ass in the ring but the dago knew what was best for him if he wanted to hang on to his title. Jose was a very frustrated fighter.so he stayed in Mexico and beat the best there,and they weren't no shrinking violets. Baby Vasquez,Al Urbina,Raul Soriano,Kid Anahuac,and L.C. Morgan who fought more south of the border than on the north end.Jose even took a risk going to Caracas fighting Venezuela's treasure,Carlos Hernandez. After the fight Carlos had to go to the hospital.The slick Windy City guy,Eddie Perkins,was slipping all over the ring against Napoles not winning a round.
"So what the hell,I'll get some exercise in and fight L.C. again,"figured Jose.
Mantequilla,the name the aficianados pinned on him(which he loved)had beaten Morgan twice before.Morgan was one of those fighters that either took you out or you had the honor of doing the same to him.All i know of the fight is what I saw on the Mexican replay. Both boys came out of a clinch and Napoles was coloring the canvas crimson. Fight over in 4.
Well,all those champs that were ducking him were glad that happened. Now they had an excuse.He lost to L.C. Morgan.But Jose fought him again.It was just like old times. L.C. assumed his position of being unconscious on his backside as the referee started counting "Uno,dos tres...".
George Parnassus was Jose Napoles savior. Uncle George found the right people in The State Department to get Jose his visa and come to Los Angeles and throw gasoline on the fire that was kindling in a town glutted with fight fans. After beating Curtis Cokes twice. Jose then schooled Emile Griffith(at The World Boxing Convention in LA Griffith told me that Napoles was the best fighter he ever faced).After winning town bragging rights beating Indian Red Lopez,Jose made a couple of non title appearances against Fighting Mack,and then on to The Apple to take on a familiar face around town,Pete Toro.After impressing the big timers back East ,Jose went upstate to fight Carmen Basilio's nephew Billy Backus in Billy's backyard,Syracuse.Remember that cut in Reynosa?Well,it came back in Syracuse. Napoles was told by the ring doc that he could see his skull when he took a look at it. Jose went back to LA "muy triste."
The rematch was a gem. A gem I call it because after the bell rang to start the fight Jose's eye opened up again. it couldn't have been ten seconds in.He sensed that something was wrong, he stopped for an instant,pawed his glove to his eye(Yep,I'm bleeding)never changing that tom cat poker face of his,and went to work to dismantle Carmen Basilio's nephew.
But Napoles' problems with his bleeding orbs was becoming a negative factor.He had some kind of surgery that he thought would solve his problem but it seemed to make matters worse. At the end it was like turning on a faucet.He let more blood than a day of all the winos getting needles poked in them at the Red Cross.
When I went to see him in Ciudad Juarez, as I was conversing with the old champ, I'd look at his old cuts.The scar tissue was like the lines on a road map-on a road that wove through a fistic fantasy yet was as real as I was standing there talking to to him.
The great matchmaker, Johnny Bos, swore to his dying day that Backus' gloves were tampered with before the first Napoles fight, a la Luis Resto-Billy Collins.
goose 5 wrote: ↑18 Mar 2021, 10:57
The great matchmaker, Johnny Bos, swore to his dying day that Backus' gloves were tampered with before the first Napoles fight, a la Luis Resto-Billy Collins.
Interesting.Never heard that before. I don't think Napoles was in the best shape when he fought Backus the first time.But if he hadn't have gotten cut he would have beaten Backus. When he got cut he tried to finish Backus off but it was too late.This is when Jose was beginning to lose his focus. Rick Farris tells an interesting story about when he was on the prelim card for Napoles's first fight with Hedgeman Lewis,Jose would show up to the Main Street Gym with whiskey on his breath. Jose's best years were in Mexico after a few fights and a few fights into his championship reign.
I often talk to Mexican fight fans around my Baby Boomer age and bring up the name Baby Arizmendi and I get the hands rubbing the chin.They've heard the name but can't put much together. Today,unless you're sort of a student of boxing Baby Arizmendi draws a blank.
During the 1930's ,when the best fighters in Mexico fought in Mexico, Baby Arizmendi was running with the best of them-Joe Conde,Kid Azteca,Baby Casanovsa, Juan Zurita.These guys were as good as it gets but no one saw them north of the border. Eventually ,some made their break to El Norte.Arizmendi experienced the most success.
He duked it out with the likes of Tony Canzonari,Lou Ambers,Sammy Angott,Henry Armstrong,Chalky Wright,Davey Day;Eddie Shea,Freddie Miller,and Mike Belloise.winning some and being on the short end too.When he fought Belloise in New York,The Baby won the New York version of the featherweight title. The big venues in New York,Chicago and LA saw plenty of him.He didn't have a lot of sock but he made up for it with ample amounts of heart. He could take a punch with the best of them and had no qualms to take one so he could land one. They say his neck measured 17 1/2 inches. No wonder he could absorb the blows.That's something you'd find sitting atop a heavyweight's shoulders.
His last fight was in 1942.Maybe that's why in The Barrio his name doesn't come up often.There just ain't many around anymore that can tell you something about him."Oh,my grandfather talked about him a lot." His fights with Armstrong filled the arenas and ballparks in Los Angeles. They were on a level with any of the big fights involving the Mexican breed during the 60's through the 80's.Back in those sacred venues in the East like Madison Square Garden he was in demand. They knew they'd get their money's worth watching The Baby.
That gets me to thinking of that name "Baby".The Mexican fighters with that moniker-Casanova,Vasquez,and of course Arizmendi. But none of them were babies. More than likely when they got into the ring their opponents wet their pants.
I can't remember the movie but it was an English flick and there was a scene where this good looking girl snoops around and reads this guy's letter that he's going to send off to his parents. She's reading the letter aloud and then begins to laugh. Evidently this guy is trying to make an impression on his parents and says that he's running around with Diana Dors and Freddie Mills. You can guess this movie was made sometime in the 1950's. Well,like i said I don't remember anything about this movie except that part when this girl is reading this guy's letter and mentions Diana Dors and Freddie Mills.
I thought these blond bombshell copies of Marilyn Monroe where better actresses than the Some Like It Hot stereotype..Marilyn Monroe was always cast as the dumb blond.Diana Dors had roles that were more varied and had more plies of personality. I can say the same for Mamie Van Doren,But not Jayne Mansfield.Too bad Diana and Mamie didn't get bigger and better parts. As for Marilyn,she's more popular now then when she was alive, She's one of the cult figures of show biz.The way she died so mysteriously and the relations with the Kennedy's and everyone else.Liz Taylor was just as popular back then but she lived on and died an old lady in a wheel chair.No cult figure qualifications there. Now that brings me to Freddie Mills
Fighters in England are like the ones here in America.People like to be seen with them. The women want to f--k 'em to see what it's like to get real stud service,and the men think that some that testosterone will rub off on them. Of course gangsters like to have them around. Just their looks and reps can take the place of a sawed off shotgun.You blokes across the pond are probably aware that the infamous Krays had a platoon of ex boxing goons always on hand to participate in their ritual battle royals and anything else that needed to be addressed.The Krays also boxed professionally.
Ex pugs also have a liking of owning their own bars and strip joints. I guess in England they are pubs and strip joints.Freddie Mills,after hanging up his gloves,opened up a Chinese restaurant and a night club. Part of the draw was that plenty of good looking split tails would walk through the doors and also a lot of the unsavory types who were always looking for an angle.Drugs,extortion,gambling,prostitution;any illegal enterprise could hide behind the facade of something reputable like a strip club.Freddie was in his element.As for being a fighter his main trait was that he could take punishment. He was briefly the light heavyweight champion until the Yank ,Joe Maxim, relieved him of his crown scoring a rare knockout
I always had respect for the British fighters.They had guts and they let a lot of blood.The press is doing lot of talking about Marvin Hagler since he died.Just about all of it has to do with his monumantal fights.To me it's Captain Obvious deja vu.All these talking heads are on a soap box trying to out eulogize their peers.My favorite was when Hagler won against Alan Minter in London. Talk about blood(mostly from Minter).Talk about an angry crowd.Where were all those English manners? No civil rights movement inside Wembley that night.
There is a life after boxing. Freddie Mills had one but it was cut short.The authorities say it was a suicide but when they find you dead alone in a car with a gun on the seat and you're Freddie Mills who swims with the sharks then you can start jumping into the conspiracy tank. Lots of material there to put into a book. Who wants to read about nice things anyway?
93 years ago today on March 21st my grandfather ,Giacamo Giachino "Diamond Joe" Esposito,was walking back to his house on the corner of Polk and Oakley Boulevards with his two body guards the Varchetti brothers when two men brandishing sawed off shotguns leaped from an automobile and blasted away at him as the Varchetti brothers flattened them selves to the pavement.My grandfather had attended a meeting at the union hall of the local hod carriers where he was its boss and was a half block from his house when he stopped to buy some flowers from the woman who had her flower stand.My grandmother and her daughter,Jeanette,were waiting on the porch for him to come home.My aunt Jeanette began to run towards her father when he stopped her.
"Wait.I buy a some flowers.You wait,"he said in his broken English.
Then a car slowly pulled alongside my grandfather who was flanked by his bodyguards.
"Hey fella,"said my grandfather to guy driving."you gotta' a flat tire?"
The car stopped and the driver and the man sitting on the passenger side flung open the doors , vaulted from the car with the shotguns ,and started pumping lead into my grandfather holding the flowers he had just bought.The Varchetti brothers were already face down on the sidewalk.
It was over in less than a minute."Diamond Joe" ,Chicago's 19th Ward alderman,the Don of Little Italy,it's patron, was sprawled on the curb with 58 shotgun pellets soaked in garlic(an old Italian sign of the vendetta)imbedded in his bulky flesh.He was dead before he had hit the ground.The ambush car swerved away speeding into the streets.
My grandmother and her daughter Jeanette ran up to their patron's body .One of the Varchetti brothers rose to tell them it was over.
"Dimey is dead."
My grandmother,Carmela the former Marchese,one of 21 children who was 16 years old when "Diamond Joe" picked her out of a crowd in the streets and decided she was going to be his wife;covered his body with hers.
"I'll kill them for doing this!,"she screamed."For all he did for the Italians they killed him!"
She never did anything but to see Capone and ask why.
"It was a mistake,"said Capone in the standard gangland response."If I had known, it would have never happened."
Shortly after he relieved my grandmother of her husband's diamond ring that he called"The Sun" and his diamond tie tack he called "The Moon" that he had paid 50 thousand dollars for.He let her still keep the Bella Napoli Cafe that was on Halsted but then bribed the ;police to raid the place and shut its doors permanently for running a speakeasy.It was all a favor for the mayor,Big Bill Thompson,who let Capone do what he wanted in Chicago.
The beef started when Thompson wanted his handpicked guy to run as the Republican candidate to control the 19th Ward. All the other Wards were sewn up in his hip pocket except the 19th."Diamond Joe" was told to step aside but he was close to the state senator, Charles Dineen, and he wanted my grandfather to stay on.
"He doesn't want me to go so I stay.He's done me a lot of favors,"explained my grandfather.
There were threats.The day before he was killed he got a phone all from someone saying that if he didn't drop out they'd kill him.
"They don't mean it.It's all a lot of talk,"said my grandfather brushing it off.
For the rest of their lives all I ever heard from my father,his mother,and his sister was,"If he had only lived, things would have been different."
They're all dead now. They never did anything but use that excuse-"If he had only lived..."
What's that expression?
"Excuses are like(you fill in the simile)everybody's got one."
"Diamond Joe's" final send off on the steps in front of his house.
Where "Diamond Joe" was born,Acerra,Italy just outside of Naples.Me and the wife went back there to visit .
I see that Fury and Joshua have signed a two fight deal to finally determine who the real heavyweight champ is ganna' be.Good.That's the way it should be. Wilder and Ruiz,who claimed a version of the boxing's most prized belt, came up short with these two Brits and will have to wait their turn again. But they don't have anything lined up in the future.That isn't the way Americans are supposed to approach things. But if that's the way they want it-waiting around for sloppy seconds(and a fat paycheck)I say let them fight some contender to show that their mettle still passes inspection.
Not since Tyson,Holyfield, and an amazing showing from Foreman has the Red,White,and Blue still flown unfurled atop the Heavyweight Championship mountain. But that was back in the last century. The Brits have taken over and they own it lock,stock,and barrel;and this two fight deal with Fury and Joshua is right.
Mixed Marshal Arts is what the U.S. is into.and it's no passing fad. England has been handed the torch(more like they wrested it from Uncle Sam)and we don't really care that much. I'd like to an American sitting on top,but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.(I can thank Covid for that change of attitude)I just want to see the best boys deserve their rightful place.
I can remember the days when the Brits were scuffling under the the American marvels of the boxing's elite division. Tommy Farr,Don Cockell,Bruce Woodcock,Len Harvey,Jock McAvoy,Freddie Mills,Brian London,Henry Cooper,Joe Bugner,Jack Bodell,Billy Walker-names that represented little challenge to whoever was the champ at the time. A tune up. Nothing marquis.That's changed now.The English have arrived in Tipperary.
If you were to ask any Yank about the heavyweight championship he'd probably throw out a name of some dude who fights in a cage.The thing is the guy more than likely doesn't possess a U.S. passport,or maybe he does.I don't follow it and I don't care.
The Tipperary Song
My favorite version sung by the Red Army Choir and put into one of the best war movies ever,Das Boot, accompanied by the Germans
Elgin Baylor, one of the greatest basketball players ever, has passed away at the age of 86. During his entire pro career, Baylor played for the Lakers, first in Minneapolis during the late 1950s before the club moved to Los Angeles in 1960. At first in Los Angeles, the Lakers had a tough time attracting fans when they were playing in the then-new Sports Arena. But with two superstars, Baylor and Jerry West, playing for the Lakers, the club would go on to have a huge fan base and be one of the most financially successful franchises in the NBA by the middle 1960s. In other words, Baylor and West were instrumental in making professional basketball popular in the Los Angeles area. It may be that Magic Johnson made pro basketball vastly more popular in L.A. than it was during the 1960s and 1970s, but the critical contributions of Baylor and West should not be forgotten.
Chuck1052 wrote: ↑23 Mar 2021, 00:56
Elgin Baylor, one of the greatest basketball players ever, has passed away at the age of 86. During his entire pro career, Baylor played for the Lakers, first in Minneapolis during the late 1950s before the club moved to Los Angeles in 1960. At first in Los Angeles, the Lakers had a tough time attracting fans when they were playing in the then-new Sports Arena. But with two superstars, Baylor and Jerry West, playing for the Lakers, the club would go on to have a huge fan base and be one of the most financially successful franchises in the NBA by the middle 1960s. In other words, Baylor and West were instrumental in making professional basketball popular in the Los Angeles area. It may be that Magic Johnson made pro basketball vastly more popular in L.A. than it was during the 1960s and 1970s, but the critical contributions of Baylor and West should not be forgotten.
- Chuck Johnston
Thanks for passing that on Chuck.When the Lakers came out West he was my favorite player. Lots of memories.
It was like who was gonna' get there first to step into the ring and put the big sombrero on Jose Napoles' head after he won a fight. The guy who accomplished this often hazardous feat could now feel he was in the inner circle.He was Jose's sidekick.He could bask in the ring lights next to the champ.Jose loved it.The aficianados loved it. It was the punctuation mark on a great night.
When Jose Legra went to Mexico along with Sugar Ramos and Jose Napoles,Legra didn't feel comfortable.Neither did Ramos and Napoles. But what were they to do?They could have copied Luis Rodriguez and gone to Miami to train with their earlier ex patriots in Chris Dundee's gym,but Louie never really had a base of operations in the States.He bounced around the country fighting in cities where the crowd was rooting for the other guy.If El Feo had fought Emile Griffith 4 times in the Southland and in Mexico he would have been 4 zip against his famous rival.The one Louie did win was in LA,and you know,he might have got the benefit of the doubt with the judges on that one.
Ramos fought on with his beating of Davey Moore ,who was having his way with Mexican opposition,but when when it came down to Mexican bragging rights for who was the best featherweight in the country Vicente Saldivar,the homegrown,doused Sugar with lemon juice.
Legra finally went to Spain on fellow countryman's Kid Tunero's invite and stayed there fighting 8 round main events.Ramos moved up in weight a division and didn't dominate like before. It was Jose who had found a new home.He took to the Macho way of El Mexicano and the country ate him up. Ruben Olivares was his running mate in success,but it was Napoles who could play to the public. The famous ranchero singer Jose Alfredo Jimenez even composed a song as a tribute,"El Rey" which translates to Gringo as "The King."There wasn't a cantina that didn't have Mantequilla's picture hanging on the wall. And of course he was surrounded by all those aficianaos who broke their butts to be the first to get into the ring and put that big sombrero on Jose's head after he won.
