BoxRec

Mando's long hair . . .

A few years ago, when I met with Mando Ramos for the first time in many years, he didn't look anything like the good looking, charismatic lightweight champ I remembered. I knew Mando had gained a lot of weight, however, I was surprised that he had cut his hair right down to the scalp. I teased Mando and asked if he had become a "Skinhead"?

Last October, at the World Boxing Hall of Fame's annual induction banquet, Dan Hanley and I set up a make-shift studio in a room next to where the legends signed autographs for their friends. Dan and I, and two of my friends that are also film technicians, had formed a small production company (Counterpunch Productions) for the purpose of filming interviews with the greats of boxing. Of course, we had to interview Mando Ramos and the result was one of the best interviews I have ever watched of the former lightweight champ, and most likely, the last interview he ever gave on film.

On the day of the banquet, Mando was in a little pain but also in a happy mood. When he sat down in front of our camera the first thing we noticed was that he had let his hair grow long. When we complimented Ramos on his long locks, he explained his reason for letting his grow so abundantly.

"I'm doing it for the kids", Mando said. "I heard that an organization was trying to get people with long hair to cut it off and give it to them, so as they could make wigs for children with cancer, who had lost all their hair after chemotherapy."

The story touched Mando's heart and from that moment he stopped visiting the barber. "It's the least I can do to make a kid happy, one who is really suffering. I don't need my hair, why not give it to someone who does?"

Typical Mando. Those of you who see the photos Frank has posted of the champ with his long hair, can now understand that he wasn't trying to make a fashion statement, he was making a statement for humanity.


-Rick Farris

kikibalt wrote:
A badly beaten and dazed Mando Ramos tries to rise after being knocked down by Chango Carmona in 1972 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Ramos lost the bout by technical knockout.

Several days prior to this bout, Mando was found early in morning laying on the beach near his Belmont Shores apartment. The lightweight champion of the world had overdosed on drugs, and might have died, if not rescued by a neighbor, who found Mando while walking his dog. One might think that his title defense against Chango Carmona should have been cancelled, however, many factors came into play that made it necessary for Ramos to go thru with the match. The press never caught word of the incident, which was hushed up by the few who were aware of the incident.

Promoter Aileen Eaton had been burned more than once by Mando, who had backed out of many a major bout with some medical excuse, such as back injuries and various illnesses. Mando himself told me that drugs had always been the culprit and that Eaton had a stipulation in the contract that would put Mando liable for a great deal of money if he were to pull out of the Carmona match for any reason. So the fight went on, and would prove to be the beginning of the end for Los Angeles' greatest boxing star of the era, one of the greatest of any era.

With all respect to Chango Carmona, he'd have never beaten a healthy Mando Ramos.


-Rick

kikibalt wrote:I first met Mando Ramos in 1964, the year my boys started boxing, it was during the Jr. Golden Gloves tournment, Jackie McCoy came up to me and said "wait till you see my new fighter" Jackie must have really been high on Mando to say that, since Jackie was not the type to hype his fighters up.

Frank, most people don't know that Mando never had an official "amateur" fight. Mando stepped right out of the Los Angeles Junior Golden Gloves program, at age 17, into the professional ranks. The rest is history.

-Rick

Hey, Expug, I hear Johnny Lira is in a bad way from liver disease.

kikibalt wrote:
Mando Ramos wears a necklace for his organization Boxing Against Alcohol and Drugs, which works with troubled youths. Ramos recruited fighters and staged exhibitions along with anti-addiction lectures at high schools around Southern California. “Once he cleaned up,” former Times columnist John Hall said, “he made a great comeback, as a human being.”

Don King wears one like this, only it reads "Don King". Mando's necklace is class.

Los Vatos

By Ted Sares: Hey vatos; Do you know who the best fighter in the world is pound for pound? Hands down, vatos, hands down! Los jabs, los hooks, los uppercuts...Mando Ramos!" --Edward James Olmos' 1992 film, "American Me".

He was a man of many great qualities…He had the rough and tough outer exterior of a fighter. But inside, he had a pure heart and a gentle soul. He was a great champion in the ring, but he was an even greater champion in life. He helped a lot of inner-city kids. --Mando Ramos Jr.

The California boxing connection is a strong one and the ex-boxers meet regularly. When Mando Ramos sadly passed away this week, the connection evidenced itself front and center. Superstars such as, Alberto Davila, the Baltazar boys, the Sandoval's, Bobby Chacon, Frankie Duarte, Paul Gonzalez, Danny “Little Red “ Lopez, Arturo Frias, Genaro “Chicanito” Hernandez, and Oscar DeLaHoya expressed their grief and shock..

Many of these fighters came out of the Los Angeles Junior Golden Gloves tournaments. All became world class professionals. Some became World Champions. Frankie Baltazar, 40-3-1, was one tough duded and so was his brother Tony “The Tiger,”38-7-1. Both were inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006, along with Carlos Palomino

Rudolfo “El Gato” Gonzalez finished with a career mark of 81-7 (70 KOs) and won the WBC lightweight title in 1972 when he stopped rugged Chango Carmona in 13 rounds. “El Gato” was an immensely popular boxer who performed regularly to overflow crowds at the Olympic Auditorium.

John Jr. Montes, exciting bomber Jaime Garza, Ruben “The Maravilla Kid” Navarro, Raul Rojas, Paul Vaden, Alberto “Superfly” Sandoval and many others too numerous to list thrilled fans in the Los Angeles. Area for years as did the late Keeny Teran and Art Aragon.


Mando Ramos-Sugar Ramos-1970

Mando Ramos was pure 100% L.A fighter. Indeed, twenty-seven of his forty-nine fights were held in the storied Olympic Auditorium. There was something special about him; he was able to connect with and capture the hearts of Mexican-American boxing like few others. Enrique Bolanos, Art Aragon, Keeny Teran, Danny Lopez and Bobby Chacon did it as well. And like Jerry Quarry, he had an abundance of charisma. Lopez and Chacon and even Aragon before them were tremendous box-office attractions, but what was really incredible was that by just the age of eighteen, young Mando virtually owned the Olympic.

On February 18, 1969, Ramos avenged an earlier defeat by stopping Carlos Teo Cruz in the eleventh round. This occurred three months after his 20th birthday and made him the youngest boxer in history to win the World Lightweight Championship.

The rest of the story reads like a roller coaster ride and while it needs to be told, this is a time to mourn someone special, someone who was a beloved member of Los Vatos. Suffice it to say that after checking himself into a rehabilitation clinic in the early '80s, he became clean and sober and remained so the last twenty-five years. He started Boxing Against Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD).

Rest in Peace.

East Side Boxing

bennie wrote:

kikibalt wrote:
Mando Ramos wears a necklace for his organization Boxing Against Alcohol and Drugs, which works with troubled youths. Ramos recruited fighters and staged exhibitions along with anti-addiction lectures at high schools around Southern California. “Once he cleaned up,” former Times columnist John Hall said, “he made a great comeback, as a human being.”

Don King wears one like this, only it reads "Don King". Mando's necklace is class.

Right on, Bennie!!

Mando Ramos

Jerry Quarry

Hey guys , you will be glad to hear that Mandos obituary made it into the Chicago newspapers here.
A nice right up about his career.

Jackie McCoy on Mando . . .

Mando Ramos' long time manager/trainer, Jackie McCoy, used to tell a funny story about how Mando reacted when his son, Armando Jr., was considering a career in boxing.

When Junior told his dad he wanted to be a fighter, Mando tried to discourage the boy, telling him that boxing was a painful business and that he might be hurt. Mando Jr. just shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I don't care, I want to box." The former champ then told him, "You could end up with brain damage,a broken nose and scar tissue." Again the boy answered, "I don't care, I want to be a boxer!" Ramos told his son, "There are crooks in boxing who will steal your money." The kid answered, "I don't care."

Totally frustrated, Mando then told his name sake, "You could end up talking like I do." The young man was silent for a moment before answering, "Maybe I'll try baseball."


-Rick Farris

Sugar Ray Robinson & Ray Famechon

Circa 1956

Sugar Ray Robinson & Gene Fullmer & Jim Norris With Julius Helfand

Kikibalt, are these photos all from a collection of yours? That is a fantastic shot of Robinson and Famechon!

kikibalt wrote:
Jerry Quarry

This photo was taken long after Jerry's best years. By the time Jerry fought for the last time at age 47, there was evidence of dementia and, in most states with a boxing commission, he could not obtain a license. Quarry's last match was held in Aurora, Colorado and he was easily beaten by a bum. When I think back to Aileen Eaton's early days of glory at the Olympic Auditorium, when she revived boxing in L.A. during the mid-60's, many names come to mind. However, Eaton's two brightest stars were Mando Ramos and Jerry Quarry. These two led the way for the next wave of L.A. stars that included Danny "Little Red" Lopez and Bobby Chacon. Both Jerry and Mando would die in their fifties, shocking most of us who knew them best.

They may be gone, but they will never be forgotten, at least not while I'm still breathing.

-Rick

kikibalt wrote:
Mando Ramos vs Sugar Ramos

In 1970, this bout was voted "Fight of the Year" in Los Angeles, and I doubt there was a more violent, action packed bout held anywhere in the world at the time. Mando had lost his lightweight title a few months earlier to Ismael Laguna, and afterwards had undergone plastic surgery to remove scar tissue left from the cuts he received in the match with the Panamanian. Once healed, he signed to fight Sugar Ramos, who performed a little plastic surgery of his own on the young former champ. With his tender eyebrow tissue ripped open, Ramos hung in and captured a close, but unanimous decision victory. The photo Frank posted was shot by Olympic Auditorium house photographer, Theo Ehret, who captured Mando's dramatic win thru the lens of his ringside camera.

-Rick

sockdolager wrote:Kikibalt, are these photos all from a collection of yours? That is a fantastic shot of Robinson and Famechon!

They're now...

Sugar Ray Robinson & Gene Fullmer With Frank Gilmer
24 April 1957

I always feel pretty sad when I see pictures of Jerry Quarry in
his later years. A man who entertained so many, showed so much
heart and courage and tested so many other great man, should
not have ended up the way he did.

Jake LaMotta & Rocky Graziano

Robinson wrote:I always feel pretty sad when I see pictures of Jerry Quarry in
his later years. A man who entertained so many, showed so much
heart and courage and tested so many other great man, should
not have ended up the way he did.

I know what you mean, Robinson. Boxing always leaves it's mark on those who step into the ring, to some degree. It seems like a boxer leaves a part of himself in the ring, and boxing leaves a part of itself in the fighter.


-Rick Farris

Ingemar Johansson & Eddie Machen

Gothenberg, Sweden

17 September 1958

Service's for Mando Ramos will be on Friday July 18, 2008 at the Wilmington Longshoremen Hall, from 4 PM to 8 PM.

Will post address later.

kikibalt wrote:Service's for Mando Ramos will be on Friday July 18, 2008 at the Wilmington Longshoremen Hall, from 4 PM to 8 PM.

Will post address later.

Frank, let me know what time you think you will be there. I'll leave work early and try to get there at the same time. Rodolfo Gonzalez's lady Barbara and Sylvia are close friends. Last night they spoke at length. I spoke with "Gato" today and he and I might meet tomorrow at the studio, perhaps we can all get together at the services?

-Rick