BoxRec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhdzhLxHw_Y
The Falcons

"You're So Fine"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBkr5oPoTwc
The Crows

"I Love You So"

Rick, another photo of Phil Kim


Phil "Wildcat" Kim

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:

kikibalt wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_q4l5AnVvk
The Medalions

"The Letter"

Frank must be feeling better. It's oldies time again. Hey buddy,who sang that oldie song " Gee". Always reminded me of a day long passed..

The "Crows" flip side "I Love You So"

I knew you'd come through. Got to get you on Oldies Jeopardy.
When I was coming back from the gym Wynonie Harris was singing " Destination Love ". Can't help but like a song with a title like that.

Dago's post about listening to music on the way home from the gym reminded me of something I hadn't thought of in years. In 1969, the L.A. Golden Gloves team was in Kansas City for the National tournament. After the first round of eliminations, we were all happy because we had all won. They packed us into a small bus to drive us back to the hotel and on the way the radio played Sly Stone's, "Hot Fun In The Summertime". I was sitting next to Porky Acuna and he began to sing along with the radio, as did I, then the two guys in front of us, Mike Quarry and Florentino Ramirez joined in, and the two guys next to us, heavyweight Walter Moore (the only L.A. guy to win a nat'l title that year) and Bobby Torrance. Javiar Muniz was up front sitting next to one of our coaches, Jake Horn, who was rubbing his bald head for luck and smiling. Sitting next to the driver was another coach, Sonny Ray of the Seaside Gym ( a former contender out of Chicago) who's good mood was wearing thin listening to all the racket, "You guys should be arrested for murdering that song!", Sonny told us. We didn't care, we were young, had won, and were one step closer to our goals. The coaches were also closer to their goal, staying up all night playing poker and getting drunk in their hotel room (after the finals, of course.) Great memories! Hot fun in the summertime, you better believe it . . . even if it was still winter.

Ricardo

dagosd2000 wrote:I knew you'd come through. Got to get you on Oldies Jeopardy.
When I was coming back from the gym Wynonie Harris was singing " Destination Love ". Can't help but like a song with a title like that.

Wynonie Harris

"Destination Love"

Rick Farris wrote:Dago's post about listening to music on the way home from the gym reminded me of something I hadn't thought of in years. In 1969, the L.A. Golden Gloves team was in Kansas City for the National tournament. After the first round of eliminations, we were all happy because we had all won. They packed us into a small bus to drive us back to the hotel and on the way the radio played Sly Stone's, "Hot Fun In The Summertime". I was sitting next to Porky Acuna and he began to sing along with the radio, as did I, then the two guys in front of us, Mike Quarry and Florentino Ramirez joined in, and the two guys next to us, heavyweight Walter Moore (the only L.A. guy to win a nat'l title that year) and Bobby Torrance. Javiar Muniz was up front sitting next to one of our coaches, Jake Horn, who was rubbing his bald head for luck and smiling. Sitting next to the driver was another coach, Sonny Ray of the Seaside Gym ( a former contender out of Chicago) who's good mood was wearing thin listening to all the racket, "You guys should be arrested for murdering that song!", Sonny told us. We didn't care, we were young, had won, and were one step closer to our goals. The coaches were also closer to their goal, staying up all night playing poker and getting drunk in their hotel room (after the finals, of course.) Great memories! Hot fun in the summertime, you better believe it . . . even if it was still winter.

Ricardo

Dude, after reading this I just had to go to Youtube to listen to that song again. Man, I was just picturing the bus with you guys on it rocking to a good time while the song was playing. You're right, it has to be a great memory. Incidentally, I know Sonny Ray managed or trained pros later on because I saw him on TV involved in an altercation after a fight. I think it was the Donald Curry-Tony Montgomery fight but I'm not sure. In this fight if you recall, Curry was really pounding Montgomery and a stoppage was imminent. Then I saw Montgomery ram his head into Curry. The minute he did this I knew what he was doing. A moment later after the warning my fears became reality when Montgomery again rammed his head into Curry's face. He was going for the DQ rather than get KO'd. Of course, a moment later he played the billy goat again, got DQ'd and then had the gall to walk over to Curry to say 'good fight', when Curry clocked him. Can't say I blame Curry one bit. His face was busted up from a guy who purposely took the easy way out rather than go out on his shield. The corners went at it and I'm positive Sonny Ray was in the center of it being restained on National TV. He was in Montgomery's corner. Anyone recall this or am I thinking of Sonny Ray in another altercation?

Scartissue

scartissue wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:Dago's post about listening to music on the way home from the gym reminded me of something I hadn't thought of in years. In 1969, the L.A. Golden Gloves team was in Kansas City for the National tournament. After the first round of eliminations, we were all happy because we had all won. They packed us into a small bus to drive us back to the hotel and on the way the radio played Sly Stone's, "Hot Fun In The Summertime". I was sitting next to Porky Acuna and he began to sing along with the radio, as did I, then the two guys in front of us, Mike Quarry and Florentino Ramirez joined in, and the two guys next to us, heavyweight Walter Moore (the only L.A. guy to win a nat'l title that year) and Bobby Torrance. Javiar Muniz was up front sitting next to one of our coaches, Jake Horn, who was rubbing his bald head for luck and smiling. Sitting next to the driver was another coach, Sonny Ray of the Seaside Gym ( a former contender out of Chicago) who's good mood was wearing thin listening to all the racket, "You guys should be arrested for murdering that song!", Sonny told us. We didn't care, we were young, had won, and were one step closer to our goals. The coaches were also closer to their goal, staying up all night playing poker and getting drunk in their hotel room (after the finals, of course.) Great memories! Hot fun in the summertime, you better believe it . . . even if it was still winter.

Ricardo

Dude, after reading this I just had to go to Youtube to listen to that song again. Man, I was just picturing the bus with you guys on it rocking to a good time while the song was playing. You're right, it has to be a great memory. Incidentally, I know Sonny Ray managed or trained pros later on because I saw him on TV involved in an altercation after a fight. I think it was the Donald Curry-Tony Montgomery fight but I'm not sure. In this fight if you recall, Curry was really pounding Montgomery and a stoppage was imminent. Then I saw Montgomery ram his head into Curry. The minute he did this I knew what he was doing. A moment later after the warning my fears became reality when Montgomery again rammed his head into Curry's face. He was going for the DQ rather than get KO'd. Of course, a moment later he played the billy goat again, got DQ'd and then had the gall to walk over to Curry to say 'good fight', when Curry clocked him. Can't say I blame Curry one bit. His face was busted up from a guy who purposely took the easy way out rather than go out on his shield. The corners went at it and I'm positive Sonny Ray was in the center of it being restained on National TV. He was in Montgomery's corner. Anyone recall this or am I thinking of Sonny Ray in another altercation?

Scartissue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRTbugyDq-E

Sly and the Family Stone

"Hot Fun in The summertime"

Jake LaMotta & Rocky Graziano
Circa 1980s

Rick,

Do you remember Ernie De France, out of the Seaside Gym?

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:I knew you'd come through. Got to get you on Oldies Jeopardy.
When I was coming back from the gym Wynonie Harris was singing " Destination Love ". Can't help but like a song with a title like that.

Wynonie Harris

"Destination Love"

They had a San Diego Padres Luncheon that I went to a while back. Guest speaker was Yogi Berra. Had to see this guy. Well like all good sports functions,there has to be good stories. He told a few good ones,but the one that stood out in my mind was one that had to do with music. To see Yogi tell it even made it better. This guy could have performed on stage just telling stories. Here it is.

It's 1965 and the Yankees are beginning to fade. The glory days are over and they've got a new manager ,Johnny Keane,who's runnin' things like a boot camp. The veterans ,like Yogi ,hate his guts and the new players ain't nothing like the old guard they're trying to replace. The Yanks are in the middle of the pack,players are injured,and they're in a losing streak. They'd just played a game with Kansas City and the Yanks got skunked. Well the mood on the bus had lost its humor around July and the fellas',especially the old veterans, wanted to go home to the wives and kids. The bus ride back to the hotel is a mess. They're stuck in a traffic jam and the airconditioning is out and the boys are in a bad mood. Phil Linz,the young shortstop who took over for Tony Kubek,decides ti break out his harmonica and entertain the troops with a performance.

The way Yogi put it,his old Italian grandmother could play the thing better. Well Yogi's dago blood has had about enough of Phil Linz and his renditions of the blues, so Yogi yells out,"Stop playing that thing anymore!" Linz doesn't quite hear what Yogi yelled so he turns to Mickey Mantle ,who's sitting beside him, and asks what Yogi had said.
Mantle with the cat that swallowed the canary smile says,"Yogi says to play louder."
Those Yanks may not have won the pennant that year,but they hadn't lost their sense of humor.

dagosd2000 wrote:Hey Pug
Here's one you'll like on Fighters acting on impulse . One night ,a while back, I was at a party . It was Denny Moyer's gig. Ronnie Wilson was there too and all the gang. It was at a time when Moyer and Wilson were doing more drinkin' than trainin' . Their best fighting days were behind them,so they let go of the rope and did anything they wanted to do.

The party is going real stong. You might relate to this being Irish. I never saw so much Jim Beam being consumed in one night. Moyer alone must have drank a gallon. I kept looking for the hole in his leg ehere it was pouring out. (Moyer owned a bar in Portland. I don't think the old ladies tea society played cribbage there.Can you imagine what that place must have been like?)Anyhow Moyer is runnin' around making sure everybody is drinking. He doesn't want any pussies at his party.

Something happened next. Someone said some guys came to the door wanting access to all the fun that was going on inside. Well I'm standing close to Moyer when this information is relayed to him. He moves suddenly towards the door knocking anything in his way over like a tank with the throttle open. I'm behind him,but I ain't movin' as fast as the ex champ. I see Moyer get to the door where these mamalukes are standing. One of them is about to address our host when a right cross smashes this guy in the face.

I guess that was Denny's way of tellin' them they weren't welcome.

I wanted to add something here since we got on to music. I remember that night well and the record player was playing Motown Songs real loud. The guys had their wives and dates,but this is what I thought was funny. Pug,I don't know about you,but to see those drunk Irishmen dancing to Smokey Robinson,well I wish they had cam corders back then. There was one of them Arthur Murray dance schools down the street. I felt like asking Moyer if he should move the party over there. But after seeing his one punch KO of that uninvited guest,I thought they danced just swell.

dagosd2000 wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:I knew you'd come through. Got to get you on Oldies Jeopardy.
When I was coming back from the gym Wynonie Harris was singing " Destination Love ". Can't help but like a song with a title like that.

Wynonie Harris

"Destination Love"

They had a San Diego Padres Luncheon that I went to a while back. Guest speaker was Yogi Berra. Had to see this guy. Well like all good sports functions,there has to be good stories. He told a few good ones,but the one that stood out in my mind was one that had to do with music. To see Yogi tell it even made it better. This guy could have performed on stage just telling stories. Here it is.

It's 1965 and the Yankees are beginning to fade. The glory days are over and they've got a new manager ,Johnny Keane,who's runnin' things like a boot camp. The veterans ,like Yogi ,hate his guts and the new players ain't nothing like the old guard they're trying to replace. The Yanks are in the middle of the pack,players are injured,and they're in a losing streak. They'd just played a game with Kansas City and the Yanks got skunked. Well the mood on the bus had lost its humor around July and the fellas',especially the old veterans, wanted to go home to the wives and kids. The bus ride back to the hotel is a mess. They're stuck in a traffic jam and the airconditioning is out and the boys are in a bad mood. Phil Linz,the young shortstop who took over for Tony Kubek,decides ti break out his harmonica and entertain the troops with a performance.

The way Yogi put it,his old Italian grandmother could play the thing better. Well Yogi's dago blood has had about enough of Phil Linz and his renditions of the blues, so Yogi yells out,"Stop playing that thing anymore!" Linz doesn't quite hear what Yogi yelled so he turns to Mickey Mantle ,who's sitting beside him, and asks what Yogi had said.
Mantle with the cat that swallowed the canary smile says,"Yogi says to play louder."
Those Yanks may not have won the pennant that year,but they hadn't lost their sense of humor.

Great story diego, Yogi Berra, one of a kind!!

Frankie Baltazar vs Jorge Ramos
Frankie by ko, 1th rd.

kikibalt wrote:Rick,

Do you remember Ernie De France, out of the Seaside Gym?

Oh Yeah!! Ernie was one of our coaches the following month, at the '69 Nat'l AAU tourny in San Diego. Again, it was Jake Horn, Sonny Ray and Ernie DeFrance. I recall in S.D. we had two Seaside Gym boxers, Tommy Coulson & Henry Verastique, with us at the Nationals. Ernie was a trip, all these coaches were great guys, and we had a great time. BTW, one of our L.A. guys was also in the AAU tournament for the second straight year, representing the U.S. Army. He not only won his second straight Nat'l AAU title that year, but was voted "outstanding boxer" of the tournament, beating out Earnie Shavers for the honor. His name was Pvt. 1st class Armando Muniz.

By the way, Dagos, all five hundred boxers from around North America who competed in that tournament were lodged at the LeBaron Hotel, on Hotel Circle Dr. in your hometown. Would you know if that place is still standing? After the finals, the place was loaded with boxers, many drunk, trying to sniff out any sign of an available woman. However, most of the ladies abandoned the place with all those fighters running loose. Quite a few of the boxers jumped in cars and headed south to TJ. One of the guys on our team, a kid named Spike Sanborn, knocked out a bartender in TJ and was tossed in jail. It tooks his father days to get his kid out. As for Walter Moore, Porky and Florentino Ramirez, a visit to a whore house led them to a disappointing result. I won't elaborate here, but it was FUNNY!!!!!

-Rick

dagosd2000 wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:Hey Pug
Here's one you'll like on Fighters acting on impulse . One night ,a while back, I was at a party . It was Denny Moyer's gig. Ronnie Wilson was there too and all the gang. It was at a time when Moyer and Wilson were doing more drinkin' than trainin' . Their best fighting days were behind them,so they let go of the rope and did anything they wanted to do.

The party is going real stong. You might relate to this being Irish. I never saw so much Jim Beam being consumed in one night. Moyer alone must have drank a gallon. I kept looking for the hole in his leg ehere it was pouring out. (Moyer owned a bar in Portland. I don't think the old ladies tea society played cribbage there.Can you imagine what that place must have been like?)Anyhow Moyer is runnin' around making sure everybody is drinking. He doesn't want any pussies at his party.

Something happened next. Someone said some guys came to the door wanting access to all the fun that was going on inside. Well I'm standing close to Moyer when this information is relayed to him. He moves suddenly towards the door knocking anything in his way over like a tank with the throttle open. I'm behind him,but I ain't movin' as fast as the ex champ. I see Moyer get to the door where these mamalukes are standing. One of them is about to address our host when a right cross smashes this guy in the face.

I guess that was Denny's way of tellin' them they weren't welcome.

I wanted to add something here since we got on to music. I remember that night well and the record player was playing Motown Songs real loud. The guys had their wives and dates,but this is what I thought was funny. Pug,I don't know about you,but to see those drunk Irishmen dancing to Smokey Robinson,well I wish they had cam corders back then. There was one of them Arthur Murray dance schools down the street. I felt like asking Moyer if he should move the party over there. But after seeing his one punch KO of that uninvited guest,I thought they danced just swell.

Hello Dagos.
Hope the vacation was a good time.
I love the Moyer story.
I can definitely relate being Irish.
In fact I think I was at that party!
Yeah, nothing like seeing a bunch of drunk Irish hooligans dancing to r and b.
You should have seen the jokers at our wedding reception.

Rick Farris wrote:

Expug wrote:I dont know if you guys caught the fights on espn2 last night. They were at The Old Aaragon Ballroom in Chicago.
Atlas and Tessitore paid tribute to Mando.They also showed some clips from some of his fights.
He was a great fighter.
They also wished Johnny Lira well as he is fighting liver cancer.

Pug, I didn't catch the Friday Night Fights last night, however, you caught my attention when you mentioned the Old Aragon Ballroom. I'm sure some of the senior age L.A. guys who post here will recall that we also had an Aragon Ballroom, located on a pier at Venice Beach. It once was a place that showcased a lot of Big Bands from the 40's, etc. However, the Ballroom and pier were torn down in the early 70's, along with the Ocean Park fun zone. Just a couple blocks away, off Pico & Ocean blvd. in Santa Monica, was the legendary Ocean Park Arena where many of the big name West Coast boxers of the era fought. This was a few years bfore my time, but I know Frank has some memories of the place. According to Hap Navarro, Ocean Park was one of the better smaller L.A. fight venues, with the Olympic Aud. and Hollywood Legion Stadium being the top L.A. fight arenas.

-Rick Farris

Thanks Rick.
Yeah these small old venues seem to be a thing of the past.
I really like the atmosphere in the ones I have been in.
The Aragon Ballroom used to be called the Aragon Brawlroom years ago.
Its in a little bit of a dodgy area here called Uptown.
They might be cleaning it up a little now though.
I hope they have more fights at this place as for years its been opened , closed, opened.
Maybe more boxing will help.

Regarding Seaside Gym coach and former light-heavy contender Sonny Ray, he fought a lot of big names, such as Bobo Olson, Willie Pastrano, Eddie Cotton and Tony Anthony, to name a few. I'll never forget watching 41-year-old Eddie Cotton completely outbox & out fight light-heavy champ Jose Torres in a televised title defense in the mid-60's. Torres was given a "gift" decision over Cotton, one of the wrst I've ever seen.

-Rick

Rick Farris wrote:

kikibalt wrote:Rick,

Do you remember Ernie De France, out of the Seaside Gym?

Oh Yeah!! Ernie was one of our coaches the following month, at the '69 Nat'l AAU tourny in San Diego. Again, it was Jake Horn, Sonny Ray and Ernie DeFrance. I recall in S.D. we had two Seaside Gym boxers, Tommy Coulson & Henry Verastique, with us at the Nationals. Ernie was a trip, all these coaches were great guys, and we had a great time. BTW, one of our L.A. guys was also in the AAU tournament for the second straight year, representing the U.S. Army. He not only won his second straight Nat'l AAU title that year, but was voted "outstanding boxer" of the tournament, beating out Earnie Shavers for the honor. His name was Pvt. 1st class Armando Muniz.

By the way, Dagos, all five hundred boxers from around North America who competed in that tournament were lodged at the LeBaron Hotel, on Hotel Circle Dr. in your hometown. Would you know if that place is still standing? After the finals, the place was loaded with boxers, many drunk, trying to sniff out any sign of an available woman. However, most of the ladies abandoned the place with all those fighters running loose. Quite a few of the boxers jumped in cars and headed south to TJ. One of the guys on our team, a kid named Spike Sanborn, knocked out a bartender in TJ and was tossed in jail. It tooks his father days to get his kid out. As for Walter Moore, Porky and Florentino Ramirez, a visit to a whore house led them to a disappointing result. I won't elaborate here, but it was FUNNY!!!!!

-Rick

Rick,

Porky aka Rudy Acuna is a mailman here in my area, see him now and then, one day about a year or so ago he stopped at my house and we sat and reminisce about the years gone by, the Teamsters, the Eastside Boys Club, etc, etc, it all seem like it was 1-2 years ago and not 30 some years ago.

Frankie Baltazar....age, 7 years
1965...E.L.A.

My cousin Mike Adame, I'm working his corner during a fight against
Oscar Muniz.
Stanton A.C?...1970

dagosd2000 wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:I knew you'd come through. Got to get you on Oldies Jeopardy.
When I was coming back from the gym Wynonie Harris was singing " Destination Love ". Can't help but like a song with a title like that.

Wynonie Harris

"Destination Love"

They had a San Diego Padres Luncheon that I went to a while back. Guest speaker was Yogi Berra. Had to see this guy. Well like all good sports functions,there has to be good stories. He told a few good ones,but the one that stood out in my mind was one that had to do with music. To see Yogi tell it even made it better. This guy could have performed on stage just telling stories. Here it is.

It's 1965 and the Yankees are beginning to fade. The glory days are over and they've got a new manager ,Johnny Keane,who's runnin' things like a boot camp. The veterans ,like Yogi ,hate his guts and the new players ain't nothing like the old guard they're trying to replace. The Yanks are in the middle of the pack,players are injured,and they're in a losing streak. They'd just played a game with Kansas City and the Yanks got skunked. Well the mood on the bus had lost its humor around July and the fellas',especially the old veterans, wanted to go home to the wives and kids. The bus ride back to the hotel is a mess. They're stuck in a traffic jam and the airconditioning is out and the boys are in a bad mood. Phil Linz,the young shortstop who took over for Tony Kubek,decides ti break out his harmonica and entertain the troops with a performance.

The way Yogi put it,his old Italian grandmother could play the thing better. Well Yogi's dago blood has had about enough of Phil Linz and his renditions of the blues, so Yogi yells out,"Stop playing that thing anymore!" Linz doesn't quite hear what Yogi yelled so he turns to Mickey Mantle ,who's sitting beside him, and asks what Yogi had said.
Mantle with the cat that swallowed the canary smile says,"Yogi says to play louder."
Those Yanks may not have won the pennant that year,but they hadn't lost their sense of humor.

diego,

Now that you're home, what now for the rest of the summer? party some in T.J.?

L-to-R
Bobby, Connie and Frankie Baltazar, Dolores and Poncho Velasquez.
Olympic Auditorium, on a Sunday public workout for a Mando Ramos Fight
1969

kikibalt wrote:
L-to-R
Bobby, Connie and Frankie Baltazar, Dolores and Poncho Velasquez.
Olympic Auditorium, on a Sunday public workout for a Mando Ramos Fight
1969

Great shots of the kids and Connie. How's the leg doing?

I'm going to Michoacan to our home with the wife and grandkids in two weeks. Tomorrow though I'm going to TJ. Gonna' get my eyes examined. I don't want to trip over any drunks when I go to the Boom Boom Club. So far is everything on for Mando's memorial?