BoxRec

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

Randyman wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

Rog, it might surprise you and everyone else but I have never sat through a football game in m y life. Not on TV or live. I follow baseball very casually. When the Super Bowl comes around I'm the Lone Ranger. I almost feel like traitor to my country. After O.J., Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath, I couldn't name one player. The thing is when I was in Junior High and High School, the coaches would practically beg me to go out for the team. It wasn't my cup of tea. It's Boxing baby, Boxing!

Randy

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

I don't know how many guys are on a baseball team either.....

Randyman wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

Rog, it might surprise you and everyone else but I have never sat through a football game in m y life. Not on TV or live. I follow baseball very casually. When the Super Bowl comes around I'm the Lone Ranger. I almost feel like traitor to my country. After O.J., Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath, I couldn't name one player. The thing is when I was in Junior High and High School, the coaches would practically beg me to go out for the team. It wasn't my cup of tea. It's Boxing baby, Boxing!

Randy

kikibalt wrote:What is Next For Antonio Margarito?
By Mike Withers
Ringside Report

I was sitting ringside, watching Craig McEwan beat up a nobody, when the crowd behind me broke into a wild frenzy.

“Margarito, Margarito, Margarito,” they chanted. And in the middle of the melee stood Antonio Margarito. Margarito was trying to walk to his seat just like any other person would, the problem is that Margarito is not any other person, at least he isn’t anymore. It must have taken him close to 20 minutes to get to his seat, and that was with the aid of security.

When Margarito defeated Miguel Cotto to become the undisputed king of the welterweight division, he became one of the great stars in boxing. First of all, he is Mexican, which gives him the most loyal fan base in the sport. Second, he is a welterweight, which is the most competitive division in the sport. Third, and most importantly, Margarito has a fantastic fighting style. The “Tijuana Tornado” as he is appropriately called, walks down his opponents in the ring and then basically mauls them into submission. It might sound kind of weird, but to see him do it on fight night is nothing short of thrilling.

Many people felt that the winner of Margarito-Cotto was going to get a fight with Oscar De La Hoya. However, De La Hoya who is 35, and eyeing retirement didn’t want any part of the wrecking machine that is Antonio Margarito. Since a fight with De La Hoya is not in the cards, Margarito has elected to take the rest of the year off and fight again in either January or February. Top Rank is planning on Cotto taking a fight around that same time, and then having the two meet up for a rematch in June.

As a fan of boxing that sounds good to me! There first fight was one of the most exciting bouts I can remember and I would love to see them do it again. The one question I would have is what can Cotto do differently? Yes he could have gone to the body more, especially considering that was one of his greatest weapons coming into the fight. But he hit Margarito with everything except the kitchen sink. In the first six rounds Cotto was dominant. He was landing great combinations and then getting out of the trouble.

He was fighting the perfect fight, but Margarito was only getting stronger. His face didn’t have a mark on it; I started to think that his head was a brick covered by skin and hair. We all know how the story ends, Margarito breaks Cotto down, and finally from shear exhaustion Cotto has to take a knee. Then his corner wisely throws in the towel to put an end to the beating.

I don’t know what Cotto could do differently in a rematch, more importantly I don’t think Cotto knows what he could do differently in a rematch. Cotto is already on the small side for a welterweight, and Margarito is on the larger side… for a middleweight! As a fan of the sport I would like to see the two of them fight again, but as a fan of Cotto, I think another fight with Margarito may jeopardize his career.

June is still a long way out, and 8 months can be an eternity in boxing. With both fighters possibly taking a fight between now and then, who knows what could happen. Since Margarito is going to take a fight early next year and it isn’t going to be Cotto, he has a number of other options in what is a deep welterweight division:

Shane Mosley

Mosley looked good, not great during his fight with wild-man Ricardo Mayorga. His last second knockout might have been the most exciting moment of the year in boxing, but a couple years ago that knockout would have happened in the sixth round. Nonetheless, Mosley was adamant during a press conference in July that he wanted to face Margarito after a victory over Mayorga. Mosley, who called Margarito’s presence at the fight “interesting,” has since changed his tune a bit. During the pre fight press conference in on September 24th, he hinted to the fact that he is feeling really good at 154, and he doesn’t know if he would want to go down to 147 to meet Margarito. He also stated that he is not willing to weight around for Margarito and he wants to fight again in the near future. Margarito will be fighting again in the near future and Mosley would be a big money opponent. If this fight were to happen it would without a doubt be the biggest challenge of his career.

Joshua Clottey

Clottey is a big physical welterweight, much like Margarito. He is coming of a very impressive performance against Zab Judah and is without question one of the elite fighters in the division. The two met on December 2, 2006. Both fighters were not at 100% on that night, Margarito hurt his wrist while training, and Clottey broke his hand in the fourth round of the fight. Margarito came away with a unanimous decision, but it was a very close fight. Clottey, who has gained some experience since that fight has really improved on his defense. At times he even reminds me of Winky Wright. This is a fight that should happen. They are both elite fighters in this division and both of them need an opponent, but it may not make enough money for it to happen any time soon. If it doesn’t happen the only people who will be losing out are the fans.

Paul Williams

Williams looked brilliant in his trip up to middleweight. He knocked out Andy Kolle in the first round. It was surprising because Kolle isn’t exactly a chump. Williams, unlike Margarito, does not plan on taking the rest of the year off. He is slated to be in the ring again on November 29th, possibly against junior middleweight champion Verno Phillips. No matter what happens in that fight, Williams is a budding star in the sport. He has even hinted to dropping down to junior welterweight. That may be a little far fetched, but he does have the potential to own a belt in three different divisions. And don’t forget that he beat Margarito a year ago. Thus prolonging his eventual fight with Miguel Cotto. Since Cotto lost to Margarito, these are the two best welterweights in the world. Some would tell you that Williams is better since he did win that fight with Margarito last July. The only way to settle the debate is for these guys to get in the ring. Why wouldn’t Margarito want this fight? This would make a lot more money then people realize. And if boxing were a fair business, which it isn’t, this would be a mandatory bout.

Margarito has spent most of his career getting dodged by other fighters. It will be interesting to see if he starts doing the dodging or if he takes on the tough fights. We will know soon enough.

kikibalt wrote:
Jim Jeffries & Sam Berger

kikibalt wrote:Guys, I received this C.1980 pic., of me from my sister Annie, it show me at a burger stand then owned by John Beyrooty and his brother, John (behind me) was the boxing writer for the now defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, notice the names of the burgers above me.

kikibalt wrote:
An old picture of Tony Smith club founder standing with Wesley Cochrane a schoolboy champion,Barry McGuigan former world featherweight champion, David Barnes schoolboy champion and future professional british welterweight champion with Del Willis

Randyman wrote:

kikibalt wrote:
Jim Jeffries & Sam Berger

Frank, you have been posting some really great photos. First rate stuff. The boxing Gods must have hooked you up.

Randy

Randyman wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

Rog, it might surprise you and everyone else but I have never sat through a football game in m y life. Not on TV or live. I follow baseball very casually. When the Super Bowl comes around I'm the Lone Ranger. I almost feel like traitor to my country. After O.J., Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath, I couldn't name one player. The thing is when I was in Junior High and High School, the coaches would practically beg me to go out for the team. It wasn't my cup of tea. It's Boxing baby, Boxing!

Randy

Randyman wrote:

kikibalt wrote:Guys, I received this C.1980 pic., of me from my sister Annie, it show me at a burger stand then owned by John Beyrooty and his brother, John (behind me) was the boxing writer for the now defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, notice the names of the burgers above me.

The Baltazar Burger. Now that's L.A. Noir. I'll bet that burger really packed a punch. By the way, the Examiner was my favorite paper. They had really good boxing coverage. They gave it the respect it deserves. Maybe it was just the times. I saved a copy of the last issue.

Nice photo Frank

dagosd2000 wrote:Hey Frank
Any recent shots of Chata? My grandaughter wants to see her again.

dagosd2000 wrote:

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:WHO'S ON FIRST?

They asked Ali once who his favorite baseball was. He didn't have one he said. He didn't know of any baseball players. Ali said he didn't even know how many players were on a baseball team.

There used to be, in the day ,a lot of pugs who did nothing but fight,first in the streets ,and then in the ring. That was the only soprt they knew. It was the only job they knew. Fighting was a business. The other sports were recreational.

When I was younger and hung around the Coliseum,it was the same way. Fighting took up a lot of time. There was nothing casual about it. Practicing for it was hitting your sparring partner in the head. No batting practice or going out for a pass. Fighters would talk boxing,but the other sprts were just a passing interest. Usually fighters wanted to blow off steam and break training. Boxing and bars. The two B's went often hand in hand.

So if the "Greatest" didn't know how many men were on a baseball team,imagine what the combined knowledge was of all the other pugs were when it came to knowing about the other sports besides boxing?

Hey old timers. Remember THe 64,000 Dollar Question? IIf the topic was Baseball Trivia,I wouldn't have wanted any guy with cauliflower ears in the "Answer Booth" trying to help me with the answers.

I don't know how many guys are on a baseball team either.....

Frank
Doyle Millsapp and his son Danny,(they trained and managed fighters in San Diego)had a fast pitch softball team that was unbelievable. They played with only 5 guys. The old man would pitch and it was amazing how teams with 9 guys couldn't beat them.They would put on games to raise money for charity. I never saw them lose. The old man,Doyle,would strike out everyone practically. If someone lucked out and hit one,it was a little dribbler.

BTW. If they have "Who's On First" with Abbott and Costello on You Tube,you ought to put it on for the younger guys. Now that was comedy! Rog

Randyman wrote:I just got back a few minutes ago from walking. While I was walking I saw a couple of guys. We had eye contact and then they started walking towards me. They looked to be around early to mid thirties. One of them was on a cell phone. A couple of good sized guys and beefy in a "used to be in shape" kinda way. The closer they got the quicker they walked. As they got near me I brought my right foot back and got ready. I kept it low key. no broadcasting but I was ready.

I needn't have worried. One guy says " excuse me sir, you got any money, change, anything? We're hungry". Both of these guys were healthy looking and seemed capable of working. They didn't ask in a threatening manner. They were very polite. I think that's what bugged me. It was a normal thing for these guys to ask. Now I've seen guys down on their luck before and I never have a problem dropping a few bucks in the hat, but this was different. These were guys that just wanted something for nothing. There was no shame. I resisted the urge to lecture and said "Hey guys, I'm out for a walk, do I look like I have any money?" I was in my sweats and I was working up a good sweat. it should have been obvious.

I equate this to a lot of what's wrong with boxing today. The fans, like these two bums want something quick, and they want it now. They don't have the patience anymore for a 12 round fight, regardless of how good a fight is. It's the fast food generation. They go for the quick fix. MMA is more their style. It's all connected. They don't want to work, they don't want to watch a real fight and they don't know the difference between McDonald's burger and a real meal. Their loss.

Randy

kikibalt wrote:Photos give a glimpse into LAPD history
Los Angeles Police Department


Investigators in overcoats hover over a body in the L.A. River. Prints from the collection have been chosen for shows and a coffee table book published years ago.
An archive of images spanning from the Prohibition era to Woodstock -- which was once slated for destruction -- exhibits the evolution of the city and policing.
By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

A man lies on the tiled floor illuminated by the afternoon sun as blood streams from a head wound, out an open door and onto the sidewalk.

The grisly incident, immortalized by one of the Los Angeles Police Department's crime scene photographers, was shot inside a dark hallway in July 1932, after a deadly shooting at a Vermont Avenue jewelry store.

Another vintage black-and-white image, circa 1955, shows several detectives in fedoras and overcoats standing over a dead body in the rain-swollen Los Angeles River.

Still another offers a tight shot of a sofa and bloodstained newspaper, leaving the clear impression that an unseen victim met an untimely end.

The prints are part of an immense photographic archive discovered earlier this decade that was tucked away in a corner of the LAPD's downtown evidence storage facility.

Once slated for destruction, the collection of nearly a million pieces -- the majority of them film negatives -- span from the Prohibition era to Woodstock, a period of prolific growth in Los Angeles.

Besides violent crime scenes, LAPD cameras captured the mundane: A police officer directing traffic along Broadway; a vehicle mangled in an accident; mug shots; close-ups of evidence such as spent bullets and, in later years, commemorative and promotional shots of a department that, through television shows like "Dragnet," was gaining worldwide attention.

Those who have worked with the collection, including selecting prints for shows and a coffee table book published several years ago, say that beyond the aesthetics, the photos speak volumes about the evolution of the city and changes to policing.

Early crime scene photos have a more artistic quality even in the most gratuitous scenes, said Tim B. Wride, who has curated an exhibit of the photos.

"The photographers enlisted by the Police Department to document situations were photographers first," Wride said. "They became police who were photographers, and then police who were photographers and knew forensics. As you professionalized the department, you professionalized the pictures."

Eventually, the photos appeared "more sterile," said Wride, as the photographer's eye became secondary to how the photograph fit into an investigation and prosecution.

What's captured by the camera was also changing, according to Merrick Morton and his wife, Robin Blackman, archivists for the LAPD collection.

The rise of Los Angeles' automobile culture in the 1920s and beyond can be seen in the scores of photos documenting car crashes.

Pictures of oversized tin cans chronicled a bygone era when police went after bootleggers.

For a time, there were also shots of empty refrigerators to show child neglect, until governmental welfare agencies took over that function.

In the 1950s, there was an abundance of safecracking cases and a marked increase in evidence of drug paraphernalia and the narcotics trade.

By the mid-1960s, police had expanded into another area: undercover surveillance.

"Along with evidence, they were documenting clandestine behavior," Morton said of the photography during that era.

There were pictures of hippies who frequented clubs on the Sunset Strip, "love-ins in Griffith and Elysian parks," and even Muhammad Ali's appearance at an antiwar rally in Century City, Morton said.

Blackman noted that as the decades went on, the number of crime scene photos jumped exponentially, mirroring the growing population and the commensurate rise in crime.

By the 1960s, taking photographs of violent crimes such as murder had become almost a daily occurrence, Blackman said, whereas before, they would be snapped every few days.

"More people, more crimes, more killing," Blackman said. "Everything just got bigger."

Once the postwar era was in full swing, the LAPD's image became important, not only to attract new police recruits but to cultivate the professional, spit-and-polish culture demanded by Chief William J. Parker.

Photographers who were taking photos of a stabbing one day would participate in staged scenes for PR purposes the next.

Such images included shots used for recruiting billboards. Others were of celebrities such as Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jack Webb, which were used in the LAPD's in-house magazine.

In surveying the entire collection, Wride said, he laments that in many ways "the imagery contained in it has become less interesting because it became more utilitarian.

"They need to fulfill a very prescribed function," he said. "But that's not to say that people 50 years from now won't find them interesting for that very reason."

andrew.blankstein@ latimes.com

kikibalt wrote:
Evander Holyfield vs Michael Dokes

kikibalt wrote:BOXER DAVE SANDS MEMORIAL UPGRADE CEREMONY


(Glebe, Sydney) At a public ceremony at the corner of Broadway and Glebe Point Road in Glebe yesterday, an upgraded memorial plaque to Aboriginal boxing hero Dave Sands (Ritchie) was unveiled. The event was attended by over 120 ex boxers, fans, colleagues, Aboriginal identities and community leaders.


Unveiling of the plaque by George Bracken and Joan Laming


The Dave Sands Memorial Plaque


Heavyweight contender Bob "The Eagle" Mirovic, George Bracken and Lyle Munro

At the time of his death in a truck accident at age 26 at Dungog, near Newcastle, Dave Sands was rated the # 3 Middleweight contender in the World behind Champion Sugar Ray Robinson and had scored his 97th victory (62 ko) against 10 defeats and a draw.

In his 11 year career, Sands held the Australian Middle, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Titles and won the Commonwealth Middleweight Title. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.

“Dave Sands was spoken about as ‘the second fire of London’” said boxing historian and author of The Fighting Sands, Michael J Clarke OAM. “Dave’s successful bouts in the country set London ablaze”.

As Empire Middleweight Champion Dave was due to fight for the world middleweight belt before his untimely death in a driving accident in 1952.

In 1952, Dave’s friend and ex opponent Tom Laming Snr, erected a memorial plaque in Dave Sand’s memory. The original plaque ceremony was attended by Tom’s wife Joan Laming and 56 years later she was again present and together with Aboriginal boxing hero George Bracken performed the unveiling. “Dave Sands was a great Australian sportsman who captured the imagination of my father and his whole generation in the boxing industry” said son Tom Laming Jnr who spoke in tribute.

Event MC Claude Williams and co-presenter of the Sweet Science boxing show on Koori Radio said “The unveiling ceremony for the upgraded plaque is a symbol of our commitment to remember and celebrate the great heroes in our community”.

“I earned five times as much from winning one boxing duel, than from working a week on the farm” said the ex-Australian lightweight champion of the 1950's George Bracken. “The sport gave Aboriginals opportunities to travel and improve their financial status and the humility shown by Dave and his brothers was an inspiration to my career ”

The event was opened by Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council chairperson Rob Welsh and community leader Lyall Munro who said “ Led by Dave Sands and Ron Richards, Aboriginal boxers were the early heroes and warriors who led us off the missions with their successes. Dave helped us believe that we could compete ”

General Manager of Gadigal Information Services and co-presenter of the Sweet Science Radio Show Brad Cooke said ” Led by Dave Sands Aboriginal Australia has and continues to contribute to the success of Australian boxing on the world stage. The unveiling today was an opportunity to remember one of the sport's greats. As the plaque reads – a great Australian and gentlemen, one of nature’s greatest.”

Hosted by Gadigal Information Service (Koori Radio), The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and the City of Sydney, the event also commemorated Dave Sands’ 80th birthday year.

Photo Credit : Michael J. Clarke

About Dave Sands:

Acknowledgment (Michael J. Clarke – Author of The History of the Fighting Sands Brothers)

Born David Ritchie in 1926 at Burnt Bridge near Kempsey, he and his five brothers took on the Sands name, taken off a train guard who helped Percy Ritchie, the second oldest, travel to

fight fare free in 1940. Proud representatives of the Dunghutti people, the Fighting Sands Brothers are arguably Australia’s greatest sporting family.

At the time of his death in a truck accident at 26 at Dungog, near Newcastle, Dave Sands was rated the # 3 Middleweight contender in the World behind Champion Sugar Ray Robinson and had scored his 97th victory (62 KO’s) against 10 defeats and a draw.

In his 11 year career, Sands held the Australian Middle, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Titles and won the Commonwealth Middleweight Title by knocking out Dick Turpin, brother of Randolph in one round in 1949 in England. He beat future Middleweight Champion and Hall of Famer, Carl (Bobo) Olson twice, first in Sydney and then in Chicago. Olson, standing in the Madison Square Garden ring after he had won the vacant world crown in 1953 said: "if Dave Sands was alive, this title would be his". In 1950 and 1951 Dave won the Sports Novel public vote for Sportsman of the year over Clive Churchill, Neil Harvey and Keith Miller.

The man the Americans called the "boxer with the educated left hand" received his due when he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998 at a ceremony held in Los Angeles and there can be no greater tribute than that provided by a sportsman's peers.

The following Daily Mirror Tribute was printed the day after his funeral.

"I suppose there never was a world-class fighter who was more modest, less affected by the glitter and glamour of it than Dave. In his whole career there was never a nasty whisper about him. And who'll forget the Empire, Australian and so on Champion saying after a big fight, "well, got to be getting home", sleeping like a baby on a bench at Central Railway Station and then climbing onto a paper train which carried him and news of another great win the draughty hundred miles back to Newcastle. When our children are old, old people, they'll still be talking about this gentleman of the ring."

Patrick Skene

Event Manager and Producer

raylawpc wrote:

kikibalt wrote:
Jim Jeffries & Sam Berger

Trivia question: Anyone know when or where that photo was taken?

bennie wrote:

kikibalt wrote:Photos give a glimpse into LAPD history
Los Angeles Police Department


Investigators in overcoats hover over a body in the L.A. River. Prints from the collection have been chosen for shows and a coffee table book published years ago.
An archive of images spanning from the Prohibition era to Woodstock -- which was once slated for destruction -- exhibits the evolution of the city and policing.
By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

A man lies on the tiled floor illuminated by the afternoon sun as blood streams from a head wound, out an open door and onto the sidewalk.

The grisly incident, immortalized by one of the Los Angeles Police Department's crime scene photographers, was shot inside a dark hallway in July 1932, after a deadly shooting at a Vermont Avenue jewelry store.

Another vintage black-and-white image, circa 1955, shows several detectives in fedoras and overcoats standing over a dead body in the rain-swollen Los Angeles River.

Still another offers a tight shot of a sofa and bloodstained newspaper, leaving the clear impression that an unseen victim met an untimely end.

The prints are part of an immense photographic archive discovered earlier this decade that was tucked away in a corner of the LAPD's downtown evidence storage facility.

Once slated for destruction, the collection of nearly a million pieces -- the majority of them film negatives -- span from the Prohibition era to Woodstock, a period of prolific growth in Los Angeles.

Besides violent crime scenes, LAPD cameras captured the mundane: A police officer directing traffic along Broadway; a vehicle mangled in an accident; mug shots; close-ups of evidence such as spent bullets and, in later years, commemorative and promotional shots of a department that, through television shows like "Dragnet," was gaining worldwide attention.

Those who have worked with the collection, including selecting prints for shows and a coffee table book published several years ago, say that beyond the aesthetics, the photos speak volumes about the evolution of the city and changes to policing.

Early crime scene photos have a more artistic quality even in the most gratuitous scenes, said Tim B. Wride, who has curated an exhibit of the photos.

"The photographers enlisted by the Police Department to document situations were photographers first," Wride said. "They became police who were photographers, and then police who were photographers and knew forensics. As you professionalized the department, you professionalized the pictures."

Eventually, the photos appeared "more sterile," said Wride, as the photographer's eye became secondary to how the photograph fit into an investigation and prosecution.

What's captured by the camera was also changing, according to Merrick Morton and his wife, Robin Blackman, archivists for the LAPD collection.

The rise of Los Angeles' automobile culture in the 1920s and beyond can be seen in the scores of photos documenting car crashes.

Pictures of oversized tin cans chronicled a bygone era when police went after bootleggers.

For a time, there were also shots of empty refrigerators to show child neglect, until governmental welfare agencies took over that function.

In the 1950s, there was an abundance of safecracking cases and a marked increase in evidence of drug paraphernalia and the narcotics trade.

By the mid-1960s, police had expanded into another area: undercover surveillance.

"Along with evidence, they were documenting clandestine behavior," Morton said of the photography during that era.

There were pictures of hippies who frequented clubs on the Sunset Strip, "love-ins in Griffith and Elysian parks," and even Muhammad Ali's appearance at an antiwar rally in Century City, Morton said.

Blackman noted that as the decades went on, the number of crime scene photos jumped exponentially, mirroring the growing population and the commensurate rise in crime.

By the 1960s, taking photographs of violent crimes such as murder had become almost a daily occurrence, Blackman said, whereas before, they would be snapped every few days.

"More people, more crimes, more killing," Blackman said. "Everything just got bigger."

Once the postwar era was in full swing, the LAPD's image became important, not only to attract new police recruits but to cultivate the professional, spit-and-polish culture demanded by Chief William J. Parker.

Photographers who were taking photos of a stabbing one day would participate in staged scenes for PR purposes the next.

Such images included shots used for recruiting billboards. Others were of celebrities such as Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jack Webb, which were used in the LAPD's in-house magazine.

In surveying the entire collection, Wride said, he laments that in many ways "the imagery contained in it has become less interesting because it became more utilitarian.

"They need to fulfill a very prescribed function," he said. "But that's not to say that people 50 years from now won't find them interesting for that very reason."

andrew.blankstein@ latimes.com

Frankie, what are those things in which the dead body lays, with the bridges going over the top? I see them a lot in the movies, such as the car race scene in Grease, but haven't got a clue what they are.