Hollywood Legion Stadium

2007-12-21T00:41:36Z

Isrl5: u write on it, u dont deserve me to waste my time

== Hollywood, CA, USA ==

[[file:LegionStadium.jpg|Legion Stadium]]
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The '''Hollywood (American) Legion Stadium''' was one of the two major boxing venues of Los Angeles from the 1920s on, the other being the [[Olympic Auditorium]]. It was the most stable and most successful venue in California during the 1920s and 1930s. Its cards were held on Fridays. It opened as an 8,000-seat venue [http://www.boxrec.com/date_search.php?yyyy=1921&mm=8&dd=12&SUBMIT=Go August 12, 1921] under the auspices of World War I veterans, American Legion Post No. 43. It was closed for a short time to add an arched roof over the formerly open-air venue, and reopened Dec. 16, 1921. It once again was closed briefly on July 11, 1923, to sink the boxing ring six feet, increasing the pitch of ringside seats so that all patrons had a good view of the ring, and to add a ventilation system that recycled the air every 10 minutes. According to the ''Los Angeles Times'' of the day, the venue then accommodated 5,100 people. (Other sources say the seating was reduced to 4,500.) A second version of this venue opened in late 1938 with a capacity of about 6,300. Black boxers were not allowed to fight here until 1940. wrestling

Some of the people associated with this venue include:
*[[George Blake]]: Referee from the start until ?
*[[Roy Marshall]]: Manager from its opening
*[[Frank Crowley]]: Matchmaker from its opening
[[file:HLSProgram2.jpg|right|250px|Program with Harry Greb on cover]]
*[[Tom Kennedy]]: After Roy Marshall and Frank Crowley abruptly resigned July 23, 1923, Kennedy became the matchmaker until March 24, 1925. He was a movie actor, and one of the original "Keystone Cops." His first card was conducted [http://www.boxrec.com/date_search.php?yyyy=1923&mm=8&dd=24&SUBMIT=Go August 24, 1923].
*[[Walter S. Long]] became the manager after the resignations of Crowley and Marshall.
*[[Tom Gallery]]: Replaced Tom Kennedy. He quit Nov. 11, 1931. (Reportedly, he had been a child actor.)
*[[Charlie McDonald]]: Took over the management for 15 years.
*[[Bobby Jackson]]: From January 1, 1948 until June. He had been the building superintendent for about 20 years when he replaced Charlie McDonald, briefly, in 1948.
*[[Baron Henry von Stumme]]: From July 2, 1948, until June 1950.
*[[Cal Working]]: From 1950 until October 1, 1953
*[[Hap Navarro]]: Matchmaker who replaced Cal Working from 1953 to October 1, 1955. Prior to that, he had been the Assistant Matchmaker since late 1948, whose duties was to put out the weekly program, including the cover story "Parade of Champions." He also had a column in the programs called "The Latin Touch."
*[[Jackie Leonard]]: Replaced Hap Navarro, lasting until September 1959, when he defaulted on the lease at Hollywood Legion Stadium, thus becoming the final matchmaker at this venue.

On March 15, 1952, shows moved from the regular Friday night slot to Saturday night. The reason for the move, was the televising of boxing shows from the East Coast on Friday nights, which had eroded the attendance, and made sellouts rare. With the move, Legion Stadium intended to televise their shows as well, showing them locally on KECA. The Hollywood Legion Stadium closed in 1959. At present, it is the Legion Lanes Bowling Alley on Gower Boulevard, up the street from Paramount Studios.

== Sources ==
*"Legion Stadium Television Experiment Starts Tonight," ''Los Angeles Times'', March 15, 1952

== Links ==
*[http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/search.asp?im=-1&cat=17 Photos]
* [[:image:HLSProgram1.jpg|Souvenir Program]] (signed by [[Willie Ritchie]])

[[Category:Los Angeles Venues|Hollywood Legion Stadium]]
[[Category:California Venues|Hollywood Legion Stadium]]

Olympic Auditorium

2007-12-21T00:40:37Z

Isrl5: read my comments john and rest of ungratefuls

[[file:GrandOly.jpg|right|300px|1990s photo]]

== History ==
One of the most storied venues in boxing history, the "Grand Olympic Auditorium," located at 1801 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles, CA, USA, opened [http://www.boxrec.com/date_search.php?yyyy=1925&mm=08&dd=05 August 5, 1925] to a crowd of jewel-clad Hollywood film stars, prominent tuxedoed citizens, and other "common" folk. (Then-World Champion [[Jack Dempsey]] earlier had shoveled the first pile of dirt for the groundbreaking ceremony.) The original seating capacity was around 10,000 (this included "standing-room only" patrons). It had one huge ground floor, with the boxing ring at its center. It also had an enormous balcony that stretched diagonally away in every direction toward the roof. The boxers' dressing rooms and showers were on the southern side of the basement floor.

The Olympic had weekly boxing shows during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s -- usually on Tuesday nights. It later shifted to Thursdays during the 1950s. After the [[Hollywood Legion Stadium]] shut down in 1959, the Olympic's shows moved to Fridays and Saturdays, and ran continuously until 1980. The Olympic Auditorium ran spot shows during the early 1980s, before closing later that decade. It had lost much of its luster due to age and the decay of its surrounding neighborhood.

In the late 1980s it was refurbished extensively and its seating capacity reduced to 7,500. The arena reopened for [[Oscar_De_La_Hoya|Oscar De La Hoya's]] [[WBO]] super featherweight title fight against champion [[Jimmi Bredahl]] in 1994. As of early 2005, it still held boxing shows. In the summer of 2005 it was sold to a Korean-American church group, who renamed it the "Glory Vision Center." As a result, the famed building ended its long, glorious history as a boxing venue.

== Matchmakers and Promoters ==
[[file:OlyAud2.jpg|right|350px|Olympic Auditorium]]
The many people associated with the Olympic include:
*[[Jack Root]]: the first manager of the Olympic. He was a former World Light-Heavyweight Champion.
*[[Tom S. Andrews]]: the first matchmaker at the Olympic. He perhaps is better known for his [[T. S. Andrews World’s Sporting Annual Record Books|record books]].
*[[Joe Levy]]: Matchmaker from 1925 to early 1927. Also shared matchmaking duties with Wad Wadhams at the Olympic for a brief period in 1931. He managed [[Mexican Joe Rivers]] and served as a matchmaker or promoter at a number of other boxing venues as well.
*[[Frank Garbutt]]: A prominent Los Angeles businessman who was a major driving force in the [[Los Angeles Athletic Club]]; the owner of the Olympic Auditorium for many decades.
*[[Jack Doyle]]: promoter from early 1927 to 1933.
*[[Wad Wadhams]]: matchmaker from early 1927 to 1933. Shared some of the matchmaking duties with Joe Levy for a brief period in 1931.
*[[Tom Gallery]]: promoted cards at the Olympic for awhile after Doyle. He was a boxing man who was involved in staging cards in Hollywood and San Francisco during the 1920s and the 1930s in addition to the Olympic. In addition, he was a network executive during television's early days.
*[[Joe Waterman]]: a longtime boxing man who was the matchmaker at the Olympic starting in 1935 with a great deal of success. Had several stints as the matchmaker at Olympic, the last one ending in 1942.
*[[Luis Magana]]: did the Spanish-language publicity from the late 1930s to 1984, before moving to Boston, MA, where as of 2005 he still resides.
*[[Suey Welch]]: March 1937 to April 1939 as matchmaker, promoter, and manager.
*[[Jimmy Murray]]
*[[Joe Lynch]]: staged cards at the Olympic during the early 1940s
*[[Babe McCoy]]: the matchmaker at the Olympic from 1942 to the middle 1950s. He is regarded as the driving force at this famed arena during the period.
*[[Cal Eaton]] : promoter from 1942 until his death in 1965.
*[[Aileen Eaton]] : began working in the business operations in 1942, became a co-promoter with husband Cal in 1958, and was sole promoter from 1965 to 1980.
*[[Cal Working]]: matchmaker for a brief period from 1956 to 1957.
*[[George Parnassus]]
*[[Don Fraser]]
*[[Mickey Davies]]
*[[Rogelio Robles]]
*[[Don Chargin]]: matchmaker during the 1970s.

== Trivia ==
*Silent movie comedian Buster Keaton's 1926 boxing comedy [[Battling Butler]] and Clint Eastwood's 2004 drama [[Million Dollar Baby (Film)|Million Dollar Baby]] were filmed, in part, in the Olympic Auditorium.
*Final boxing show was held June 10, 2005, with Vernie Torres winning an 8 round technical decision over Salvador Casillas.
== External Links ==
*[http://www.grandoly.com/ Official Site]
*[http://members.tripod.com/~newsbrown/olympic.html Some history]

[[Category:California Venues|Olympic Auditorium]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Venues|Olympic Auditorium]]

BoxRec - User contributions [en]

Hollywood Legion Stadium

Olympic Auditorium