Young Firpo (August Locati)

Name: Young Firpo
Alias: August L. Locati
Birth Name: August Louis Locati
Hometown: Walla Walla, Washington, USA
Birthplace: Walla Walla, Washington, USA
Died: 1991-06-29 (Age:85)
Pro Boxer: Record

August Locati worked as a commercial gardener. He had come from the Walla Walla onion patches, along with Tony Talarico and Kid Rocco Criscola. Tommy Gardner and Mike Brotherton also came from Walla Walla. Firpo got his start in Vic Mullins gym on the north side of West Main Street, between Third and Fourth, after watching a 1925 bout between Mike Brotherton and Bert Tribbey. Tommy Gardner reportedly was in the curtain raiser.

Firpo fought often in Walla Walla's most famous and popular boxing venue, the Keylor Grand Theater at the corner of Fourth and Alder. He often fought around 153 pounds. He quit in 1929, after three years of boxing, primarily at the urging of his wife and mother. It is reported by the paper mentioned below that Firpo had a career record of some 70 fights, with 44 wins, 7 losses, and 4 draws. He was still living in Walla Walla as of late 1979.

This fighter is not to be confused with light-heavyweight Young Firpo of Burke, Idaho, who was fighting in the Pacific Northwest during this era. Or the Young Firpo of Pendleton/Albany, Oregon. Or the welterweight from Boise, Idaho.

To learn more about Locati and the "Glory Years" of boxing in Walla Walla (the late 1920s), see the October 21, 1979, WALLA WALLA UNION-BULLETIN, p. 12.