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Rodolfo, I was reading a 1970 article on you recently and in it you mentioned how much you wanted a title shot at Ismael Laguna, who was champ at the time. You also mentioned, "...we were offered a fight with him last year in New York, but the money was very small and he wasn't the champ. But now, anytime and anywhere!" Do you remember any details of the NY offer to fight Ismael Laguna in 1969?
Dan
Dan---
Yes, I do remember some of the details. In 1969, I wasn't yet with Jacky McCoy. Ralph Gilbreath was my manager and we did talk about a possible fight with Ismael Laguna. Because he was not a champ, but a very good, classic fighter and the money was not much, at least not enough to fight a fighter of that caliber, we did not take the fight. However, when Laguna became a champion I was very interested in a fight with him. I wanted to take the title from him and I did say I would fight him anytime and anywhere. I was never given the chance that I know of. Many things were discussed that were never revealed to me.This was during a transition period of my career, 1970 -71. I signed on with Jacky McCoy at the end of 1971 and that's when my career began to take off.
El Gato
Rodolfo, I was reading an old article on Jimmy Robertson, which was published just a few days before you guys got together in '72. Robertson stated, "Gonzalez and I had a sparring session a year ago, about 3 or 4 rounds. As I remember, I cut him over the eye and he busted my lip. Neither one of us got mad, but it was a pretty tough sparring session. I wouldn't say there's bad blood between us. We just want to know now who's best."
Do you remember this sparring session and was it as tough as he said?
Also, do you remember Joe Medrano? He was a tough featherweight out of Jackie's stable and I really thought he was going to be something, but he took a nasty beating at the hands of one Jorge Rodriguez and was just never the same. It was a bit of a surprise because he stopped Rodriguez in 8 rounds a few months earlier and in the rematch dropped Rodriguez before Rodriguez took over. Did you ever spar with Medrano and what was your opinion of him?
Dan
Dan:
Joe Medrano & I worked on a movie back in 1974, the scene that we were working on was film at the Olympic Aud. and he was suppose to get knock out by Alberto Davila, I was suppose to get in the ring when he got ko and play the part of taking care of my fighter, well damn Joe, he couldn't play it straight, I get in the ring when he is on the canvas and Joe takes one look at me and he started laughing like crazy, we had to do that scene 5-6 times to get it right, and all for nothing, as all but about ten second of that scene landed on the cutting floor.
He was a better fighter then he was an actor, for sure, at that time he was a good friend of mine, then we kind of lost touch, haven't seen him in years, hope he is doing good.
Dan:
I know your post was not for me, but I just had to tell you this funny story about Joe, he is a good and funny guy.
Frank
Frank, by all means chime in, this is an era you know well. Was your opinion of Joe the same as mine? He looked to be damn good but then it fell apart after that rematch with Rodriguez. One of those beatings you just don't recover from.
Dan
Dan:
He was a good fighter, I knew Joe from the early days at the teamsters gym in L.A., I think you're right he just never was able to recover from the Rodriguez fight.
Dan and Frank---
I do remember the sparring session between Jimmy Robertson and myself very well. But the fact is that I already had a cut over my left eye from my previous fight against the Korean fighter, Chun-Kyo Shin. Dan, you should remember that fight. I remember you telling that that was the first time you ever saw me fight. The day I sparred with Robertson we were both wearing head gear. I had cut his lip and he did get a little so he came at me with a right hand hook. It landed on the head gear over my left eye and reopened the cut. So I guess this encouraged his manager, Gordon Shaw to book the fight against me which took place on April 27, 1972. so on that date I was in the ring face to face with the Father of all Mexicans. After about seven rounds I saw blood coming from one of his ears so I held back hoping the referee would stop the fight. I had been hitting him pretty hard. The referee let the fight continue until the end. I won by unanimous decision. Robertson had beaten every Mexican fighter he had fought before me and I was the first Mexican to beat him. There was alot of commotion at the Olympic Auditorium that night. Maybe some of you readers were there and remember it.
As for Medrano, he was my stablemate but I never did spar with him. He was a tough litlle featherweight. He had a good right hand punch and alot of guts. I watched him workout many times. I agree with you, Frank, that he was a good fighter.
I liked your funny "movie" story. I know what you mean about most of the footage ends up on the cutting room floor. At least in boxing, they keep all the footage.
I remember around the time of the second Rodriquez fight, Joe told me that somebody in his family back home was very sick and he was worried and wanted to go to see them. He told me that he really didn't want to take the fight, but needed the money. Even Jacky McCoy told me that he was concerned about Joe because he wasn't looking good in his workouts. Maybe his emotional condition had something to do with his losing the fight and his career after that.
El Gato
Rodolfo: this is the movie that Joe and I worked on at the Olympic Aud.
Gato, I received the private message below from Arthur Becerra, but couldn't respond to him in a PM.
The bucket could not find him registered. So we decided to send it to you. I'm assuming you know Arthur.
Anyway, in response to his question below, IBRO Boxing Historian Roberto Valero of Mexico City sent me the following:
Hello, the only one in México that has historic boxing videos is Televisa. If you call to Mauricio Sulaimán at WBC, I think he can help you in Mexico City. The WBC telephone numer is (55) 51-19-52-76.
Regards
Roberto Valero
Jose Becerra
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello my name is Arthur Becerra I see you have allot of history of my father’s cousin Jose Becerra. My father was a boxer as well, he was golden glove champion in 1958 of Mexico, the same time Jose was world champ. My father turned pro and had 22 wins and 2 defeats revenging both with wins. My father was seriously going to be the next world champion. This was until Jose Becerra had, as I see his tragic carrier ending fight, which sent his opponent to his demise. My father had recently goten married to my mother Guadalupe Alvarez Becerra and they were expecting their first child my oldest sister Patricia Becerra. This tragedy that took place in the ring not only ended Jose Becerra’s will to compete it also was the cause my father left the sport. My mother gave my father a ultimatum to have a family or boxing carrier. My dad promised to quit after a couple of more fights in order to earn money and leave Mexico and provide a better opportunity for his kids. My mother of German descent and looking like an American princesses (and I’m not just saying this because she’s my mother, but she was beautiful!) made headlines in Mexico for knocking out my father Antonio Becerra in the first round, leading him to hang up the gloves. I find my fathers passion for the sport so intriguing. I can see the man that would have been champion and the “what ifs” in his eyes. My father began to take my brother George Becerra, then 12 years old and I then 6 years old in secret, keeping it from my mother to the Highland Park boxing gym. I am thirty-eight years old and my brother is now 44 years old. One day at the park my family was having a b-day party for my sister, when a father of another kid came up and said in the presents of my mother in Spanish, “were have the Becerita’s been” he hadn’t seen us at the gym in a few days. Well that was the only time I ever thought my parents were going to separate. My mother for the love of us never wanted here boys to box. We owe more to my mother for this than I could understand. You see I too have a lot of “what ifs”. My dad tells me often if it wasn’t for my mother he could of ended up like many of the old timers I see attending the Hall of Fame induction dinner every year. Even though I love to fight naturally and even though I would have loved to accomplish my fathers dream I am thankful and appreciate the sacrifices my parents made for us. I am now successful and trying to grasp the history of all the great Mexican champions. I am working on a project that will give back to the old timers who gave up there bodies for our amusement and didn’t end up so fortunate like my uncle. I am interested in collecting some of the old fights to assist in my project, which will be in the names of my father and his relatives Jose Becerra and El Gato. I meet with Gato this week to discuss my project. If you know who I can contact to acquire some boxing film of old time grates. Please let me know if you can be of assistants.
Thank You
Arthur Becerra
Frank---
That's a really great poster of George Segal and Elliott Gould when they were young. I knew about the movie but I never did see it. Do you have a copy of the movie?
By the way, your induction is coming up soon. September isn't too far away. Barbara and I will be there.
Dan1213---
Yes, I know Arthur Becerra and I have been in contact over the past couple of years with his family. As a matter of fact, I spoke with him yesterday and we are playing golf together in Hemet on Saturday at the WBHF Celebrity Golf Tournament. And speaking of the WBHF, Arthur has big plans for attending this years Hall of Fame Inductions and bringing Jose Becerra here from Guadalajara. With Alacran Torres also from Guadalajara who is going to be inducted, this will be the first time in history that all three of us champions from Guadalajara, all of us from the State of Jalisco, will be together in the United States. My cousin, Jose Becerra, taught Alacran and I the liver punch which made history for us in the boxing world---the three amigos who are known in Mexico as the "Boxing Legends from Jalisco".
Thank you for posting the informative letter from Arthur Becerra. I learned a few things about the family that I hadn't known before.
Also I'm appreciative of the information sent from Roberto Valero. I will contact Mauricio Sulliman in Mexico City to get Televisa's telephone number. I know him and Know some people at Televisa too. That is very helpful information.
Thank you so much, Roberto.
El Gato
Hello everyone---
This is a test. I just posted on the CBZ thread and for some reason the post is here but my name is not entered on the main CBZ Message Board Page.
El Gato
seems to take a while sometimes.
greg
Gato:Originally Posted by Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez
No I don't have a copy of the movie, yes the inductions are coming up shortly, and it will be nice to see you guys again.
Frank
Hi everyone--
I thought it was time to write and give you all the latest news.
Today I received a phone call from the current President of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, Adolfo Perez, inviting me to be in a parade that he is organizing in East Los Angeles on September 9th. This is to create more publicity and prestige for the WBHF. He is going to have many world champions riding in pairs. I'll be riding with my opponent, Chango Carmona. Mando Muniz is going to be riding with "Mantequilla" Napoles. And so on. There will be a lot of us, including some of the newer champions such as Barrera and Paquio. I will try to get a list of all that are participating. They expect thousnads of people and all the media too.
Also today I spoke with Dan Hanley. He is with his wife, Angela, and their two sons vacationing in Michigan. He was in the middle of a heat wave and said they have also experienced some storms and rain. What a vacation. He laughed when I told him our temps were in the 80's and when Barbara and I go down to the harbor to walk in the evening we take a light jacket with us. It cools off when the sun goes down and the breeze comes up. We are blessed that we have such great weather.
El Gato
Hey Rodolfo, just got back into town last night. Fortunately the storms were more relegated to the Chicago area while we were in Michigan, so we only had the heat and humidity to contend with. But it was a great time and you need those every so often. That parade sounds pretty cool, I would love to see that list of fighters participating. Barb was telling me a little more of the "legends of Guadalajara" that will be present at the WBHF this year. Man, I'm looking forward to it, mi amigo. It's October 13th this year, is it not?
Also, I was digging through old files and came across a pre-fight write-up on your bout with Javier Jimenez in San Antonio. Apparently they were really touting him as a real up and comer. They wrote, "Jimenez has a 16-0 record and all his victories have been by knockouts, which indicates that one punch might snap Gonzalez' 9 bout knockout streak." It seems to have been a pretty good card by the promoter Wendell Phillips. What do you remember of the card and the fight?
Dan
Dan,
Glad you got home safely from your vacation with your family. As for the WBHF celebration this year, it is the 13th. Are you arriving on the 12th? Don't forget, we want to meet with you for breakfast on Sunday morning before you go to the airport. Hopefully, my cousin, Jose Becerra and Alacran Torres will join us.
Regarding Jose Jimenez, I fought him on November 11, 1969 in San Antonio,TX. I didn't know at the time that he was undefeated. I remember that after the weigh-in my managers, Ralph Gilbreath and Danny Villanueva went to a nearby steak house for lunch. Shortly after, I felt so sick to my stomach and had to go back to our hotel. They called for a doctor who rushed over and told me I had food poisoning. He gave me a liquid to take and I lost all of my lunch. It really cleaned me out but I felt a little weak. Danny and Ralph went out somewhere and brought me a tasty vanilla shake to cheer me up and give me some strength. So the fight went on as scheduled. I remember that Jimenez was a bit cautious but pretty strong with a sharp right hand punch. He was more of a slugger.
That right hand punch gave me the opportunity to go under and finish him off with a left hook to the liver in the 6th round. He got up on the count of 8 but the referee stopped the fight so I won by TKO. Also that night Raul Rojas was on the card. Both of us were main event fights.I was in my dressing room during this fight so I don't remember who he fought or the results.
Before I fought Jimenez I fought Steve Freeman who also was from Texas. That fight was only two weeks earlier on Aug. 28 and was at the Olympic Auditorium in L.A. He was one of the top fighters from Texas in those days. He was more of a classic fighter and fought smart with better combinations than Jimemez. Freeman got me against the ropes in the 5th round which was good for me because I could get him more easily. I hit him with a double left hook to the liver and to the chin which put him down for the count of 10.
El Gato
rojas ko'd rogelio tunganhari in 7 that nite.
greg
Greg---
Thank you for posting the information. I couldn't remember much of that night. What I do remember is that two nights before the fight I was in some gym in San Antonio hitting the speed bag. Two local television reporters were in the gym with a camera and taping me while I was training. While I was hitting the speed bag really fast one of them got very close with his camera. At that moment I missed the bag with a left hook and hit the camera, breaking the lens and sending the reporter flying backwards hitting the floor with his feet up in the air. Jacky McCoy turned red. He was trying not to laugh and realized the seriouness of the situation. The camera man was not hurt, but the camera was a mess. We apologized and Jacky offered to pay for the camera, but was told not to worry that the camera was covered by the studio's insurance.
El Gato
Rodolfo, did you ever have much dealings with Harry Kabakoff? I don't know if he had a mad on for you or he was just being Harry with colorful quotes on behalf of his fighter. The reason I ask is that he was acting as the U.S. representative for Chango Carmona (I think Carmona's manager's name was Pepe Hernandez) for your title fight, possibly due to the language barrier, and I read a quote of his before the fight where he predicted, "Carmona will play butcher and take out Gonzalez' liver with his body punches. Rodolfo's best friends won't recognize him." Pretty heavy stuff, I would have liked to see the expression on his face after the fight. Also, I read a prediction in one of Rich Roberts old columns (this was after the 1st Suzuki fight and after Tury Pineda's 1st fight with Suzuki), where he predicted that you and Pineda would meet in an 12 round elimination fight since the Olympic had an option on Suzuki's 2nd title defense and that bout would decide who would receive the Olympic's blessing. Of course we know you received the title shot and Pineda eventually received a rematch also with Suzuki. However, if that 12 rounder came to pass, I could never see Pineda going 3 rounds with you. His style would have him coming straight in and he didn't have the jaw to handle your heavy hands. Incidentally, it would have been fun, because Pineda was another Kabakoff fighter. Hey, these queries aren't for Rodolfo only. Frank, Greg, I know you guys lived this era. Do you or anyone else recall some of these events taking place?
Dan
Dan---
To answer your question about Harry Kabakoff, I knew him pretty well. In the beginning of 1972 Jesus Pimentel had a boxing show in Mexicali on the other side of the border. Kabakoff, who was Pimentel's manager invited Jacky McCoy and me to Mexicali to help him organize the show. He was very nice to us and in fact, the next morning after the show he took us to his house on this side of the border in Calexico. From there we went to his favoite health food store, Hadley's and we bought alot of foods to take home with us. After this I didn't see him for a long time. I did hear through the media the "heavy" comments he was making regarding my fight with Carmona. Jacky told me not to worry about it, that it was good publicity for us because more people would come to the fight. I knew that Pepe Hernandez was Carmona's manager but I didn't know that Kabakoff was Carmona's U.S. representative. About six months later after my fight with Carmona, I ran into Kabakoff at a boxing show at the Olympic Auditorium. He was busy talking to some other people but he did turn around as I was passing by and said, "Hi, Rodolfo". I never saw him again until my fight with Ruben Navarro. I know he favored Navarro. I only saw him at a distance after the fight and there was no communication between us.
As for Rich Robert's columns in the Long Beach Press Telegram newspaper, I think I have the articel that you mentioned. It never bothered me what people were saying or writing about. All I ever asked for was to give me three weeks to get in shape and to line them up. It really didn't matter to me who I was fighting. I saw Tury Pineda fight a few times on television and from what I saw, if we had ever been in the ring together, it would have been an easy fight for me. He would have been an easy target for the chin like you said, and especially for the liver punch. From what I saw, he would leave himself open many times for an easy liver shot. However, he was a fighter with alot of guts.
I hope all of you readers are having a relaxing Labor Day week end. Barbara and I are trying to keep cool in the midst of our California heat wave.
El Gato
I was at the main st. gym about four days before danny lopez fought tury pineda in what was billed as the battle of the teeny boppers. it was the first big test for either one of these killer punchers.
i was worried . i was a big lopez fan and danny and tury where in the same gym at the same time working out for this fight.
lopez was having trouble keeping his weight up for pineda and tury was looking like the second coming of the great oliveras in his sparring sessions. as dannys manager howie steindler yelled at danny that the work was over and that he had to retain weight, tury was pounding away with glee and reciting all the english he knew in regards to danny's weight....LOOOOW.
pineda may have been the second coming of the same oliveras that was destroyed by lopez a few years later. danny simply ruined tury pineda that night.
then, for pineda ,came chacon and heair, brutal ko losses.....he won a fight against the once great mando ramos but mando was thru.
to consider that tury could last four rounds with gato is a complete and unmitigated blunder of thought.....believe me.
greg
oops
Last edited by gregbeyer; 09-07-2007 at 02:13 AM.
post script.....
at the calif. hall last year i learned that tury pineda had, a while before, drank himself to death. all losses seem to haunt us somehow. RIP.
greg
Greg, I never knew that. That is a shame. Tury's peak was in that '73-'75 era. He was like a little Bob Satterfield. He would either knock you out or get KOd himself. One of his losses that goes unnoticed was against Ray lampkin. In the report I read on the fight, the only reason lampkin escaped with a split decision was due to a knockdown scored early in the fight. A pity he and Rodolfo never met. Like you said, he would never see the 5th round. Perhaps Harry Kabakoff was tired of meeting up with El Gato.
Dan
Greg and Dan---
You guys really had a discussion going on in the last posts. I want to thank you both for all the confidence you had in me. But in reality, there is always the possibility of one lucky punch and that is the end of the fight. This could have happened with Tury Pineda. As I said he had alot of guts and power in his punches. If we had fought, one mistake on my part and it might have been all over.
This reminds me of back in the early 60's. I fought this guy, Ramon Sarmiento in Long Beach at the Auditorium. He came with a big reputation of a real heavy puncher. My managers at that time, Ralph Gilbreath and Bill Fields, were talking behind closed doors before the fight. I overheard them saying that they were regretting bringing this dangerous fighter in to fight with me. When I went into the ring, Ralph said to me not to trust this guy and told me to take this guy out the first chance you get. This fighter fought similar to Tury but had a longer reach. In the first round I found an opening for my liver shot and finished it with a double left hook to the chin to end the fight. The punches he was throwing at me were flying over my head with alot of power. Thank God he didn't catch me and I got him first.
El Gato
gato,
maybe you are right that we take tury a bit lightly. he went 12 good rounds with randy shields conquerer vicente saldivar...no not that saldivar...sometimes fighters have the same name as former greats and it gets confusing..i think you can understand that. tury's major accomplishment was a 15 round draw at a shot at the lightweight crown against...hmm.. guts ishimatsu.....naw i still think you get him in 4.
dan,
aside from all his bluster i always thought that harry kabachoff loved tury pineda. tury had a face boxing could only help. harry's nick name for him was "quasimodo".....
harry told a story about when tury had made a few bucks and found a girl friend. tury was very jealous of his newfound sweetie and made harry laugh because when people would come up to tury to talk about him, tury only worried about them glomming onto his lady......harry laughed and said " he want's to knock them all out".
btw....the same fellow that told me tury had passed away told me that harry is living in mexico... is easily reachable and loves to talk about those days.
greg
Greg, it's funny you mentioning Tury's appearance and even funnier what sticks in the head. I distinctly remember Alberto Davila fighting a guy named Mario Rogelio who was an absolute dead ringer for Tury Pineda. Jim Healy had Aileen Eaton at ringside for this telecast and she saw the resemblance as well. I wonder if she immediately started dwelling on a marketing ploy???? I recall Davila stopping the dude in 6 or 7 so that probably shot that to hell.
Rodolfo, I know Jackie McCoy did the negotiations for your fights but did you have any involvement with them? Were you ever present with Aileen Eaton's negotiating tactics? I always heard she was none too pleased when one of "her" fighters strayed to another promoter.
Dan
Aileen Eaton was hard as nails when it came to negotiating, I know as I negotiated with her and also witness her negotiating with others, the guys in the boxing community use to joke that if you put your hands in her pants you would come up with a hand full of balls, she used to be call "The Iron Lady" not to her face of course.
Greg---
It is a blessing to know that Harry Kabakoff is still alive. Do you think he is close to his 90's now? Also do you know what part of Mexico he is living in?
Dan---
My only involvement with Aileen Eaton was, Hi, how are you doing? Good-by. I never had anything to do with fight negotiaitons with her and I never witnessed any fight negotiations between Jacky McCoy or with any of my previous managers and all the promoters throughout my boxing career. That's why so many things went on behind my back that I am now just finding out from you, Dan. Like I've mentioned before, all I said to my managers is to line them up, and I'll fight them. Mostly I never even asked how much they were paying for the fight. I guess that wasn't too smart, although when it came to Ralph and Jacky I trusted them completely. As a matter of fact, I never was even asked if I wanted to fight a particular fighter. I just was told who I was fighting and when I was fighting and that was that.
Frank---
You are absolutely correct. Aileen Eaton was a tough lady, but when you deal in a man's world and more speciffically in boxing promotions it is a tough game and you have to be tough. She had to be that way in order to stay in the game.
Now I would like to tell all of you readers about today's exciting activities!
What a colorful parade it was in East Los Angeles with the opening of the week long celebration of Mexican Independence. The official day is Sept. 16 as most of you probably know. Traditional costmes and music, dancers Mariachi bands, attractive floats, Charros, men and women, riding beautiful horses--and Mexican flags waving everywhere.
The WBHF had two entries in the parade. One was a silver Mercedes convertible owned and driven by Adolfo Perez, President of the WBHF and carrying the current Lightweight Champion of the World, Ismael Vasquez. Following them was a new white pick up truck owned and driven by Ricardo Flores, member of the WBHF which was carrying a bunch of us champions: Mando Ramos, Carlos Palomino, Chango Carmona and his young grandson, also the current Super Bantamweight World Champion, Ponce de Leon and myself. Others on the truck were Mando Muniz, the uncrowned Welterweight World Champion and Bert Murrieta who is organizing the WBHF Banquet in October. For the last half of the parade, Sylvia Ramos and Barbara jumped on board. They had gone shopping to get snacks and water for all of us and were running like crazy to catch up to us to deliver it. It was a very warm day. Seeing how exhausted they were Mando Muniz told them to jump on the tailgate of the truck. It was quite hilarious to see. The parade had stopped for a moment and Sylvia got on, but just as Barbara was about to climb on, the truck started up and Mando Muniz had to pull her on board to rescue her.
From time to time we slowed to sign autographs when people ran out into the street. The parade traveled about three miles and there were so many cameras flashing. The crowd was very much alive, blowing horns and shouting our names. I was amazed at how many people still remember us oldies.
At the end of the parade there was a VIP area where all of us gathered and were treated to a delicious Mexican meal and drinks. And of course, conversations about the good old days and the good ones yet to come.
A truly special day and one to be remembered.
El Gato
gato,
i found out about harry and tury the day i saw you at the cal hall ceremonies. while the bucket was kissing bobby chacon i was sitting at a table with a group of guys i had seen for years but never knew their names. one guy whom i can still remember being around harry in the pineda days told me that harry would love to hear from anybody. i would think you would be at the top of his list. i am sure don fraser or don chargin could hook you up. i would love to hear what he had to say.
dan,
i was wondering if you agreed with me that the lopez fight ruined tury. one of the main reasons i got online to discuss this game is that i read a thing a few years ago called the "featherweight wars". i was around for quarry-orbillo and lopez - hedge but until i read that article i thought i was the only one that still had the pictures of all those great feathers in my head.for awhile i did think it was feathers in my head. my wife calls it useless information. most simply remember lopez and chacon but what they fought thru was a litany of great feathers. i still feel that tury was very unlucky to run into a puncher like danny.
greg
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