GATO GONZALEZ' DISCUSSION THREAD

[wildhawke11]

Gentlemen
The first thing i think we need to find out is who in fact decides the nominees in the first place. Its obvious there the people who Gato's bio has to be sent to. I myself am more like Greg, i never really have taken much notice of how its all worked out. I personal think but i could be wrong, its best to get this years event over with first. It must be close because they were talking about the voting in the other section of the Zone.

This gives guys like Dan and Peter time to work on an affective bio for our Champ and fine tune it to perfection. When they send it in maybe we could add the personal touch with our mails a little later just to refresh their memory. The main thing is right now i am sure we all agree the first stage like Peter said is to get Rodolfo on that list for next year. One carefully chosen step at a time.

I am sure that Dan and Peter are much better at a more business type letter then i am. To be perfectly honest i am more the write from the heart type of guy. So i think my style will pay dividends a little later when i can add a more personal touch to and perhaps pluck at their heart strings just a little. Main thing is of course we don't get anyone's back up on this one or the game's over.
My thoughts anyway Friends

[gregbeyer]

gato,

sounds like a great trip. the royal treatment and all. have fun.

danny,

the "from the heart" approach is what we need a lot of. as i understand it we are dealing with some old school guys here. the letter should mention that his induction into the WBHOF attracted a lot of attention and how gracious gato was in his acceptance of an award so long in waiting. they are, after all, trying to fill seats at these affairs. if they get an idea of the man gato became after boxing, they get an idea of what an emmisary of the sport he is now.

peter,

are you able to contact dan hanley directly? i lost his number and he has not called or posted in awhile. have you read his article in WAIL?
greg

[theironbar]

Gentlemen,

I have taken the liberty of creating a yahoo group devoted to our cause. It's closed membership to avoid spammers, but we'll all get that sorted soon enough -- check out my CBZ profile and e-mail me your details and we'll get that membership taken care of.

I think it might be easier to organize our plans and thoughts with a yahoo group. The link is:

groups.yahoo.com/group/gatointhehall/

It's not much to look at now, and I hope the title doesn't insinuate our friend and hero is not in the "hall" -- just not in the IBHOF (yet).

El Gato -- my wife's "dream" is to go to an Academy Award after party... mine would be to spend the weekend at an event like you're attending!

Greg -- you're the only CBZer I've been in touch with -- aside from the very kind Murray Greig -- so I am respectfully asking all those interested in the cause to e-mail me and we use the yahoo group as our home base. If everything thinks that's a terrible idea, that's cool, but I do use a yahoo group to organize my law practice if you can believe it!

finance.groups.yahoo.com/...leetomlaw/

-Peter

[gregbeyer]

peter,

filled out membership form and am waiting for a pass from you before i can do anything there. will get you in touch with dan hanley as soon as i hear from him.
greg

[wildhawke11]

Peter.
Same as above and Thanks

[wildhawke11]

Gato.
Enjoy yourself now you earned the right to do that after all the hardship and problems you have had in your life both in and out of the ring.

Barry
Sorry my friend i just noticed your post on this thread its great to have you here. I agree 100% with you Dan Cuoco is a really nice guy and it has to be a bonus if we can get him on our side.

Peter
With your expertise and our enthusiasm hell the Champ has a fighting chance here -- THANKS My mail address is wildhawke11@aol.com if you anyone needs it.

Greg
Glad to hear that we will be dealing with old school
that information helps me a lot. As most people do its only natural they feel the old time fighters were better then the modern ones. I remember once when i was having problems with a young manager at work and he sent me to see the old top dog thinking he would back him up. During the conversation with the old man i mentioned that it was so strange that we could hold an adult conversation with each other and were resolving any problems and yet his younger manager i could not even talk to. (of course all this on my part was a deliberate ploy to get him on my side) The old guy just as i expected was very flattered, puffed out his chest and explained that of course his younger manager had not the experience and wisdom when dealing with situations. I in fact was banking on the fact that he wanted to go tell the young man that he knew how to handle me. In other words here was his chance to show the young guy why he was the top dog. We ended up shaking hands and problem solved to the annoyance of the young under manager who after that left me alone.

Here is a link to a little story on Rodolfo
www.lasculturas.com/lib/s...80699a.htm

[theironbar]

Hi Guys -- OK -- all "membered" up -- Danny, I uploaded that article -- it's gold! The facets of El Gato's life... I am going through an awful time myself right now with business (something back from when I was a young lawyer coming back biting me in the ass for an ungodly sum -- and we won the case!!!!) and this is really inspiring me.

If anyone has trouble uploading files into the specific folders in the group, let me know... I usually just save the picture or webpage to my desktop using right click on my mouse or "file" then "save as", then I enter the group, enter the folder, and "add" the document there (you browse and select your document for upload). Then, more or less, describe the document in some form that we can readily identify it, save it, and you're done... we'll have an archive at our fingertips!

-Peter

[gregbeyer]

peter,
your aces. glad to see frank baltizar has come aboard. i am now boxhist@yahoo.

for me this stuff as always been a great diversion from "ass bitings". bit of a ludite in the cyber world myself but the idea of our own gato archive excites me. will have to feel my way around but am sure this was a great idea on your part.
greg

[gregbeyer]

that story on gato and the virgin while inspiring is filled with errors. the dates of his battle with cancer are wrong. and former lightweight champ chango carmona certainly was not south african.
greg

[wildhawke11]

Greg
Yes there are some small details that need correcting also i believe Gato had one more fight and loss then shown. Maybe Rodolfo or Dan Hanley can put us right on these details. We also need to find out when this years induction's are fully over and done with so we can perhaps make some moves. Greg did you get any of the top dogs names or mail addresses at the IBHOF for later communication

Peter
I hope you don't mind me saying this but as you guys do the bio, its best to keep us informed as it develops because in case there is any little mistakes in it Rodolfo or others can double check the details. There are a few other thoughts that run through my mind but i think it best i do this in our yahoo group room. By the way Peter i am like Greg when it comes to computers i can upload pics and stuff to some sites but cyberzone does not except direct uploading. So you might have to put me right on a few things.

Gato
What the hell are you doing reading this you should be out enjoying yourself my friend this is Team Gato here looking after our fighters interest. If you ever decide to make a comeback leave the matchmaking to us. We wont put you in with a top contender till you have had a few warm up fights

[theironbar]

Danny -- I think that's a good idea to keep the bio etc. a very open book -- all my boxing knowledge is based on what I've read and you can't really go by reading Ring Magazine (no matter how religiously) while growing up in a small town without cable outside Ottawa! I think all the info should be readily accessible on the group, but if anyone feels that there are problems with accessing information, let me know... also, if anyone is having problems uploading articles or pics, just e-mail me at ptomlinson@leelaw.com

-Peter

[gregbeyer]

danny,
yes i did and posted them on the yahoo site.
greg

[Dan Hanley]

Danny, regarding Rodolfo's record, yes that article was in error. His record is 81-7-1 (71) having gone to the post 89 times. Sometimes it has been shown as 80 wins because they missed his late '71 10 round decision over Nick Aghai, a bout which I witnessed. Also, at times he has been shown to have 70 KO's instead of 71 because for some reason the Ring Record Book which came out at the end of '74 recorded his 2nd round stoppage of Clemente Mucino as a 2nd round disqualification win. The CBZ and Boxrec have the correct result. Boxrec corrected their result when they found the actual results of the Tijuana show from Arena 72 where it was held. Also in RRB and on that one site which used to be a pay site but is now free, I think it's called, '3015 Boxing Ave.' or something like that, they have Rodolfo as 82 wins having him score a 2nd round KO over Javier Garcia in his last fight. Rodolfo himself said this never happened, that he retired after the Suzuki fight when he couldn't get a match with Jose Napoles. Curiously, I think Javier Garcia was his first pro fight. Regardless, it appears to be 81-7-1 (71) unless someone finds another fight that was missed along the way.

Dan

[wildhawke11]

I do read all you guys say even if i dont always reply
Cheers

[Dan Hanley]

Rodolfo, when you return and read this you have got to tell us about the trip to Cancun. I've seen a few photos trickling in of Sulaiman with Lennox Lewis and Laila Ali, but we'd all like to hear about the event.

Dan

[Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez]

Words cannot describe this awesome event!!!

This was the most incredible experience of a lifetime--

To start, Barbara and I flew to Mexico City on Thursday the 26th, arriving at night with a spectacular view of the city lights. We were met by WBC Council members and from there were driven to meet Mr. Alberto Reyes, owner/president of Reyes Boxing Equipment Co. who took Barbara and I on a little tour of the historical buildings of downtown before taking us to our hotel. We had to be up and ready at 5:30 am to take a taxi to the airport where we met up with all the other champions, boxing officials and staff members who were organizing this huge event. There were two charter planes reserved for all of us. Our charter plane was filled with boxing legends and before departure for Cancun the pilot gave all of the champions a warm welcome over the loud speaker and applause and cheers broke out. It was a great beginning of a great week.

Upon arrival at the airport in Cancun, we were greeted with television cameras and reporters from all over the world, short interviews and all, before being ushered into vans that carried us through miles of hurricane territory and along the seacoast past numerous resorts, many of which are still under repair and reconstruction from hurricane damage. When we finally arrived at our luxurious hotel, the Hotel Riu Palace Las Americas, we were checked into our fabulous rooms. Our suite was in the center of the hotel with a 180 degree view of the bright blue ocean and overlooking the beautiful large hotel grounds, the artistically designed pool and white sand beach. I won't describe every detail but it is a memory never to be forgotten. We all wore white bracelets on our wrist which identified us as guests who were entitled to have anything and everything we wanted to eat or drink at anytime for the entire week. The service was awesome. We were treated like royalty.

The first day, Friday, we met with the press in the hotel lobby and in the evening attended a cocktail party again with the press and were entertained by professional modern dancers from Mexico City who gave a sensational performance.

The highlight of day two, Saturday, was a boxing show at the Plaza de Toros (Bull Ring) in the evening. All of us were taken there in 4 beautiful charter buses and upon our arrival, we created a commotion. There were so many people there.The Boxing Show was sold out. It was an excellent show and colorful as well. The main event was a fighter from Nicaragua who came into the ring dressed as an Indian in native costume, accompanied by three other Indians in costume all burning incense. He fought the local idol of Cancun, El Travieso Arce, who won by knockout. Jackie Nava from Tijuana fought a girl from San Jose, CA and beat her in a hard 10 round decision. Jackie has trained at the gym in Vista where I train my fighters so I knew of her which made it even more interesting to watch.

On day three, Sunday, was the parade.The champions were driven in fancy cars such as a Roll Royce, Mercedes, Jaguars, BMW's, etc.--all convertibles. It was a beautiful sunny day and we went along the coast for about 5 miles escorted by the police. We received a warm welcome from the people of Cancun along the route. That evening the 4 charter buses took all of us to Playas del Carmen, a charming resort town where we were introduced to the people and they were able to have pictures taken with us and more autograph signing.The press was there too. They followed us everywhere we went.

Day four, Monday, was golf day at the beautiful Moon Palace Resort about an hour away. What a game we had. We each were given five golf balls to play 18 holes. Mando Muniz was on my team but we only lasted 9 holes because we lost all our balls by then. That worked out OK though because we had to be back at the Moon Palace Hotel at 1:30 for another press conference.
All of those who didn't play golf joined us at 2:00 for an outstanding buffet lunch in a huge tropical outdoor banquet room. All the champions were brought up on a stage and were introduced individually. More pictures!!!
In the evening there was another party back at the Riu Palace Hotel--disco dancing, etc. It was a little wild for some of us so we found another place nearby where we could at least hear ourselves talk.

Our last day,Tuesday, was the spectacular banquet, The Night of Champions Dinner. It was held at the historical Xcaret. It is difficult to describe the features of this 300 acre site, both above ground and underground. We were greeted with a cocktail party at the entrance to the grounds and mingled with other guests. We were then led down pathways lighted with luminarias. Indians in native dress performed along the way. The paths wound down into an ancient pit and from there large tunnels went underground. We ended up in a huge underground cave--really huge where the banquet was held. It was an underground restaurant on various levels and had a very large stage that held all the champions for a group picture. Our dinner was elegant. Afterwards the governor and other dignitaries spoke, introductions were made, awards were given to many people in several catagories and all of the champions received a large WBC trophy. The program ended with Indian pagentry and a Mariachi band. It was truly a night to remember forever!

Guess Who Came to Dinner????

Tomorrow-Part Two

[gregbeyer]

gato,

sounds like a great time. of course you must realize that 5 balls in nine holes will not get you into golfs hall of fame. glad you had fun.

i hope in your next post you tell us more about who put this event together.
greg

[Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez]

Greg---

You sure are right about me never making it into the Golfing Hall of Fame. I don't think any of the boxers I know will make it either.

WBC Night of Champions-Part Two

The World Boxing Council, President Jose Sulaiman and his staff organized this historical event. It was the first time ever that a group of boxing legends like this had been put together. Alberto Reyes, President of Reyes Boxing Equipment was in charge of bringing in the Champions from the United States. It has been reported that there were about 90 Champions there from around the world. I have a list of 73 that I know were there.

Some of the first champs I ran into were Jose Becerra and Alacran Torres which was a great way to start this celebration, running into your family that you hadn't seen for so many years. It was the first time Barbara had met them and it was like they had all known each other a long time even though I had to translate their conversations. We had many occasions to visit with each other during the following days and evenings.

One evening when I was relaxing with a drink in the hotel lounge talking with Carlos Ortiz and Mantequilla Napoles, I asked Napoles what made him become a boxer. He told us that he never really liked boxing and that he used to be a baseball player, playing short stop. One time a runner stole second base and it made him really mad and he went over to him and knocked him out with a right hand punch. The baseball coach told him he should try boxing and introduced him to a local fight manager and that's how it all began. As we were talking Roberto Duran came over to join us. He had another story to tell. Duran told Carlos Ortiz that when he was a kid he used to go to the gym in Puerto Rico to watch him train because Carlos was his idol and he wanted to be like him. Duran told Ortiz that he was his inspiration. It was a very touching moment.

Another time when Duran was talking with Barbara and I he invited us to come to Panama to visit him so he could show us around. We also spent alot of time with Rafael Herrera and his wife, Leticia form Mexico City and Mando Muniz and his wife, Yolanda. Also Carlos Ortiz and his wife, Maria. There were so many others--Pipino Cuevas, Raul Raton Macias, Ruben Olivares, Alfonso Zamora, Carlos Zarate, Emile Griffith, Lupe Pintor, Chiquita Gonzalez, Iran Barkley, Chucho Castillo. Barbara and Ken Norton got along real well, also talked with Micheal Spinks and Miguel Canto. Alexis Arguello, Daniel Zaragoza and John Stracey were also friendly with us. We took so many photos with all of them. The list goes on and on.

Just for the record the following names are the ones that complete the list that we have:
Alex Ramos, Ana Marie Torres, Betulio Gonzalez, Carlos Baldomir, Carlos DeLeon, Carlos Hernandez, Chicanito Hernandez, Darchinian, Eagle Kyowa, Erik Ortiz, Erik Morales, Freddie Castillo, Gabriel Bernal, Gabriel Ruelas, Gerry Kooney, Hector Macho Camacho, Humberto Gonzalez, Humberto Soto, Isidro Perez, Israel Vezquez, Jackie Nava, James Toney, Jeff Fenech, Jelena Mrdjenovich, Joe Messi, Jorge Arce, Julio Cesar Chavez, Juan Herrera, Laila Ali, Laura Serrano, Lennox Lewis, Marcos Villasana, Melchor Cob Castro, Milton McCrory, Oscar Larios, Pedro Flores, Rafael Orono, Ricardo Lopez,
Ricardo Mayorga, Rodolfo Martiez, Rodrigo Valdez, Rosendo Alvarez, Shannon Briggs, Sharon Anyos, Sirimongkol Singwangcha, Tsuyoshi Hamada, Victor Rabanales, Wilfredo Gomez.

All of these Champions are "the ones that came to dinner." I felt very blessed to be among these boxing legends at this historic gala.

El Gato

[gregbeyer]

champ,

i was going over some of those names. what a list. i hope they are all doing well. interesting that napoles was a short stop. i believe duran was a second basemen. thats not an infield anyone would want to steal on.
greg

[GorDoom]

Champ:

How is your cousin, the great, Jose Becerra doing? A lot of people don't remember now, but when I was a kid in Mexico, in the 50's, Becerra was a Mexican idol on an even higher level than Chavez. He was the first lineal Mexican Champion since Battling Shaw {Jose Flores the first ever Mexican world champion), a jr welter champ who held the title briefly in the 30's.

Becerra was & to this day still is a hero of mine & he was deeply loved by not just Mexican boxing fans but ALL Mexicans. He was sort of the Michael Jordan of Mexican boxing back in the day.

My question is, is Becerra still held in high esteem by the Mexican public or has he been forgotten in the bloody mitts of time like so many great fighters?

regards,

GorDoom

[Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez]

GorDoom---

My cousin, Jose Becerra looks in pretty good shape, however when we met in Cancun he is now walking much slower and he talks very softly and slowly. He seems to be in good spirits and we had many occassions to be together to sit down and talk. He and Alacran Torres shared a hotel room so we spent alot of time talking with both of them. However, as you said alot of the older fighters are forgotten as fans from that generation are passing on and the new generation only knows the new fighters of today. As we went on tour and met with the people of Cancun we were introduced by name only and no information as to our weight classification or years we fought or fight record was given. People did not seem to know the older generation of fighters.
As for myself I seemed to get more recognition because I have been interviewed on international television on the Don Fransisco Show in recent years regarding my story.

Jose Becerra was also a hero of mine and it is because of him that I wanted to be a boxer. He was my inspiration and I remember the day after he won the Bantamweight Championship of the World from Alphonse Halimi and came back to Guadalajara. There was a parade honoring him with thousands of people standing along the main boulevard with television cameras from all over the country taking pictures. I was standing among the people with my family and saw my cousin passing by riding in a red Cadillac convertible with the Governor. He was standing in the car holding his belt up for the crowd to see. I was so excited that I remember saying to myself that I'm going to be just like him. And a few days later I went to see him and he started training me.

El Gato

[GorDoom]

That's very saddening to me that a Mexican icon on the level of Becerra would be forgotten. I remember that parade you talked about. I vividly remember watching it live on TV in Cuernavaca.

I have to say it's a little stunning to me that Becerra of all Mexican fighters would be forgotten. As I mentioned earlier he was like Michael Jordan profile wise in Mexico back then.

& at Bantamweight I think he was a better fighter than either Barrera, Morales or Zarate. Olivares is the only Mexican bantie I can see possibly beating him.

I guess fame, even enormous fame is fleeting in the bloody mitts of time.

GorDoom

[GorDoom]

That's a great story Champ, about how watching him in that parade inspired you to be a fighter & within a week you were in the gym!

Like I said, I watched that same parade, in a room with about at least two dozen or more Mexican grandmothers, nana's & kids all huddled around a tiny BXW television hundreds of miles away screaming & cheering like we were there on the sidewalk with you watching OUR icon, Jose Becerra.

& somehow, probably because we felt so much pride, we were sharing in his glory ...

That's legendery boxing lore, Gato!

You mentioned in your response about Becerra that he was rooming in Cancun with Alacran Torres ...

WOW! over the decades he has slipped through what's left of my mind. When you referenced him it was like a light bulb suddenly lit up in my minds eye ...

I knew Alacran as a kid - Btw: For those who don't speak Spanish, Alacran, means tarantula in English - & while he wasn't on a championship level through out his career he was one dangerous & deadly fighter to face when you were climbing the ladder ... My father used to train his fighters in Mexico City & whenever Alacran trained in "El Districto Federal", Mexico City, to you gringo's, Alacran would train in the same gym my father trained his fighters.

Like the great, Jose Medel, who also trained there, he took a shine to this skinny, hazel eyed Gringo kid, that spoke Spanish fluently & was obssesed with boxing.

Champ, you brought back a LOT of great memories ...

regards,

GorDoom

[kikibalt]

Alacran Torres was a good fighter, i remember seeing him fight live a few times , seen him fight Hiroyuki Ebihara twice, an i seen him fight another good fighter in Luis ( Zorrita ) Gonzalez, an o/c on the big show in Dodger Stadium in 1963 against Changa Munoz

Frank B.

[Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez]

Gordoom---

Alacran Torres was my stablemate. We started training on the same day in Guadalajara with Jose Becerra. Torres became the Flyweight Champion of the World in the 60's and was a great fighter in his day. I know he fought in Mexico City and trained for some of his fights there. His whole name is Efren "Alacran" Torres. However, the name "Alacran" means scorpion (not tarantula). That is because his punches were stingers. I know he defended his flyweight title on Nov. 28th, 1969 at the Coliseo in Guadalajara where he fought Susumu Hanagata in a tough 15 round fight and he won by decision.

In Cancun, we had a good time talking about those years with each other. Back in those days Alacran stuttered so much that he could hardly speak. Now he speaks well and talks up a storm. Just take a look at the group that was together--Jose Becerra, Alacran Torres, Raton Macias, Carlos Ortiz, Rafael Herrera, Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles, Ruben Olivares, Alfonso Zamora, Chuchu Castillo, Fidel Zaragoza, Miguel Canto, Rodolfo Martinez, Pipino Cuevas, "Chiquita" Gonzalez, Emile Griffith, Roberto Duran, and myself. We hung around with this group more than some of the others. It was such a special time for all of us.

El Gato

[GorDoom]

Scorpion! Of course .. Sorry champ, My Spanish is a little rusty. I remember as a kind living in Morelos you always checked your shoes before you put them because of those alacranes.

GorDoom

[Dan Hanley]

Rodolfo, there is a question that surfaced on another thread regarding Jesse Reid. My question for you is how many fights did he help out with the training chores? For some reason I'm thinking it was only one or two and I believe you said it was more motivational than anything else. Could you elaborate on this, amigo?

Dan

[Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez]

Dan,

First I will explain how I met Jesse Reid. When I went with Jacky McCoy, Jesse was helping him train some of his fighters. So for the Carmona fight, Jacky told Jesse to help me get in shape. Jesse was a good conditioning trainer. For about four weeks before the fight Jesse pushed me to run every morning and told me to be at the gym every day. I was already well disciplined to do those things myself but Jesse made sure I worked extra hard for that fight.
The second fight he helped me with was five weeks later when I fought Jose Acosta from Venezuela at the Bull Ring in Monterey, Mexico. To get ready for this fight I didn't have a sparring partner to box with me in Monterey, so Jesse who was 184 lbs and was 6 ft. tall became my sparring partner. I was 139 lbs and only 5'9".
When you have a light heavyweight sparring partner in front of you throwing punches at you, you have to fight for your life. That really got me in shape. The gym had alot of people watching me work out and every time I punched Jesse someone would call out, "Come on, King Kong, fight back." To answer your question, he only helped condition me for those two fights. By the way, I knocked Jose Acosta out in one minute of the first round and got paid $10,000. That was the most money I ever made in my whole life for only one minute of work.

El Gato

[sdom1]

Hi gato...i see you mentioned mando ramos in your post. hows he doing and can you tell me what board he post's at. i am a old friend of his and i lost touch with him last year and i see he doesnt post here any more. thanks!

[Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez]

To Sdom1---

Thanks for asking about Mando Ramos.
I just got off the phone with Sylvia, Mando's wife. She told me that Mando has been in the hospital for a few days. He lost movement in his legs and couldn't walk. He will be in the hospital for the next few weeks or so undergoing tests and therapy.

If you would like to give me your name and phone number or an e-mail address I will see that it gets to him.

For right now Mando needs the prayers of all his friends and fans.

El Gato