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Aileen Eaton, internationally-known woman boxing promoter who operates
Olympic Auditorium, one of the most successful clubs in the world, catches
up on reading in backyard of home.
Hiroyuki Ebihara & Fabian Esquivel
Frankie Campos, who fought out of the Teamsters Gym in L.A.
MUSLIM GREETING-Elijah Muhammad, left, of Black Muslim sect,
shakes hands with heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay at
Black Muslim rally attended by 5,000 members in Olympic Auditorium.
View of boxing match at Wilmington Arena with huge crowd surrounding ring in Los Angeles, Calif., circa 1925
Enrique Bolanos vs John Thomas
Joe Louis vs Jack Roper boxing match with surrounding crowd at Wrigley Field,
Los Angeles, Calif, 1939
There was at least one fairly big outdoor boxing show staged in Wilmington, California shortly after the Ten-Round Law was passed in the state. But I think that the show was staged at a makeshift venue, not a regular venue. In other words, I don't think there was an outdoor venue called the "Wilmington Arena." At the time, there were weekly shows staged at the Wilmington Bowl, a indoor venue with a capacity of about 4,000.
It is my understanding that there is remarkably clear footage of the world heavyweight championship bout between Joe Louis, the champion, and Jack Roper, the challenger.
- Chuck Johnston
Last edited by Chuck1052; 09-11-2008 at 03:02 PM.
You are right, Chuck.
One of my favorite projects, the ring career of the incomparable George Godfrey, took wing anew in California when he topped an outdoor show at a Wilmington ball park on March 21, 1925, stopping Vic Alexander in six rounds.
It was Godfrey, in fact, who gave the fight game in California a jump start after the passage of the new law.
He then headlined an outdoor extravaganza at San Francisco's Recreation Park on June 6, 1925. winning over Jack Renault before a $30,000 house.
His drawing power also got him into the first heavyweight bout ever held at the brand new Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium, where he knocked out Mike
Conroy just three weeks after the club's opening. The date was June 26, 1925. His seesaw career hit its local peak in 1928 when he met Paolino Uzcudun in an L.A. outdoor show that set a new state record for gate receipts, $100,000.
That was all part of our man Godfrey's unique swath through the western fight scene.
hap havarro
Hap, here Vic Alexander
Vic Alexander shadow-boxing in ring, circa 1920
KikiL
Thanks for posting the photo of Vic Alexander. As active as he was back in the old days you son't see a lot of his pictures.
regards
friend hap
Hap- I hope that you are doing well. In regards to George Godfrey and Vic Alexander, they were in a group of black heavyweights who were active in Southern California during the late 1920s, which also included Mack House, Long Tom Hawkins and Neil Clisby. I don't think that Godfrey, Alexander, Hawkins, House, Clisby, Young Jack Thompson and Baby Joe Gans are given enough credit for giving black fighters a huge boost in Southern California after some years in the doltrums, especially after the era of Jack Johnson.
- Chuck Johnston
Originally Posted by kikibalt
Joe Rivers -AKA- Jose Ybarra
Chuck and fellow posters:
I'm doing as well as any oldster, and perhaps a bit better than some not-so-lucky contemporaries. The aging process may dull most of our human faculties but I've been blessed with hardy genes, despite my early imbibing ways at several fight mob watering holes in the old hometown, L.A.
I'm back to join you fellas in reminiscing and hope to have something of some worth to comment on henceforth. For the record, if anyone cares, the best fighter I ever saw live was Ray Robinson, who was really a composite figure, part choreographer, part aerobics master, a boxing genius and instinctive athlete with perfect balance in any position, and a deadly puncher.
The best of all Mexican fighters when he cared enough to fill the role was Manuel Ortiz. The purest Mexican stylist-boxing master was Joe Conde, even if I only saw him in workouts. At his best he was classy enough to outpoint Henry Armstrong in Mexico City.
The top "lemonade maker" among headlilners had to be Lauro Salas. You know the old saying: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade". With the style the Lord gave him, Lauro did the best he could. Like the bumble bee, that is not supposed to be able to fly......with his ring style, he wasn't meant to win a world title, but he did.
The most popular Mexican fighters from my time in a three-way tie were Bert Colima, Baby Arizmendi and Enrique Bolanos. The sturdiest Mexican gladiator of all time had to be Julio Cesar Jimenez, a journeyman lightweight, hard as nails, a pared-down Jake LaMotta, impossible to floor.
The biggest waste of natural talent went to little-known Sandy Garrison Casanova, California's first lightheavyweight champion. He could punch, he could box, but he was a lesser light in the same stable with star Bert Colima and he disdained training routines.
If you are still with me: Thanks for the courtesy. And please remember this is all just an opinion.
hap navarro
Hap, it's great to see you back on the board. I am presently researching the careers of the Hogue twins from Jacumba and was hoping you may have some insight/opinion on the two.
I have plenty of photos (though more couldn't hurt), scrapbooks and family rememberences. If you have anything you would care to offer up from your own time on the coast during the 40s and 50s it would be most appreciated.
Boxscribe:
That is some subject you have zeroed in on----I call my story on them "The Incomparable Hogue Twins", written 20 years ago and still awaiting inclusion in my phantom book "Witness to Mayhem".
I have always wanted to do their boxing story, researched it and even had a personal note to add because one of their nephews once boxed for me back in the 1950s.
For pathos and sheer waste of magnificent raw talent their story should be told as a tribute more than as a narrative. I saw them from their amateur days and once worked on a daily newspaper with another of their nephews
It's kind of a dilemma as to what to do in this case....don't you agree?
regards
hap navarro
Hap, you are dead right about the twins. What a waste of potential. They appeared to have everything going for them, good-looking guys, crowd-pleasing styles, a true absence of fear and a great fan base.
The seemed to blaze accross southern Cal boxing like a pair of meteors before finally coming down to earth with a bump. The story with the twins is a real tragedy I feel like crying for them.
The nephew you had fight was probably Bob Dye.
I will PM you later.
Joe Louis vs Jack Roper...1939
LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 12: Steve DeAngelis of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (C) stands between boxers Joel Casamayor (L) of Cuba and Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico during their official weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 12, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fighters will meet in a 12-round fight on September 13. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Andy Walker
Oscar De La Hoya vs Jimmy Bredahl
Archie Moore at Sugar Ray Robinson's funeral
Photo courtesy of Hap Navarro
Max Baer and his original manager, Hamilton Lorimer (who also happened to be his early employer) about to board their fancy vintage auto, parked in front of Dempsey's old Manhattan Gym on Spring street, in L.A. circa 1930.
Photo courtesy of Hap Navarro
The brothers Baer, clowning in Morrie Cohan's (Pasadena) hotel room in 1935.
Photo courtesy of Hap Navarro
Art Aragon
Photos courtesy of Hap Navarro
A rarely seen photo of Manuel Ortiz's kid brother, Trini Ortiz, circa 1943.
The boy only had a few bouts, nothing extraordinary.
Speedy Dado Vintage Original Charcoal Drawing by Hal Bruntish
Signed & Date 1927 by Dado & Bruntish
John Thomas
Miguel Canto v Facomron Vibonchai
November 20, 1978
A few words about Gentlemman John Thomas, if you please.
There may never be another like him to come our way. He was that good, plus a fine human being in and out of the ring. John was managed by Bert Lewis, owner of a string of barber schools on the west coast, and he was schooled and trained by one of the better teachers of the time, George Tolson, along with Bobby Yeager and Georgie Mendoza.
A look at John's pro record shows that he lost a total of seven bouts, all of them to top-flight contenders and near champions. His fine win streak at the start of his career ended when he engaged in a masterful boxing showdown with the prestigious stylist, Willie Joyce.
But it was destiny's choice to have Thomas competing for parochial pride in the same sphere, California, with Enrique Bolanos. In one of the many dlassic series that have occurred in L.A. boxing, Thomas and Bolanos met twice. Their first match, long awaited by partisan fans, drew a gross gate of $70,000 outdoors. it was a toss up fight until Bolanos' superior punching power turned the tide. Never one to hand around as an also-ran. Thomas retired after losing to Bolanos in an Olympic rematch that also did well at the box office.
It was only natural that John would gravitate to the ranks of popular referees. His style in the ring as a third man was unmatched by any of his older, more corpulent colleagues. John had followed an older brother, Clarence, as an aspiring boxer.
hap navarro
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