The CBZ Newswire

By Dan Hanley

In the early ’80s, when boxing once again meant big numbers in the network ratings, there came a pug out of the west coast, brandishing a wallop that put the live audience into a frenzy, not to mention the Nielsen ratings. When the name Tony ‘The Tiger’ Baltazar was noted in the quaint TV listings of the time, it harkened the return of hard-nosed action. For the day of the warrior was once again upon us.

DH: Tony, where did you first see the light of day?

TB: Well, I was actually born in East L.A., but grew up in La Puente, California.

DH: Growing up in California during the ’60s and ’70s, you must’ve had an incredible exposure to the game.

TB: Oh, I did (laughing), from a very early age. My Dad, Frank, Sr., was always training fighters and he would babysit my brother Frankie and I by bringing us to the gym with him. I was three years old putting on gloves that were bigger than I was. Then, it was called babysitting and boxing. Today (laughing), it’s probably called child abuse. (continue reading…)