By Rick Farris ( a former professional boxer and boxing historian ) By the end of WWII, a new era in Los Angeles boxing had taken life. In the eyes of California boxing historians, such as Gabriel “Hap” Navarro, former promoter and matchmaker at the legendary Hollywood Legion Stadium, the post war years thru the 1950′s, [...]
By Rick Farris ( a friend, a former professional boxer and boxing historian ) This was my last look at Julio Cesar Chavez, Summer of 2000 … Boxing and controversy were holding hands long before the Marquis of Queensbury laid down the ground rules. Generally, controversy surfaces sometime after the opening bell. However, from [...]
By Rick Farris ( Former professional boxer and boxing historian ) In early 1999, I was watching ESPN, hoping to hear the result of a fight that had taken place earlier in the evening. When the sports news came on, I waited thru football scores, and golf, until the sportscaster finally said . . . “And [...]
By Rick Farris (Former professional boxer and boxing historian) On February 26, 1968, Mashiko “Fighting” Harada, the greatest Japanese boxer of all-time, was scheduled to defend his World Bantamweight title against number one challenger Jesus Pimentel of Mexico. It would be Harada’s fourth defense of the title he’d won nearly three years previous by [...]
Rick Farris, Henry Armstrong and Bill Farris at the Main Street Gym, Los Angeles-1965 By Rick Farris for dmboxing.com When I heard that Henry Armstrong was in the gym, I couldn’t concentrate on my own workout. He was nearly 53-year-old, and hadn’t fought in twenty years. He was in the gym training a young welterweight, Gary [...]