Tag Archives: History

R.I.P. Allen Syers

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

I am saddened to report that my friend, our friend, boxer Allen Syers passed away on December 6, 2011. Allen fought in the lightweight (135 lb.) division from 1964 to1967 and compiled a ring record of 8 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws. Born in Liverpool, England, Allen lived in Mission Viejo, California with his loving wife Elise. Allen was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008, and was to be honored this weekend, on December 10, 2011, by the Golden State Boxer’s Association as the recipient of the 2011 Don Fraser World Boxing Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a wonderful person in all aspects of the life that he lived and respected by everyone. May his soul rest in peace in heaven with God.

BOOK REVIEW ~ By Jim Amato / Senior Boxing Writer

 

Hard Luck: The Triumph And Tragedy Of “Irish” Jerry Quarry
AUTHORS – Steve Springer and Blake Chavez
FOREWORD by George Foreman

I have always been a big fan of Jerry Quarry. He was a mainstay in the talent laden heavyweight division during the late 1960s and into the 70’s. His multitude of fans shared in his triumphs and his disappointments throughout his roller coaster career. Whenever you counted Jerry out he would win a major fight to propel himself back to the heavyweight forefront. His victories over Floyd Patterson, Thad Spencer, Buster Mathis Sr. Mac Foster, Ron Lyle and Earnie Shavers always kept him in the thick of the heavyweight title picture. Then there were the losses to Ali and Frazier who both defeated Jerry twice. There were the losses to Jimmy Ellis, George Chuvalo and later in his career to Kenny Norton.

Much has been documented on Jerry’s career and his battle later in life with Dementia Pugilistica. A battle that would take his life in 1999. The authors of this book do a tremendous job of detailing Jerry’s life and career from the beginning to the bitter end. It brought back a lot of memories both good and bad but it also reminded me of why I was such a fan of Quarry and that era of heavyweight boxing.

This is more than a book on Jerry Quarry. It was like reading and reliving that historic time frame in fistic history. Other then Muhammad Ali himself, no one stirred the pot of controversy better then Quarry during that time frame. Along with his great boxing ability Jerry had something else. Loads of charisma that most of today’s heavyweights lack.

I highly recommend this book to all boxing fans. It is a great read. If you are a Jerry Quarry fan…Well what are you waiting for ???

 

FRANKIE DUARTE ~ TOUGH AS NAILS

By Jim Amato

( Senior Boxing Writer )

In the 1970’s and 80’s the bantamweight division was loaded with talent. Great champions like Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Daniel Zaragoza and Jeff Chandler forged their Hall Of Fame careers in that era. So did Lupe Pintor who should be in the Hall Of Fame. There were also fine champions like Rafael Herrera,Chucho Castillo,Rodolfo Martinez,Romeo Anaya and Alberto Davila.
One tough hombre from that era just missed being crowned a world champion. Nevertheless his all out action style repeatedly drew big crowds to the Olympic Auditorium and the Inglewood Forum. His name was Frankie Duarte.
Duarte was born in 1954 in Santa Monica,California. He joined the punch for pay ranks in 1973 and quickly became a fan favorite. He won his first 16 bouts but then lost a decision in 1974 to rugged Joe Guevara. In 1975 he split a pair of decisions with Tarcisco Gomez.Frankie would then reel off 11 straight leading to a bout with the talented Alberto Davila. This was a WBC title eliminator bout and on this night the scappy Davila halted Frankie in round five.

Continue reading FRANKIE DUARTE ~ TOUGH AS NAILS

Butch Lewis and the Spinks Brothers

Leon Spinks and David Martinez
photo taken: October 15, 2004  )

By Tom Donelson Member of the Boxing Writers Association and International Boxing Research Organization ) Butch Lewis was a colorful promoter who learned his trade under Bob Arum and even promoted some of Ali’s fight with Arum but he was the man behind the Spinks brothers.  He managed Leon’s career to great heights early in his career.  After winning the Olympics, Leon won his first seven of eight fights with the other being a draw against Scott LeDoux. Ali set up a fight with Leon Spinks but Spinks upset the “Greatest” winning the title with a split decision. For one night, Spinks was the greatest but that came down quickly when Ali won an easy decision in New Orleans Superdome in the rematch. Continue reading Butch Lewis and the Spinks Brothers

“The Lion in Winter”

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 the moment it was announced that WBC Jr. Welterweight Champ Kostya Tszyu would defend his title against 38-year-old Julio Cesar Chavez, controversy flourished. Even today, three days after the fight the controversy continues.

The Tszyu-Chavez title fight would be my first live coverage assignment and I had a special interest in it. I had been in the house the night Chavez made his Los Angeles debut at the Olympic Auditorium more than seventeen years ago, and again the following year, when he won his first world title. Now I would be present for what I expected to be the once great champion’s final fight.

I had hoped to catch Chavez working out at the Madison Gym in Phoenix where today I train boxers. However, my schedule interfered with the chance of seeing Chavez during the week he conducted his final workouts in Phoenix. I didn’t see the former champ until the friday afternoon weigh-in at the Airport Hilton Hotel in Phoenix.

When I arrived at the Hotel I saw a lot of old friends and familiar faces from my era in Los Angeles boxing. Marty Denkin, who was scheduled to judge the bout was sitting in the lobby with another L.A. based official, Chuck Hassett. A group of amateur boxers representing several Phoenix area gyms were standing by hoping to get a glimpse of Chavez when he entered the building. Arizona boxing commissioner John Montano was having a discussion in the corner with one of the promoters and Jimmy Lennon Jr. crossed the room on his way to the restaurant. Kostya Tszyu had quietly slipped into the media room where the weigh-in would be held and quickly checked his weight on the scale. After stepping off the scale he disappeared. About ten minutes later a commotion could be heard coming from the lobby and it marked the entrance of the greatest Mexican boxer ever, Julio Cesar Chavez. Chavez was quickly surrounded by the media. Anxious reporters and camera crews positioned themselves close to the former champion and began asking questions. Chavez sat down in the lobby and talked with the media but not with the strength that he once projected. Continue reading “The Lion in Winter”

RODRIGO VALDEZ

By Jim Amato / Senior Boxing Writer

 

With all the recent hoopla for the respected Bernard Hopkins and his adding to the legacy of great Philly fighters…

Well here goes… The great city of Philadelphia has produced an array of world class middleweights over the years. Hopkins has brought great pride to the long line of Philly middlewights who came before him. Tough guys like Stanley ” Kitten ” Hayward, Eugene ” Cyclone ” Hart, Bobby ” Boogaloo ” Watts, Willie ” The Worm ” Monroe and possibly he toughest of them all, ” Bad ” Bennie Briscoe.

When people talk of Hopkins now they compare him to Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, Sugar Ray Robinson and his more recent contemporaries, Carlos Monzon and Marvin Hagler. Did someone forget a classy and fine middleweight named Rodrigo Valdez ?

Valdez was a world class fighter who suffered from the ” De Jesus ” syndrome. That is like the outstanding Esteban DeJesus was overshadowed in his career by the skill of Roberto Duran. So too was Rodrigo Valdez overshadowed by Monzon . Take Duran And Monzon out of the picture and DeJesus and Valdez mght be in the Hall Of Fame. Continue reading RODRIGO VALDEZ

The Greatest Mexican-Born Boxers “ pound for pound ” of All Time

Ruben Olivares and David Martinez
photo taken October 16, 1999 )
By David Martinez / Boxing Historian  

Picking the five best Mexican boxers was really an easy task because the five I have personally chosen are so close in greatness at the peak of their careers, that I could virtually switch the order around in any way and that would satisfy any boxing fan.

My order is simply based on what I have seen, my research, interviews with the people that have lived in their eras, and my expertise on how they would of done against each other had they fought at the peak of their careers.

The level of their competition also plays a huge factor, but not necessarily their ring record, and I can say that I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity in my lifetime see all five of these great champions in their respective careers.

#1) RUBEN OLIVARES, Total Bouts: 104  (88-13-3 / 78 by KO)
former World Bantamweight Champion: 1969-1970, 1971-1972
former WBA Featherweight Champion: 1974
former WBC Featherweight Champion: 1975

Ruben was simply the best Mexican-born body puncher that I have ever seen in the ring, with a tremendous left hook to liver and a right cross to his opponents chin which was devastating.

When Ruben won the World Bantamweight title in 1969 against Lionel Rose by knockout in five rounds, his ring record was an impressive 51-0-1 with 49 KO’s, and at one point early in his career he had a knockout streak of 21 in a row.

From April 1970 to April 1971, and in between other fights in that 12 month period, Ruben had a trilogy with Chucho Castillo, wining two of the three fights against his fellow Mexican countryman.

After the Castillo fights, Ruben started having trouble making weight at the bantamweight limit, and, before moving up into the featherweight class, he lost two fights against another great countryman, Rafael Herrera.

Although Ruben fought later in his career at featherweight, and won two versions of those titles at 126 pounds, his true greatness was at bantamweight at 118 pounds. They came no colorful, nor more dynamic than Ruben Olivares, who I consider at his prime the greatest Mexican-born boxer I have seen.

Ruben fought all the other top notable fighters of his era, such as Efren Torres, Jesus Pimentel, Godfrey Stevens, Bobby Chacon, Art Hafey, Alexis Arguello, David Kotey, Danny Lopez, Jose Luis Ramirez, and Eusebio Pedroza.

Ruben Olivares retired in 1981, but five years later, 1986 at the age of 39, he made a comeback and fought in two dismal fights before he officially retired from the ring in 1988. Continue reading The Greatest Mexican-Born Boxers “ pound for pound ” of All Time

RING TRIVIA answers for May 2011

( a monthly feature from David Martinez Boxing )


1) What boxer beat Carlos Ortiz two out of three times in championship bouts, with his only loss of the three being a split decision defeat ?

answer ~ Duilio Loi

 

2) Who was the first black heavyweight champion ?

answer ~ Jack Johnson

 

3) Former lightweight champion Ken Buchanan was only knocked out once in 69 professional bouts. Who knocked him out ?

answer ~ Roberto Duran

 

My Memory of Jerry Quarry

Photos courtesy David Martinez, March 19, 1970, Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, Quarry vs. Scrap Iron

 

By Rick Farris

( Former professional boxer, boxing historian and stable mate of Jerry Quarry) 

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 now from the world of boxing”.

I expected a report on the fight. Nothing else going on in boxing at the time. Instead, I heard something that made me forget about the fight result I’d been waiting for.  I still remember the words . . .”A sad note to report in boxing today, former heavyweight contender Jerry Quarry has died at the age of 53.” I was stunned.

I was aware that Jerry had not been doing well and suffered from Dementia pugilistica.  I knew that he had been living with his mother Arawanda in a mobile home park near the Hemet area of Southern California and was under her care. Mutual friends from the past, such as former middleweight Mike Nixon, Jerry’s brother-in-law, had told me that Jerrycould no longer handle simple daily tasks, such as shaving. Jerry’s older brother Jimmy would help him with such things. I remember how sad it was to hear this a couple years back, and that Jerry would no doubt die young. However, I couldn’t imagine him dead at 53.

I wasn’t the only person surprised to hear of Quarry’s death. However, in my case it was something very personal. As a kid, all I wanted to do was become a boxer. Jerry Quarry helped make this possible. Jerry Quarry’s success and accomplishments are a part of boxing history. Being close to a boxer who won the National Golden Gloves Heavyweight title in 1965, and went on to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship as a pro, is a part of my history.

When I was twelve-years-old I had a dream that was a bit unusual for a middle class kid growing up in Burbank, California. I was going to be a professional boxer. I didn’t just want to be a pro fighter . . .I was going to be a pro fighter. I set a goal for myself and nothing was going to stop me. Nobody took me seriously, but it didn’t matter, I took myself seriously. However, this was not going to be easy. There were no boxing gyms in the Burbank area, or close by where I could start out. The YMCA didn’t have a boxing program and even if it had, I was looking for a place where real boxers trained, amateurs and pros.

In early 1965, the Western Regional Golden Gloves Championships were televised in the Los Angeles area and, naturally, I was glued to the TV. The heavyweight final was won by a 19-year-old from Bellflower named Jerry Quarry. Quarry scored a decision over Clay Hodges and would represent Los Angeles in the national tournament the following week in Kansas City. There was something special about this fighter and I couldn’t see anybody beating him in the Nationals. I was right.

Continue reading My Memory of Jerry Quarry