1920 to 1929, The Golden Age of Boxing

THE FORGOTTEN YEARS of BOXING: by Brian Zelley

The Roaring Twenties was a time of some of the greatest boxing,
but in the here and now of the 21st Century many boxing fans
minimize and overlook the greats of the Roaring Twenties.

One only has to look at the various polls of the modern age and
those champions  hare often overlooked in the listings or choices.
But, then again look at some of the champions of that era.

The Champions:
Heavyweight:  Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. 

Light Heavy:  George Carpentier, Battling Siki, Mike McTighe,
Paul Berlenback, Jimmy Slattery, Tommy Loughran.

Middleweight: Mike O'Dowd, Johnny Wilson, Harry Greb, 
and Mickey Walker,

Welterweight: Jack Britton, Mickey Walker, Joe Dundee, 
 and Jackie Fields

Lightweights:  Benny Leonard, Rocky Kansas, Jimmy Goodrich,
and Sammy Mandell,.

Featherweight: Johnny Kilbane, Johnyy Dundee, Eugene Crique,
Steve Sullivan, Kid Kaplan, Benny Bass, Tony Canzoneri, 
Andre Routis and Bat Battalino.

Bantamweight: Joe Lynch, Pete Herman, Johnny Buff, Abe Goldstein,
Cannonball Martin, Charlie Rosenberg, Bud Taylor, Bushy Graham
and Panama Al Brown.

Flyweight:  Jimmy Wilde, Pncho Villa and others.

There were also a number of Jr. welterweight and lightweight 
champions many of which also won other titles such as:
Johnny Dundeek and Barney Ross,   But, one of the active 
champions was Todd Morgan  from the Pacific Northwest
who fought the likes of Vic Foley in Vancouver and Joe Glick
in New York.

BOXING in JANUARY

BOXING's JANUARY HAPPENINGS: 

 By Btian Zelley

Step back in time to February 1966

and in the black and white pages of
"Boxing Illustrated" and there was
an article by E. M. Orlick titled
"It Happened In January" that
covered many interesting moments
to take place in boxing during the 
month of January including
championship fights and various other interesting happenings
including the last professional fight of champion Fritzie Zivic
on January 17, 1949 with a ten round victory over Eddie Steele
in Georgia, and Virgil Akins victory over Tony DeMarco in
an elimination bout to fill the welterweight title left vacant by
Carmen Basilio.  

Some of the title fights included:
1932: Johnny Jadick wins a 10-rounder over Tony Canzoneri
to win the Jr. welterweight tiutle.
1939: Joe Louis stops light-heavyweight champion John Henry
Lewis to retain his heavyweight title.  
1964" Pone Kingpetch outpoints Fighting Harada to regain the
flyweight title. 

Beyond 1966:
1967:  Emile Griffith retains the middleweight title with a 
decision over Joey Archer.

1968:   Howard Winstone stops Mitsunori Seki in nine to
win a piece of the featherweight title and in the flyweight
division Chartchai Choinoi stops Efren Torres in Mexico.

1969: Bob Foster scores a first round win over
Frankie DePaula in light-heavyweight action, in featherwight
action it is Johnny Famechon over Jose Legra in London.*

The Seventies:

*Johnny Famechon would lead the charge in the Seventies 

with his victory over Fighting Harada in featherweight 

action in Tokyo, but there would be others to add some

magic moments to the Seventies.

* In action in 1972 was Joe Frazier and his stoppage of 

Terry Daniels, but in January 1973 it would be 

George Foreman who would win a sensational victory

over Smoking Joe with two rounds of destruction.

*But, there would be a lightweight destructive force

that would stop Jimmy Robertson in five at Panama City

and that would be in the person of Roberto Duran.  And,

fast forward to 1977 and it would be Carlos Palomino who 

would defeat Armando Muniz in Los Angeles action, but 

Roberto Duran would still be in action to stop one

Vilomar Fernandez  in 13 rds. at Miami Beach, and in 

1978 Duran would unify the lightweight title with a 

convincing win over Esteban deJesus in  Vegas.

*To close out the Seventies, Wilfred Benitez would

defeat Carlos Palomino in San Juan.

The Eighties:

* Some of the champions that would see action in one of the

January's of the  '80's would include middleweight champion
Marvin Hagler, jr. middleweight Wilfred Benitez,  lightweight
Arturo Frias. jr. middleweight Davey Moore  jr. lightweight
Roger Mayweather  and lightweight Ray Mancini.  By 1985,
there would be Donald Curry, Rocky Lockridge, with others
to follow such as Tim Witherspoon, Hilario Zapata, and the big
one in January 1988 with Mike Tyson over Larry Homes in four.
and to close out the last January in the Eighties it would be
Meldrick Taylor inaction

The Nineties:

*  It would be another new decade, and some of  the                                  January moments would include a cross-section of                                           new and old fighters . 

Carlos DeLeon,  Virgil Hill, Prince Charles William,  Luis Mendoza,

and many more such as IRAN BARKLEY  and MELDRICK TAYLOR.

Boxing's November ring classics

November Ring Moments: 

- by Brian Zelley.

The Fantastic Fifties:

*The month of November provided a few title fights around the globe.

For the west coast crowd, one of those bouts would feature one of 
their own ART "Golden Boy" ARAGON would face JIMMY CARTER
in a lightweight title fight in Los Angeles.  At the end of 15 rounds it
was the champion Carter who would get the decision in 1951.  In
November '53 Carter would go to another fighters home base, but
the results would be the same with Jimmy winning against the
Canadian ARMAND SAVOIE at Montreal.

On Nov. 1, '50, Islington's own TERRY ALLEN, the former world
flyweight champion would face the new champion DADO MARINO
for 15 rounds in Honolulu.  

*Then came a fight to remember when JOHNNY BRATTON faced
welterweight champion KID GAVILAN.  In  an earlier fight, Bratton
suffered a broken jaw, but that had no effect on his perfomance
on Friday the 13th , November '53 at the Chicago stadium.

*1/955 - CARMEN BASILIO, the new welterweight champion, would
give former champion TONY DEMARCO  a rematch in Boston
 and win by a stoppage in round 12.

1956 - FLOYD PATTERSON, the middleweight Olympic gold medalist
was now a heavyweight and would win the vacant title with a great
victory over light-heavyweight champion ARCHIE MOORE.

The Sizzling Sixties and the November happenings:

BANTAMWEIGHT BOXER from BRAZIL would set the stage

for the Sixties ring action when he held a piece of the 

bantamweight title with a victory over Eloy Sanchez in

November 22, 1960 in Los Angeles. And his name was

EDER JOFRE.  But, fast forward to 1964 and it was 
WILLIE PASTRANO winning big in Manchester, England
against TERRY DOWNES.  And, in November '65 the
old gave way to the new when heavyweight champion
MUHAMMAD (Cassius Clay) ALI defended his title
against fomrer two-time champ FLOYD PATTERSON.

There would be other good fights in that year with
Carols Ortiz over Ismael Laguna, and Fighting Harada
over Alan Rudkin. And in 1967, champion DICK TIGER
would stop ROGER ROUSE in a light=heavyweight bout.

November 1970:

Two important fights would kick-off November 1970:

CAROS MONZON stops NINO BENVENUTI and

JOE FRAZIER stops BOB FOSTER.

The Ground Level: the novice juniors.

*Far removed from the world champions such as 

MUHAMMAD ALI to EDER JOFRE,  are those 

amateur boxers at the ground level when many are

often in their first tournament such as that which took 

place on November 5th., 1983 at the Boxing BC

training centre in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

The tournament  was the 1983 Bronze Gloves for 

junior novice boxers.

Following the competition, the boxer to be selected as

the "Bronze Boy" was Queensborough Boxing club boxer

CLINT DUMAIS.  The runner-up as the best boxer was

from the Kingsway boxing club of Vancouver and his name

was MIKE MARRELLO, and the best bout was against

Daryl Dickson of Williams Lake vs David Slack of the

Langley/Aldergrove club.  One of the novice junior boxers

that 11 years later would be part of Canada's Commonwealth

Games boxing team would be ALLAN BAYNE.  Ringside officials

in that novice tournament would be:

Bert Lowes, Sid Knopp, Rudy Bianco, Larry Krangle, Brian Zelley,

Lindy Lindmoser, Jack Mellor, Vic Murdoch, Earl Vance and

Bob Necombe.

Back To The World Stage IN THE EIGHTIES:

It was just the previous month in October 1980 when a kegebd

fell and theat was when LARRY HOLMES stopped "The Greatest:

named MUHAMMAD ALI in 11 rounds.

But, for the champions and contenders, there would be many

interesting bouts throughout the eighties with the first big

name fight in November 1980 took place in New Orleans and

Sugar Ray Leonard would defeat Roberto Duran in a 

welterweight title fight and in a split title division of the

lightweights JIM WATT would stop SEAN O'GRADY and

HILMER KENTY would stop V. Fernandez. And, in 1981

MICHAEL SPINKS would stop VONZELL JOHNSON in the

light-heavyweight division. 

In November 1982, lightweight RAY MANCINI would stop

Duk Koo Kim in Les Vegas.  And has the decade continued

there would be others engaged such as MARVIN HAGLER  and

HECTOR CAMACHO.  And in the heavyweight division it was

LARRY HOLMES rolling along whn he stopped BONECRUSHER

SMITH in November 1984

BACK TO THE THIRTIES 

* But, we must travel back in time for see the legends of boxing in action.

In November 1930 TONY CANZONERI woudl defeat KID CHOCOLATE in

a lightweight bout in New York City while featherweight champion 

Bat Battalino was winning in Chicago.  An in 1933, it was light-heavyweight 

champion MAXIE ROSENBLOOM earning a victory over the aging 

MICKY WALKER.  To close out the thirties, it was 1939 when the great

BLLY CONN would outbox GUS LESNEVICH to retain the light-heavyweight

title

Boxing In The Good old Summer Time

SUMMER TIME FIGHTS:  by brian zelley


*One of the fights that I remember from the good old summer time
was the Middleweight title fight between champion EMILE GRIFFITH
and JOEY ARCHER that took place on July 13, 1966.  The fight went
the distance with Emile winning the decision, but there was plenty of 
excellent boxer by both Griffith and Archer for 15 rounds.  


Before and after that bout, there were plenty of other great and some
not so great summer time bouts.  


HEAVYWEIGHTS:
The year was 1949 in the early days of the summer when
EZZARD CHARLES would win the vacant heavyweight
title with a victory of JERSEY JOE WALCOTT.  But, in 
the summer time of '51, old Jersey Joe was a great underdog
but he would shock the world with a one punch knockout of
the champion to win the heavyweight title.


In 1957, the then heavyweight champion FLOYD PATTERSON
would score a pair of victories over Tommy Jackson and the
recent amateur PETE RADEMACHER.


There would be other heavyweight summer bouts, and also
many of the other divisions.


THE LAST 100 YEARS:
*Stepping back 100 years ago, there were two title fights of note
that took place in the summer of 1912 including:
*A July 4th. victory by heavyweight champion JACK JOHNSON
 over Fireman Jim Flynn, and
a July 4th victory by lightweight champion AD WOLGAST
over Joe Rivers.  One year later it would be the new 

lightweight champion WILLIE RITCHIE who would score
a knockout victory over Rivers in San Francisco, California.
and in 1914 during the month of July, FREDDIE WELSH
would earn a decision victory over Ritchie in London.


*It was in the summer of 1919, when JACK DEMPSEY
would begin his term as heavyweight champion when he
stopped Jess Willard in four rounds at Toledo, Ohio.


*** THE ROARING TWENTIES SUMMER MOMENTS***


*Welterweight champion JACK BRITTON would kick off
summer action with a 12 round draw with one Lou Bogash.
In July of 1921 champions Jack Dempsey would see Johnny Wilson.
Dempsey would stop George Carpentier  and middleweight Wilson
would earn a victory over William Bryan Downey in Cleveland.


*in the summer of 1922, JOHNNY DUNDEE would earn a 
two wins in the Jr. lightweight division and a victory in the
featherweight division.


*Fast forward to the summer of 1929 and some of the 
champions in action were:
Tommy Loughran, Jackie Fields, and Sammy Mandell. 


*** THE DAYS OF THE DEPRESSION ***
*It was the summer of 1932 and light-heavyweight champion
MAXIE ROSENBLOOM would slap and dance to a 15 round
victory over Lou Scozza in Buffalo, NY and TEDDY YAROSZ
would earn a piece of the middleweight title with a victory 
over Vince Dundee in Pittsburgh.  And, it was 1936 when
FREDDY  STEELE won a piece of the middleweight title
with a victory over Babe Risko in Seattle.


*But, it was the summer of 1937 when TOMMY FARR
went 15-rounds with heavyweight champion JOE LOUIS
in New York.  Louis had recently won the title from
JAMES J. BRADDOCK "The Cinderella Man" who 
had given hope to many during those days of the 
depression years.


*** beyond the war years ***
It was 1947, and one of the great fights took place in chicago
when the bout that triggered the movie 
"Somebody Up There Likes Me" was the victory by
ROCKY GRAZIANO over TONY ZALE for the
Middleweight championship of the world.  


*And it was 1948 in London, when FREDDY MILLS
won the light-heavyweight title from GUS LESNEVICH.
For England,  it was one of those historical moments when
Mills would become the first British boxer to win the 
light-heavyweight title since BOB FITZSIMMONS.


  

BOXING MOMENTS in JUNE

MOMENTS IN JUNE:  by Brian Zelley


As we step back in time, there have been many interesting moments
in June. As we step back there are some names that are likely forgotten
or unknown by the boxing fans of 2012 such as Tommy West, 
Willie Fitgerald, Johnny Reagan, Bill Squires and Tony Ross.
But, then again most of what happened in the distant past has long been
forgotten or overlooked.


The above named boxers all faced world champions, when there were
world champions in the sport of boxing. For instance, Tommy West
faced Joe Walcott in a welterweight title fight June 1902, and Bill Squires
faced heavyweight champion Tommy Burns in a title fight June 1908.


It was on June 9, 1914 when Kid Williams stopped Johnny Coulon
in a bantamweight title fight at Vernon, California.  But one of the 
great fights to take place was  June 18, 1923 when Pancho Villa 
defeated Jimmy Wilde.


Then there was MAX BAER who made history in 1937 and 1935
in the month of June when he defeated Primo Carnera for the 
heavyweight title and about one year later lost it all to the one
that became known as the "Cinderella Man" James J. Braddock.
Then fast forward to 1955, and it was ARCHIE MOORE victory
over JOEY MAXIM in the light-heavyweight division.

TELEVISION and BOXING

THE BEST YEARS OF TV BOXING: By Brian Zelley

Introduction:
It was 1964, and the end of my first year
of amateur boxing in Nanaimo, but on
August 21, as I waited for my second 
year of training in September '64 
that day would also be the the end of
another boxing journey 
weekly boxing on television.  


I was just a pre-teen back in 1955, 
when I first watched the black and white
boxing matches on a neighbor's house on
friday nights.  At that time, I had no real understanding of the sport
but it was interesting and then there were those Gillette razor ads
and the little jingles set to music.



BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN:
Looking back to past years of boxing on television, the golden years
would be 1944 to 1964 when Madison Square Gardens was the focal
point for the Friday Night fights with Gillette the sponsor.


The very first televised bout from the Gardens took place on 
September 29, 1944 and it featured a return match for the
featherweight champion Willie Pep and the former champ
Chalky Wright.   And the very last was a light-heavyweight
bout between Johnny Persol and Henry Hank. And for 
twenty great years the fights were popular events in many
homes and pubs across North America from New York City
to Nanaimo, B.C, Canada.  


Some of the folks involved in Professional boxing in the USA
expressed a positive note with the end of televised boxing,
but for many who could not afford to stage or attend regular
boxing matches it was a sad end to a great era.


GREAT BOUTS and FAMOUS BOXERS GALORE:
*The first major star was Willie Pep, and his bout against Wright
in the Gardens would not be his last.  Fast forward to 1949,
and Willie was the former champion but he would make a great
comeback when he defeated champion Sandy Saddler for the 
featherweight title on February 11, 1949.

SHORT TERM BOXING CHAMPIONS

LOOKING BEYOND THE TOP TEN CHAMPIONS:  by Brian Zelley

Much of the discussion about boxers of the past tends to get stuck on

 a select number of all-time greats such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali,

 Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong and others.

But, there were some former champions that get overlooked in fan polls 

such as Max Baer, Rocky Graziano, Luis Rodriguez, Al Singer,
Harold Dade, and many others.

Regardless of the limited recognition, one thing that cannot be forgotten

 is in a brief  they were the best in the world for their weight division. 

THE FORGOTTEN OR OVERLOOKED CHAMPIONS"

*Over time this story will focus on some of those champions from 

heavyweight to flyweight champions of the world.

AL SINGER:

JIMMY BRADDOCK

MAX BAER

WILLIE PASTRANO

ROCKY GRAZIANO

MARTY SERVO
*In 1967, Lew Eskin of "Boxing Illustrated wrote and article
about Marty Servo titled: "Marty Servo - Fate Dealt Him
A Cruel Blow" - Boxing Illustrated, January 1967.



JOHNNY BRATTON: (1927 - 1993)
*Johnny won the NBA welterweight title with a victory
over Charley Fusari for the vacant title but several months
later he would lose the title to KID GAVILAN.

LUIS RODRUGUEZ

HAROLD DADE

SUGAR RAMOS

TERRY DOWNS

LEON SPINKS