Mel Epstein and Young Firpo

Thanks to John Bardelli, I finally have a photo of Mel Epstein to share with you. Mel was my manager/trainer when I was boxing. This photo is from Mel's earlier years, along with his most famous and successful fighter Young Firpo. I am also sharing the letter that John sent me. For those of you that don't know, John Bardelli is the son of  Young Firpo nee Guido Gardelli.

Mel Epstein and Young Firpo

Dear Randy:

Thanks for your letter. We don't know for sure where this photo was taken but think it might have been taken in Kellogg, Idaho. These were amongst some of "the better days" which existed between Firp and Mel even though they carried on with correspondence through the exchange of letters well into the 1960s. I wish I could pinpoint what fight Firp had just been in ... it appears that they are both in a good and jovial mood ... leading me to believe that Firp crushed someone although there is evidence on his face that he caught some shots as well.

Years later, a fire storm of some sort ensued between them --- Firp, in a rage, took all the collected letters and threw them in the fire destroying great historical letters. Whatever might have happened to the letters Dad wrote Mel --- well, they might still exist as Firp was a prolific writer, I assure you. Whoever might be the recipient of those valuable letters is heir to a real treasure trove. Firp's letters --- and he wrote to many --- including letters to the editor on various subjects, history, environment, politics, religion, mining, prospecting, boxing, --- his own career --- were fact based --- philosophical in nature --- loaded with concepts of spiritual thought --- and above all espoused a deep and abiding belief that God was found in and part of nature.

He introduced his children, Cleo, Fred, and John, as well as his wife and our mother, Mary, to the concept of finding God in, about, through, and as Mother Nature, long before we were introduced to similar concepts through the writings of the Psalms and David, Thoreau, Emerson, Hopkins, Blake, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Mills, Muir, Leopold, Wood, Carson, Frost, Krutch --- and so many others whose pens have captured imagery and imagination blessing my own personal love of literature and hours and days spent with an author as my friend.

But none of these literary giants brought to me the visual blessings of the enlightening all my God given senses --- of seeing the sheer athleticism and grace of Firp surrounded by the grandeur of nature --- whether he was wading a creek, climbing a mountain, brushing a trail, dropping a seasoned tamarack and, thereafter, reverently manhandling the fruits of his labor, --- he always had an aroma about him of the freshness of nature --- whether picked up from turning over fresh soil in the garden with a shovel or the aroma of firs and pines blessing him as he wandered through the woods, those ardent smells are with me this very hour.

Then, too, to visually see the ease employed with the mastery of strength reduced to least movement --- never wasting precious energy while digging ditches with a pick and shovel that would leave an observer or passerby to marvel and literally question whether a machine was tossing dirt from the ditch --- stories that stagger the imagination but which are true and still verifiable because there are still some who relate what they heard and saw, firsthand, of his laboring ethic beyond what he accomplished as a fighter blessed with unparalleled and prodigious strength --- and the reflexes of a tiger.

Sadly, the letters stopped coming and aside from Mel speaking with me and asking me to convey short messages to Dad during a number of telephone conversations I had with him --- as far as I knew they never exchanged words again. Mel, during a number of conversations which I was blessed to have with him before he passed on in 1980, spoke to me of Firp's exploits in, and his identification and affinity with the environment and the wilderness ... mainly, his love of the mountains.

If you detect a particular sadness, herein, --- no, there is no lamenting --- despite the fact that I always considered Firp my best friend --- and the skills he left me with in tackling any problem in life --- were and are prodigious --- to me this very moment --- and the fount from where the solution arises was for him and all his family based on a love of God --- and the fact that we work for God and not ourselves. Amazing saga.

I thank Rick Farris every day of my life for the vision he had concerning Young Firpo's greatness, once validated --- much like your own, Randy, --- a vision instilled by Mel Epstein who not only knew greatness when he saw it --- but lived it --- contributed to it --- and allowed it to become a teacher and motivational tool, in Mel's own right, as he sought to instill, motivate, and pack some of that greatness into others who sought careers as professional fighters --- Rick Farris and Randy De La O, included.

Rick Farris became a believer --- and his vision was thereafter set --- when George Parnasus and Jimmy McLarnin validated all that Mel Epstein had been preaching --- to countless fighters down through the years after Firp's career ended in 1937 --- preaching what so many thought were only the rantings and ravings equivalent to those of a Burgess Meredith as Mickey in Stallone's epic Rocky --- as Meredith sought to motivate Rocky. And, but for that chance meeting between Rick Farris, George Parnasus, and Jimmy McLarnin, --- youth confronting age --- and youth emboldened to ask, "Just how good was this Young Firpo?" --- perhaps, none of this would have come to pass.

In short order, Rick Farris got an earful from Parnasus and McLarnin which, then, in turn, rocked him and gave him a new found respect for Mel Epstein's veracity. In addition, Rick carried with him for the next 35 years the seeds and a spark which would lead him to draw on the sustenance of Mel Epstein having inculcated into him a sense of what greatness was all about, with the end result being was that he was the one individual responsible for the induction of Young Firpo, born Guido Bardelli, into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

How ironic is it, indeed, that Mickey sought the wisdom and the particular nuances and idiosyncrasies of a fight manager from the genuine Mel Epstein who --- if the truth be known --- trained and managed one greater fighter and character than the fictional Rocky, --- real drama v. fiction and the real drama was stranger and more unique than the what Stallone captured on celluloid. Rocky Balboa was given birth through some small but meaningful contribution from Mel Epstein --- none could have contributed in the manner that Meredith captured the old-time fight trainer-manager. I wish I could have heard what Epstein might have said to Mickey. This is pure genius --- and how did he learn to do this --- YouTube - My favorite Rocky clip And when I see this clip --- I think of Rick and Randy, heirs to an era that they could not fathom at that moment in time.

Thanks for listening to my own personal thoughts.

Sincerely yours,

John A. Bardelli

John Blanchette: They broke mold after Bardelli

Courtesy of John Bardelli

By John Blanchette

Every time someone tries to give boxing last rites, someone else applies the cardiac paddles. Floyd Mayweather Jr. returned to the ring 10 days ago and did more than a million pay-per-view buys, punking a UFC card head-to-head and delaying for the moment the conclusion that all fight fans want their combat meaner, nastier, no-holds-barred.

So all is well. Except it’s not.

Boxing is now diced into 17 weight classes with four storefront sanctioning bodies crowning champions in each. If the average sports fan can name more than one, it’s because two of them are Klitschkos.

Boxing’s past is far more entertaining than its present, though the ongoing malaise can even fog history. For example, it managed to elude us or get boiled out of wire accounts that the most recent class of the World Boxing Hall of Fame included – a full 25 years after his death – one Guido Bardelli, known professionally as Young Firpo and colloquially as “the Wild Bull of Burke.”

That’s Burke as in Idaho, up the spooky canyon of the same name from Wallace. A virtual ghost town now, Burke produced not just mountains of silver ferried out by two rival railroads but an hombre so tough that his legacy got him into the hall of fame without a championship belt.

Of course, boxing titles are as often the residue of circumstance, luck, location, opportunity, politics, money and corruption as they are attributable to a hard right hand. The Bull of Burke never broke a sweat in Madison Square Garden.

He won two of three wars with a rugged customer named George Manley, who himself twice outpointed three-time light-heavyweight champ Maxie Rosenbloom, and fought a brutal draw with John Henry Lewis a year before that fighter would become world champion. Rosenbloom himself would fight nearly 300 times professionally – against the likes of Manley and Lewis, Tiger Jack Fox, Jimmy Slattery, Bob Olin and Lou Nova, and even here in Spokane and Stateline.

But he couldn’t be coaxed into a ring with Young Firpo, whose hammering right was developed singlejacking as a Silver Valley miner.

Never heard of him?

Well, sure. His career did crest 75 years ago, in a pair of fights in Portland just a month apart with Fox and Lewis.

At that point, Firpo had already won 67 fights and the Pacific Coast title and was an in-his-prime 27. But in the winter of 1934, he was driving to Butte for a fight with a former middleweight champ named Gorilla Jones when he was injured in a car wreck that hospitalized him for seven weeks. Fox – like Firpo an inductee in the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame – was waiting for him when he recovered.

The two fought a savage affair in which both hit the canvas in the fifth round – Firpo first, from a right hand, and then Fox from a left hook when he bored in for the kill. But after 10 rounds, the decision went to Firpo.

There was more at stake in the Lewis fight. Rosenbloom had been stripped of his title, and a dubious “tournament” was concocted to fill the vacancy. This was purportedly an elimination bout for that tournament. Let John Bardelli, a Spokane Valley attorney and Firpo’s son, pick up the narrative:

“Lewis was a ferocious body puncher and one of the first ones he throws, a right uppercut, fractures Dad’s breastbone,” he recalled. “Dad knows he’s in trouble, but he has to bluff or it’s over in the first round. He couldn’t breathe for four rounds and then it starts to come back – and in both the sixth and seventh rounds he has Lewis on the verge of a KO, but couldn’t connect.”

The fight was ruled a draw. One newspaper account said the Portland crowd booed for five minutes, another said 10. Someone threw a knife in the ring. The tournament would go on without him. Olin would beat Rosenbloom in New York – and lose the title to Lewis in his first defense.

Firpo’s boxing career soon slowed. He had married and would start a family, and his work as a miner and prospector took precedence. Two knockout losses to a kid named Red Bruce in 1936 would all but close the book – truly close it. He revealed little of his ring story to his children, and lowered the boom if he caught them trying out his gloves.

“The only time I heard him lament anything about his career was when he said, ‘I didn’t know what I had,’ ” Bardelli said. “He really didn’t know how good he was.”

Long before pay-per-view, few did. And, yes, some knew all too well.

Get more news and information at Spokesman.com

Young Firpo

Congratulations to the Entire Bardelli Family on the Induction of Guido Bardelli (Young Firpo) to the 2008 World Boxing Hall of Fame at the 

29th Annual Banquet of Champions at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott

Young Firpo - Guido Bardelli - The Uncrowned Light Heavyweight Champion 

and 2008 World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee

Click on the photo for a larger view

John Bardelli and sister (My apologies for forgetting her name) and World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors member and friend of the Bardelli family, Rick Farris

John Bardelli and Rick Farris

John Bardelli remembering his father

John Bardelli and Emcee Tom Kelly

John Bardelli and sister

Click here to read more about Young Firpo's life and career on this website

Young Firpo, 2008 World Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee: By John Bardelli

Guido Bardelli is being inducted into a World Boxing Hall of Fame on November 15th, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

This article submitted and posted here with the express permission of the author.

Guido Bardelli also known as Young Firpo, one of the world's greatest light heavyweights, campaigned from 1924 - 1937, an era considered by many boxing historians to be the greatest era in the history of boxing.

Born in Barre, Vermont in 1907, his family moved to northern Idaho eventually settling in the mountainous mining town of Burke, Idaho, where Guido was introduced to the world of boxing in 1924 at the age of 17 as "Young Firpo."

Young Firpo's reputation as a quick-silvered reflex knockout artist in the Pacific Northwest grew, as knockout followed knockout, until January of 1930 when he was signed to fight in Portland, Oregon, against Oaklander Ray Pelky. Pelky entered the contests as a prohibitive favorite. Firpo revealed his wares by viciously kayoing Pelky in 2 rounds, Pelky declaring he had never been hit so hard in his life after being revived nearly 2 hours later. Pelky also stated, "He is a murderous puncher. He'll knock any man up to 200 pounds. I was a fool to take the match."

Already well known in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District and Pacific Coast because of a rugged viciousness that many sport's writers of the era compared to the greatest fighters they had every seen, after disposing of Pelky in Portland, Portland claimed the Idaho slugger as its own. Thereafter, Firpo went on to fight in Portland 24 times during a 7 year period while also engaging in major fights throughout all the west including Oregon, Colorado, California, Montana, Washington, and Idaho.

In the early part of his career, he became embroiled in disputes with a series of contending individuals who sought to become his manager. Firpo came to disdain managers and refused to sign contracts with anyone who sought to be his manager.

Mel Epstein, veteran fight manager-trainer, also sought in vain to become Firpo's manager from the late 1920's, when Epstein first laid eyes on Firpo in Butte, Montana, through the duration of Firpo's ring career. Although Firpo refused to engage Epstein as a fight manager, Firpo did come to trust Mel and engaged him as a trainer. Indeed, it was Mel Epstein who was in Firpo's corner, as a trainer and quasi-manager, for the majority of the major fights in which Firpo was involved from 1930 onward including Firpo's epic Portland contests with Leo Lomski, Wesley "KO" Ketchell, George Manley, Tiger Jack Fox, and John Henry Lewis.

In a 1970's interview, Mel Epstein was asked, "How good a fighter was Firpo, Mel?" In a voice loaded with excitement, Epstein answered the question over the course of more than 30 minutes, stating in part that "Young Firpo was unbeatable; he was practically unbeatable until he had that damn car wreck. He was colorful! Every fight was filled action. The fans liked the action. Excitement and action.... He should have been the light heavyweight champion of the world. Ask him. He knows it."

When asked during the interview how Epstein envisioned the outcome of a fight between Young Firpo and then reigning light heavyweight champion Victor Galindez, Epstein replied, "Ahh ... Firp woulda knocked him out. He'd knock all of em [light heavyweights] out. He was a slugger and nobody's fool in there. Firp was like lightning you know. He was like an eel, elusive, slippery. You couldn't tie him up to keep him off. He had too much for these guys."

In another 1970's informal Los Angeles interview, former welterweight champion of the world Jimmy McClarnin was asked by a Mel Epstein managed fighter Rick Farris, who had overheard McClarnin and Los Angeles Boxing Promoter George Parnasus talking about Young Firpo, "Just how good was this Young Firpo?" McClarnin responded without hesitation, "Oh, let me just tell you that Young Firpo was the greatest fighter I ever saw."

During that same interview both McClarnin and George Parnasus volunteered to an awe struck young and impressionable Rick Farris, who later became a boxing historian and World Boxing Hall of Fame Director, which "Young Firpo hit harder than either Bob Foster or Archie Moore. Firpo would have knocked them out."

Sport's writer L. H. Gregory, who penned Greg's Gossip for the Portland Oregonian for over 50 years, in a 1971 column wrote that Young Firpo was the most "exciting fighter" he ever saw in a writing career which encompassed over 50 years of watching fights. Gregory wrote that "Young Firpo was unforgettable.... His aggressive, go-get-em-style was spectacular.... We have never seen more active fighting once in the ring. He started them in motion from the first bell and never let up while the fight lasted.... From opening bell he'd move in on an opponent with the least possible 'feeling out' of experimental jabs, both arms and hands flailing as if on half-circular hinges ---- bang, bang, bang, bang, almost exactly alternating left, right, left, right in a continuous tattoo. We can still see those explosive alternating gloves breaking through against the opponent's face and upper body."

Northern Idaho writer Maidell Clements who witnessed Firpo's ring exploits wrote in 1981: "When the bell rang, Firpo would charge across the ring and throw punches from all angels. Many a fighter wouldn't know what hit them till their heads began to clear in the dressing room."

Another Portland boxing writer, Billy Steppe, himself a prolific writer and keen observer of the boxing scene for over 70 years on the Pacific Coast, had suffered a stroke prior to his being interviewed in the 1970's and was unable to speak. However, when asked to name the greatest fighter he ever saw, Steppe simply wrote, "Young Firpo."

Young Firpo's futile and turning point in his march toward the light heavyweight championship suffered its severest blow when, in the spring of 1934, while traveling to Butte, Montana, to fight Gorilla Jones, Firpo was involved in a motor vehicle accident and sustained serious injuries which landed him in the hospital for weeks. It was thought that the injuries brought about the end of his fight career.

Firpo would not fight again until August of 1934, when he defended his Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Championship in a "tune-up" match against the onslaught of hard punching knockout artist Tiger Jack Fox, the same Fox who Jersey Joe Walcott, in 1974, called the greatest fighter Walcott ever fought not excluding Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, and Ezzard Charles. Walcott was knocked out by Fox and beaten in 10 rounds in a second fight with Fox. Fox was favored to defeat Firpo because Fox had been active throughout the 1934 fight year while he recuperated and Fox had run up a string of knockouts while Firpo was totally inactive and had not engaged in a single fight in 1934.

Despite the odds, Firpo defeated Fox in a Portland brutal encounter. Firpo floored Fox in the sixth round after Firpo, himself, had been floored by Fox in the same round. Seemingly, it appeared that Firpo had recovered from the injuries sustained in the automobile accident but, as Epstein stated, such was not the case.

One month later, on September 20, 1934, John Henry Lewis, claiming that he was the uncrowned light heavyweight champion of the world following the NBA's stripping Maxie Rosenbloom of the title, sought to divest Young Firpo of the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight title in yet another Portland fight. Lewis was being touted as the "uncrowned light heavyweight champion" because he had defeated titleholder Maxie Rosenbloom in two non-title affairs flooring Rosenbloom 7 times in the process.

In another vicious slugfest taking place on September 20, 1934, Lewis escaped with a draw. Every major newspaper writer in attendance covering the fight, including Billy Steppe, H.L. Gregory, Don McCloud, and George Bertz, thought that Firpo won the fight. Lewis was on the verge of being knocked out in both the 7th and 8th rounds. Referee Tom Louttit declared the contest a draw. Firpo retained his Coast title. However, bedlam ensued with pronounced booing between 5 and 10 minutes and things were thrown into the ring including a knife before order was restored.

As an aftermath, Lewis eventually went on to win the title by defeating Bob Olin and refused to fight Firpo in a rematch with the World's Light Heavyweight Championship on the line despite repeated challenges having been made from Firpo.

From 1930 through 1937, Young Firpo challenged in vain for a shot at the light heavyweight title, held chronologically during this period by Maxie Rosenbloom, Bob Olin, and John Henry Lewis. Firpo telegraphed a Spokane promoter "Will fight Fox, Lewis, Olin, or Rosenbloom. I fear no man."

In 1933, Rosenbloom and Firpo were signed to fight a championship match thought to be the first championship match ever held in Portland but a gate dispute led to cancellation of the fight. When the fight was initially signed, coast writers gave Firpo a better than even chance of beating Rosenbloom because of his speed and punching prowess. After the cancellation, Firpo sought in vain to again get Rosenbloom's signature on a contract. During an interview, Firpo told a boxing writer, "With the championship on the line, I'll fight Rosenbloom for nothing." Rosenbloom, who seemingly ducked no fighter, would not sign to defend his title against Firpo.

Retiring in 1937, Firpo maintained that between 1924 - 1937, he engaged in 134 fights, scored 79 knockouts, suffered 15 losses (some of which he questioned) and had 4 draws. BoxRec, a computerized database of boxing data, maintains that Young Firpo's record consists of 93 fights, 74 victories, 45 knockouts, 15 losses, and 4 draws.

Guido Bardelli married the lovely Mary Widitz from Roundup, Montana, in 1934 and their marriage produced three children, Cleo Marie Clizer, Frederick Ketchell Bardelli, and John Ambrose Bardelli. Young Firpo passed away in 1984.


Young Firpo is being inducted into the World Boxing Hall Of Fame on November 15, 2008 at the Banquet of Champions at LAX Marriott, located at 5855 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90045. Social hour will begin at 6:00 pm, followed by dinner and induction ceremony at 8:00 pm.

Dinner tickets are priced at $100.00, $150.00 and $200.00. For ticket information and all the details call: 626- 964-2414 or visit official website at www.wbhf.org.

A nonprofit organization based in California, the World Boxing Hall Of Fame is dedicated to preserving and honoring boxing and its history.

VINDICATION OF HAROLD VALAN: By John A. Bardelli

Printed on this Website with the Express Permission of the Author

VINDICATION OF HAROLD VALAN: THE ALLEGED
HISTORICAL MUGGING OF JIMMY ELLIS
BY FLOYD PATTERSON --- IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

By John A. Bardelli

All these years I have labored under the impression that Floyd Patterson worked over Jimmy Ellis something ferociously in September of 1968 ... venue Sweden. Indeed, as recently as 7:00 a.m., this very morning, September 28, 2008, forty years after having watched the live telecast of the Patterson-Ellis fight which I thought then, as I did this morning, that Patterson had won going away ... a decisive victory ... I penned the following words this morning, words based entirely on my recall of having watched that fight and the impression I was left with in watching it during a tumultuous 1968:

Patterson beat a good fighter in Jimmy Ellis ... beat him coming and going. Beat him bad. Ellis hit Patterson with some wicked right hands and Patterson's jaw took all that Ellis had to offer and Patterson gave five times what Ellis delivered. I felt so bad for Patterson after this fight .... it made me sick! This was a low point in boxing history ... a black eye for the sport! * * * Patterson was a real credit to life ... let alone boxing.

Harold Valan was the referee of the contest and he, alone, was to score the fight. It was broadcast by satellite round the world and in the USA the television commentator was Howard Cosell.

I decided to watch the fight again and did so commencing at 4:00 pm on September 28, 2008, as noted some 40 years after having seen it for the first time. In fairness, I have watched it several other times and my impression was always the same .... Patterson won the fight going away. But to my recollection, I had never scored the fight. I had only viewed it and listened to the commentary as the fight unfolded.

I scored the fight both by points on a 10 point must system and on the winner of each round basis as that is how the fight was to be scored in Stockholm by referee Harold Valan. Here's my overall reaction to having seen the fight again:

As noted, Cosell broadcast the video and his observations were entertaining but ... if one looks for accuracy he was terrible. He kept reminding a viewing audience that the fight was being unofficially scored by several boxing writers and those writers had Patterson winning the fight. The longer the fight went, and this fight was one of the last of the 15 round contests, the greater the lead Patterson was compiling. No one questioned why any round was scored as it was --- we were told that Patterson was ahead and that he was building his lead. If one watched but didn't score the fight, Cosell's commentary, alone, would influence an observer's ability to objectively determine who, indeed, was winning the fight and would leave the observer with a foregone conclusion that Patterson was the winner ... no questions asked.

When the audio portion of the fight failed several times late in the fight thereby preventing our hearing Cosell call the fight as he was seeing it, the video portion continued and we were again told by an unknown commentator, apparently from New York, that Patterson was ahead in the fight and winning handily. He would try to describe what was transpiring but for all practical purposes this makeshift covering was inept from the get-go. When Cosell was brought back into the fold, he quipped in with words to the effect --- "I am told the audio portion is bad. No matter, one can plainly see what is happening in this fight and you don't need me to tell you." But in fact, the viewing audience had been told what was happening. We were told that Patterson was about to regain the Heavyweight Championship of the World, and when we could once again hear the refrains of Cosell it was reinforced that Patterson was cleaning house.

It must be noted that Harold Valan has been vilified and suffered harsh criticism from boxing writers and fans for the decision he rendered in the fight. Criticism came from all corners. For example, referee Arthur Mercante penned with his autobiography Inside the Ropes the following observation:

Many years later, while watching the Jimmy Ellis - Floyd Patterson fight via satellite from Stockholm, Sweden, I --- along with thousands of other television viewers --- nearly choked on my beer when referee Harold Valen [sic] awarded the fight to Jimmy Ellis. It was clear to anyone with 20/2000 vision that Floyd Patterson was the clear winner. Even though Floyd had demolished their hero, Ingo, the Swedes had taken Patterson to their hearts and the verdict for Jimmy Ellis (Valen had the sole vote) caused a virtual riot. The hapless Harold Valen [sic] was lucky to get out alive.

One can only ask Mercante, did he score the fight, and how much beer did he in fact drink while watching it if he was, in fact, scoring it? In other words, was his personal insight impaired or was he influenced by Cosell and the pro-Patterson crowd which roared whenever Patterson even started to throw a punch as the rest of the viewing audience.

In the fourteenth round, Patterson connected with a counter right uppercut when Ellis' right hand seemingly went wide of its mark although it is difficult to see whether or not he caught Patterson as well. Regardless, Ellis was dropped at 2:20 into the round onto his butt and left flank. The reverential Patterson, stooped down and leaned over a stricken Ellis and then attempted to assist him to his feet interfering with Valan who should have been counting. As Ellis arose with Patterson's assistance, Ellis whispered something into Patterson's ear. Patterson seemingly nodded in approval to whatever it was that Ellis communicated to him!

Ellis was on the canvas for a count of nine. Certainly, an argument can be advanced that Ellis would have been able to get up before a nine count had Patterson not leaned over him thereby impeding Ellis and his ability to rise. The counter is that Ellis might have gone all the way to his back side had Patterson not intervened and started immediately assisting Ellis to his feet thereby raising the specter that Ellis might not have beat the count. Additionally, it should be pointed out that no ringside timekeeper started slapping the canvas as an aide to Valan so he could pick up the count. And it should be noted that even as Patterson attempted to assist Ellis to arise, Ellis had trouble getting up.

As Ellis did finally arise, he shook his head once while walking toward a corner --- then twice --- in an endeavor to clear the cobwebs and --- Valan didn't pick up on Ellis' appearance, reaction, and see his diminished reflexes. Had he done so, he would have called it a knockdown but by this time, since he failed to start his count, the easy out was to waive off a knockdown to save face. This was clearly a knockdown. Eventually Valan intervened and it appeared as though he wanted to assist Ellis to his feet. Ellis backed into the corner and grabbed the ropes for balance. Valan waved his hands in the air signifying he did not consider Ellis' being deposited onto the canvas as a knockdown. Further, he half heartedly wiped off Ellis' left glove but not his right glove before motioning to the fighters to continue the fight.

Patterson, throughout his entire career, had gone to help fighters whom he had deposited on the canvas even while the fight was still going on, i.e., the referee had not counted ten over a stricken opponent. The classic example of this is when Patterson floored Henry Cooper. Instinctively, he stooped down to assist Cooper who was obviously hurt on the canvas. Patterson's nature was contradictory. At times he was vicious and possessed the snarling tiger of a Dempsey but this law of the jungle requisite nature seemingly always was subdued by the passion of St. Francis which flowed through Patterson's veins. If it is possible, at least in the business of boxing, he was a gentlemen to a fault.

Did Patterson confuse Harold Valan and lead the referee to think that Ellis had slipped to the canvas as Patterson, himself, had slipped on four separate instances in this same fight? I believe Valan was convinced that Patterson, himself, did not think that Ellis had been knocked down. Valan was a fighter himself before becoming a boxing referee. Intuitively Valan had to be thinking: Why would any fighter knock another fighter to the canvas, especially in a championship contest, and then assist that fighter to his feet? Thereby, no count was initiated by Valan as Patterson's reactions predominantly convinced Valan that Ellis had not been floored by a punch.

As the fight resumed and for the balance of the round, Patterson did not act like he had his opponent on queer street and I do believe that Ellis was hurt bad and ready to go from his reactions while on the canvas, upon arising, and as the fight resumed. Yet, Patterson was unable to land another effective punch for the duration of the round and looked bewildered in his own right as to what the hell had just happened. Amazing round and Patterson just may have brought on his own defeat by the way he handled himself in this round.

When the fight ended, Ellis was cut over his right eye and he suffered a broken nose in the fight which bled as Cosell described at various times during the contest, "from the right nostril" and "now from the left nostril." The viewing audience was also told that the blood on Ellis' white trunks "was all his own" yet, Cosell did tell us during the fight that Patterson was bleeding from his mouth. From an appearance sake, Patterson looked the victor and Ellis the vanquished. But we all know that looks are deceiving in a fight and no fight is every judged on how a fighter looks when the final bell rings.

Contributing to the belief that Floyd Patterson won this fight were the actions and the roaring of Swedes at ringside who loved Floyd Patterson. Every time he threw a punch they roared vociferously even when the vast majority of Patterson's shots were wide of their mark or sailed aimless through the cool Swedish air. When Ellis connected, which was often, there was a deafening silence and literally, one waited to see Patterson drop as we had become so accustomed throughout his distinguished and great career. Listening to the crowd, one came away with a belief that Ellis was ready to go in at least 10 of the 15 rounds.

When Valan's card revealed that Ellis won the fight nine rounds to Ellis and six rounds to Patterson, the pro-Patterson crowd virtually rioted. The coming together of Floyd Patterson's being the sentimental favorite despite being the underdog in the fight, the announcing of Howard Cosell, the chiming in of an unknown New York announcer stressing that Patterson was winning by "a large margin", the repeated references that two ringside boxing writers were scoring the fight for Patterson at ringside, and the appearance of Jimmy Ellis when the fight was over, all contributed to my belief, that Floyd Patterson was the victim of an injustice in Stockholm and Harold Valan was blind if not worse.

On watching the fight on September 28th, I scored the fight as follows [expand the page to maintain continuity: (I was unable to get the scoring to line up correctly but you should be able to figure it out-Randy)

                    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14 15

Ellis            W    W     W      E E W        W   W    E 

Patterso        W     W     W E E      W                 E    W   W

My card has Patterson winning 6 rounds, Ellis winning 6 rounds and three were even. However, note that I gave the 15th round to Patterson because I thought he won over the first two minutes of the round. I was simply guessing and that is inexcusable for an official rendering a decision that impacts the direction the lives taken by fighters. Here, it is less offensive in an analysis sense. I did so because the last minute was not seen as the satellite coverage gave us a blank screen. I have read accounts that state that Ellis came back from that knockdown in the 14th round to win the 15th round. If so, my card then would read Patterson 5, Ellis 7 with three rounds being even. All in all, based on my scoring, Patterson was behind in the fight going into the final round.

So, I convey my apologies to Harold Valan and his family after all these years. From my perspective, Valen most likely was correct and the margin of error in judging any fight has to be factored into the equation. Given the official, especially a referee who is on top of the fighters, seeing for the most part when punches do, in fact, land and when they are missed shots.

The fight was competitive, no doubt, and the fact that the sentimental favorite, Floyd Patterson, put up a good fight does not mitigate against the fact that he simply did not do enough in the fight to prevail despite the punishment he dished out to an obviously respectful Jimmy Ellis. Valan's scoring of the fight most assuredly was not out of line as I thought it was for all these years ... in fact, right up to this very morning.

I am at peace with what I believed had transpired in Sweden despite wanting Floyd Patterson to prevail as did so many others just because he was who he was --- a Saint mixed up in a violent business.

Young Firpo

Courtesy of Rick Farris

Randy and I both had a connection with Young Firpo's trainer Mel Epstein, as you know. Firp will be inducted into the WBHOF this year, and perhaps this information will introduce the former light heavy contender to the world today.

Dear Rick ...Let me reminisce with you somewhat if you are so inclined and take a look at a fight that occurred 74 years ago this evening.

The fight got started around 10:00 p.m., September 20, 1934 at Multnomah Stadium in Portland, Oregon. A capacity crowd of about 7,000 fans filled the stadium to see if Firpo could withstand the Pacific Coast titular aspirations and assault of challenger John Henry Lewis as Firpo had so withstood the challenge, on August 28, 1934, when he left bits and pieces of Tiger Jack Fox scattered about the same Multnomah Stadium ring.

Prior to fight time, Lewis had declared that he was the rightful claimant to the world light heavyweight championship which had been declared vacant when the National Boxing Association striped Maxie Rosenbloom of the title days earlier. When Rosenbloom was stripped, Lewis was selected as one of seven fighters selected by the NBA to determine Rosenbloom's successor. Firpo's name was not included within those seven selected by the NBA. However, the Portland Boxing Commission, a member of the NBA, balked at casting any vote stating that it wanted to see whether how Lewis performed as a challenger to Young Firpo in his bid to annex Firpo's Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Championship and whether the Portland Commission would cast its vote for Firpo or Lewis.

Firpo had won the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight title in 1933 and successfully defended it against not only Pacific Coast Title aspirants but World title challenger's in the personages of George Manley, Wesley, KO Ketchel, and Tiger Jack Fox --- all who had all gone down to crushing defeats in trying to garner the crown from the head of its proud holder, Young Firpo. A writer stated: "It would be easier for someone to beat the light heavyweight champion of the world and win that title than it would be for any fighter to take the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight crown from the head of Young Firpo. He wears the crown with dignity and pride and it means the world to Firp."

Prior to the Lewis-Firpo encounter, Lewis had fought Rosenbloom three times in non-title affairs and was awarded the decision in two of the fights. In their third encounter, Lewis floored Rosenbloom three times during the fight but avoided a knockout. The Lewis entourage were vocal about defeating "that man Firpo" and wresting Firpo's title as further evidence of Lewis' claim that he was the uncrowned light heavyweight title. Frank Schuler, San Francisco boxing promoter who had an interest in Lewis, declared that Lewis would "knock Firpo out in short order" adding that Firpo "had no chance with John Henry."

Firpo was on edge as fight time drew near. During the eve of the fight, he had been awakened around 11:00 pm on September 19th, and advised that one of his longterm and best friend, Edgar Benson, had been killed in an automobile accident in northern Idaho. Visibly upset and saddened, Firpo had a difficult time getting back to sleep that evening he carried that sadness with him as he passed time awaiting the call to enter the ring. If anything, it provided within his psyche even more resolve to defeat Lewis.

In the dressing room before the fight, as he and Mel Epstein shared the comfort of one another's mere presence, awaiting the call to depart toward the ring, Firpo, as dictated by his temperament, would let no one talk with him or engage in frivolity or humor of any kind or nature, including any so called "last minute instructions" from trainer Mel Epstein. Mel Epstein himself was on edge yet was convinced Firpo would knockout John Henry Lewis because of Firpo's physical conditioning. Furthermore, Mel Epstein knew Firpo's temperament and he understood when Firpo "was ready" as evidenced how edgy and vicious Firpo became as fight time drew near ... an edginess and viciousness precisely displayed when he was about to defend his title on August 28, 1934 in a Multnomah Auditorium battle with Tiger Jack Fox. The somberness within the dressing room on that occasion some twenty days earlier was filled with questioning about how badly Young Firpo had been hurt in a motor vehicle accident in March of 1934 as he embarked for Butte, Montana, to fight Gorilla Jones and what reserve was left in Firpo's system.

An August 1934 match had been made for Young Firpo to fight Maxie Rosenbloom in a non-title affair to take place in Portland. A gate dispute brought an end to a classic confrontation of the consummate boxer with a crushing bounding and weaving slugger. When the Rosenbloom fight fell through, Tiger Jack Fox was offered a shot at the coast title and immediately affixed his signature to a contract to fight Young Firpo. Most Portland writers thought Firpo was taking on more than he bargained for because Fox had been very active in 1934, while Firpo had not fought anyone as a consequence of the motor vehicle accident. Additionally, there were questions raised concerning the injuries sustained by Firpo in the accident were thought to be so serious that Firpo's ring career was over. The Firpo-Fox encounter was more than a test for Young Firpo. Against a slugger and fighter of Fox's resolve, Firpo health and very life was being put on the line.

The injuries sustained in that auto wreck brought about a decline to the greatness of Firpo's fighting capabilities. The very fact that his first two fights after those career changing injuries were against Tiger Jack Fox and John Henry Lewis reveal something about Firp's greatness as a fighter. Indeed, year's later, Mel Epstein would lament in multiple interviews about the life and times of Mel Epstein and Young Firpo that "until that damn car wreck, Firpo was unbeatable, he was practically unbeatable." And, when one examines the fights and comes to the realization that Firpo not only fought Fox and Lewis as handicapped as he was but, in reality, defeated both and had each on the verge of knockouts several times during the fights, one comes away from an interview of Mel Epstein understanding the greatness he had been associated with and the basis for his personal sadness.

It was, indeed, a credit to grit, endurance, physical and mental toughness, that Firpo successfully defended his title against the great Tiger Jack Fox and, in the process, administered Fox a sound trouncing although tested himself during the course of the fight. Make no mistake about, Fox was a great fighter as evidenced by his career knockouts, his one round knockouts and his two wins over Jersey Joe Walcott, one being a knockout victory. In the later thirties, as Fox sought a title fight with Joe Louis Fox stated in an interview: "They say if Joe Louis hits me on the chin he might knock me out. If I hit Louis on the chin I will knock him out."

Mere shop talk? Consider then an interviewed of Jersey Joe Walcott I conducted in 1974. Walcott told me that the greatest fighter he every fought was "a fighter by the name of Tiger Jack Fox. In my opinion, Fox was greater than Louis, Marciano, Charles, Baksi, or Lee Q. Murray. I learned more in my two fights with Fox than I learned in all my other fights together. There wasn't anything he couldn't do in the ring and do it well. Stick and jab, move, dangle his arms and invite you to hit him and he could punch."

Firpo eliminated Fox from consideration as a claimant to Rosenbloom's crown. The fight crowd in Portland was ecstatic that John Henry Lewis was to test the leather encasements of Young Firpo. Bring on your John Henry.

The mood in the dressing room for both the Fox and Lewis encounters was somber and Firpo was very testy if anyone tried to communicate with him including Mel Epstein. He allowed no one in his dressing room aside from Mel Epstein and even then Firpo would not allow Epstein to engage him in insipid conversation or even talk to him about any aspect of the fight --- so focused was Firpo on retaining his crown and staving off the threats of both Tiger Jack and John Henry Lewis.

Let's let Billy Stepp take over from here. Stepp was at ringside --- I wasn't --- and I must defer to Stepp's account of the fight with the exception of certain things that a writer could not know which were imparted to my brother and I by Young Firpo and others many years later in countless discussions regarding the fight. I'll share those insights during another writing. Without further delay, take it away Billy Stepp.

FIRPO STAGES GREAT BATTLE AGAINST LEWIS by Billy Stepp, Sports Editor News-Telegram (Portland, OR) With defeat staring him in the face, Young Firpo, the lion-hearted miner from the sagebrush of Burke, Ida., staged a sensational rally to fight himself to a draw in 10 torrid rounds with John Henry Lewis, the colored boxing master from Phoenix, Ariz., in the headline brawl at the stadium last night before more than 6000 fans who almost went into hysterics as the two light-heavyweights fought round by round. Referee Tom Louttit's decision was met with a terrific roar of music that put the Bronx on the Rand-McNally. Nine out of ten looked upon the Bull as the winner after his zero-hour attack on the colored boy.

The writer's scorebook showed the first, third, fourth and fifth in favor of Lewis who autographed the miner with everything in his category of pet socks, but none made the wild man quit walking in. The sixth, seventh, eight and ninth were given Firpo, while the second and tenth were even-steven. John Henry started off to make it a one-side affair by plastering Firpo with straight lefts and rights in the first round, while Firp didn't land a punch. Firp landed his first punch of the fight in the second heat, a wild right crashed against Lewis' jaw, and he staggered back, but quickly fought off the Bull's attack.

In the third Lewis again opened up with his long left that blew Firpo's schnoz a burning red and the claret dripped. Firpo let one fly from nowhere in the fourth and John's nose got in the way and the red ink dripped. Lewis quickly punched Firpo around the ring with both hands.

In the fifth, Lewis' long range guns kept booming on Firpo's face and a right dropped into the bread basket to say, Morning, Samuel, while Firpo went around aimlessly trying to connect on the huge brown-skinned battler.

The sixth Firpo clipped over a few teasers but Lewis held his ground and evened the round.

Firpo bounced up and down, and a wild swing found a resting spot on Lewis' jaw, and his knees buckled. That was like a streak from a blue sky to Firp and he opened with a savage attack of haymakers that bewildered the Arizona boy. It was the miner's big inning.

And again in the seventh Firp kept his relentless wild-swinging barrage that had Lewis looking for shelter. The boy whom the N.B.A. picked as a probable world's light-heavyweight successor to Rosenbloom was losing his early lead.

Firpo kept swinging like a bar room door on a busy day. His left and rights missed and some connected. One right almost tore Lewis' head off, and if ever a fighter folded, John Henry did, and like an old-fashioned canvas bag.

Firpo, with victory looming on his face after four rounds of terrific battling, was weak and in fact so was Lewis. The two tore into the final three minutes with nothing barred. John H. dropped three far below the belt, while Firpo almost untied Lewis' shoes with an uppercut. It looked for a second that the miner was going to blow the duke as he hung on, but with 10 seconds left on the ticker came Firp and he almost tore Lewis' dome off with two haymakers that were thrown from the 50 yard line.

The bell ended the 30 minute party and, of course, Referee Louttit's decision caused a near riot. It was O.K., but if a winner was to be picked yours truly would have to give the silverware to the Bull of Burke, who certainly turned what looked like a defeat into a moral victory.

Two other writers wrote:

The large crowd of 7,000 booed Referee Tom Louttit's decision for five minutes after arms of both gladiators were raised. Although officially declared a draw, every sports writer and the majority of the spectators thought Firpo the winner. The once wild-swinging unorthodox Firpo, nee Guido Bardelli, is now a shifting, sharpshooting demon who had the Negro on the verge of a K.O. several times in the bout.