Hall of Fame Snapshots

The Cerda Family

Roger Esty and Tom Ray

Frank Baltazar Sr, Bobby Chacon and Danny "Little Red" Lopez

Ed Hernandez, Tom Ray, Randy De La O, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Rick Farris and Frankie Baltazar

California Boxing Hall of Fame 2010

California Boxing Hall of Fame 2010 Program
Originally uploaded by randyman

By Randy De La O

This past weekend, at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, California, some of the best boxers of the past were honored and recognized by the California Boxing Hall of Fame, and the boxing community came out to celebrate with them. The mood was festive as the boxers, their families and friends, as well as the fans, were on hand to witness their favorite fighter being immortalized in California’s Hall of Fame.

Some like Rick Farris and Tony Cerda Jr., were born and bred here in the Golden State, while others like Art Hafey came here from far away lands to stake their claim in California’s long and rich boxing history. They trained in places like the Main Street Gym or the Teamsters Gym and they fought in legendary venues such as, the Olympic Auditorium, the Hollywood Legion Stadium, the Forum, the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Wrigley’s Field, the great casinos of Las Vegas and in Madison Square Garden in New York. Others, like Oklahoma’s Sean O’Grady fought here briefly but made their mark by showing great courage in their ring battles, as was the case for seventeen year old O’Grady who came to Los Angeles in 1976 to face Danny “:Little Red” Lopez at the Forum. He lost that battle when the fight was stopped after the fourth round but showed the stuff fighters are made of by taking the fight to Lopez. He proved he had the right stuff when in 1981 he wrested the WBA Lightweight title from Hilmer Kenty. Sean’s award was accepted by his friend and attorney Tom Ray. Tom Ray was also O’Grady’s cornerman.

California’s own Golden Age was represented by Enrique Bolanos, who’s boxing record reads like a veritable who’s who of one of booing’s greatest era, fighting the likes of Manuel Ortiz, Ike Williams, Art Aragon, Joey Barnum, Maxie Docusen, Jimmy Carter, Chico Vejar and so many more. His induction award was graciously accepted by his wife Ruby.

Legendary trainer Johnny Forbes, who passed way in 1971, received his honor posthumously. Forbes had a great stable of fighters that included Carlos and Al Chavez, Gil Cadilli, Keeny Teran, Cali Martinez and Vince Delgado, to name a few.

Rick Farris received his 2010 induction as a fighter but he may someday receive another award for his dedication to preserving and writing about local boxing history. Rick was a fighter’s fighter and he still continues to fight, only now he’s fighting to ensure that boxers of the past are not forgotten. He fights for their legacy.

Canadian Art Hafey, who knows a thing or two about being forgotten, has had a great year, starting with Dan Hanley’s “The Featherweight Wars ”, last years premier of the ”Toy Tiger” and culminating with his induction into the Hall of Fame. It’s a well deserved honor.

Lupe Aquino, the epitome of a humble man sated simply “I’m a man of few words” gave his thanks and left the podium. John Beyrooty ,on the other hand left no stoned unturned in accepting his honors and may very well be back in the near future to accept a newly created award for the longest and most drawn acceptance speech in any award, boxing or otherwise. Referee Pat Russell, a class act, accepted his award with his usual aplomb and was enjoying himself and interacting with fans. Russell, who’s name is synonymous with integrity is a referee’s referee.

The families of Junior Robles, Paul Palomino (Brother of Carlos Palomino) and Bryon Lindsay were there to accept the posthumous awards. All three were tragically killed on March 14, 1980, when, as part of a team that was headed to Warsaw, Poland, their plane crashed near the airport killing all 77 aboard the plane. It was a somber and touching moment as they recalled their loved ones.

There are so many personal stories for each and every fighter. There can be no greater honor than being inducted into the Hall of Fame for doing something that you loved. Especially a sport that can demand so much from an athlete. Boxing is a sport like no other and in my eyes boxer’s stand the tallest, at any weight.

Along with the honorees that were on hand to receive their induction were local boxing legends; Mando Muniz, Carlos Palomino, Bobby Chacon, Danny Lopez, Frankie Baltazar Jr., Ruben Castillo, Vince Delgado, Rodolfo “El Gato” Gonzales, Gwen Adair, Tony Cerda Sr. and Frank Baltazar Sr. and so many more.


A special thanks to Don Fraser and Frank Baltazar Sr. for a job well done. The 2010 California Boxing Hall of Fame was a success.

The Class of 2010 California Boxing Hall of Fame Inductees

Bazooka Limon
Art Hafey
Bob Arum
Sean O'Grady
Enrique Bolanos
Rick Farris
Brad Pye Jr.
Larry Montalvo
John Beyrooty
Pat Russell
Ray De La Fuentes
Victor Valenzuela
Jerry Cheatham
Joey Barnum
Tony Cerda Jr
Joe Barriellli
Bill Caplan
Lupe Aquino

Posthumous Category
Jr. Robles
Paul Palomino
Bryon Lindsey
Young Corbett III
Joey Medill
Bobby Pacho
Joe Robledo
Johnny Forbes

Congratulations to all the 2010 Inductees. Your legacy is preserved

My Sean O’Grady Story….

Sean O'Grady vs Danny Lopez

By Randy De La O

It was a day or two before he fought Danny Lopez, when Sean O’Grady and his father Pat walked into the Main Street Gym in Downtown Los Angeles. I was working out that day,. I didn’t give any thought one way or the other to Sean or his father. They were just two more guys in an already crowded gym. A few minutes later I saw my trainer Mel Epstein talking with Sean’s father Pat. Seems like Mel knew everybody . They spoke for a few minutes and then Mel walked over to me and explained who both of them were. Sean was fighting Danny Lopez in a 10 round bout at the Forum. Mel looked around and then said to me with some empathy, "Danny's, gonna hurt him".

Mel said they came to the gym and forgot to bring a towel. Mel knew I always brought two towels to the gym, one to wipe the sweat off of me during the workout and the other to dry off after my shower. He, more or less, volunteered my towel. I didn’t mind really but it meant that I would have to dry off with my “sweaty’ towel. I was done working out and showered and then I went to hang out with Mel and some of the other guys at the gym. I was also waiting for Sean to finish up with my towel. It was my mother’s towel really so I didn’t want to leave without it.

So I waited a while but I somehow lost track of Sean and my towel. I asked Mel “Where’s the guy with my towel?” “They left a minute ago”. “With my towel?” I ran out the double doors and caught up with them. I said to Mr. O’Grady “You have my towel!” He couldn’t have been more apologetic, both of them were. As hectic as things must have been for them, I knew it was an honest mistake ,still, I wasn’t about to go home without my mother’s towel. There is a picture floating around that was originally published in, either the Los Angeles Times or the Herald Examiner, that shows Sean with a towel slung over his shoulder. That was my mother's towel.

A few nights later Sean was stopped by Danny. The records say that “O'Grady's corner stopped the bout after the 4th round.”. That fight says nothing about Sean O’Grady and it says a lot. Sean was, if my memory serves me right, 17 years old when he fought Lopez. That fact says more than anything else. That took some stones.

Sean O'Grady vs Jim Watt

O’Grady would not lose again until November 1, 1980 when his fight with the ever tough Scot, WBC Champion Jim Watt, in Scotland, was stopped due to cuts in the 12th round of a scheduled fifteen round fight. He had one more fight, against Jose Cabrera, winning a unanimous 10 round decision.

His next fight took place on April 12, 1981 at Bally’s Hotel and casino in Atlantic City. He would take on Hilmer Kenty for the WBA Lightweight Championship. He would win this fight and become new WBA Lightweight Champion.

Sean O’Grady will be inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame this weekend. He’s well deserving of the award. His former corner man and trainer Tom Ray will be accepting the award in his stead.

Our congratulations to Sean O’Grady!

Sean O'Grady's Career Record

Back in 1965 . . .

By Rick Farris

Thursday was fight night at L.A.'s Olympic Auditorium back in the mid-60's.
In early 1965, KTLA Ch-5 began to televise weekly boxing from the 18th & Grand arena.
Almost immediatly, "Boxing from the Olympic", became the highest rated sports broadcast in Southern Cal.

My first visit to the Olympic had taken place the previous year, when flyweight champ, Hiroyuki Ebihara defended his title against Mexico's "Alacran" Torres. That one ended in a riot, and it was nearly a year before my dad would take me back to see a fight live. When he did, I would see the Olympic on a thursday night for the first time. This time, two TV cameras were perched on a platform hanging right below the balcony. Above the cameras on the edge of the balcony, were ten 2,000 watt spotlights, providing front fill light for the cameras. The ring was bathed in a blanket of white light beaming down from a cluster incandescent light fixtures directly above the ring.

The aura of the Olympic ring came to life when accented by the TV lights. The powder blue canvas would glow in the light, something very surreal. I was hooked the moment I stepped into the Olympic that night. At ringside, calling the action for the TV audience were matchmaker Mickey Davies and a young sportscaster named Dick Enberg. I felt at home there, I felt I belonged, I felt the presence of the spirits of greatness that had once boxed and wrestled there. I wanted to spend a lot of time there, and I would, as both a fan and a fighter.

My dad took a buddy and I to the fights that night. We had tickets about a dozen rows back from the ring, good seats, great view.
The main event that night was a barn burner. State featherweight champ, Danny Valdez, fought a ten round war with Pete Gonzalez of Portland. Valdez had beaten Gonzalez in a twelve round state title defense the previous year. This time he would lose a ten rounder in a very close fight.

After the fights, my dad took us across the street to what was then a drive-in restaurant, "The Olympic Cafe".
We were seated at a booth, waiting to order when we see the two main event fighters enter the restaurant together. They walk over to the counter and sit down together. I could see that Valdez cheek was swollen, and was holding one of the Reyes boxing gloves he'd worn that night. I watched the waitress take the boxer's orders, and then saw her smile as the fighter's joked with her. When she walked away, the smiles left their faces, you could see they were tired, and rightfully so. As Gonzalez spoke to Valdez, the state champ pressed his soggy boxing glove up to his swollen face, as if it were an ice bag.

I remember I was surprised that the boxers were friendly, I learned that boxers don't need to hate one another in order to take care of business in the ring. They were professionals. Less than an hour earlier, they were trading knockout blows, now they were good buddies talking over hamburgers.

I never forgot what I saw that night, both in the ring and at the restaurant. I learned something.
Last year, Frank Baltazar introduced me to Danny Valdez. I told him what I remembered about that night.
Danny smiled, and we had a nice conversation. He had challeneged Davey Moore for the featherweight title.
After boxing, he worked for our local ABC network as a lighting tech.
Ironically, I followed my boxing days by working as a lighting tech.

This coming saturday I'll have a chance to see Danny Valdez again. Danny is an East L.A. guy, from Maravilla.
He had a great career in the ring, and a great one with ABC. A true Classic American West Coast boxer.


-Rick Farris

Danny Lopez vs Mike Ayala-San Antonio-1979

Danny Lopez vs Mike Ayala (Lopez by 15 round K.O).

WBC Featherweight Title Fight-April 17, 1979

Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas

Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year 1979

Danny Lopez Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame

Danny Lopez vs Raul Cruz (Lopez by 6 round K.O).

Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
July 26, 1975

By Randy De La O

Congratulations to former featherweight champ Danny “Little Red” Lopez for his long overdue induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, this past weekend.

Originally from Utah, Lopez made his home in Los Angeles after following his older brother, Ernie “Indian Red” Lopez. to Southern California.  West Coast boxing fans took to his exciting, take no prisoners style of boxing. In 1974, despite his loss by 9th round knockout, his fight with cross town rival and equally popular Bobby Chacon at Los Angeles’ famed Olympic Auditorium made him one of Los Angeles favorite fighter.

His career seemed in jeopardy for a short time following his loss to Chacon. He had two back to back losses, the first was to  Shig Fukuyama in September of 1974 when he was stopped  in the 9th round .The following year, in January of 1975 he dropped a decision to Octavio Gomez in their ten round bout. He would rebound from those losses and run up a string of victories, including a K.O. win over Gomez in a rematch at the Forum in 1976.

Lopez was never in a dull fight and the saying was that Lopez wasn’t happy until he was knocked down. If you knocked Lopez down you  knew you were in for the fight of your life. “Little Red” was a warrior and left nothing in the ring.

With K.O. wins over Chucho Castillo (2nd round ),  Ruben Olivares (7th round), Sean O’Grady (4th round),  Octavio Gomez (3rd round) and Art Hafey (7th round)  Lopez was ready to fight for the title, going to Accra, Ghana, Africa to fight for the WBC Featherweight Championship. The fight took place at the Accra Sports Stadium on November 6, 1976.  Danny didn’t disappoint. He won a 15round decision,  Kotey was knocked down in the 11th round. In their rematch in 1978 Lopez made quick work of Kotey by stopping him in the 6th round.

Danny made several exciting defenses of his title, including an exciting 1979 Ring magazine "Fight of the Year" with Mike Ayala of San Antonio, Texas. On February 2, 1980 Danny was matched against a relatively unknown fighter  from Mexico by the name of Salvador Sanchez. Though fighting valiantly against a fighter who would prove to be an all time great, Danny was fighting an uphill battle. Danny was stopped in the 13th round. For Lopez’ fan this was hard to accept. It was even harder for Danny and a rematch was set for June of that year. This time Danny made it to the14th round but the end result was the same.

Danny retired after the second Sanchez fight. He came back in 1992 getting stopped in 2 by Jorge Rodriguez  in Irvine, California. Danny “Little Red”  Lopez had a great career and whenever Los Angeles  boxing fans speak of L.A,’s favorite warriors his name is always at the top of the list. He gave his fans the best he had and no one could ask for more.

MY BRUSH WITH COACH JOHN WOODEN

By Bill O'Neill

Following Coach John Wooden's passing Friday night, every journalist in the country is rushing to eulogize him. As a retired sports journalist, I will chip in a recollection of my own brief contact with the legendary coach and educator. Of course, it is boxing-related:


When Joe Frazier came to Los Angeles to meet Chuck Leslie in May of 1966, he had won the Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics and had knocked out eight opponents in a row since turning professional. He was already being hailed as a "star," headed for the top of his brutal profession.

I was writing a weekly boxing column for a small, suburban newspaper called the Huntington Park Daily Signal, and sought an interview with Smokin' Joe and his manager, Yank Durham, through our mutual friend, Eddie Futch. The interview took place in Frazier's room at the Gala Motel, down the street from the Olympic Boxing Club. Upon learning from Joe that he had been born and raised in the small Sea Islands town of Beaufort, South Carolina, I remarked that there was a young man from Beaufort on UCLA's national champion basketball team. The young man's name, I said, was Kenny Washington.

"Kenny Washington!" Frazier shouted. "Kenny Washington! He's my friend! We grew up together!"

It turned out that Joe and Kenny were next-door neighbors and close friends, though they hadn't seen each other since Frazier had moved north to Philadelphia, five years earlier.

I told Frazier that I would see what I could do toward getting word to Kenny Washington that Joe would be fighting at the Olympic Auditorium on May 19. Later that day, I advised Olympic Boxing Club publicist Van Barbieri of my "discovery," then called the UCLA Athletic Department. I was transferred to the "basketball office"--and immediately recognized the scholarly but friendly, down-home country voice of the person who picked up the phone. It was Coach John Wooden, himself!

Figuring that I was in over my head, I hurriedly explained the purpose of my call, identifying myself as a part-time boxing columnist for the low-circulation Daily Signal. Figuring that Coach Wooden had more important things to do than talk to me, I asked only that he relay my message to his player. But talk he did--going on for what must have been ten minutes, expressing admiration for the courage and discipline of professional boxers, and telling me in careful detail just what a worthy young man Kenny Washington was.


As a postscript to the story: Van Barbieri left complimentary tickets and a dressing room pass at the ticket window for Kenny Washington, and minutes after Frazier had dismantled Chuck Leslie, the two Barefoot Lads from Beaufort were reunited in the future heavyweight champion's dressing room. There was an Associated Press photo of their reunion in newspapers across the country the following day.

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A Bit of L.A. Boxing History

"Forty years ago today . . . I made my pro boxing debut at the Olympic Auditorium. June 4, 1970. One of the best days of my life" ..Rick Farris

Click image for a larger view

Again, Congrats to Los Angeles own Rick farris on his 2010 Induction to the California Boxing Hall of Fame.

California Boxing Hall of Fame 2010

Rick Farris (L) shown here with his old sparring partner, legendary Mexican great Ruben Olivares.

Congratulations to my friend Rick Farris, along with Sean O'Grady, Art Hafey and all the 2010 California Boxing Hall of Fame Inductees. Looks like "Irish Eyes are Smiling".

INDUCTION CEREMONIES 2010

Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Registration and Social Hour - 11:30 am

Sportsmen's Lodge
12833 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, California
(101 Ventura Fwy & Coldwater Canyon Exit)

Meet & Greet "Boxing Legends"

Bazooka Limon - Art Hafey - Bob Arum - Sean O'Grady
Enrique Bolanos - Rick Farris - Brad Pye Jr - Larry Montalvo
John Beyrooty - Pat Russell - Ray De La Fuentes - Victor Vvalenzuela
Jerry Cheatham - Joey Barnum - Tony Cerda Jr. - Joe Barrielli
Bill Caplan - Lupe Aquino

POSTHUMOUS CATEGORY

Jr. Robles - Paul Palomino - Bryron lindsey - Young Corbett III
Joey Medill - Bobby Pacho - Joe Robledo - Johnny Forbes

Special Honored Guests

Danny Lopez - Carlos Palomino - "Gato" Gonzalez - Danny Valdez
Genero Hernandez - Chris Arreola - Shane Mosley - Howard Simth - Frankie Baltazar

INFORMATION

Luncheon Ticket - $50.00 (tax, tip included)
Send check or money order payable to:

California Boxing Hall of Fame

c/o Don Fraser
10516 Addison St., North Hollywood, CA 91601

Order Early - Limited Seating

Tables of ten can be reserved

(818) 761-4887 Fax: (818) 761-4887