Luis Santana and the Cadillac

By kiki

In 1989 when my son Tony Baltazar was getting ready for his fight with Buddy McGirt, we set up a training camp at the La Mancha Athletic Club in Phoenix, Arizona. After one month of training at La Mancha, it was time to break camp and prepare for our flight to New York City. The fight was held in Swan Lake, upstate New York. 

The night before our departure to New York City, La Mancha owners Charlie, and Diane, threw a breaking-camp party for us at their home in Surprise, Az. Surprise, Az. is about 30 miles from Phoenix, I believe. There were about ten of us that drove in two cars to Surprise. The group included Jimmy Montoya, Jerry Cheatham, Grant "Elvis" Phillips, Luis Santana, Tony I, and others. Food and drinks were served by our host. Luis Santana, a non-drinker, was putting away the tequila that night, I believe his girlfriend had sent him a "dear Juan" letter, or she lost some weight. (Luis like his women extra heavy)

Tony and some of the guys left early in one of the cars; soon after, some of the other guys left in the second car; Jimmy, Jerry, Elvis, Luis, and I were left behind without a vehicle. Our host Charlie said not to worry; we could use one of his cars to get back to La Mancha when we were ready to leave. Around 2:00 AM, we thanked Charlie and Diane and told them that it was time for us to get back to La Mancha. Charlie walked us to the back of the house where three brand new cars were sitting, two Cadillacs and a Jaguar; take your pick, he told us; we picked one of the Caddies. Elvis got behind the wheel, with Jimmy riding shotgun; in the back were Jerry, Luis, and me, with Luis, Tony's hired sparring partner, sitting in the middle.

No sooner had we gotten on the road when we got lost, and we wound up on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Finally, the dirt road came to a dead-end in a dark desert that not even the rattlesnakes could see where they were going. As we stopped at the dead-end, Luis started to get sick; Jerry and I jumped out of the Caddie just as Luis barfed on the rear floor of the new Caddie. After making sure that Luis was done barfing, we somehow managed to get back on the right road; we drove back to La Mancha with our heads sticking out the windows. 

Sunrise found Elvis, Jerry, and Luis at a self-serve car wash trying to clean the Caddie. When Charlie was told what had happened, he said, "don't worry about it, I'll just get another car" I don't know if he bought another car.

Diane, Charlie, and their teenage daughter, Kelly, made the trip to New York with us. We were put up at a hotel on 8^th Ave just off 42 St. The morning after our arrival, we were having breakfast at the hotel's coffee shop when Diane told us about what Kelly had seen. Kelly had been looking out the window in the middle of the night when she saw what she took to be a prostitute talking to a "john" Kelly told Diane, "mom, look, the girl is talking to a "client."

After dropping Buddy McGirt in the second round, Tony lost a ten-round decision. 

Luis went on to win the WBC Light Middleweight title from Terry Norris on a DQ.

Elvis is now the Founder/CEO of Grant Inc, a boxing equipment manufacturer.