By kiki
In the late spring of 1973, I received a phone call from a representative of the I.Y.B.C. The International Youth Boxing Club, located in Montebello, CA., was a youth organization headed by Southern California boxing figures such as Rudy Jordan and Mando Muniz.
The caller explained that the I.Y.B.C. would host a boxing meet between an Ensenada, Baja California, Mex.-based team and local amateur boxers. The caller asked if I would allow Fernie to fight in the 125-pound class. Fernie, at age 15, had just come back from a two-year layoff to fight in the Junior Golden Gloves, which he won against Francisco Flores. After being told that the event would occur in ten days at the I.Y.B.C. gym, I okayed Fernie's partaking.
I only remember a little about the other fights because I was focused on Fernie's fight. Fernie's opponent was a dead-ringer of a young Mando Ramos in facial looks and boxing style. Frankie won an exciting, hard-fought three-round fight by U.D…After the bouts were all fought, and as we enjoyed a beer or two with our Baja California counterparts, they invited us to Ensenada to do it all over again. They made a point about Fernie fighting the Mando Ramos lookalike again, and we accepted the challenge.
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
We were told we would be at a private Ensenada Beach campground during the event. Owning a motorhome at the time was something we were looking forward to.
With my boxing partner John Martinez, his wife Bea, Fernie, our daughter, Linda, and Connie, and me behind the wheel of our motorhome, we left La Puente on Thursday afternoon (fights were scheduled for Saturday night). We arrived in Tijuana two and a half hours later. After doing a little shopping and having dinner, we left Tijuana on the Tijuana/Ensenada toll road, and a toll road it was; it seemed like every five miles, we had to pay a toll. We arrived at the gated beach campground around midnight. Standing in front of the gate was an armed sentry. With a rifle across his chest, he stopped us at the gate; I rolled my window down to tell him we were with the boxing club, and to my surprise, I found the young sentry mentally challenged. Why is this fella allowed to walk around with a loaded rifle? Well, we later found out that he was the owner's son. While parking the motorhome on the beach, I told everyone to stay out of the sentry's way and not forget that we were in Mexico and had to obey their laws. We spent Friday taking in the sights, eating and drinking a Mexican beer (Bohemia) here and there. By Friday afternoon, the rest of the team had arrived; I am trying to remember who else was on our team; the Montes were there, unsure if both Herman and John fought. I remember that Eddie "Animal" Lopez was there; not sure if he fought, though; he might have been a pro by then and was just along for the ride. We had a big beach fire; we sat around the fire, telling fishing lies and drinking a beer or two.
Weigh-ins for the fights were early Saturday morning. Fernie and the Mando Ramos look-a-like weighted in the low 120s. After the weigh-ins, we had a Mexican breakfast at a local restaurant. Fernie had a mid-afternoon dinner of seafood. It was soon time for us to make our way to the arena. Fights were fought before a packed auditorium, but I was focused on Fernie's fight; I can't tell you who fought them. Fight time! We entered the ring first; Fernie's opponent entered it a few minutes later, but it was not the Mando Ramos lookalike! I looked at the guy and told the referee that that was not our opponent, and the guy had to have been in his mid-20s. I looked around the arena and spotted Mando Ramos's twin with gloves on and leaning against a back wall. I told the referee as I pointed to the guy, "that's the guy we are fighting, or we won't fight. The "old" guy, probably a pro, walked out of the ring as the twin walked in. They were trying to put a ringer in with Fernie!... The fight was give-and-take for the first two rounds, but Fernie pulled it out by scoring a knockdown in the third and final round of a great amateur fight. After the fights, it was party time at the beach fire. As we were bullshitting around the fire, we spotted two horses with riders making their way in the dark toward the fire. The horsemen were Fernie and Eddie "Animal" Lopez. I asked them, "what the hell are you two doing? Don't you know that they still hang horse thieves in Mexico?" They jumped off the horses faster than you can say "horse thieves" and gave the horses a slap on the ass. It's a good thing the "Rife man" wasn't around to see our horse "thieves"; otherwise, we would have had to attend a hanging…Sunday, as we drove back home, I noticed Fernie rubbing his neck; he said to no one in particular, "we don't need to stop in Tijuana" We arrived home alive and well.
