By kiki
In 1977, my son Frankie (Fernie) Baltazar, the late trainer Johnny Flores and I left Los Angeles to go to Miami Beach, Florida. Frankie was to fight Francisco Villegas on Don King's and ABC's TV Network U.S. A. Tournament. Larry Holmes vs. Stan Ward was to be the main event. But, unfortunately, that was the week when the scandal about fixing boxing records broke, and Holmes vs. Ward was canceled.
It was an excellent experience because I met the all-time greatest heavyweight, Joe Louis. Louis was working for Don King and was assigned by King to be our chauffeur for the four days we were in Miami Beach. Louis was supposed to drive us wherever we needed to go. But, I was not about to let the great Joe Louis drive us around; Joe and Johnny Flores were old army buddies from their WWII days. So I took the wheel and had them sit in the back of the car so they could reminisce about their days in the army. So, I chauffeured the greatest heavyweight champion in boxing history for four days.
I found Louis to be a humble and quiet man. Getting a word out of him was like pulling teeth. After the scandal broke, the Larry Holmes/Stan Ward fight was canceled, but Frankie fought Villegas and won unanimously.
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