2015 California Boxing Hall of Fame

By kiki

A few words about the 2015 California Boxing Hall of Fame luncheon: The event ran a lot smoother this year than it has had in past years. For the most part, the inductees stuck to the few minutes allotted to make their speeches; one or two went on too long. I noticed CBHOF President Don Fraser tugging on the suit coat of one of the inductees, but to no avail, as the inductee kept going on and on…We that log on to social media sites have made many new friends and I dare say, some enemies too. Some of those friends we will never get to meet in person (I don't care to meet the enemies), but having said that, I had the pleasure of meeting some Facebook friends face-to-face for the first time at this year's CBHOF event. Four that I met at the event for the first time were two beautiful ladies, Becky Cotero Moreno and Yolanda Valdez-Esparaza, inductee Jeff Bumpus, and the infamous Saul Saucedo. The day before the event, I had the great pleasure of meeting, along with his son Paul, Phil Rice. Phil and Paul made the trek west for Jeff Bumpus's induction. Phil and I had had an internet friendship for several years, but we had never met face to face. We had talked at times about him coming out to the Left Coast for some real home-cooked Mexican food; this weekend it all came to fruition, but, unfortunately, his time on the coast was too short for him to taste Connie's home-cooked chili Verde. How I would have loved to have seen Phil eat chili Verde Mexican style, with just tortillas and no fork, that would have been quite a sight…It was also nice seeing some old friends, too many mention…

Last but not least: One thing that I was really disappointed at was seeing the name of Advertising Director Ray Maynez name been omitted from the staff credits on the official program; it was probably an oversight on the printer side, but that's no excuse, and for that, I think the CBHOF owns Ray an apology and been part of the CBHOF I offer Ray our sincere apology. I understand that Ray will not be with us next year, so I want to wish him the best of luck in whatever future endeavors he participates in….I hope to see you all at next year's event.