Big fight at the Montebello Park

By kiki

At the beginning of the 1951-’52 Montebello Junior High School year, two new girls transferred to MJH (9th grade) from an ELA/Boyle Heights school…The girls were both beautiful. Soon Frankie Cruz, a guy from Simons, started hitting on one of the girls, and she didn’t fight back; in other words, she liked it. But there was a problem, she had a boyfriend from Varrio Nuevo (Estrada Courts, Boyle Heights), and the boyfriend was always there waiting for the girl to leave school. One day when Frankie and the girl walked out of the school together, the boyfriend approached them and had words with both of them…He told Frankie he would wait for him the following day at Montebello Park to settle things…Word spread around the school like a burning fire “big fight at the park” was the word being spread around the school. On the day of the fight, everybody asked, “are you going to the big fight after school in the park?” When the final school bell rang, everybody ran to the park for the big fight. The big fight was not such a “big fight,” as Frankie quickly beat the crap out of the boyfriend. And so it was! 

Fite Nite at Doyers Statium

By kiki

The original date for the fights at Dodgers Stadium was a week before the fights took place. A week before that ill-fated night, Connie and I were sitting ringside in a downpour of rain when in the 11th hour, a decision was made to postpone the fights. A week later, give or take a day, the fights were held, and we all know the outcome of that tragic night: Davey Moore lost his featherweight title to Sugar Ramos, but more importantly, he lost his life. 

Hank Weaver was killed in an auto accident on his way home from the fights; Hank was the ringside TV announcer for the Hollywood Legion Stadium fights in the early 1950s. He also had a short segment on TV before the fights, "Under The Pepper Trees With Hank Weaver," where he would interview fighters and fans as they entered the Stadium.

Would the outcome have been different for Moore and Weaver had the fights been held on the original date? We'll never know, will we?

Changes in our Beloved Ghetto

By kiki

We have been living in the 'hood (La Puente, same house) since 1968. I have seen some changes in our beloved ghetto in those 48 years: The first change was the white flight when the Raza started moving in droves, 3 or 4 families to a single-family home (okay, I am exaggerating a tiny bit here). Nowadays, advertisements in the local rags are primarily written in Spanish. Unfortunately, don't know what the graffiti is written in, as it's hard to read.

Now, the new change: the Chinese are migrating east from Monterey Park, and they are also moving north from Hacienda Heights to our ghetto, and the Raza is fleeing to new digs. Now, I expect to soon see the local rags advertise in Chinese. And, look out for the traffic jams on Hacienda Blvd because, like in Monterey Park and Hacienda Heights, traffic is beginning to move slowly on our roads.....Connie and I are not fleeing to new digs as we love our beloved ghetto. When we leave, it will be in a box. 

Old Man And The Coupons

By kiki

I stopped at CVS earlier this morning to pick up a few things. When I had what I wanted, I walked up to the line of people, about six deep, waiting for the one cashier on duty to help them. I queued behind an old man (yes, he was older than me). The gentleman, between 85 and 90 years old and standing about five feet tall, turned around and told me, "Be ready to wait a while," I asked him why. He said, "fucking coupons" At that, I looked up at the lady being helped, and sure enough, she had about twenty small items, and she had a coupon for every one of those items. I laughed and told the old man, "I don't mind, I'm in no hurry, and besides, I have nowhere to go and nobody to see" He shook his head and again said, "Okay, but when you are as old as me-time is of the essence" He then said in a kind of a loud voice "fucking coupons" - That old gent made my day as there is no better way to start the day than with a good laugh.

I am glad the good Lord blessed me with the ability to see humor where most people don't - I am so happy that I can laugh with other people but, most importantly, at myself too - And being able to see the brightness in life instead of the darkness has made my life a lot easier to live. And when the clock stops ticking for me, it can be said that I laughed at the little things in life and lived life to the fullest.

How the Boy's got their start in boxing

by kiki

Contrary to rumors,  I never told my boys they had to fight. I did inadvertently introduce them to boxing; I say “inadvertently” because it was never my intention to make fighters out of them, but here’s how it all started: In 1964 when I had my last amateur fight (Los Angeles Golden Gloves, I lost) I decided to keep going to the gym just to stay in shape. One Saturday morning, as I was getting ready to drive to the Teamsters Gym, Connie asked me to take Fernie and Anthony with me; she said she needed a drama-free morning. I did, and the boys enjoyed hitting the bags while I sparred with some of the young fighters….One Saturday morning, Louie Jauregui, who ran the gym, told me he would hold a smoker show the following Friday and bring the family. That Friday, I took Connie, our daughter Linda and the boys to the smoker, and Anthony, who was all of 3 ½ years old, said he wanted to fight; Frankie, who was 6 years old, said he too would fight. Louie, who was doing the matchmaking, matched Anthony with a kid about 4 years old and Frankie with another boy about the same age. Anthony won, and Frankie lost….They kept on boxing after that, winning numerous Junior Golden Gloves titles. When Frankie was 12 years old, he told me he wanted to rest from boxing, and I told him that was fine. He came back when he was 15 to fight in the Junior Golden Gloves (he won). It was the last year he was eligible because of the age limit. Between the age of 16 and 18, Frankie had no more than 10 fights. He turned pro days after turning 18.

When Anthony started junior high, I tried talking him into taking a rest; he would have none of it. He said he wanted to keep boxing, and he did, winning at the age of 15 the 1976 AAU National Junior Olympic Title. He also won Los Angeles Golden Gloves titles. Again, when Anthony got into high school, I asked him to take the 3 years off, saying no. Anthony, at a very young age, was literally knocking out opponents. At 16, after knocking out a top local amateur in the first round at the Olympic Auditorium during an am/pro card, finding any local amateurs willing to get in the ring with him became tough. After knocking out the top local amateur, he only fought one more time as an amateur. The year between 17 and 18, he didn’t fight because we couldn’t find opponents. He, too, turned pro a few days after his 18 birthday.