A long time ago, a top featherweight contender was fighting in Tucson, Arizona. At the morning weigh-in, his opponent, whom only his mother can remember his name, was deemed unfit to fight that night. The promoter, Flores, whose last name is all I can remember, was pulling his hair because his main event had fallen apart. But, not to worry, Jimmy "Super-manager" Montoya rode to the rescue with his cape flying in the air.
Jimmy walked up to promoter Flores and told him, "don't worry, don't worry, I'll take care of things."
Jimmy then walked out of the hotel where the weigh-ins were being held and stood on the sidewalk looking at the people passing by 'nope too big, nope too small,' thought Jimmy as he eyed a couple of guys passing by, he then spotted a guy walking across the street that looked to be about 125 pounds. Just like the top featherweight contender's weight!
"Hey, you" Jimmy yelled at the guy.
"Who, me?" answered the guy.
"Yeah, you," replied Jimmy.
The guy then crossed the street and walked up to Jimmy
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"You wanna make some money?" Jimmy said to the guy
"How much?"
"$500.00", Jimmy told him.
"Who do I have to kill?" answered the guy.
"You don't have to kill the guy; you just have to fight him," Jimmy responded.
The guy then asked Jimmy if by fighting he meant boxing.
Jimmy said yes, that it was boxing, and that he would fight a top featherweight contender.
The guy told Jimmy that yes, he would fight the top featherweight contender.
Jimmy asked the guy if he had ever fought, the guy replied that, yes, but that only in the streets.
"Okay, but remember you are fighting a top featherweight contender," Jimmy told his new fighter.
"I don't care who I fight; for $500.00, I'll fight King Kong.
Jimmy took the guy into the hotel and introduced his "fighter" to the commissioner. A quick over by the doctor, and he was given a boxing license.
Later that day, my boxing partner John Martinez and I were in our 4th-floor room of the hotel we were staying at, looking out the window that faced the hotel's back parking lot; we were watching Jimmy with the mitts on teaching his new protégé how to jab.
That night the protégé took the top featherweight contender into the early rounds of the ten-round fight before the referee stopped the fight.
After the fight's promoter Flores had a party at his desert hacienda. I spotted Jimmy and his protégé huddle in a corner talking, and as I was walking up to them, I heard the protégé ask Jimmy "poppy, poppy, when do we fight again?"
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