Frank Baltazar Sr.
By Rick Farris
By the end
of WWII, a new era in Los Angeles boxing had taken life. In the eyes of
California boxing historians, such as Gabriel "Hap" Navarro, former
promoter and matchmaker at the legendary Hollywood Legion Stadium, the post war
years thru the 1950's, are considered the "Golden Era" of Los Angeles
boxing.
At the time,
L.A. headliners such as Enrique Bolanos, Manuel Ortiz, Art Aragon and dozens
more, set box office records at the Olympic Auditorium, Hollywood Legion
Stadium and Wrigley Field. In addition, the "City of Angeles" had a
number of smaller clubs putting on regular shows, such as Ocean Park in Santa
Monica, South Gate Arena and San Bernardino, to name a few.
A couple
years after the war, a skinny 12-year-old would get his first taste of boxing
from inside the ropes. This would be the birth of a life long journey for young
Frank Baltazar, and it would take it's first breath at the beginning of Los
Angeles boxing's toughest, most competitive era.
Today, six
decades later, the skinny kid isn't quite as skinny, and the thick black hair
not quite as dark, as when we first met, however, Frank Baltazar Sr. looks
pretty much the same. Frank's handsome latino features contradict his
seventy-plus years.
The first
time I saw Frank was in the mid-1960's, shortly after he'd hung up the gloves,
after a sixteen year amateur career. Frank's education in prizrfighting took
place during the sports most glorious period in California, lessons learned in
countless gyms, arenas and clubs thruout the Southland. His teachers were
hardened "old school" veterans, and he practiced his skills in the
ring, trading blows with some of the greats of the era
More than
forty years after our first meeting, I'd have the honor of being present at a
very special day for Frank Baltazar Sr., his family, and L.A. boxing in
general. Last summer, Baltazar was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of
Fame. Friends and family from miles away packed the event, and I have to say,
the faces I saw that day took me back to a very special time, a time made a
little more special for kids like myself, thanks to guys like Frank Baltazar
Sr.
When I first
crossed paths with Frank, he was nearly thirty, and had just taken over as
director of the annual Junior Golden Gloves program, an event that had long
been a breeding ground for some of the world's best boxing talent.
Superstars
such as Mando Ramos, the Quarry brothers, Albert Davila, the Baltazar boys, the
Sandoval's, Frankie Duarte, Randy Shields, Paul Gonzalez and Oscar DeLaHoya
came out of the Los Angeles Junior Golden Gloves tournaments. All became world
class professionals, some World Champions.
What Frank
Baltazar Sr. brought to the Junior Golden Gloves was years of experience, not
to mention three young sons; Frankie Jr., Tony and Bobby. Frank wasn't just a
fighter, he was a father . . . and a master at both. Frank was a dad, a coach
and a mentor.
In many
ways, Frank Baltazar Sr. would prove to be a surragate father figure to many
young boys over the years. Frank taught more than jabs and hooks, he taught
young men about courage, charactor and common sense. These are the true
hallmarks of a champion.
In
retrospect, it seems as if Frank Baltazar Sr. was destined to be a part of
boxing history. Frank was born in 1936, at Los Angeles County General Hospital,
and grew up in the nearby city of Montebello. As a boy, Baltazar recalled
listening to boxing on the radio.
"I
would listen to the all the championship fights when they were broadcast",
Frank remembered. "Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Willie Pep. We didn't
have television in those days".
Frank
recalls how much he loved boxing as a kid, and how much he desired becoming a
fighter. "My dad was a baseball fan, and he'd talk to me about baseball,
but I was more interested in boxing". One day, 10-year-old Frankie
Baltazar would get the surprise of his life.
"My
father came home and told me that he had tickets for a championship
fight", Baltazar remembered. "The fight was the first meeting between
lightweight champ Ike Williams and Enrique Bolanos, in 1946. My dad and I went
with my two uncles and sat about twenty rows back from ringside. Bolanos was
up-and-down like a yo-yo that night, he really took a beating."
This would
be the first of three classic bouts between the great Ike WIlliams and Mexican
legend Enrique Bolanos. All three matches would be held at Wrigley Field in Los
Angeles, between 1946-49, and Frank Baltazar would be ringside for all three.
"Only
one of the three fights was close, and that was the second, with no knockdowns,
Williams won on a split decision", Baltazar recalled. "In the third
match, Williams gave him a beating, knocking him down twice before Bolanos
corner stopped it after four rounds. His eye was closed, he was in bad
shape."
Like many
young boxers, Frank Baltazar started his career right in the neighborhood, thru
the training of a "backyard coach", whom the kids called "Tiger".
"I never knew his real name", Baltazar recalled, "But he had
been a pro, and had a make-shift gym in his yard. We had a couple pairs of old
boxing gloves, I remember they were from Sears.
After "
Tiger" showed the boys how to punch, the kids would don the gloves and
box, practicing their new skills. After boxing, young Frank would pound the
heavy bag, which was actually an old navy duffel bag hanging from a tree
branch. "We didn't have much equipment, but we learned how to fight."
When the
boys needed stronger opposition, Tiger would take them downtown to the CYO Gym,
at 9th & Figureoa. "This is where I met Johnny Flores", Baltazar
smiled.
Johnny
Flores was known as "Mr. Golden Gloves" in Los Angeles. A decorated
WWII battle hero, Flores was the co-founder of L.A.'s Junior Golden Gloves
program, along with Louie Jaurequi of the Teamsters Gym. Flores would manage
dozens of top contenders during his career, including former heavyweight
contender Jerry Quarry, Ruben Navarro, and Dwight Hawkins.
Baltazar
continued to train with Tiger, his backyard coach, for a little over a year,
before switching over to the Teamsters Gym, where he boxed under Hoyt Porter,
and eventually Juarequi. At the teamsters gym, Frank would be training
side-by-side with some of the best boxers in town, including a hot young
flyweight named Keeny Teran.
Thinking
back on Teran, Baltazar stills remembers the excitement he felt in 1951, when
his two favorite fighters, Enrique Bolanos, and his friend Keeny Teran, were
both featured on the same card at Hollywood Legion Stadium. "Bolanos
fought Eddie Chavez in the twelve round main-event, and Teran fought Gil
Cadilli in a six-round semi main.
Teran and
Cadilli were both ten round fighters at the time, but the Bolanos-Chavez fight
was more important, so they stepped down to fight in the six round semi. I'll
never forget that night, my two favorite boxers, both fighting on the same
card. I was fifteen-years-old, what could be better?"
Baltazar
would see thousands of matches during his life, but none better than the six
round war that took place between Keeny Teran and Gil Cadilli. "I've never
seen a better six round fight. If you remember the Bobby Chacon-Danny Lopez
fight, well, that was what it was like. The crowd went crazy and the match declared
a draw." In the main event, Enrique Bolanos, would defeat Chavez by
decision.
When Frank
was eighteen, he met his wife Connie. "That was in April, 1954 and eight
months later, in December, we were married", Frank said. Less than two
years after they married, Connie gave birth to their only daughter, Linda.
In 1958,
Frank and Connie would become parents once again, when the first of their four
sons was born. The boy was named Frank Jr., and only in the young father's
wildest dreams could he have imagined that his namesake would become one of Los
Angeles' all-time great prizefighters, a Hall of Famer.
Nearly three
years later, the second Baltazar son made his life debut, and like the first,
Tony Baltazar would also become one of the greatest boxers to ever hail from
L.A. The fans knew him as Tony "The Tiger", but his opponents knew
him for his devastating left hook, knockout power that would take him right
into the Hall of Fame, with brother Frankie Jr.
It was only
natural that Frank and Connie's third son, Bobby, would follow his older
brothers into the ring. Born in 1963, Bobby 's accomplishments in amateur
boxing were typical of the Baltazar family. Bobby defeated several world
champions during his amateur days, including future bantamweight champ Richie
Sandoval. Bobby turned professional and was unbeaten after six fights, winnng
five by knockout, before getting married and deciding against continuing his
boxing career.
In 1974,
well into the amateur careers of the Baltazar brothers, Connie would give birth
to their fourth son, James. Like his older brothers, the Baltazar's youngest
son was an exceptional athlete, but boxing was not his first love. James first
love was baseball, and later he was a standout football player. However, James
received several concussions during his football years and this prevented him
from pursuing a boxing career.
A year
before James was born, Frank Sr. would travel to Boston with the 1973 Los
Angeles Golden Gloves team, representing Southern California in the National
Golden Gloves "Tournament of Champions."
Frank was
head coach for an all-star Los Angeles team that included future world champ
Art Frias, and world title challengers Frankie Duarte and Randy Shields.
"Roy Hollis took home the National title in his weight class. He was the
only L.A. boxer to do so that year", Frank pointed out.
In 1977, Don
King and ABC-TV partnered to promote a televised professional boxing tournament
that would crumble under the rumor of corruption, rigged ratings, etc. The
ill-fated "U.S. Boxing Championships" may have been a failure for
most concerned, but it provided Frank Baltazar Sr. an opportunity to meet and
visit with one of his greatest boxing idols.
In April of
that year, Frankie Baltazar Jr. had nine pro fights under his belt when Don
King invited him to Miami Beach to face Francisco Villegas in the U.S.
Championships. Frankie Jr. would knockout Villegas, however, the most exciting
part of the trip for Frank Sr. wasn't his son's victory.
"Frankie
and I went to Miami with Johnnie Flores, who was one of my cornermen for the
fight", Frank Sr. remembered. "We needed somebody to take us around
Miami while we were there, so Don King assigned us a driver.
You won't
believe who King sent to drive us . . . JOE LOUIS!"
It turned
out to be quite a day, because Johnnie Flores and Joe Louis had been friends
since the war. "During the fifties, Louis promoted boxing in Hollywood, at
the Moulan Rouge night club on Sunset. Johnnie Flores had been matchmaker for
the former heavyweight champion, so, when they met again, they had a lot to
talk about".
Before Joe
Louis could take his place behind the steering wheel, Baltazar insisted that
Louis allow him to drive, so as the Brown Bomber could sit in the backseat with
his friend Flores, and share some incredible stories. "There's no way I
could let the great Joe Louis chauffer me around town, he was one of my
childhood idols", Baltazar said.
Today the
Baltazar kids are long grown, and Frank and Connie Baltazar are grandparents.
Frank no longer trains young kids in the art of boxing, however, he's still teaching.
Today, Frank Baltazar Sr. shares his experience, memorabilia, and tremendous
boxing knowledge with guys like myself, L.A. boxing historians who desire to
know the inside story behind the history of California boxing.
Unlike many
so called historians, Frank Baltazar doesn't just know boxing history, he's
lived it, and without question, is a part of it.
Speaking for
all of who have benefited from Frank's participation in the Los Angeles boxing
community, I wish to say, "Thanks Kiki!"
