The Barber Shop . . .

I remember going to the barber shop with my grandfather. The barbers all talked about baseball, football or politics. The shoe shine guy, Sonny, he was a fight fan. He knew I was fightng in the juniors, and we'd talk. He told me about a friend of his, L.C. Morgan. Sonny lived in L.A. I remember seeing L.C at the Teamsters Gym coaching some kids at a junior show. I was happy to tell Sonny that I saw L.C. and he would tell me that they had both come from Youngstown, Ohio. We talked about Archie Moore, Bob Satterfield, Liston.

All anybody else could talk about was the next guy seeking Governorship of the State of California, an actor named Ronald Reagan. Sonny and I talked boxing. I would tell him about watching Sonny Liston deflate a big sparring partner from the Pacific Northwest, Wayne Heath. I'd tell him about meeting the great Sugar Ray, and Henry Armstrong, I had something to contribute, I believed. Sonny's eyes would get big and round when I'd tell him about watching Jerry Quarry drop to one knee after catching a hook to the liver from Eddie Jones. Sonny would then share something from his past, nothing over the top, just a real story that I appreciated.

Today, I get my haircut in a salon. My "stylist" is gay. Ironically, he's a boxing fan, and catches all the big fights. "Marcel" is a good cutter and can talk boxing better than most fans.. He may not be like old Sonny, but Marcel is a helluva lot more boxing wise than than the guys cutting hair in the shop where I went as a kid. Today, a great barber shop to talk boxing is Phil Barba's barber shop in Venice, Cal. Phil is an ex-pro and so is the guy who cuts hair in the other chair, Frankie Duarte.

Stay with the salon, Frank. They just don't make barber shops like they used to.


-Rick Farris