Part 3

Even at the end, at his last fight, when he was beaten badly by Alvaro Gutierrez at the Olympic one night in 1960, Aragon sent everyone home laughing.

As Aragon lay bleeding on his dressing room table, surrounded by trainers and sportswriters, a sheriff's deputy came in and dropped a summons on Aragon's chest.

Aragon lifted his head, looked at the blue document, and dropped his head back.

"That's Art Aragon, for you," he said. "One hundred and 15 fights and 116 summons."

"HelloAragon.

"What're you in for, Mama?

"Prostitution? I'm sorry, Mama, I don't issue bonds to prostitutes. Let me give you a number of a guy to call . . . "

Art, how is it you don't bail out prostitutes?

"I don't bail out prostitutes or bad-check artists," he says. "People like that have no addresses. They don't own anything. They live in their cars. They're on the run all the time. They're runners.

"Prostitutes have cost me a lot of money. I got a soft heart.

"One time a prostitute jumped bail on me, and I had to go look for her. I found her in some crummy apartment. She had a baby, and no money. Not a dime. She'd already cost me $500, see. So she starts crying. She tells me her story, then I start crying. So I gave her 50 bucks and left.

"Soft-hearted, right?"

Art, who are the best risks?

"Bookmakers and narcotics peddlers," he says.

"Bail for a bookmaker is the cheapest in town. See, a bookmaker has to be out by the next race. I'll get a bookmaker out on his wink--or for a good tip on a horse.

"Narcotics guys, they need to get out immediately . For narcotics pushers, time is money. They need that time on the streets. And if he runs, you just go find the addicts. They always know where their source is."

Art, back in the '50s, where did you hang out?

"A place called La Zamba, a little strip joint at Seventh and Alvarado. It was a great place. They had a little stripper there who, I swear, was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

"Her name was Lotus Wing. She was a Mexican girl, but looked Chinese.

"One night, I did a dumb thing. I took my wife, Georgia. The lady who owned the place was named Betty. So I introduce her to Georgia, and Betty says: 'Oh, but didn't I just meet you last night here?' "

What about Art Aragon, the fighter?

"I was a 'tweener,' when I fought. I was too big to be a lightweight and too small for welterweight. They didn't have all those junior divisions then. Today, I'd have been a junior welterweight, instead of a junior schmuck.

"Making weight was murder. I hated that more than anything. For my second fight with Jimmy Carter, I had to make 135. I was the first fighter in the history of the sport who had to be carried \o7 into \f7 the ring."

Aragon, in a 1951 upset, beat Carter, the lightweight champion, in a non-title bout at 142 pounds. But in a rematch for the title, at 135, Aragon ran out of gas and lost a decision.

The Golden Boy's reign in Los Angeles came to an end the night Carmen Basilio came to town, Sept. 5, 1958.

The headline said it all:

"Basilio KO Finishes Aragon as Big-Timer"

"In the corner, after the seventh round, my manager says to me: 'Art, if you don't start punching back, I'm going to stop it in the next round.' I said: 'Why wait?' "

That fight drew 22,500 who paid $236,000, a Los Angeles boxing record at the time. The former record had been set at Wrigley Field three weeks earlier, when Floyd Patterson beat Roy Harris in a heavyweight title fight.

Reporters covering the Basilio-Aragon fight described Aragon's handlers carrying his battered body to the dressing room, and carefully laying him on the trainer's table.

"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick," Aragon moaned.

Then, seeing sportswriters in the room, he said: "Hey, can one of you guys get me a beer? I haven't had a beer in three weeks."

Despite the beating, the interview was on.

Reporter: Art, do you want a rematch with Basilio?

Aragon: Sure, if they let me use a gun.

Reporter: Art, what did you say to the referee when he stopped it?

Aragon: I said: 'How come you're stopping it? I got a no-hitter going.'

The other day, in his office, Aragon remembered Basilio.

"I ran into Basilio about 10 years ago and I said, 'Hey, you're a good guy but, damn it, you gave me brain damage.' "

"Basilio said: 'Whaddya talking about, Aragon. You never had a brain to begin with.' "

A year after the Basilio fight, when Aragon finally retired, Sid Ziff, sports editor and columnist for the old Mirror News, asked Aragon about his plans.

"I'm going to open a big liquor store, play lots of golf, insure myself for plenty, and get held up twice a year," he said.

Of Ziff, Aragon said: "Poor old Sid. You know how dumb he was? He thought I was a great fighter."

In 1953, Elmer Beltz was a marvelous young prospect, a flashy welterweight with a knockout punch. After he had scored six straight knockouts, his handlers decided to throw him in with the Golden Boy.

By 1953, almost everyone hated the Golden Boy. This would be the end of Arrogant Art, many predicted. Our guy Elmer, he'll wipe that sneer off his face.