Bouncing Checks

I mention about not letting my boys fight for nothing, and they never did, but one time our checks did bounced.

In 1983 Don Fraser called me, said he was the matchmaker for a couple of guys that had taken the Olympic over after Aileen Eaton retired. Said they had a USA channel date and asked if I was interesting in a fight for both Frankie and Tony on the card. I told him “of course, I am interested” We talked money and opponents, Juan Escobar for Frankie and Rocky Montoya for Tony, at 10Gs each. Agreeing on the details I went to see Fraser at the Olympic to sign contracts.

With contracts signed the boys who had already been in the gym had 3 weeks to get themselves in great shape, which they did. Weight-ins were on the morning of the fights, everybody made weight.

That night Frankie had the toughest fight of his career. He took an ass beating in the first 4 rounds from Escobar. After the 4^th round I told Frankie I was giving him just one more round and if he didn’t show me anything I was going to stop the fight, he agreed with me. With lumps on top of lumps he went out and won the 5^th round, he won the 6^th round, and won every round there-forth, dropping Escobar late in the 10^th and final round to win a split decision.

Tony who was making his first start since the Howard Davis robbery was not happy about just getting 10Gs. I told him not every fight that he had was going to be a Howard Davis type pay day. He fought and won a unanimous decision, but his mind was somewhere else.

The boys got their pay, minus my cut. Next day we went to the bank and deposit our checks. A few days later we got a notice from the bank that the checks had bounced. I called the flakes that promoted the fights and they told me to run the checks through again, we did, and they bounced again.

Now it was 2 weeks after the fights, and our checks still had not been made good, and the flakes were promoting another show at the Olympic. I called Joey Olmos who was the L.A CSAC head guy on the morning of the coming show. I explained to Joey our situation, he told me to meet him at the weight-ins. I did. At the weight-ins Joey announced to the fighters that were scheduled to fight that night and their managers. That unless I got our money by 5PM that there was not going to be a show that night.

The flakes called me to the side and told me that they would give me a check on the spot. I replied to them that I would accept nothing-less than 3 certified checks. They had till 5PM to come up with the checks, they did. They also promoted their last show that night. Soon they were gone in the wind, never to be heard from or seen again.

Luis Santana and the Cadillac

In 1989 when Tony Baltazar was getting ready for his fight against Buddy McGirt we set up camp at the La Mancha Athletic Club in Phoenix, Arizona. After one month of training at La Mancha it came time to break camp and get ready for our flight to New York City, fight was held In Swan Lake, upstate New York. The night before our departure to New York City the owners of La Mancha, Charlie and Diane, threw a going away party for us at their home in Surprise, AZ. Surprise is about 40 miles from Phoenix. There were about ten of us that drove in two cars to Surprise. The group included Jimmy Montoya, Jerry Cheatham, Grant Elvis Phillips, Luis Santana, Tony, I and others. There was food and drinks served by our host. Luis Santana who was a non-drinker was putting away the tequila that night. Tony and some of the guys left early in one of the cars, soon some other ones left in the second car, left behind without a car was Jimmy, Jerry, Elvis, Luis and me. Our host Charlie said not to worry; we could use one of his cars to get back to the La Mancha when we were ready to go. Around 2:00 AM we thanked Charlie and Diane, told them that it was time for us to get back to the La Mancha. Charlie walked us out to the back of the house where three brand new cars were sitting, two Cadillac’s and a Jaguar; take your pick he told us, we picked one of the caddies. Elvis got behind the wheel, with Jimmy riding shotgun, sitting in the back were Jerry, Luis and me, with Luis, who was Tony’s hired sparring partner, sitting in the middle..

No sooner had we gotten on the road when we got lost, we wind up on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The dirt road came to a dead-end in a desert so dark that not even the rattlesnakes could see where they are going. As we made the stop at the dead-end Luis started to get sick, Jerry and I jumped out of the caddie just as Luis barfed on the rear floor of the new caddie. After making sure that Luis was done barfing we somehow got back on the right road; we drove back to La Mancha with our heads sticking out the windows. 

Sunrise found Elvis, Jerry and Luis at a self-serve car wash trying to clean the caddie. When Charlie was told what had happened he said “don’t worry about it, I’ll just get another car” I don’t know if he bought another car or not.

Diane, Charlie and their teenage daughter, Kelly, made the trip to New York with us. We were put up at a hotel on 8^th Ave just off 42 St. On the morning after our arrival we were sitting at the hotel’s coffee shop having breakfast when Diane told us about what Kelly had seen. Kelly had been looking out the window in the middle of the night when she seen what she took to be a prostitute talking to a “john” Kelly told Diane “mom, look, the girl is talking to a “client”

Luis went on to win the WBC Light Middleweight title from Terry Norris on a DQ

Elvis is now the Founder/CEO of Grant Inc, manufacture of boxing equipment.

Frankie Baltazar vs Herman Montes

                                                                     (Amateur fight)

                                            

                                                  By kiki

 In the mid-‘70s the International Press Club in Pico-Rivera was promoting amateur boxing cards, with Tony Mora doing the matchmaking. If memory serves the fights were on Tuesday nights.  

On Tuesday night’s coaches would take their fighters to the IPC hoping to get a fight. The promoters had what some were would call their house fighters; one of them was Herman Montes. Herman had racked up some good wins over some decent opposition. The ‘70s was a time in Los Angeles when the amateur ranks were loaded with very good talent, especially in the lighter divisions, and Herman had fought his share of those talented fighters. Circa 1975 I took Frankie and Tony to the Press Club hoping to get them some action. As soon as we walked in Tony Mora hurried up to me and told me the Montes’s wanted Frankie for Herman, I agreed on the spot. I had studied Herman and knew that his Sunday punch was his right hand, he could knock off a brick wall with that right of his, but at that time his left was weak, so I told Frankie to move to his right, away from Herman’s right. Being that Frankie was a southpaw I figure he could do that for three rounds to win the fight. Frankie boxed beautifully for the first two rounds to win the rounds. He had Herman turning to his left looking to land his potent right hand, but by the time Herman would set himself to throw his right Frankie had already taken another half-step to his right, there by throwing Herman off his stride. In between the second and third round I told Frankie to just keep boxing the way he had boxed the first two rounds and he would win the fight. Bell rang for the third and final round and Frankie is boxing beautifully, then about mid-round he stopped right in front of Herman, and “POW” Herman landed a big right hand, Frankie froze and for a second he looked like he was out on his feet, probably was, but he shook his head and went right back to out-boxing Herman for a decision win…Tony didn’t get a fight that night

The Sad Tale of Two Dannys

                                                  By kiki

In the late 1960s and into the early ‘70s I trained two amateur fighters, both named Danny. Out of respect for their families I will omit their last names. One Danny was called “Black Danny” by his friends because he was very dark skinned, the other Danny was called “Big Danny” because he was a big guy, a heavyweight.

The two Danny’s who came from a gang infested area, known as Bassett, which is in the San Gabriel Valley, ran together with the same friends, but were very different guys, Black Danny was a shy and easy going guy, whereas Big Danny was loud and a bully.

                                                           

                                                Black Danny

I started training Black Danny in early 1968, and fought him at amateur shows around the southland. Danny was a hard worker in the gym and it paid off for him when he won the 1969 novice 139 pound Los Angeles Golden Gloves title. After winning the Golden Gloves he told me that he was going take about six months off from boxing. He said that after he came back he would like to turn pro. In the proceeding weeks and months I ran into Danny around town a few times, he always looked in great shape, like he was ready to fight. I would always tell him not to wait too long in getting back to the gym “don’t want to lose too must of that fighting edge” I would tell him…One night I got a phone call from Danny’s dad “Danny is dead” he told me. In between sobs he told me that since Danny had stopped boxing he had gotten heavy into the gang life. He said he tried to stop him; but how do you stop a seventeen year old from doing what he wants to do, he asked. I knew the man to be a good father, I also knew it was not his fault and I told him so, but in losing a son I don’t know that meant much…I waited till the after the services to asked about the details as to how Danny died, his dad told me that Danny was sitting in a car on Whittier Blvd in East Los Angeles when a guy approached the car and through the window shot Danny in the chest….Danny was a great kid that I believe was a victim of circumstances, in that he lived among the gangs…Danny’s boxing record was 18-1….R.I.P

                                                    

                                                  Big Danny

Big Danny was the complete opposite of Black Danny. Big Danny was a big guy who didn’t hesitate to push his weight around with the smaller guys. I started training Big Danny in 1969. I would take him to the local gyms to get some sparring, but not many wanted to spar with him because if they kicked his ass in the ring he wanted to continue the sparring in the parking lot. One Friday afternoon around 1970 or so I drove Big Danny and other boys to the Chino Boxing gym in Chino, Calif. The boys all sparred and did real good, Danny held his own with his sparring partner and he was a happy guy, I was happy too that there was no need to go into the parking lot. The next day as I was reading the newspaper I saw a mug shot of a guy that looked like Big Danny. I read the story and sure enough it was Big Danny’s mug shot. The story said that Big Danny had been at a seedy hotel in downtown Los Angeles where a guy had gotten shot by the cops at the same time we were in Chino the previous day. What happened was that the cops were looking for Danny, for what? I never found out. ..In looking for Danny the cops broke in the door of a second story room at the seedy hotel, the room was full of illegal immigrants who thinking it was la migra (immigration) jumped out the windows, besides the guy that got shot by a trigger happy cop some other guys suffered broken bones. Somehow the FBI got involved, they came to my house and interviewed me, asked me if I was sure Danny was with me on that day; on that hour, I told them that, yes, Danny was with me on that given time, they seem satisfied and I never heard from them again. I found out later that the FBI were investigating the LAPD for violating the illegals civil rights. Danny never went back to the gym, and I lost touch with him. About a year or two later I heard that he had been shot and killed by somebody that got tired of been pushed around by him…Big Danny never did have any fights in the ring, too bad about his life choices because he had boxing talent….R.I.P.

East Los Angeles amateur fighter, Rudy Salas

                                                                By kiki

In the early '60s I was training an amateur middleweight fighter out of East Los Angeles, Rudy Salas, Rudy, who was about 18 years old had two of the biggest hands I had ever seen, and he could punch like a mule. While training at the Teamsters Gym we were having a hard time keeping sparring partners in the ring with him. After about a year of training I took him to the Chino State Prison for their monthly fight cards where he scored two quick first round KO's. I really thought I had a diamond in the rough, work on the rough edges and I have a champ, I thought...After couple of more wins via the KO route I thought he was ready for the 1961 Los Angeles Golden Gloves; which were set for early February, I told him that I was going to enter him in the novice class, I said to him that he was too inexperience to enter the open class. He said that he understood, but that he preferred to fight in the open class so that he could go to the nationals. He told me that he had never been out of Southern California and that now was his chance to see how other folks lived. I told him that that would have to wait till the following year; he agreed to fight in the novice class for that year. The Golden Gloves tournament that year were been held at the now defunct Valley Garden Arena in the San Fernando Valley. Rudy got off to a great start scoring two wins, one by KO, the other by decision. He was now in the semi-finals. In the semi-finals he fought a guy, can’t remember his name, out of the Jake Horn/Red Shannon stable. Bell rang and Rudy immediately goes out and nailed his opponent with a beautiful right hand, down went his opponent! Another quick KO I thought. The opponent, struggling, made it to his feet before the referee could count him out, with the opponent leaning on the ropes and seemly out on his feet the referee, Lou Bernal, called the fighters back into action, at that Rudy rushed out of the neutral corner and ran into a big right hand thrown by  his out on his feet opponent. Rudy went down like he had been shot, and was out for about 5 minute. After the fight I protested, tongue in cheek, to Lou Bernal, told him that he should had stopped the fight when Rudy’s opponent went down, that the guy was out on his feet, his replied was “out on his feet? Hell he KO’d your guy” I told him I knew that, but had he stopped the fight when Rudy’s opponent went down; I would still have an undefeated fighter “buy me a beer” he said to me as we walked towards the beer bar, I did…As for my diamond in the rough, Rudy never fought again, in fact I never saw Rudy again..I really thought I had a champ!!