Boxers and drugs

Keeny Teran



Anytime the subject of boxers and drugs come up, I can’t help but think of another angeleno who was a very promising boxer in the early 1950s. Keeny Teran: Everybody in the boxing community back in the golden age of Los Angeles boxing thought Keeny was going to be a world champion. Keeny’s boxing career was in high gear when he was upset by Tommy Umeda at the Olympic Auditorium. Within days of his upset loss the newspapers broke the news that Keeny was a junkie. He admitted to have been using heroin since he was about 12 years old. After spending some time up in the mountains (Big Bear) trying to clean himself up he resumed his career, but he was never the same fighter again. Keeny died around 1995 of cancer, he was in his mid-60s.

Classic Photo: Frankie Baltazar v Bazooka Limon....

"Frankie Baltazar v Bazooka Limon....Limon by 4th round tko...

...I'm holding Frankie against the ropes''

....For as long as I remain on this planet that moment will be etched in my mind"

Golden State Boxers' Association Presents the 1st Annual "Don Fraser" Lifetime Achievement Award - 2008

This year's award will be presented
to the father/son combination boxers~

Father/Son Honorees

Frank Sr./Frank Jr./ Tony Baltazar & Bobby Baltazar

Bob/Orlando & Ramon De La Fuente

Eduardo/Robert Garcia

Pat/Chuck/Erik & PJ Goosen

Lenny/Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini

Jack/Sugar Shane Mosley

Ray/Mando Ramos

Sonny/Randy Shields

Charles/Jeremy Williams

**Special Award Howie/Carol Steindler

April 12th - Saturday - Steven's Steakhouse

I wrote this for the Facebook Fight group page, thought I would share it here

Art “Golden Boy” Aragon

By Frank “kiki” Baltazar

Thought I would write, actually I feel compelled to write this on Art “Golden Boy” Aragon since I have being posting lots of stuff on him that It might seem like I have an unnatural obsession with him, when in reality all the stuff that I have been posting comes from a big Aragon fan from the U.K. He sent it to me to post in another site, which I do and then I post them here also, the reason he sends me the photos and articles is because he don’t know how to post them.

I first met Art in 1950 after his 12 round knockout of my childhood hero, Enrique Bolanos. It was a brief meeting, just a young teenager meeting a boxer. I would see him at the fights and always walked up to him to shake his hand. We never became personal friends or friends of any kind for that matter.

Fellow Fight Group member, California Boxing Hall of Fame Senior Vice President, Rick Resnick, knew Art pretty good, used to chauffeur him around town in later years, so I was told. California Boxing Hall of Fame President, Don Fraser, was very close to the Golden Boy.

There has never being another boxer In the City of Angels before or after Art “Golden Boy” Aragon that has captivated the city’s boxing fans the way the Golden Boy did. Any time he fought the joint was always rocking and pack to the rafters.

The man was a star among stars. Played with all the Hollywood starlets of the time, and he was right at home with the rich and famous.

As a fighter, I always said that Art was a very good fighter and he was the most colorful fighter in Los Angeles boxing history, but he certainly was not a great fighter by any stretch of the imagination, I feel qualified to make that statement since I saw most if not all of his fights between 1949 and 1960.

Tony Baltazar, Raul Bencomo and Jimmy Montoya

On March 19, 1981, on a card headline by Kiko Bejines vs Franco Torregoza at the Olympic Auditorium Tony fought Jimmy Montoya’s fighter Raul Bencomo in a scheduled six rounder. Bencomo proved to be a lot tougher than what we expected. Fight was pretty even going into the fifth round. Around mid-round Bencomo backed Tony against the ropes and in rushing-in for what he thought was the kill ran into one of Tony’s patented short left hooks, Bencomo was out before he hit the canvas. A rematch was in order.

The rematch didn’t take place till the following year, June 26, 1982 on a card headline by Frankie and Tony, also at the Olympic Auditorium. This time the fight was scheduled for ten rounds. This time it was Tony all the way. In the second round Tony hit Bencomo again with his patented left hook. Again Bencomo was out before he hit the canvas…Frankie too won by second round KO vs Abe Perez.

After the fights down in the Olympic’s catacombs (dressing rooms) Jimmy told Bencomo not to worry about losing, that he would get him another fight with Tony. Bencomo told Jimmy: “fuck you!, you fight him, the sonofbitch is crazy, he is trying to kill me!”

Sugar Ray Robinson/Carl Bobo Olson, May,18.1956 Los Angeles. Wearing Flores gloves.

Enrique Bolanos v Luther Rawlings,,,1-16-1952

Chicago Stadium....Won by Rawlings on a 5th round TKO

Aragon/Rawlings...April,27.1949...Detroit.

On a card that included exhibition bouts featuring ring legends Willie Pep and Jack Dempsey, Art Aragon battled Luther Rawlings in the main event, dropping a close 10-round decision to a local favorite in a fight the Associated Press described as "One of the best scraps seen in a Detroit ring in years, so hard-fought it had the crowd of 10,062 tossing paper from the rafters into the ring as a way of cheering the bloody brawlers."