California Hall of Fame 2008 Inductions and Dinner

Just a reminder. If you are going to the 2008 California Hall of Fame don't forget to get your tickets. Contact Don Fraser at 818-761-4887.

Keeny Teran 2008 Posthumous inductee

Photo courtesy of Frank Baltazar Sr.

Protecting the Family Jewels

This is just too funny. I had to post it. It's easy to see why Thai Kick Boxing never gained a foothold in the USA (no pun intended). I'll stick with the real thing. At least these guys had their priorities straight.

Boxing at the Morongo Casino

More on the Main Street Gym

I ran across the first two photos of the Main Street Gym, in Downtown Los Angeles while searching trough the web. The first photo is the same photo used in an article from the Los Angeles Times that I posted on the message board a while back. It's a great shot of the front of the gym, in all it's humility. It was ratty and seedy and yet beautiful. The second photo shows the inside of the gym on what appears to be a slow day. The third and fourth photos are of the original Main Street Gym (Newsboy Gym) that burned down in 1951. It was located across from the "Newer" gym, where the old Johnnie's Shrimp Boat used to stand.

Photo courtesy of The Los Angeles Times

The gym was located on the second floor. You walked up a flight of stairs and past Howie Steindler's office to get to the gym. As you entered the stairwell you would here the sounds of the speed bags, the heavy bags being hit, the ropes hitting the floor and the sounds of the fighters sparring. I can still hear it. I bought a pair of Ortiz boxing gloves in the luggage store. It didn't advertise but it sold boxing gear. I also got my haircut at the barber shop on a regular basis. The entrance to the parking lot is to the left, They must have removed all the bums from the sidewalk before they took this shot.

Photo Courtesy of The los Angeles Times

I sparred in both of these rings and they were rarely, if ever, empty. The ring on the right is the ring that Monroe Brooks and I are sparring in, in "Rocky". I'll never understand why "the powers that be" in Los Angeles' boxing world did not rally to save the gym. It was and is an irreplaceable part of L.A's boxing history. It stands with both Gleason's and Stillman's as boxing's historic and iconic gyms.

The above photo of the original Main Street Gym / Newsboy Gym was posted by Frank Baltazar Sr.


The above photo shows fighter Tony Chavez at the original gym.

Oscar De La Hoya vs Steve Forbes

Former IBF and USBA Super Featherweight Champ Steve Forbes will be taking on Oscar De La Hoya, in what many consider a "tune up" fight for Oscar. No doubt Oscar will win this fight, but as he learned when he fought Felix Sturm in 2004, don't take anything for granted. I expect Forbes, who is a competent fighter in his own right, to make the best of his "Golden" opportunity. Forbes was also a participant of "the Contenders" reality boxing series.

I'll be out of town this weekend and may or may not see this one. The fight will be taking place at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, tomorrow, Saturday May 3, 2008 and will be aired on HBO.