Clink this link and look at Rocky Marciano's arm in this photo. "The external muscles must not be built up at the expense of the internal ones " Charley Goldman > see this blog for more on Goldman:
This is very interesting when you consider how he achieved this level of conditioning with Rocky. Some training camps lasted six months, he had Rocky doing farm work, lifting stones out of a pit, carrying weight over a distance, and chopping and sawing wood. This work was done before the regular boxing camp was started and developed functional strength and endurance . Rocky also did isometric and isotonic exercises he got from the Charles Atlas body building program.
Boxing camp consisted of a lot of running, skipping rope, bag punching , and sparring. The emphasis was on balance, punching power, and conditioning the legs for endurance and so that Rocky could stay down in a crouch.. The further up the latter he went the bigger the opponents got and the more Rocky needed to bend his knees and get under their shots.Goldman did not have Rocky lift during this phase of training.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Why study fight videos?
by Wilson Pitts
I have long been interested in the old trainers in particular, but really everything to do with boxing in the old days. I'm interested in the glove makers, the equipment makers, the match makers and the managers. But besides the fighters themselves I am most interested in the trainers and their methods. What can we learn from these long gone geniuses of the sport? There are interviews and a few books which are helpful. I found that I had to study video, preferably before and after, of their fighters to learn about what effect they were having on the fighter physically and mentally. The fight films are the only records of their achievements.
I cherish the times I got to study videos with Dan Lee at his house in California
So we study videos in a number of different ways. One of the key things I stress with trainer/teachers I have taught is how to SEE, how to study fight videos and get something out of them. Most people look at fights as a form of entertainment, which they surely are, and react to the action with emotions, not unlike watching their favorite football team play.Instead you have to slow things down and watch the fight more like the football coach watching tape the day after the game instead of the fan watching on game day. You watch at different speeds, you watch one fighter at a time, you spend time just watching their legs and footwork. You see things in close quarter exchanges in super slo-mo that you can not see at regular speed.
I have trainers and fighters set aside a specific time, usually after workouts, just to watch video every day.This becomes like a type of meditation or clear mental focus planned into each day.We also watch video in a mirror so that the orthodox greats are viewed as southpaws. Your brain takes in the images in a different way when it is reversed.Don't over do it, but spend some quiet time with it every day and you will begin to see what a difference this can make. You want to be able to visualize the moves that you slow down and concentrate on in a video. Play it back in your mind's eye.
In the old days the real students of the art went to the gym every day, even when they were not training, to watch the other fighters. They were always trying to pick up a new move. At Stillman's Gym in the 30's and 40's you could watch the top fighters in the world train on any given day. It was a great laboratory for research.
There is no place like that to even visit any more. However, we have more fights on video and complete fight records at our fingertips than ever before. We can still learn from these past masters in the ring and in the corner. This is an important part of mental training for anyone with love of the game. I try to stress this study of video as the the balance for all of the physical training in the mini camps I conduct.
I have long been interested in the old trainers in particular, but really everything to do with boxing in the old days. I'm interested in the glove makers, the equipment makers, the match makers and the managers. But besides the fighters themselves I am most interested in the trainers and their methods. What can we learn from these long gone geniuses of the sport? There are interviews and a few books which are helpful. I found that I had to study video, preferably before and after, of their fighters to learn about what effect they were having on the fighter physically and mentally. The fight films are the only records of their achievements.
So we study videos in a number of different ways. One of the key things I stress with trainer/teachers I have taught is how to SEE, how to study fight videos and get something out of them. Most people look at fights as a form of entertainment, which they surely are, and react to the action with emotions, not unlike watching their favorite football team play.Instead you have to slow things down and watch the fight more like the football coach watching tape the day after the game instead of the fan watching on game day. You watch at different speeds, you watch one fighter at a time, you spend time just watching their legs and footwork. You see things in close quarter exchanges in super slo-mo that you can not see at regular speed.
I have trainers and fighters set aside a specific time, usually after workouts, just to watch video every day.This becomes like a type of meditation or clear mental focus planned into each day.We also watch video in a mirror so that the orthodox greats are viewed as southpaws. Your brain takes in the images in a different way when it is reversed.Don't over do it, but spend some quiet time with it every day and you will begin to see what a difference this can make. You want to be able to visualize the moves that you slow down and concentrate on in a video. Play it back in your mind's eye.
In the old days the real students of the art went to the gym every day, even when they were not training, to watch the other fighters. They were always trying to pick up a new move. At Stillman's Gym in the 30's and 40's you could watch the top fighters in the world train on any given day. It was a great laboratory for research.
There is no place like that to even visit any more. However, we have more fights on video and complete fight records at our fingertips than ever before. We can still learn from these past masters in the ring and in the corner. This is an important part of mental training for anyone with love of the game. I try to stress this study of video as the the balance for all of the physical training in the mini camps I conduct.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Wayne McCullough interview
Wayne McCullough was a top flight amateur boxer from Belfast who competed for Ireland. He won a Bronze medal at the World Cup, a Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and a Silver medal at the Olympic Games in 1992. His amateur record was 308-11-0. Most recently, Wayne carried the Olympic torch in Belfast down the Skankill Road past where he grew up with six brothers and sisters.
In 1993 Wayne moved to Las Vegas to turn pro and trained under Eddie Fuch. He was the last Champion that Eddie trained at age 87. Less than two and a half years after moving stateside, in his 17th professional fight, Wayne fought and defeated Yasuei Yakushiji for the WBC bantamweight title in Japan on July 30, 1995.
Wilson Pitts for boxinginsight.com- I would like to talk specifically about how Eddie Fuch prepared you for the Yakushiji fight. What I am most interested in is your preparations in Vegas from November of 94 until you went to Japan in July of 95.Your reflexes, your conditioning, and your concentration all seemed to peak right on time for this fight.
Q. Were you having difficulty making 118 in 94 or for this title fight?
I didn't have trouble in 94 but by the time my fight came around in 95 I'd been making bantamweight since I was 20 years old in the amateurs - which was a pound heavier at 119 lbs - so it was getting harder to do.
Q. Did you train at 126 or above and then come down to weight in the weeks before the fight?
Yes I probably started training camp around 130lbs. My nutritionist and I brought my weight down gradually.
Q. was anything different about your conditioning for this fight in Japan ?
No I didn't do anything differently but Eddie worked on a couple of fight plans to win the fight.
Q. were you in the gym during most of that 8 months or did you do a normal training camp for this fight?
I never left the gym, still don't. You need to know when to peak for each fight and at the right time. Even though I knew how to peak from my amateur days Eddie also knew where my body was and was able to tell me each day what to do to make sure I wasn't over or under training.
Q. You were noticeably sharper for this fight than in any of your other pro starts up to this point. Your jab was sharper, your head movement was sharper, there seemed to be an over all improvement in your game. You were always rightly known for your chin but in this fight you seemed harder to hit, partially because you stayed on top of him through out and partially because your head/upper body movement was so good.
Thank u!
Q. I’m interested in how this was done?
Yakushiji had a great jab but they were all straight jabs. In camp, Eddie taught me to jab at angles. Hooks off the jabs. And he had me tilting my head to take the impact off shots as well teaching me the old crossguard style of fighting which means you can block a lot of shots. I didn't get hit as much as people thought I did :)
Q. did Eddie have you doing anything different in the gym?
We were working on the gameplan every day but he never told me why we were doing certain things. It wasn't until the night of the fight that he gave me my instructions. He told me to out jab the jabber. I thought he was crazy because Yakushiji had the best jab in the business but because I'd worked on angles in the gym I was able to out jab him. I took his best weapon away and he didn't know what to do. Eddie was right!
Q. what drills were used to improve your upper body movement and defense?
Eddie taught me to tilt my head and perfect the cross guard before this fight. From the time I turned pro until July 95 Eddie had been working on these techniques but it all seemed to come together in this fight.
Q.It is one thing to come into a fight with a jab snapping, and you did, but your head movement and defense were snappy too and I’m not sure anyone knows how to do this anymore.
Is there anything you can tell us about this process?
I have taught my guys exactly what Eddie taught me. It's hard work, day in and day out. But if the fighter is willing to dedicate himself, it works.
Wilson- I used to watch Jeff Chandler train many years ago and I know he had trouble getting good sparring at bantamweight.
Q. Did you have good sparring in Vegas close to the weight or were they using featherweights for sparring?
When I first came to the USA I sparred with Eddie Cook - former world champion. I would spar guys up to welterweight but for the championship fight I had four sparring partners who were lighter, the same weight and heavier.
Q. what was Eddie’s fight plan and did you work on any specific tactics to neutralize Yakushiji’s height or counter punching?
The fight plan was the use my jab, take his jab away, use different angles, bang the body and stay low. Yakushiji could punch but I think we shocked him with the game plan.
Q.I know Yakushiji trained in LA sometimes, was he scouted there or just looked at on video?
As far as I know he came to the States for sparring but he had been on our radar from the beginning. I wanted to go after the WBC belt and turned down lesser titles so that I could get my shot.
Q. did you study video of Yakushiji? Did Eddie?
Yes we both did. A couple of times we sat down together and watched. He never gave his gameplan away. He would work on what he wanted me to do the next day in the gym.
Q. Is there anything you’d like to add about your preparation for this fight? Anything I failed to ask?
No I think you got it covered. There's not many people who have ever asked these questions or who have given me credit for how I fought the fight.
Preparation was as close to a perfect camp as possible and it paid off.
I didn't know until last year that I was the first and only - to date - British or Irish fighter to have gone to Japan and win a WBC belt. Maybe next year when I'm eligible for the Hall of Fame I'll get inducted ;)
Thank you for taking the time
check out rocketroundup on YouTube for more boxing tutorials with Wayne and follow him on twitter @waynemccullough
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Carl "Piggy" Hutchins
by Wilson Pitts
Piggy Hutchins was an early boxing mentor to me when I was a young man. He had over 70 amateur wins as a boxer in Richmond, Virginia. Hutchins was "most popular boxer" in a 1940 Golden Gloves tourney in Richmond, a win that was followed by a 32-bout winning streak. He had broken his right arm as a kid and the caste had been put on too tight, fusing the bones so that he could not “turn over” a right hand. He punched with a “vertical fist” with his right.
Piggy Hutchins
Hutchins made it through a long amateur career without injury and came to the attention of Chris Dundee the manager and promoter. Angelo Dundee’s brother Chris started managing fighters in Norfolk Virginia when it was a center of gambling activity during WWII. After the war Dundee moved his operation to New York. Dundee scouted for talent in Virginia and one of the first fighters he signed was Georgie Freedom Abrams who was from Roanoke. Abrams fought “The Man of Steel” Tony Zale, for the undisputed middleweight title, losing over 15 rounds. He went on to fight all of the best middleweights in that era including losing by SD over ten rounds to Ray Robinson and drawing with Charles Burley.
Georgie Abrams
Carl Hutchins served in the Navy in the Pacific during WWII, where he told me, “I spent my spare time perfecting my cursive handwriting by writing letters to my sister. There was nothing to do and it kept me from going crazy.” He was copying her cursive script. After getting out of the Navy he continued with his boxing career.
In 1946 Piggy went to New York and was looked at by Chris Dundee’s people. He met many famous fight people and stayed at a rooming house where Charley Goldman lived. They assigned a guy to look out for the southern boy while he was in New York, that guy’s name was Tony Conte. He had been a lightweight but had been punched in the throat. In the 50’s he worked for Dundee some, helping trainers and minding fighters.
Piggy was impressed with Abram’s style and learned to imitate it. This 1947 middleweight fight with Fred Apostoli is the next to last fight of Abrams career but it is the closest thing I can find to a video of how Piggy boxed when I first met him in 1977. He taught me this style without any video back then. He had me work on Abram’s footwork, using the educated left hand and bouncing off the front foot to pull the chin back after throwing the combination. More importantly, Piggy taught me life lessons on how to be a good man.
During this stay in New York Piggy sustained a severe break to his right hand and had to return home. After a lay off of four and a half years Hutchins, the hometown hero, finally fulfilled his dream and turned pro in 1951. In his first professional fight he appeared in front of the hometown crowd at City Stadium in Richmond where he KO’d Charlie Alsop in one round. On June 29, 1951 Hutchins lost a unanimous decision over six rounds to Marvin Edelman at Moore’s Field in Richmond.
“Edelman was another of the large group of talented Jewish fighters to come out of Philadelphia. Between 1950 and 1953 Edelman went thirty fights without a loss--during that period he won twenty nine fights in a row before finally being stopped by Ralph Jones in Feb. 1953.” Boxrec.com
During the Edelman fight Piggy’s right hand broke in two places. He stayed the six rounds but he told me it was a bad experience, his fight career was over.
When he could no longer fight, he began teaching local boys, opening the West End Athletic Club at Second and Broad streets in Richmond in the mid fifties.
Tony Conte was a union electrician in New York. He retired to Richmond where he lived in the house that Piggy provided. Piggy introduced me to Tony when I was young and the two of them mentored me on boxing. Tony got a boxing weekly delivered and would save them for me. I would go over and sit at the table with him and talk. Tony taught me a lot bout boxing each week as we met in his kitchen. When Tony would talk boxing in his raspy New Yawkeez it really took me back to the old days. He saw a lot of fights in the 40’s and enjoyed telling stories at his kitchen table. He told me Chris Dundee learned his trade working for Jimmy Coster out of Philly. Tony used to come to the gym and coach my sparring partners, he knew exactly what to tell them to give me fits!
Piggy and I used to get out the old ring record books, invariably in the middle of the night, and look up fighter’s records and he would talk about “the team.” It takes a team to field a professional fighter. He would show me how to study what the manager was doing by looking at the record. “See, this guy got KO’d in a tough fight here and so they have him fighting beginners again for two or three fights until he gets his confidence and his timing back.” The manager was picking fights based on the fighter’s condition, the money, how tough the opponent was etc. That was one part of the team, the trainer was another, the chief second might be another guy.
I used to go to the fights at The Arena with Piggy and Tony and sit between them while they taught me what to look at, how to scout a fighter. Piggy would ask me hypothetical questions. “Do you want to fight that guy?” I’d say OK and then he would tell me “no, see the way he sits back on his right leg, he is loading his right hand, you don’t want to fight that guy.” Piggy would say, "You never get the whole package" in a fighter. The team has to work with what he’s got and work for him so that he gets pay days without being over matched at any given time.
When Piggy was 55 years old he honored me by asking me to train him even though I was just 23 years old. He had gotten up to 210 pounds and wanted to do boxing workouts to get his weight down. I trained him down to 175 pounds and coached him on a new style with his hands up that befitted his new career as a light heavy! Piggy was a successful businessman who helped many people behind the scenes and never took any credit for it. He called them his “projects” and I was always amazed to find out about another one.
Now, I’m 55 and still working with young men, mostly, teaching them the fundamentals of this sport that Piggy taught me to love. Every time I would see Piggy or talk to him on the phone he would tell me “come see me Champ.”
I wish I could.
Piggy Hutchins was an early boxing mentor to me when I was a young man. He had over 70 amateur wins as a boxer in Richmond, Virginia. Hutchins was "most popular boxer" in a 1940 Golden Gloves tourney in Richmond, a win that was followed by a 32-bout winning streak. He had broken his right arm as a kid and the caste had been put on too tight, fusing the bones so that he could not “turn over” a right hand. He punched with a “vertical fist” with his right.
Hutchins made it through a long amateur career without injury and came to the attention of Chris Dundee the manager and promoter. Angelo Dundee’s brother Chris started managing fighters in Norfolk Virginia when it was a center of gambling activity during WWII. After the war Dundee moved his operation to New York. Dundee scouted for talent in Virginia and one of the first fighters he signed was Georgie Freedom Abrams who was from Roanoke. Abrams fought “The Man of Steel” Tony Zale, for the undisputed middleweight title, losing over 15 rounds. He went on to fight all of the best middleweights in that era including losing by SD over ten rounds to Ray Robinson and drawing with Charles Burley.
Carl Hutchins served in the Navy in the Pacific during WWII, where he told me, “I spent my spare time perfecting my cursive handwriting by writing letters to my sister. There was nothing to do and it kept me from going crazy.” He was copying her cursive script. After getting out of the Navy he continued with his boxing career.
In 1946 Piggy went to New York and was looked at by Chris Dundee’s people. He met many famous fight people and stayed at a rooming house where Charley Goldman lived. They assigned a guy to look out for the southern boy while he was in New York, that guy’s name was Tony Conte. He had been a lightweight but had been punched in the throat. In the 50’s he worked for Dundee some, helping trainers and minding fighters.
Piggy was impressed with Abram’s style and learned to imitate it. This 1947 middleweight fight with Fred Apostoli is the next to last fight of Abrams career but it is the closest thing I can find to a video of how Piggy boxed when I first met him in 1977. He taught me this style without any video back then. He had me work on Abram’s footwork, using the educated left hand and bouncing off the front foot to pull the chin back after throwing the combination. More importantly, Piggy taught me life lessons on how to be a good man.
During this stay in New York Piggy sustained a severe break to his right hand and had to return home. After a lay off of four and a half years Hutchins, the hometown hero, finally fulfilled his dream and turned pro in 1951. In his first professional fight he appeared in front of the hometown crowd at City Stadium in Richmond where he KO’d Charlie Alsop in one round. On June 29, 1951 Hutchins lost a unanimous decision over six rounds to Marvin Edelman at Moore’s Field in Richmond.
“Edelman was another of the large group of talented Jewish fighters to come out of Philadelphia. Between 1950 and 1953 Edelman went thirty fights without a loss--during that period he won twenty nine fights in a row before finally being stopped by Ralph Jones in Feb. 1953.” Boxrec.com
During the Edelman fight Piggy’s right hand broke in two places. He stayed the six rounds but he told me it was a bad experience, his fight career was over.
When he could no longer fight, he began teaching local boys, opening the West End Athletic Club at Second and Broad streets in Richmond in the mid fifties.
Tony Conte was a union electrician in New York. He retired to Richmond where he lived in the house that Piggy provided. Piggy introduced me to Tony when I was young and the two of them mentored me on boxing. Tony got a boxing weekly delivered and would save them for me. I would go over and sit at the table with him and talk. Tony taught me a lot bout boxing each week as we met in his kitchen. When Tony would talk boxing in his raspy New Yawkeez it really took me back to the old days. He saw a lot of fights in the 40’s and enjoyed telling stories at his kitchen table. He told me Chris Dundee learned his trade working for Jimmy Coster out of Philly. Tony used to come to the gym and coach my sparring partners, he knew exactly what to tell them to give me fits!
Piggy and I used to get out the old ring record books, invariably in the middle of the night, and look up fighter’s records and he would talk about “the team.” It takes a team to field a professional fighter. He would show me how to study what the manager was doing by looking at the record. “See, this guy got KO’d in a tough fight here and so they have him fighting beginners again for two or three fights until he gets his confidence and his timing back.” The manager was picking fights based on the fighter’s condition, the money, how tough the opponent was etc. That was one part of the team, the trainer was another, the chief second might be another guy.
I used to go to the fights at The Arena with Piggy and Tony and sit between them while they taught me what to look at, how to scout a fighter. Piggy would ask me hypothetical questions. “Do you want to fight that guy?” I’d say OK and then he would tell me “no, see the way he sits back on his right leg, he is loading his right hand, you don’t want to fight that guy.” Piggy would say, "You never get the whole package" in a fighter. The team has to work with what he’s got and work for him so that he gets pay days without being over matched at any given time.
When Piggy was 55 years old he honored me by asking me to train him even though I was just 23 years old. He had gotten up to 210 pounds and wanted to do boxing workouts to get his weight down. I trained him down to 175 pounds and coached him on a new style with his hands up that befitted his new career as a light heavy! Piggy was a successful businessman who helped many people behind the scenes and never took any credit for it. He called them his “projects” and I was always amazed to find out about another one.
Now, I’m 55 and still working with young men, mostly, teaching them the fundamentals of this sport that Piggy taught me to love. Every time I would see Piggy or talk to him on the phone he would tell me “come see me Champ.”
I wish I could.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Charley Goldman
by Wilson Pitts
“Protect Your Honor At All Times”
Charles Goldman grew up fighting in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York. His official career was from 1904-1918. Goldman actually started fighting behind a bar for 25 cents per round when he was NINE years old! He stopped going to school and turned pro! Goldman estimated he had over 450 fights, according to the 1965 Ring Record Book, his record was 137 total bouts of record. Boxrec.com puts the total at 117 and says research continues as many of Goldmans’ fights went unrecorded.
A young Charley Goldman
Goldman was a real New York character from the old school. He was barely five feet tall, parted his hair down the middle and wore a bowler hat, a la the real Plug Uglies street gang, and carried a hip flask whose contents he would never reveal. [If you watch the TV version of Marciano’s September 23, 1952 title fight against Jersey Joe Walcott you can see Goldman mount the ring steps and press the flask to The Rock’s lips when Rocky is in distress after getting a caustic agent in his eyes.] He had a thousand one liners cultivated from 40 years of fight camps. My favorite is his response to being asked if he gave rub downs.
“I don’t do that,” he said “a good fighter don’t need one and a bad fighter don’t deserve one.”
On June 6, 1904, when he was 16 years old Goldman had his first professional fight of record. The Police Gazette wrote that "after 42 rounds of the fiercest kind of fighting ...the bout was declared a draw." The fight lasted close to three hours. The police raided the fight club and the promoter ran off with the proceeds so neither fighter got paid. This marked the official beginning of one of the most incredible careers of any student and teacher of “The Sweet Science.” Later known as “Doctor Goldman” he made a complete study of everything related to training fighters including medicine, physiology, and boxing styles. He could stop cuts better than a doctor. Goldman considered himself a self defense teacher and he was teaching these men to defend themselves in the roughest of situations, the professional prize ring.
On November 20, 1912 Goldman, weighing 113 1/2 went ten rounds with former world paperweight and bantamweight champ Johnny Coulon. In those days of no decisions the weight limits were different than they are today. Goldman is listed as a bantamweight but he scaled off under 115 [flyweight] throughout most of his career.
“I stayed the ten rounds with Johnny, but I was in a trance. Any time a fighter meets his first champion it’s bound to have an effect on him.” Corner Men by Ron Fried
Goldman continued to fight for another six years, his last fight was in April of1918 against Bobby Waugh 44-10-10 in Fort Worth, Texas. The by then 30 year old Goldman was DQ'd in the 8th round for a low blow.
After this Charley Goldman started working as a trainer, the role in boxing that he became most famous for. Goldman schooled many fighters who went on to be World Champions. He trained Al McCoy in the 20’s and then got out of boxing for a while. During the Depression he came back to boxing and partnered with Ray Arcel and trained several of Joe Louis' opponents in the 30's and 40's men like Johnny Risko and Arturo Godoy. From 1930-34 Charley trained Arnold Cream. Cream went on to fame as Jersey Joe Walcott. Goldman was a great teacher who let fighters develop their own style, he tried to help them understand fine points like adjusting the range, making opponents miss and then let each fighter find their own way to execute. You can really see this with Walcott who was trained and taught by two of the best, Goldman and Jack Blackburn who, incidentally, had a mutual respect for each other’s work.
Charley Goldman was famous for being Rocky Marciano's trainer but he trained many other fighters out of Stillman's Gym while handling fighters for manager Al Weill. “The Rock“ was his last World Champion and he had to take the title from Jersey Joe. Goldman also trained greats like Fritzie Zivic, Marty Servo, Kid Gavilan, Lou Ambers, and Joey Archibald to titles.
During the 40’s and into the 50’s Charley Goldman lived with his young charges at Ma Brown’s boarding house on West 91st Street. One of my boxing mentors Carl “Piggy” Hutchins stayed there briefly when he was under contract to Chris Dundee in the late forties. He told stories about “Doctor Goldman” and his manager/ trainer Jack Dougherty. This rooming house specialized in taking care of fighters, especially ones from out of town.
Charley Goldman was ten years older than Ray Arcel and those other trainers who became famous at Stillman’s and he taught them as well. In 1948 Angelo Dundee started following Charley around the gym, carrying the water bucket at fights, and learned his trade craft this way. Goldman’s information and methods were still being used well after he passed away in 1968 at 80 years old.
“In exercising the muscles, this very important fact should be kept in mind: The external muscles must not be built up at the expense of the internal ones. To try to do so may produce very dangerous conditions.”Charley Goldman
Look at Rocky's right arm in this shot and you can see the effects of Goldman's training program.
More than just training World Champs Goldman taught amateurs and made tremendous contributions to the sport. He went to the fights and worked corners seven nights a week, after working in Stillman's all day. The St. Nick’s Arena on West 66th on Monday night, Jamaica Arena on Tuesday night, the Broadway Arena in Brooklyn on Wednesday, the Ridgeway Grove on Thursday and Madison Square Garden on Friday. He went out of town with main event fighters on some Saturdays if they weren’t fighting at The Garden, and worked with “the juveniles” at the CYO on 17th St. on Sundays. This went on for 40 years, his combined experience in handling fighters and working corners, much less all of the fights he watched, is unsurpassed by anyone active today. He lived boxing, two days after Marciano won the title in September 1952 a reporter found him back at the CYO working with amateurs.
"Terrible" Terry McGovern
As a young man Charley had idolized "Terrible" Terry McGovern, a bantamweight champ who had a meteoric career. Charley wore a black bowler hat to commemorate McGovern, but he used him as a cautionary tale, never wanted his fighters to be like him. In 1899 McGovern KO'd 13 opponents in a row and laid claim to the bantam title. The next year he met Pedlar Palmer, the English champ, and KO'd him. With no more money fights at bantam McGovern challenged featherweight champ George Dixon, stopping him in NYC in Jan 1900. In July of that year he beat Frank Erne, the lightweight champ, in a non-title fight. In the space of ten months McGovern had KO'd three World's Champions in three weight divisions, which was unheard of at the time.
In Hartford Conn Nov 28, 1901 McGovern met his match in the form of a featherweight called Young Corbett II. Born William Rothwell, Corbett II was from California. He managed to get under McGovern's skin before the fight and anger the Irishman, McGovern was screaming for them to ring the bell to start the first round. Corbett then KO'd him in two rounds of a wild slugfest. This fight was fought at a catch weight of 127, the old featherweight limit had been 118 and McGovern had started fighting at below 116. McGovern had walked over men at 116, but at ten pounds heavier he needed to box. Sadly all he knew was how to charge forward swinging. He was KO’d by a short left hook countering one of his wide right swings. McGovern fought Young Corbett II again in San Francisco in 1903 where he was KO'd again. After that he only KO'd one more opponent before retiring in 1908, burned out at age 28 with a record of 60-5-4.
McGovern was a "tiger" in the ring. He always advanced aggressively and went for the early KO with little thought for defense. Goldman, along with the other trainers at Stillman's developed the concept of the "defensive fighter." Goldman always wore that “iron hat” derby and used the story of Terrible Terry as a negative example, he did not want his fighters to be an “offense only” tiger.
Goldman taught them to counter the left hook with the right hand and foot movement [stepping over to the right]. He taught them to use positioning, of hands, head and feet, and to block vision in the opponent’s left eye with the jab before letting the right hand go. Defensively he taught fighters how to adjust the gap by inches, how to ride back with a jab so it didn’t land, how to roll with a punch so it didn’t land with any power and then you were still in range for the counter. These are almost lost arts now.
"Too many of the offensive boxers you see today are green, untried youngsters who do little more than throw a barrage of reckless punches. The skilled, careful boy knows that slipping punches is also part of the skill of self-defense.” From Rocky Marcianos Boys Book of Boxing and Body Building written by Rocky and Charley Goldman.
“Protect Your Honor At All Times”
Charles Goldman grew up fighting in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York. His official career was from 1904-1918. Goldman actually started fighting behind a bar for 25 cents per round when he was NINE years old! He stopped going to school and turned pro! Goldman estimated he had over 450 fights, according to the 1965 Ring Record Book, his record was 137 total bouts of record. Boxrec.com puts the total at 117 and says research continues as many of Goldmans’ fights went unrecorded.
Goldman was a real New York character from the old school. He was barely five feet tall, parted his hair down the middle and wore a bowler hat, a la the real Plug Uglies street gang, and carried a hip flask whose contents he would never reveal. [If you watch the TV version of Marciano’s September 23, 1952 title fight against Jersey Joe Walcott you can see Goldman mount the ring steps and press the flask to The Rock’s lips when Rocky is in distress after getting a caustic agent in his eyes.] He had a thousand one liners cultivated from 40 years of fight camps. My favorite is his response to being asked if he gave rub downs.
“I don’t do that,” he said “a good fighter don’t need one and a bad fighter don’t deserve one.”
On June 6, 1904, when he was 16 years old Goldman had his first professional fight of record. The Police Gazette wrote that "after 42 rounds of the fiercest kind of fighting ...the bout was declared a draw." The fight lasted close to three hours. The police raided the fight club and the promoter ran off with the proceeds so neither fighter got paid. This marked the official beginning of one of the most incredible careers of any student and teacher of “The Sweet Science.” Later known as “Doctor Goldman” he made a complete study of everything related to training fighters including medicine, physiology, and boxing styles. He could stop cuts better than a doctor. Goldman considered himself a self defense teacher and he was teaching these men to defend themselves in the roughest of situations, the professional prize ring.
On November 20, 1912 Goldman, weighing 113 1/2 went ten rounds with former world paperweight and bantamweight champ Johnny Coulon. In those days of no decisions the weight limits were different than they are today. Goldman is listed as a bantamweight but he scaled off under 115 [flyweight] throughout most of his career.
“I stayed the ten rounds with Johnny, but I was in a trance. Any time a fighter meets his first champion it’s bound to have an effect on him.” Corner Men by Ron Fried
Goldman continued to fight for another six years, his last fight was in April of1918 against Bobby Waugh 44-10-10 in Fort Worth, Texas. The by then 30 year old Goldman was DQ'd in the 8th round for a low blow.
After this Charley Goldman started working as a trainer, the role in boxing that he became most famous for. Goldman schooled many fighters who went on to be World Champions. He trained Al McCoy in the 20’s and then got out of boxing for a while. During the Depression he came back to boxing and partnered with Ray Arcel and trained several of Joe Louis' opponents in the 30's and 40's men like Johnny Risko and Arturo Godoy. From 1930-34 Charley trained Arnold Cream. Cream went on to fame as Jersey Joe Walcott. Goldman was a great teacher who let fighters develop their own style, he tried to help them understand fine points like adjusting the range, making opponents miss and then let each fighter find their own way to execute. You can really see this with Walcott who was trained and taught by two of the best, Goldman and Jack Blackburn who, incidentally, had a mutual respect for each other’s work.
Charley Goldman was famous for being Rocky Marciano's trainer but he trained many other fighters out of Stillman's Gym while handling fighters for manager Al Weill. “The Rock“ was his last World Champion and he had to take the title from Jersey Joe. Goldman also trained greats like Fritzie Zivic, Marty Servo, Kid Gavilan, Lou Ambers, and Joey Archibald to titles.
During the 40’s and into the 50’s Charley Goldman lived with his young charges at Ma Brown’s boarding house on West 91st Street. One of my boxing mentors Carl “Piggy” Hutchins stayed there briefly when he was under contract to Chris Dundee in the late forties. He told stories about “Doctor Goldman” and his manager/ trainer Jack Dougherty. This rooming house specialized in taking care of fighters, especially ones from out of town.
Charley Goldman was ten years older than Ray Arcel and those other trainers who became famous at Stillman’s and he taught them as well. In 1948 Angelo Dundee started following Charley around the gym, carrying the water bucket at fights, and learned his trade craft this way. Goldman’s information and methods were still being used well after he passed away in 1968 at 80 years old.
“In exercising the muscles, this very important fact should be kept in mind: The external muscles must not be built up at the expense of the internal ones. To try to do so may produce very dangerous conditions.”Charley Goldman
More than just training World Champs Goldman taught amateurs and made tremendous contributions to the sport. He went to the fights and worked corners seven nights a week, after working in Stillman's all day. The St. Nick’s Arena on West 66th on Monday night, Jamaica Arena on Tuesday night, the Broadway Arena in Brooklyn on Wednesday, the Ridgeway Grove on Thursday and Madison Square Garden on Friday. He went out of town with main event fighters on some Saturdays if they weren’t fighting at The Garden, and worked with “the juveniles” at the CYO on 17th St. on Sundays. This went on for 40 years, his combined experience in handling fighters and working corners, much less all of the fights he watched, is unsurpassed by anyone active today. He lived boxing, two days after Marciano won the title in September 1952 a reporter found him back at the CYO working with amateurs.
As a young man Charley had idolized "Terrible" Terry McGovern, a bantamweight champ who had a meteoric career. Charley wore a black bowler hat to commemorate McGovern, but he used him as a cautionary tale, never wanted his fighters to be like him. In 1899 McGovern KO'd 13 opponents in a row and laid claim to the bantam title. The next year he met Pedlar Palmer, the English champ, and KO'd him. With no more money fights at bantam McGovern challenged featherweight champ George Dixon, stopping him in NYC in Jan 1900. In July of that year he beat Frank Erne, the lightweight champ, in a non-title fight. In the space of ten months McGovern had KO'd three World's Champions in three weight divisions, which was unheard of at the time.
In Hartford Conn Nov 28, 1901 McGovern met his match in the form of a featherweight called Young Corbett II. Born William Rothwell, Corbett II was from California. He managed to get under McGovern's skin before the fight and anger the Irishman, McGovern was screaming for them to ring the bell to start the first round. Corbett then KO'd him in two rounds of a wild slugfest. This fight was fought at a catch weight of 127, the old featherweight limit had been 118 and McGovern had started fighting at below 116. McGovern had walked over men at 116, but at ten pounds heavier he needed to box. Sadly all he knew was how to charge forward swinging. He was KO’d by a short left hook countering one of his wide right swings. McGovern fought Young Corbett II again in San Francisco in 1903 where he was KO'd again. After that he only KO'd one more opponent before retiring in 1908, burned out at age 28 with a record of 60-5-4.
McGovern was a "tiger" in the ring. He always advanced aggressively and went for the early KO with little thought for defense. Goldman, along with the other trainers at Stillman's developed the concept of the "defensive fighter." Goldman always wore that “iron hat” derby and used the story of Terrible Terry as a negative example, he did not want his fighters to be an “offense only” tiger.
Goldman taught them to counter the left hook with the right hand and foot movement [stepping over to the right]. He taught them to use positioning, of hands, head and feet, and to block vision in the opponent’s left eye with the jab before letting the right hand go. Defensively he taught fighters how to adjust the gap by inches, how to ride back with a jab so it didn’t land, how to roll with a punch so it didn’t land with any power and then you were still in range for the counter. These are almost lost arts now.
"Too many of the offensive boxers you see today are green, untried youngsters who do little more than throw a barrage of reckless punches. The skilled, careful boy knows that slipping punches is also part of the skill of self-defense.” From Rocky Marcianos Boys Book of Boxing and Body Building written by Rocky and Charley Goldman.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A Boxer Named "Kitten"
by Wilson Pitts
In Philly the old guys would sit around and talk boxing and occasionally the name of a fighter nick-named “Kitten” would come up. I had never heard of this guy and it seemed like they were talking about someone from a long time ago, I did not realize at the time that he was still active. It turned out Quenzell McCall had trained him and always felt he had more potential than he showed.
They talked about how great “Kitten” was but that he never won a title. They said he didn’t train and therefore lost big fights, it was always “ woulda,coulda ,shuolda, if only” he had trained harder and taken the whole thing more seriously. He was famous for, as he put it “running all night and sleeping all day.”
The old guys said he was the archetype of the “Philly Fighter” style that became famous with fighters like Bennie Briscoe and Joe Frazier. At his best he didn’t use his hands for defense at all. He would “slip and bang” using pressure to keep his opponent from setting. He had a wicked two fisted body attack. He ignored their jab in his face and punched them like a heavy bag. He was at the peak of his powers when he KO’d Curtis Cokes at The Blue Horizon in 1964.
Stanley Hayward started boxing professionally as a welterweight in 1959. Early in his career he was managed by George Katz who also managed Gil Turner. Katz was very conservative and never over matched Hayward and only signed him to fight 2 -5 times per year. This is why Kitten’s career lasted from 1959 until 1977! Before 1968 he had lost only 3 times and drawn three times and he had almost all of his fights in Philadelphia. He won split decision victories over Bennie Briscoe and Emile Griffiths. After that he was managed by Dan Bucceroni and was matched more out of town.
Bucceroni with Stanley Hayward on their way to France in 1970.
In 1969, after fighting for ten years, with a record of 23-3-3 Hayward got his shot at the combined WBA WBC light middleweight title [154lbs. limit] against Freddie Little in Vegas. He lost a unanimous decision over 15 rounds. His very next fight was a 12 round decision loss to Emile Griffith in Madison Square Garden. After this loss in the Garden Hayward would go on to lose nine times in his last fourteen fights from 1970-77. He was KO’d by the likes of other Philly legends Willlie Monroe and Eugene Hart and lost a ten round decision to Bennie Briscoe. All of these later fights were at 160 lbs. when Hayward was really a junior middleweight.
Stanley Hayward in 2004
The good news is that Stanley “Kitten” Hayward retained his health and still attends boxing reunions. Part of this is the luck of the draw but careful management and natural ability saw him through an eighteen year professional career which ended with a record of 32-12-4 = 48 total bouts. He boxed 339 professional rounds and had a KO% of 37.5.
They talked about how great “Kitten” was but that he never won a title. They said he didn’t train and therefore lost big fights, it was always “ woulda,coulda ,shuolda, if only” he had trained harder and taken the whole thing more seriously. He was famous for, as he put it “running all night and sleeping all day.”
The old guys said he was the archetype of the “Philly Fighter” style that became famous with fighters like Bennie Briscoe and Joe Frazier. At his best he didn’t use his hands for defense at all. He would “slip and bang” using pressure to keep his opponent from setting. He had a wicked two fisted body attack. He ignored their jab in his face and punched them like a heavy bag. He was at the peak of his powers when he KO’d Curtis Cokes at The Blue Horizon in 1964.
Stanley Hayward started boxing professionally as a welterweight in 1959. Early in his career he was managed by George Katz who also managed Gil Turner. Katz was very conservative and never over matched Hayward and only signed him to fight 2 -5 times per year. This is why Kitten’s career lasted from 1959 until 1977! Before 1968 he had lost only 3 times and drawn three times and he had almost all of his fights in Philadelphia. He won split decision victories over Bennie Briscoe and Emile Griffiths. After that he was managed by Dan Bucceroni and was matched more out of town.
In 1969, after fighting for ten years, with a record of 23-3-3 Hayward got his shot at the combined WBA WBC light middleweight title [154lbs. limit] against Freddie Little in Vegas. He lost a unanimous decision over 15 rounds. His very next fight was a 12 round decision loss to Emile Griffith in Madison Square Garden. After this loss in the Garden Hayward would go on to lose nine times in his last fourteen fights from 1970-77. He was KO’d by the likes of other Philly legends Willlie Monroe and Eugene Hart and lost a ten round decision to Bennie Briscoe. All of these later fights were at 160 lbs. when Hayward was really a junior middleweight.
The good news is that Stanley “Kitten” Hayward retained his health and still attends boxing reunions. Part of this is the luck of the draw but careful management and natural ability saw him through an eighteen year professional career which ended with a record of 32-12-4 = 48 total bouts. He boxed 339 professional rounds and had a KO% of 37.5.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Bobby "The Schoolboy"
by Wilson Pitts
Bobby Chacon probably sums up my conflicted feelings about professional boxing more than any other single fighter. More than Sugar Ray Robinson or the sad fate of Joe Louis, Bobby “the Schoolboy” Chacon’s story brings to mind the joy I get from watching a pure boxer perform at the height of his abilities and the pain of watching a tragedy of thoroughly theatrical proportions played out over a period of years in real life.
Chacon really needs to be studied by the trainers and teachers of today. He literally was the school boy. When he turned pro in 1972, at the urging of his wife, he had been attending classes at California State University at Northridge. He had no excess muscular development in his upper body but at 5’ 5 1/2” and 126-130 lbs. he was one of the truly great natural punchers of all time. He won his first 17 professional fights inside the assigned distance, most in one round KO’s. Chacon had an 70.15 KO percentage in a career that went on too long.
The reason he needs to be studied today is because of what he was able to achieve in the ring by relaxing, moving his head and making the opponent miss, and generating snap on his punches. These are rapidly becoming lost arts as each new generation of fighters seems to be tenser and “muscle it” more than the last.
Also, he should be studied because of his great command of the basics and his ability, time after time, to overcome adversity by using those fundamentals. His balance, his shot placement and selection, his ability to find the critical distance, his foot work and angulation, his uncanny ability to hide on the inside, I could go on and on.
That being said, he should be studied by young fighters as an example of what not to do in so many areas outside the ring. I hate to start talking about it because he was such a hero to so many, but formal classes could be taught to prospective professional boxers using much of Bobby Chacon’s life as an example of what not to do. I don’t want to focus on the sordid details of his story when there is so much boxing knowledge to be learned from watching the films of his fights.
Chacon, a known street fighter, was initially denied an amateur boxing license because of an investigation into his use of narcotics. He came up in the same amateur program that produced featherweight Champion Danny “Little Red” Lopez. At one point they were sparring partners. Chacon went on to have a successful amateur career winning a Diamond Belt Championship in December 1971 and again in 1972. He competed at the National Golden Gloves Tournament in New Orleans in 1971 and in Minneapolis in 1972. His amateur record was 20-3-1.
As a professional Chacon had won 16 fights in a row by KO or TKO and had quickly become a contender for the honor of being “The Prince of Century Boulevard.” He had stiff competition for this unofficial honor from the likes of former Bantamweight greats Chucho Castillo and Ruben Olivares and his buddies, karate/kickboxing fighters “Blinky” Rodriguez and Blinky’s brother in law Bennie Urquidez. In the beginning perhaps this was fan adulation but it eventually led to excessive partying on a level that only that sleazy side of LA, which to this day is Inglewood, could understand. For more on this part of Bobby The School Boy’s story watch this video:
On May 24 1974 Bobby Chacon had one of his greatest performances as a professional fighter. He fought his old training partner Danny Lopez who was 20-0-0 and would go on to be a dominate World Featherweight Champion. On this night Lopez was ranked number four in the world and Chacon was ranked number six, but the line was 10-8 Chacon in the days leading up to the fight. In this fight Chacon was at the peak of his powers as a boxer/puncher. I have watched this fight 1000 times if I have watched it once. It is worthy of study because of the way Chacon displays a mastery of the critical distance and how he successfully deals with a larger man with his use of the jab, just enough movement, and power punching. True artistry in the ring is rare and the crowd was thrilled by the performance that Chacon gave. Chacon was a natural for TV with his boyish good looks and that ability to turn a fight around with one punch at any time.
In his next fight Chacon won the World Featherweight title from Alfredo Marcano, the date was September 7, 1974. The fight was held at the Olympic Auditorium in LA. Marcano was 43-9-5 and this fight was the Venezuelan’s 13th defense of the title that he had won from H. Kobayashi in July of 1971. Chacon was 24-1-0 and won the title with a 9th round TKO. He would fight on until 1988, turning in many memorable performances, including Fight of the Year in 1982 for his last fight with Rafael “Bazooka” Limon.
We can talk about the second half of Chacon’s career some other time. This is just the introduction to a series I am going to do over the next year analyzing Chacon and his boxing technique and tactics. Let’s focus on the positive aspects of this great fighter.
Bobby Chacon probably sums up my conflicted feelings about professional boxing more than any other single fighter. More than Sugar Ray Robinson or the sad fate of Joe Louis, Bobby “the Schoolboy” Chacon’s story brings to mind the joy I get from watching a pure boxer perform at the height of his abilities and the pain of watching a tragedy of thoroughly theatrical proportions played out over a period of years in real life.
Chacon really needs to be studied by the trainers and teachers of today. He literally was the school boy. When he turned pro in 1972, at the urging of his wife, he had been attending classes at California State University at Northridge. He had no excess muscular development in his upper body but at 5’ 5 1/2” and 126-130 lbs. he was one of the truly great natural punchers of all time. He won his first 17 professional fights inside the assigned distance, most in one round KO’s. Chacon had an 70.15 KO percentage in a career that went on too long.
The reason he needs to be studied today is because of what he was able to achieve in the ring by relaxing, moving his head and making the opponent miss, and generating snap on his punches. These are rapidly becoming lost arts as each new generation of fighters seems to be tenser and “muscle it” more than the last.
Also, he should be studied because of his great command of the basics and his ability, time after time, to overcome adversity by using those fundamentals. His balance, his shot placement and selection, his ability to find the critical distance, his foot work and angulation, his uncanny ability to hide on the inside, I could go on and on.
That being said, he should be studied by young fighters as an example of what not to do in so many areas outside the ring. I hate to start talking about it because he was such a hero to so many, but formal classes could be taught to prospective professional boxers using much of Bobby Chacon’s life as an example of what not to do. I don’t want to focus on the sordid details of his story when there is so much boxing knowledge to be learned from watching the films of his fights.
Chacon, a known street fighter, was initially denied an amateur boxing license because of an investigation into his use of narcotics. He came up in the same amateur program that produced featherweight Champion Danny “Little Red” Lopez. At one point they were sparring partners. Chacon went on to have a successful amateur career winning a Diamond Belt Championship in December 1971 and again in 1972. He competed at the National Golden Gloves Tournament in New Orleans in 1971 and in Minneapolis in 1972. His amateur record was 20-3-1.
As a professional Chacon had won 16 fights in a row by KO or TKO and had quickly become a contender for the honor of being “The Prince of Century Boulevard.” He had stiff competition for this unofficial honor from the likes of former Bantamweight greats Chucho Castillo and Ruben Olivares and his buddies, karate/kickboxing fighters “Blinky” Rodriguez and Blinky’s brother in law Bennie Urquidez. In the beginning perhaps this was fan adulation but it eventually led to excessive partying on a level that only that sleazy side of LA, which to this day is Inglewood, could understand. For more on this part of Bobby The School Boy’s story watch this video:
On May 24 1974 Bobby Chacon had one of his greatest performances as a professional fighter. He fought his old training partner Danny Lopez who was 20-0-0 and would go on to be a dominate World Featherweight Champion. On this night Lopez was ranked number four in the world and Chacon was ranked number six, but the line was 10-8 Chacon in the days leading up to the fight. In this fight Chacon was at the peak of his powers as a boxer/puncher. I have watched this fight 1000 times if I have watched it once. It is worthy of study because of the way Chacon displays a mastery of the critical distance and how he successfully deals with a larger man with his use of the jab, just enough movement, and power punching. True artistry in the ring is rare and the crowd was thrilled by the performance that Chacon gave. Chacon was a natural for TV with his boyish good looks and that ability to turn a fight around with one punch at any time.
In his next fight Chacon won the World Featherweight title from Alfredo Marcano, the date was September 7, 1974. The fight was held at the Olympic Auditorium in LA. Marcano was 43-9-5 and this fight was the Venezuelan’s 13th defense of the title that he had won from H. Kobayashi in July of 1971. Chacon was 24-1-0 and won the title with a 9th round TKO. He would fight on until 1988, turning in many memorable performances, including Fight of the Year in 1982 for his last fight with Rafael “Bazooka” Limon.
We can talk about the second half of Chacon’s career some other time. This is just the introduction to a series I am going to do over the next year analyzing Chacon and his boxing technique and tactics. Let’s focus on the positive aspects of this great fighter.
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