L.A. Boxing Icon Johnny Ortiz Passes Away

Published

10 years ago

August 13, 2014

Los Angeles boxing lost one of its great ambassadors, Johnny Ortiz, who passed away on Saturday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was in his late 70s.

In the past 50 years few people can be associated with boxing as heavily as Johnny Ortiz, whose entire life was engulfed in the sport, first as an amateur boxer, then as co-manager of the historic Main Street Gym. He was also a Hollywood actor, magazine writer, radio show host for “Ringside L.A. with Johnny Ortiz on ESPN Radio,” and finally authored the book “My Life Among the Icons.”

“I first heard him on the radio. I wanted to know who he is. Someone I know said he wears dark glasses and he is always sharply dressed,” said Joe Miranda, a fight photographer for Fightnews.com “When he started doing his show out of Commerce Casino I would go and watch him do the show live. That’s when I first met him.”

He was a regular figure at each Southern California boxing event with his dark glasses and dark snappy clothes. Everyone knew that square jaw and sincere smile. For decades Ortiz attended prizefights, whether it was the Olympic Auditorium, Inglewood Forum or club shows in Ontario, California. He also ventured to Las Vegas until he got tired of seeing his Las Vegas disappear, no Frank Sinatras and Sammy Davis Juniors, and be replaced with the mega casinos and hotels.

“It’s not the same,” he told me. “Plus, there’s too much walking. It’s not for me.”

Ortiz was content to watch the fights on television and report it on his radio show once the fighting was done. He talked to the young Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, and James Toney. Berating or criticizing was not his thing. Instead he wanted to talk about their skills and aspirations.

When light heavyweight Julio Cesar Gonzalez (who died in 2012 from a motorcycle accident) became the first of Mexican descent to win the world title in Oct. 18, 2003, it was Ortiz who grabbed him immediately by phone to congratulate him on live radio. Gonzalez had defeated Dariusz Michalczewski in Germany and handed him his first pro defeat. Then he was contacted by Ortiz immediately after the fight and the radio world heard about this great victory. Even Roy Jones Jr. refused to fight Michalczewski in Germany. It was a great coup for both Gonzalez and Ortiz.

Before Toney fought Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield in 2003 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, he was a guest on Ortiz’s radio show and predicted a knockout victory over the great Holyfield. Ortiz didn’t question the prediction but asked why a knockout? Toney answered, “He ain’t never fought me.” Of course Toney was right on the money and stopped Holyfield in round nine. It was only the second knockout loss in Holyfield’s long and magnificent career.

Ortiz was also active with the World Boxing Hall of Fame, which preceded the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was a guiding force for the organization.

“What I remember of Johnny Ortiz is he was Mr. Personality on World Boxing Hall of Fame. He was a board member. He was a dynamic personality. He was probably the most enthusiastic guy I ever saw in my life when it came to boxing. He lived it,” said Ken Thompson, who is currently a promoter and served as a president on the WBHOF.

As time passed Thompson and Ortiz became good friends and both got to know each other more on a personal basis.

“In the world of boxing in LA, Johnny Ortiz played a big role. He knew just about everyone in boxing,” Thompson said. “His life was blessed from the very first time he was involved in the sport, but his pride and joy was to say he was a part owner of the Main Street Gym.”

The historic gym was located on Main Street near Second Street and had provided a training facility for some of the best pugilists the world had ever seen. From Jack Johnson to Roberto Duran, the second floor gym that had that smell of 90 years of sweat and blood was the center of boxing on the West Coast. When owner Howie Steindler was found dead in a parking lot the responsibility of maintaining the boxing jewel was left to his daughter Carol Steindler. She later asked for Ortiz’ help and he kept things in boxing order.

While Ortiz and Steindler ran the gym, he was approached by Sylvester Stallone to use the gym for a motion picture he was going to film. Ortiz consented and the world received the movie “Rocky,” which proceeded to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1976.

Rocky films continued to use the Main Street Gym and later other film producers would follow suit. The film industry would grab Ortiz to play various roles and he eventually became a SAG member. He played a gym owner in the 1999 film “Play It to the Bone” which featured Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas and Lolita Davidovich.

Ortiz was very passionate about boxing, especially the older generations. Many boxing veterans took residence in L.A. and would visit the Main Street Gym to get an occasional workout. Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Henry Armstrong were a few of those who Ortiz graciously welcomed with open arms.

When Armstrong was mugged to death at his home in 1988, it remained a topic that would incite rare anger from the usually amiable Ortiz.

The gym was finally closed in 1994 after the Northridge Earthquake caused inspectors to condemn it to the scrap pile. Many people hoped it was just a temporary closure.

“I met him at the Main Street Gym. Then we both came out in an LA Times article. Then later he said he wanted to come work with Uppercut Magazine,” said Jesus Jimenez, who was the publisher for the bilingual magazine in the 1990s and early 2000s. “He gave us a lot of footage and knowledge of the history of boxing. He had been around.”

“He knew guys like the Golden Boy, Art Aragon, and told me he was good looking. I didn’t know he was good looking. He also said Ring Magazine used to forget there was a lot of boxing in California. To me he was a genuine boxing expert. He was probably with us for seven to eight years,” said Jimenez.

While working with Uppercut he would tell tales of boxing’s past gems and also add some of his Hollywood experiences. The crew of writers and editors were entranced by his adventures of L.A.’s past.

“You got to write a book,” I would tell him. “You really need to let the boxing world know these stories.”

Whenever we would meet I would ask. Finally, in 2009, the book of his past was published. It’s a great painting of Ortiz and his life in Los Angeles.

For more than a year Ortiz couldn’t make any of the fights in Southern California. Friends would ask each other about any Johnny sightings.

“If anybody was the LA boxing scene it was Johnny,” said Jimenez. “He was real low key about it.”

How big was Ortiz to the boxing scene?

“One thing I noticed about Johnny Ortiz, it didn’t matter if it was fighter from the 40s or today everyone knew Johnny Ortiz,” said Thompson.

An era has passed.

To assist Johnny Ortiz’s family with burial expenses go to: http://www.gofundme.com/ctlkz4

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David A. Avila

Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza Shine in Phoenix

Published

14 hours ago

December 7, 2024

Phil Woolever

Emanuel Navarrete and Rafael Espinoza Shine in Phoenix

PHOENIX – Saturday was a busy night on the global boxing scene, and it’s quite likely that the howling attendees in Phoenix’s Footprint Center witnessed the finest overall card of the international schedule. The many Mexican flags on display in the packed, scaled down arena signaled the event’s theme.

Co-main events featured rematches that arose from a pair of prior crowd-pleasing slugfests. Each of tonight’s headlining bouts ended at the halfway point, but that was their only similarity.

Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete, now 39-2-1 (32), defended his WBO Junior Lightweight belt with a dramatic stoppage of more-than-willing Oscar Valdez, 32-3 (24). The 29-year-old champion spoke of retirement wishes, but after dominating a blazing battle in which he scored three knockdowns, his only focus was relaxing during the holidays then getting back to what sounded like long-term business.

“Valdez was extremely tough in this fight,” said Navarrete. “I knew I had to push him back and I did. You are now witnessing the second phase of my career and you can expect great things from me in 2025.”

“I don’t really know about the future,” said the crestfallen, 33-year-old Valdez. “No excuses. He did what he wanted to and I couldn’t.”

Navarrete, a three-division titlist, came up one scorecard short of a fourth belt in his previous fight last May, a split decision loss to Denys Berinchyk. This was Navarrete’s fourth Arizona appearance so he was cheered like a homeboy, but Valdez was definitely the crowd favorite, evident from the cheers that erupted as both fighters were shown arriving in glistening, low rider automobiles.

Both men came out throwing huge shots, but it was Navarrete who scored a flash knockdown in the first round, setting the tone for the rest of the fight. There was fierce action in every frame, with Navarrete getting the best of most of it, but even when he was in trouble Valdez roared back and brought the crowd to their feet. He got dropped again at the very end of round four, and Navarrete sent his mouthpiece into orbit the round after that.

When Navarrette drove Valdez into the ropes during round six it looked like referee Raul Caiz, Jr was about to intervene, but before he could decide, Navarrete finished matters himself with a perfect left to the ribs that crumpled Valdez into a KO at 2:42.

“He talked about getting ready to retire soon so I told him we had to fight again right now,” said Valdez prior to the rematch. There were numerous “be careful what you wish for” type predictions of doom and he entered the ring at around a two to one underdog, understanding the contest’s make or break stakes. “Boxing penalizes you if you have a lot of losses,” observed Valdez. “It’s not like other sports where you can lose and do better next season. In boxing, most people don’t want to see you again after a couple of losses.”

What Valdez might decide remains to be seen, but even in defeat he proved to be a warrior worth watching.

Co-Feature

After their epic, razor-close encounter almost exactly a year ago, it was obvious Rafael Espinoza, and fellow 30-year-old Robeisy Ramirez should meet again for the WBO featherweight title belt Espinoza earned by an upset majority decision. Espinoza turned the trick again this time around, inside the distance, but it was more anti-climactic than anything like toe-to-toe.

The 6’1” Espinoza, now 26-0 (22), was the aggressor from the opening frame, but 5’6” Ramirez, 14-3 (9) employed his short stature well to stay out of immediate danger and countered to the body for a slight edge. The Cuban challenger avoided much of their previous firefight and initially controlled the tempo. The crowd jeered him for staying away but it was an effective strategy, at least at first.

Espinoza connected much better in the fifth round and looked fresher as Ramirez’s face rapidly reddened. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere in round six, Ramirez took a punch then raised a glove in surrender. Whatever the reason, even looking at Ramirez’s swollen right eye, it looked like a “No Mas” moment. Replays showed a straight right to the eye socket, but that didn’t stop the crowd from hooting their disgust after ref Chris Flores signaled the end at 0:12.

***

Richard Torrez, Jr, now 12-0 (11), displayed his Olympic silver medal pedigree in a heavyweight bout against Issac Munoz, 18-2-1 (15). Torrez, 236.6, found his punching range quickly with southpaw leads as Munoz, 252, tried to stand his ground but looked hurt by early body work that forced him into the ropes. He was gasping for breath as Torrez peppered him in the second, and Munoz went back to his corner on unsteady legs.

Munoz’s team should have thought about saving him for another day in the third as he ate big shots. Luckily, referee Raul Caiz, Jr. was wiser and had seen enough, waving it off for a TKO at 0:59.

“I don’t train for the opponent,” reflected Torrez, who isn’t far from true contender status. “Every time I train, I train for a world championship fight.”

***

Super-lightweight Lindolfo Delgado, 139.9, improved to 22-0 (16), and took another step into the world title picture against Jackson Marinez, now 22-4 (10), 139.2.

On paper this junior welterweight matchup appeared fairly even, and Marinez managed to keep it that way for almost half the scheduled ten rounds against a solid prospect but Delgado kept upping the ante until Marinez was out of chips. The assembled swarm was whistling for more action after three tentative opening frames, as Delgado loaded up but couldn’t put much offense together.

That changed in the 4th when Delgado connected with solid crosses. In the fifth, a fine combination dropped Marinez into a delayed knockdown and a wicked follow-up right to the guts finished the wobbly Marinez, who had nothing to be ashamed of, off in the arms of ref Wes Melton. Official TKO time was 2:13.

In a matter of concurrent programming, Saturday also held a lot of highly publicized college football and basketball games which likely detracted from the larger mainstream audience and media coverage this fight card deserved. That’s a shame but you can’t fault boxing, Top Rank, or any of the fighters for that because, once again, they all came through big time in Phoenix.

Photos credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins Wins IBF 140-Pound Title in Puerto Rico

Published

15 hours ago

December 7, 2024

David A. Avila

Brooklyn's-Richardson-Hitchins-Wins-IBF-140-Pound-Title-in-Puerto-Rico

A change of champions took place as Richardson Hitchins rallied from a lethargic start to wrest the IBF super lightweight title from Australia’s Liam Paro by split decision on Saturday in Puerto Rico at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan.

Brooklyn has another world champion.

“I’m just happy to be a world champion,” Hitchins said.

Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) proved that his style of fighting could prevail over Paro (25-1, 15 KOs) who had previously knocked off another Puerto Rican champion, Subriel Matias.

Both fighters expected a different kind of encounter as Paro immediately started the fight with constant pressure and short, precise combinations. Hitchins had expected a different attack and seemed hesitant to pull the trigger.

“I couldn’t get my timing,” said Hitchins. “I thought he was going to put the pressure on me.”

Soon Hitchins ramped up his attack.

After Paro had jumped ahead with a constant strategic attack, Hitchins slipped into second gear behind a sharp right counter that found the target repeatedly.

Things began to swing in the Brooklyn fighter’s favor.

Those long arms came in handy for Hitchins who snapped off deadeye rights through Paro’s guard repeatedly. Soon the southpaw Aussie’s eye began to show signs of damage.

But Paro never quit.

Aside from using quick counters, Paro began firing lead lefts and the occasional right hook and uppercut. But seldom did he target the body. Slowly, the rounds began mounting in favor of the Brooklyn fighter.

Perhaps the best blow of the fight took place in the ninth round as Hitchins connected flush with a one-two combination. Though stunned, Paro trudged forward looking to immediately counter.

He mostly failed.

Still, Paro knew the rounds were not one-sided and he could close the distance. The Aussie fighter did well in the 11^th and 12^th round but could not land a significant blow. After 12 rounds one judge saw Paro the winner 117-11, while two others saw Hitchins the winner 116-112 for the new IBF titlist.

“He’s a hell of a boxer,” said Paro who loses the title in his first defense. “It’s not a loss, it’s a lesson.”

Other Bouts

A battle between Puerto Rican featherweights saw Henry Lebron (20-0) out-battle Christopher Diaz-Velez by decision after 10 action-packed rounds.

In a lightweight fight Agustin Quintana (21-2-1) gave Marc Castro (13-1) his first loss to win by split decision after 10 rounds.

Welterweight Jose Roman Vazquez (14-1) defeated Jalil Hackett (9-1) by split decision after 10 rounds.

Photo credit: Melina Pizano / Matchroom

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A Six-Pack of Undercard Action from the Top Rank Card in Phoenix

Published

19 hours ago

December 7, 2024

Arne K. Lang

A Six-Pack of Undercard Action from the Top Rank Card in Phoenix

Top Rank promoted a 10-fight card tonight at the NBA arena in Phoenix. The undercard included welterweight standout Giovani Santillan and a bevy of young prospects.

Based on his showing tonight, Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez is a prospect on the cusp of being a contender. A high-octane fighter with ring smarts that bely his tender age, the 22-year-old Gonzalez pitched a near 8-round shutout over Argentina’s Gerardo Antonio Perez, advancing his record to 12-0 (7). Although Gonzalez was forced to go the distance after five straight wins by stoppage, Perez, an Argentine who had never been stopped and was better than his 12-6-1 record, had a granite chin.

LA junior bantamweight Steven Navarro improved to 5-0 (4 KOs) with a second-round stoppage of Gabriel Bernardi (7-2). Navarro had Bernardi, a Puerto Rican, on the canvas twice before referee Raul Caiz Jr waived it off.

In a welterweight contest slated for “10,” Giovani Santillan improved to 33-1 (18 KOs) at the expense of Fredrick Lawson who retired on his stool after only one round. It was a nice confidence-booster for Santillan who took a lot of punishment in his last fight vs. Brian Norman Jr, a fight that Santillan was expected to win. However, tonight’s win should come with an asterisk as Lawson, a Chicago-based Ghanaian, is damaged goods and ought not be permitted to fight again, notwithstanding his 30-6 record. (All six of his losses, including the last three, came inside the distance.)

In a welterweight contest slated for six rounds, 19-year-old SoCal prospect Art Berrera Jr advanced to 7-0 (5 KOs) with a second-round TKO over Juan Carlos Campos (4-2) who fights out of Sioux City, Iowa. Referee Wes Melton lost his balance as he stepped in to stop the one-sided affair with a nano-second remaining in round two and went flying into the ropes, but was seemingly unhurt.

In a major surprise, Cesar Morales, a former Mexican national amateur champion, lost his pro debut to unheralded Kevin Mosquera, a 23-year-old Ecuadorian. A flash knockdown in the opening minute of final round factored into the result. The judges had it 39-36 and 38-37 for Mosquera (3-0-1) and 38-38.

The night did not start well for Morales’ trainer Robert Garcia who had five fighters in action tonight.

In the lid-lifter, 21-year-old Las Vegas lightweight DJ Zamora, a protege of the late Roger Mayweather, improved to 15-0 (10 KOs) with a second-round stoppage of Argentine import Roman Ruben Reynoso (22-6-2). Zamora put Reynoso on the canvas in the opening round with a left to the solar plexus and knocked him down in the second round with a counter left to the chin. Reynoso made it to his feet, but had no beef when the fight was waived off. The official time was 1:56 of round two.

Bouts involving former Olympians Lindolfo Delgado and Richard Torres Jr plus two compelling world title rematches round out the 10-fight card. TSS correspondent Phil Woolever is ringside. Check back later for his post-fight reports.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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