Remembering LA’s Dynamite Jackson, a Big Man Inside and Outside the Ropes

Published

2 months ago

July 16, 2023

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Dynamite Jackson wasn’t a great fighter, but he was good enough to win the California Heavyweight Title and he left a large footprint when he left the California boxing scene. With the passage of time, a footprint tends to fade away, obscured by layers of dust, but nowadays anyone who subscribes to a newspaper archives website can brush away some of the dust and the footprint becomes less opaque.

Dynamite Jackson was the first black person to become a licensed boxing referee in California and purportedly the first man of his color to hold this distinction anywhere west of the Mississippi. But let’s start at the beginning.

The man who was cloaked with the ring name Dynamite Jackson was born Ernest Bendy in Oklahoma City. At the age of 14 or thereabouts, he arrived in LA with his mother and was enrolled in the city’s predominantly non-white Jefferson High School. He was still attending classes there when he launched his pro career in 1927.

Jackson’s early opponents were a mixed bag of novices and veterans. When it came to black-on-black competitions, constraints were looser and promoters had few qualms about sending a true professional in against a man right off the street. Unlike in many other parts of the country, however, there was no formal opposition to mixed matches and Jackson had many white opponents.

H.C. Witwer reportedly tagged Bendy with his ring name. Witwer was a prolific author of pulp fiction. In the silent film age, many of his magazine stories were adapted into serials by Hollywood studios. In his boxing stories, he dressed his protagonists with fanciful names, e.g., One-Round O’Toole and the Chickasaw Bone Crusher.

Dynamite’s colorful manager Wirt Ross, a fast-talking Kentuckian who claimed to be a distant relative of the famous outlaw Jesse James, took it a step further. Ross told reporters that Jackson’s grandfather was a Sioux Indian who was at the Battle of Little Big Horn where General Custer was killed. “[Dynamite Jackson’s] veins run thick with the fighting blood of ancestors who roamed the plains with a tomahawk and a scalping knife, ready for action against man or beast,” said a 1931 story in the Los Angeles Times. (Wirt Ross managed two future world title-holders in Chalky Wright and the great Henry Armstrong, but sold off both, purportedly to satisfy gambling debts, before they became champions.)

Jackson was at his peak in June of 1931 when he defeated Jack Redman and Les Kennedy in 10-round bouts spaced three weeks apart at the Olympic Auditorium.

Redman, who was from Baton Rouge, was supposedly discovered by Jack Dempsey who proclaimed him “the greatest living negro heavyweight.” Dynamite won wire-to-wire, saddling Redman, reputedly 25-0-2 coming in, with his first defeat and avenging a loss to him the previous month in San Diego. Les Kennedy, a Long Beach (CA) stevedore by way of Butte, Montana, owned wins over such notables as John Lester Johnson and Meyer “KO” Christner. Dynamite dominated their fight which was stopped by the ring physician after four rounds with Kennedy a bloody mess. He and Kennedy had split two previous meetings.

The rubber match with Les Kennedy earned Dynamite Jackson the California Heavyweight Title as certified by the state athletic commission, but his reign didn’t last long. Three months later, the belt passed to Ace Hudkins who beat him decisively before an overflow crowd at the Olympic. Bleeding from cuts above both eyes, Dynamite rallied late, but too late to salvage a draw.

Ace Hudkins, the Nebraska Wildcat, was very good, arguably the best boxer produced by the Cornhusker State until the arrival of Terence Crawford. However, it did not redound well to Dynamite that he was fighting a much smaller man. Carrying 205 pounds on his six-foot-one frame, Jackson had a 31-and-a-half-pound weight advantage over the five-foot-nine Hudkins who was a lightweight when he first started out. A harsh defeat the following year to New Jersey journeyman Jim Braddock (yes, the future Cinderella Man) was another stain on his legacy. Per boxrec, Jackson concluded his career with a record of 51-14-2 (26 KOs).

California circa 1930 was a world apart from the rest of the country. With no major league sports franchises and no pari-mutuel horseracing, boxing got a big play in the sports section of the papers. When Jackson retired from boxing, he cashed in on his fame by going into the cocktail lounge business. In this regard, he was following a well-worn tradition. Back in the bare-knuckle age and beyond, the most celebrated boxers invariably became saloon-keepers. Jackson and his partners would eventually have two watering holes on Jazz-infused Central Avenue, the main ribbon of LA’s black belt, plus a package liquor store that bore his ring name.

Dynamites

To be a ring official in California, one had to pass a civil service exam. Jackson took the exam in 1946, reportedly passed it with flying colors, and would go on to judge hundreds of prizefights and referee dozens more. In 1957, he was one of six nominees for Southern California’s “Leading (Black) Citizen Award,” an annual award, sponsored by a distillery, given to “the person who has contributed the most in spirit and deed toward betterment of the community.” Dynamite was cited for his work with youth groups, particularly the Boy Scouts.

Dynamite Jackson, aka Ernest Bendy, passed away in 1967 at the UCLA Medical Center from complications of obesity. By then, he had lost his Central Avenue properties in a bitter dispute with his business partners and was selling real estate. The obits said he was 55 years old. One suspects that he may have been a bit older as that would have made him 15 years old when he launched his pro boxing career.

Regardless, he was quite an interesting personality during an interesting phase of West Coast boxing.

Arne K. Lang’s third boxing book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” rolled off the press in September of last year. Published by McFarland, the book can be ordered directly from the publisher or via Amazon.

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Arne K. Lang

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Published

23 hours ago

September 24, 2023

David A. Avila

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

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In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2023

Arne K. Lang

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Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

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