U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Fidel La Barba Was a Phenom After a Rocky Start

Published

8 months ago

June 30, 2024

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In just a few weeks, the 2024 Summer Olympics will commence in Paris. One hundred years ago, also in Paris, two American boxers – Fidel La Barba and Jackie Fields — captured Olympic gold medals. In an earlier story, we profiled Fields. Now it’s La Barba’s turn.

The fifth of seven children born to Italian immigrants, Fidel La Barba turned pro in his hometown of Los Angeles three months after returning from Paris where he won the flyweight competition. As a pro, he would carve out a Hall of Fame career, but it sure didn’t start out that way. After five pro bouts, his record stood 2-2-1.

There was an extenuating circumstance. Both losses and the draw came at the hands of Jimmy McLarnin. The baby-faced McLarnin was actually younger than La Barba, but he was more experienced and history would show that he was much more than a formidable foe; he can be fairly numbered among the all-time greats.

La Barba had to settle for another draw in his eighth pro fight, but this redounded well to him. Newsboy Brown, undefeated and with 36 pro fights under his belt, was thought to be too good for Fidel, but La Barba was every bit his equal in their 10-rounder at Hollywood’s Legion Stadium. Most of the newspapermen shaded the match to him. ”Fidel’s rounds were more decisive and he scored [the only] knockdown. On points he was clearly ahead,” wrote Sid Ziff in the Los Angeles Evening Express.

Three fights later, La Barba was thrust against Frankie Genaro in what was believed to be the first pro fight between former Olympic gold medalists. Genaro, a New Yorker, had won his diadem in Antwerp in 1920.

As a pro, La Barba was 6-2-2. Frankie Genaro, per boxrec, brought a professional record of 52-3-4.

Genaro was recognized as the American Flyweight Champion. As was common in those days, the champion was accorded the right to bring his own referee when he fought in his opponent’s backyard. Genaro picked New Jersey’s Harry Ertle, best known for being the third man in the ring for Dempsey-Carpentier.

La Barba vs Genaro was contested before an estimated 18,000 at LA’s Ascot Park where the usual bill of fare was motorcycle racing. At the end of 10 lusty rounds, the honorable Ertle raised La Barba’s hand without a moment’s hesitation. According to the correspondent for the San Francisco Examiner, a phalanx of 25 policemen were needed to keep well-wishers at bay as La Barba was being herded back to his dressing room.

This fight had taken on a much brighter tint the previous month when the great Filipino boxer Pancho Villa, recognized as the world flyweight champion, passed away at age 23 following surgery for an ulcerated tooth. With the title vacant, La Barba vs Genaro was elevated into a world title fight although not recognized as such in every jurisdiction.

At this juncture, Fidel La Barba was 19 years old and had been a pro for less than a year. Writing in 2019, the prominent boxing historian Matt McGrain mused that La Barba’s conquest of Genaro just may be the best win ever recorded by a teenager in all of boxing history.

La Barba stayed busy after this fight with 14 bouts in the next 17 months. Most were no-decision affairs meaning that La Barba would get to keep his title unless he got knocked out. On Jan. 21, 1927, he was matched against Scotland’s Elky Clark in a 12-rounder at Madison Square Garden.

The New York boxing commission, at odds with the National Boxing Association (NBA), had never formally recognized the Californian as the world flyweight champion. If Fidel were able to get past Clark, the undisputed European champion, he would receive their blessing and unify the title.

Clark, 29, had fought a slew of 20-round fights. As manifested in his cauliflower ears, he had a lot of mileage on him. The Scotsman lasted the distance, but Fidel had him on the canvas five times and won every round.

La Barba, who had reportedly been the president of his senior class at LA’s Lincoln High School, had always aspired to attend Stanford and in the fall of 1927 he did just that, turning his back on boxing to enter the prestigious university where he lived in the freshman dorm and helped-out with the school’s boxing team. But he left Stanford after one year and returned to the ring.

When he returned to boxing, he was no longer a champion, having outgrown the division, and a married man, having wed the ex-wife of prominent newspaper cartoonist Billy DeBeck (the first of Fidel’s three wives). Four fights in LA and one in San Francisco prefaced a belated honeymoon in Australia where La Barba had four fights in seven weeks, all scheduled for 15 rounds. He won them all.

The Trilogy

The highlight of La Barba’s post-college boxing career was his three-fight series with Kid Chocolate, one of the best trilogies in boxing history. They first met on May 22, 1929 at the New York Coliseum in the Bronx on a show promoted by Jess McMahon (the grandfather of WWE magnate Vince McMahon).

According to a story in a Brooklyn paper, Chocolate, born Eligio Sardinas, was unbeaten in 146 fights which included his amateur bouts in Cuba. There was no way to verify that record but the Havana Bon Bon was undefeated in bouts on American soil and was looked upon as a future world champion.

At five-foot-six, Chocolate was the taller man by three inches and he had a substantial edge in reach, but Fidel was able to smother his punches and after five rounds, said a reporter for a Pennsylvania paper, La Barba “was so far out in front that Chocolate wouldn’t be able to catch him with a deputy sheriff.”

But Chocolate did catch him and won the 10-round fight on a majority decision. “[Fidel] flouted one of the major tenets of gaming,” he wrote. “This merely demands that when you have the pot won, keep it won.”

The verdict was unpopular and it was inevitable that La Barba and Kid Chocolate would meet up again. The sequel was staged at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 3, 1930.

This would be La Barba’s finest hour since his conquest of Frankie Genaro back when he was just starting out. He took the fight to the Cuban right from the opening bell and at the end of the 10-round contest there was no doubt that his hand would be raised. “At the end,” wrote the ringside reporter for the Buffalo News, “the usually dancing, darting Cuban was flat-footed, leg-weary and swinging wildly.” (The decision was unanimous; the scores were not announced.)

Twenty-five months would elapse before the rubber match. In the interim, Kid Chocolate suffered three defeats, but against top-tier opponents — Battling Battalino, Tony Canzoneri, and Jack “Kid” Berg – in bouts so closely contested they could have gone either way. LaBarba also lost to Battalino, failing to capture Bat’s featherweight strap in a dull 15-round fight, but La Barba-Chocolate III had a patina that was lacking in the first two encounters. In New York and a few other places, Chocolate had come to be recognized as a two-division champion, having laid claim to the featherweight and (lightly regarded) junior lightweight belts.

After 14 rounds, in the estimation of the New York Daily News man, the rubber match was deadlocked 7-7. But Fidel had run out of bullets and Chocolate out-slugged him in the final stanza.

La Barba emerged from this bout with a torn retina in his left eye, but would have three more fights before his career was finished. He lost a 10-round decision to four-time rival Tommy Paul, a first-rate fighter from Buffalo, lost a 12-round decision to British featherweight champion Seaman Tommy Watson, and ended his career on a winning note with a 10-round decision over a Pittsburgh club fighter in Pittsburgh. His final record was 69-15-7 and he was never stopped.

In Retirement

Although La Barba went to Stanford to study finance, in retirement he discovered he had a knack for writing. Two of his stories, one of which was published in Collier’s, were adapted into screenplays: “Savannah of the Mounties,” a 1939 western starring Shirley Temple and Randolph Scott, and “Footlight Serenade,” a 1942 musical wherein Victor Mature plays a former boxing champion turned Broadway stage actor. Both films were produced by Twentieth-Century Fox. Studio head Darryl F. Zanuck was a close friend.

During World War II, La Barba enlisted in the Army. Having only one good eye precluded him from combat duty. Discovered by a reporter in Naples, Italy, he defined his role as comforting old ladies in air raid shelters who were traumatized by the bombing. During the Korean conflict, he served as a physical fitness instructor at Southern California’s March Air Force Base.

La Barba was also a sportswriter for two short-lived newspapers, the Wilmington (CA) Daily Press Journal and the Santa Monica Evening Outlook where he was named Sports Editor. In the mid-1950s, he served on the California Athletic Commission, coached a paraplegic wheelchair basketball team, and attracted notice as the manager of promising heavyweight Elmer Willhoite, a former All American football lineman at USC who aborted his boxing career after only four pro fights because of brittle hands.

Fidel La Barba passed away on Oct. 2, 1981 at age 76 at a VA hospital in Los Angeles where he was being treated for a heart condition. He was inducted posthumously into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 1996.

—-

A recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling, TSS editor-in-chief Arne K. Lang is the author of five books including “Prizefighting: An American History,” released by McFarland in 2008 and re-released in a paperback edition in 2020.

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Bivol Evens the Score with Beterbiev; Parker and Stevenson Win Handily

Published

2 hours ago

February 22, 2025

David A. Avila

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It was labeled the best boxing card in history.

That’s up for debate.

And there was some debate as Dmitry Bivol avenged his loss to Artur Beterbiev to become the new undisputed light heavyweight world champion on Saturday by majority decision in a tactical battle.

“He gave me this chance and I appreciate it,” said Bivol of Beterbiev.

Bivol (24-1, 12 KOs) rallied from behind to give Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KOs) his first pro loss in their rematch at a sold out crowd in the Venue Riyadh Season in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Like their first encounter the rematch was also very close.

Four months ago, these two faced each other as undefeated light heavyweights. Now, after two furious engagements, both have losses.

Beterbiev was making his first defense as undisputed light heavyweight champion and made adjustments from their first match. This time the Russian fighter who trains in Canada concentrated on a body attack and immediately saw dividends.

For most of the first six rounds it seemed Beterbiev would slowly grind down Bivol until he reached an unsurmountable lead. But despite the momentum he never could truly hurt Bivol or gain separation.

Things turned around in the seventh round as Bivol opened up with combinations to the head and body while slipping Beterbiev’s blows. It was a sudden swing of momentum. But how long could it last?

“It was hard to keep him at the distance. I had to be smarter and punch more clean punches,” said Bivol.

Beterbiev attempted to regain the momentum but Bivol was not allowing it to happen. In the final 10 seconds he opened up with a machine gun combination. Though few of the punches connected it became clear he was not going to allow unclarity.

Using strategic movement Bivol laced quick combinations and immediately departed. Betebiev seemed determined to counter the fleet fighter but was unsuccessful for much of the second half of the fight.

Around the 10^th round Beterbiev stepped on the gas with the same formula of working the body and head. It gave Bivol pause but he still unleashed quick combos to keep from being overrun.

Bivol connected with combinations and Beterbiev connected with single body and head shots. It was going to be tough for the referees to decide which attack they preferred. After 12 rounds with no knockdowns one judge saw it a draw at 114-114. But two others saw Bivol the winner 116-112, 115-113.

“I was better. I was pushing myself more, I was lighter. I just wanted to win so much today,” said Bivol.

Beterbiev was gracious in defeat.

“Congratulations to Bivol’s team” said Beterbiev. “I think this fight was better than the first fight.”

After the match it was discussed that an effort to make a third fight is a strong possibility.

Heavyweight KO by Parker

Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) once again proved he could be the best heavyweight without a world title in knocking out the feared Martin Bakole (21-2, 16 KOs) to retain his WBO interim title. It was quick and decisive.

“Catch him when he is coming in,” said Parker, 33, about his plan.

After original foe IBF heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois was forced to withdraw due to illness, Bakole willingly accepted the match with only two days’ notice. Many experts and fans around the world were surprised and excited Parker accepted the match.

Ever since Parker lost to Joe Joyce in 2022, the New Zealander has proven to be vastly improved with wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. Now you can add Bakole to the list of conquests.

Bakole, 33, was coming off an impressive knockout win last July and posed a serious threat if he connected with a punch. The quick-handed Bakole at 310 pounds and a two-inch height advantage is always dangerous.

In the first round Parker was wary of the fighter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He kept his range and moved around the ring looking to poke a jab and move. Bakole caught him twice with blows and Parker retaliated.

It proved to be a very important test.

Parker refrained from moving and instead moved inside range of the big African fighter. Both exchanged liberally with Bakole connecting with an uppercut and Parker an overhand right.

Bakole shook his head at the blow he absorbed.

Both re-engaged and fired simultaneously. Parker’s right connected to the top of the head of Bakole who shuddered and stumbled and down he went and could not beat the count. The referee stopped the heavyweight fight at 2:17 of the second round. Parker retains his interim title by knockout.

“I’m strong, I’m healthy, I’m sharp,” said Parker. “I had to be patient.”

Shakur Wins

Despite an injured left hand southpaw WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) won by stoppage over late replacement Josh Padley (15-1, 6 KOs). It was an impressive accomplishment.

Often criticized for his lack of action and safety-first style, Stevenson was supposed to fight undefeated Floyd Schofield who pulled out due to illness. In stepped British lightweight Padley who had nothing to lose.

Padley was never hesitant to engage with the super-quick Stevenson and despite the lightning-quick combos by the champion, the British challenger exchanged liberally. It just wasn’t enough.

Even when Stevenson injured his left hand during an exchange in the sixth round, Padley just couldn’t take advantage. The speedy southpaw kept shooting the right jabs and ripping off right hooks. At the end of the sixth Stevenson briefly switched to a right-handed fighting style.

Stevenson used his right jabs and hooks to perfection. Double right hooks to the head and body seemed to affect the British challenger. A clean left to the body of Padley sent him to the floor for the count in the ninth round. It was a surprising knockdown due to his injured left. Padley got up and the fight resumed. Stevenson unloaded with right hooks to the body and down went the British fighter once again. He got up and tried to fight his way out but was met with another left to the body and down he went a third time. Padley’s corner tossed in a white towel to signify surrender. The referee stopped the fight at the end of the round. Stevenson scored his 11^th knockout win.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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Early Results from Riyadh where Hamzah Sheeraz was Awarded a Gift Draw

Published

5 hours ago

February 22, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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After two 6-round appetizers, British light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith got the show rolling with a lusty 12-round skirmish. Things went south in the middle of the seven-fight main card when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames locked horns with challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This was a drab fight owing to a milquetoast performance by the favored Sheeraz.

Heading in, the lanky six-foot-three Sheeraz, whose physique is mindful of a young Thomas Hearns, was undefeated in 21 fights. Having stopped five of his last six opponents in two rounds or less, the 25-year-old Englishman was touted as the next big thing in the middleweight division. However, he fought off his back foot the entire contest, reluctant to let his hands go, and Adames kept his title when the bout was scored a draw.

Sheeraz had the crowd in his corner and two of the judges scored the match with their ears. Their tallies were 115-114 for Sheeraz and 114-114. The third judge had it 118-110 for Adames, the 30-year old Dominican, now 24-1-1, who had Ismael Salas in his corner.

Ortiz-Madrimov

Super welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, knocked out his first 21 opponents, begging the question of how he would react when he finally faced adversity. He showed his mettle in August of last year when he went a sizzling 12 rounds with fellow knockout artist Serhii Bohachuk, winning a hard-fought decision. Tonight he added another feather in his cap with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Madrimov, prevailing on scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.

Ortiz won by adhering tight to Robert Garcia’s game plan. The elusive Madrimov, who bounces around the ring like the energizer bunny, won the early rounds. But eventually Ortiz was able to cut the ring off and turned the tide in his favor by landing the harder punches. It was the second straight loss for Madrimov (10-2-1), a decorated amateur who had lost a close but unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his previous bout.

Kabayel-Zhang

No heavyweight has made greater gains in the last 15 months than Agit Kabayel. The German of Kurdish descent, whose specialty is body punching, made his third straight appearance in Riyadh tonight and, like in the previous two, fashioned a knockout. Today, although out-weighed by more than 40 pounds, he did away with Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang in the sixth round.

It didn’t start out well for Kabayel. The New Jersey-based, six-foot-six Zhang, a two-time Olympian for China, started fast and plainly won the opening round. Kabayel beat him to the punch from that point on, save for one moment when Zhang put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.

That happened in the fifth round, but by the end of the frame, the 41-year-old Zhang was conspicuously gassed. The end for the big fellow came at the 2:29 mark of round six when he couldn’t beat the count after crumbling to the canvas in a delayed reaction after taking a hard punch to his flabby midsection.

Kabayel remains undefeated at 26-0 (18 KOs). Zhang (27-3-1) hadn’t previously been stopped.

Smith-Buatsi

The all-British showdown between light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith was a grueling, fan-friendly affair. A former 168-pound world title-holder, Smith, 34, won hard-earned unanimous decision, prevailing on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a ludicrous 119-110.

There were no knockdowns, but Liverpool’s Smith, who advanced to 31-2 (22) finished the contest with a bad gash in the corner of his right eye. It was the first pro loss for Buatsi (19-1), an Olympic bronze medalist who entered the contest a small favorite and was the defending “interim” title-holder.

This contest was also a battle of wits between two of America’s most prominent trainers, Buddy McGirt (Smith) and Virgil Hunter (Buatsi).

Check back shortly for David Avila’s wrap-up of the last three fights.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez

Published

21 hours ago

February 21, 2025

David A. Avila

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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.

Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.

Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.

Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.

In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.

“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.

Other Bouts

Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.

Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.

Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.

Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.

A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.

It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.

In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.

Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.

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