Avila Perspective, Chap. 90: Travels with Henry Ramirez, Roger and More

Not all boxing trainers are wheeler-dealers like Henry Ramirez. One day he’s getting on a jet across country and another day he’s driving up the 101 Freeway with a carload of amateur boxers.

The jet-setting ways of Ramirez came to a sudden halt last week.

“It happened so fast. Within a day we were told to head home,” Ramirez said, who was in Washington D.C. with prizefighter Marcos Hernandez who was set to face James Kirkland at MGM National Harbor on a Premier Boxing Champions card.  It was canceled.

Ramirez and hundreds of other boxing people discovered that the Coronavirus had derailed all fight cards in March. Now they are learning that April is gone too.

“It’s crazy,” he said.

Ramirez has a small army of boxers ranging from eight-year-old amateurs to 30-year-old professionals at his Rain Cross Boxing Gym in Riverside, California. No matter the season, the gym cranks out noise like one of those chain guns.

“I’ve been doing this since 2000 back when Andy Suarez had a gym,” said Ramirez, who back then was boxing and helping the late Suarez train fellow boxers.

Andy Suarez passed away in 2006. Ramirez picked up the training baton and kept working with fighters like Josesito Lopez and Chris “the Nightmare” Arreola. Both still are active but Ramirez no longer trains them. He still has more than 30 boxers in his gym located in the northern end of Riverside.

“We’re pretty busy all of the time. California has one of the busiest boxing schedules in the country,” said Ramirez who had his crew ready to perform in Washington D.C., Orange County, San Diego County, Ventura County and also in Reno, Nevada.

All were shut down.

Worldwide nearly all boxing cards have been erased except in Mexico and South America were apparently the virus has not hit.

This past weekend Tijuana, Mexico, which sits on the other side of the U.S. border next to San Diego, California, had several boxing cards on the same night. Boxing did not skip a beat in Tijuana.

“The only thing they did was close some schools,” said Felipe Leon, a journalist living in Tijuana. “Everything else is normal.”

Normally, for Ramirez in Riverside, he would be hustling to arrange fights for his amateurs and his pros.

“They canceled the Golden Gloves,” said Ramirez who had several boxers ready to participate. “We had a fight at Chumash Casino, also on the Thompson Boxing card and in Reno that was scheduled. Now we lose all that money. That was a lot of money we were expecting to make that’s out of our hands now.”

The Riverside trainer gave all of his fighters time off for a short while so things can be re-assessed. He receives calls from all of his team wondering if they should head to the gym. He’s got a lot of eager beavers on his crew.

Ramirez has always been able to attract potential boxers to his gym. He credits television as his weapon.

“Basically, they see me working someone’s corner on television and they contact me,” he said. “Television is a big way to attract fighters.”

Over the years Ramirez has been seen working on numerous high-profile fights beginning with Arreola back in October 2005 when he fought Domonic Jenkins at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif. It was a televised fight that featured the late Vernon Forrest in the main event. Arreola won by knockout and continued to grow into a heavyweight contender.

Last Saturday, at the MGM National Harbor, Ramirez’s fighter Hernandez was set to perform in the main event that was being televised by FOX. It was canceled abruptly.

“We got there on Wednesday and by Thursday we were told they might not allow the public to see the fight. Then they told us to pack up and go home. They were canceling the fight and on Friday I was heading back home,” Ramirez said.

Rival fight cards in New York City were also canceled.

“We’re hoping things get back to normal by the middle of May,” said Ramirez who had potential fights set for May. “It’s crazy but not only sports is affected, it’s the whole world.”

Even the ever-busy Henry Ramirez has to slow down.

Roger Knows

Sadly, boxing great Roger Mayweather passed away. Many times I would talk to the former fighter turned trainer; whenever I could.

Very few knew boxing better than Roger Mayweather.

Unknown to many was his love for teaching the youth. Over the years he passed his knowledge on to hundreds of aspiring boxers of all ages.

One of those was Melinda Cooper one of the best female prizefighters of her era.

“He used to work a lot with Melinda,” said James Pena who mentored Cooper throughout her boxing career. “He went with us to at least five tournaments when she was very young. He bought her boxing shoes. He used to call her a bad MF.”

Pena remembers going to Midland, Texas for a tournament back in the 90s and with the money Mayweather was paid to assist, he used it for other things.

“He spent $500 to buy stuff for the other kids to eat at a restaurant,” said Pena of Mayweather. “He really enjoyed helping kids in boxing. He got a big kick out of it.”

My own familiarity with Mayweather came when he was coaching Laila Ali in Las Vegas. I would often visit the Top Rank Gym in town and would sit down and just talk boxing with Mayweather.

On one occasion some young aspiring boxing journalist sat in the small office with us and proclaimed that both Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya were flukes.

“They’re all hype,” said this young guy.

Mayweather looked at him like he was a space alien.

“How are you going to say De La Hoya won world championships in seven weight divisions and call him a fluke,” said Mayweather to the surprised young writer. “You win any world title and you are a champion. If everybody could win a world title they would. You don’t know shit about boxing.”

Upset at the young journalist’s statement, he then proceeded to test his boxing IQ.

“Who do you think is the greatest fighter of all time?” asked Mayweather to the youngster.

The kid responded with somebody I can’t recall who.

Then, Mayweather looked at me and asked my opinion.

“I kind of think Sam Langford,” I answered.

Mayweather looked at me and did a double-take.

“You know boxing,” he said.

I swear, hearing Mayweather say that to me made my career. I had watched him as a fighter and as a trainer for Floyd Mayweather and considered him one of the top boxing minds in the world.

Mayweather then asked me which Las Vegas newspaper I worked for?

I answered I work for the Riverside newspaper. He looked at me in surprise.

“I see you here all the time,” Mayweather said. “I never see the Las Vegas guys in this gym.”

That day kind of inspired me to continue covering boxing like a madman. I’ve retold this story many times because I love the boxing world and all of its participants. No other sport has its history, personality and reach. Whether from Grand Rapids, Michigan or East Los Angeles; whether from Moscow, Dublin, Tokyo, Mexico City or Accra, Ghana, prizefighters come from all over the world.

Losing Roger Mayweather really hurts. We’ve lost another tie to boxing’s history and a man who contributed greatly to its continued success.

Rest in peace Roger Mayweather.

30 Years Ago

This St. Patrick’s Day was the 30^th anniversary of the epic fight between Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor that took place in Las Vegas for the WBC super lightweight world title. It was March 17, 1990.

It brings back vivid memories for me.

At the time I was a fledgling journalist for a small free newspaper in the San Gabriel Valley area in Southern California. Money was tight and I could not afford pay-per-view television or cable network viewing. Back then I was living in the suburban city of Montebello. The Montebello Mall was just built and a new sandwich shop opened and claimed it was showing the Chavez-Taylor fight for customers.

I arrived early that day and got an elevated seating spot to watch the small television screen. By the time the main event appeared the place was packed with fans. I forget the name of the sandwich spot, it didn’t last more than a year.

That fight vividly remains in my memory. It was fiercely fought with both displaying their individual talent. Taylor had blinding speed and could take a heck of a punch. Chavez was relentless and his defense was better than most expected, especially against those Taylor combinations.

Of course, nobody knew that Chavez was far behind on two judges scores after 11 rounds, but the commentators felt he needed a knockdown or knockout to win. They were right, and Chavez did exactly that by dropping Taylor in the corner. Referee Richard Steele looked into his eyes and called the fight over with two seconds remaining. Chavez was declared the winner and inside the Montebello sandwich shop about 100 fans erupted in cheers.

I went home and told my live-in girlfriend at the time what had transpired. She just smiled. Oh well. Ironically my ex-girlfriend’s family was from Culiacan where Chavez hailed from.

That same sandwich shop also showed Roberto Duran’s upset of Iran Barkley a year earlier. It proved to be my savior for watching big fights.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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