Boxing Odds and Ends: Looking Back 50 Years, Terence Crawford and More

Boxing Odds and Ends: Looking Back 50 Years, Terence Crawford and More

Fifty years ago this month, the most alluring fight was a clash between two little men from Mexico City who locked horns at the Forum in Los Angeles. Had there been a pound-for-pound poll, Ruben Olivares, the unified bantamweight champion, would have almost certainly topped it. He entered his match with Chuchu Castillo with a record of 57-0-1 and had won 30 straight inside the distance.

Castillo, who brought a record of 39-8-2, took a bad beating but lasted the full 15 rounds, ending Olivares’ knockout streak. They would fight twice more with the rugged Castillo turning the tables in the rematch (TKO 14 in a riveting fight stopped on cuts), but Olivares gained revenge in the rubber match, winning a lopsided decision.

The passion that Mexican and Mexican-Americans have for the sport of boxing was reflected in the fact that Olivares-Castillo I, staged on April 18, was an advance sellout that set a new California record for gate receipts. Los Angelenos unable to see it live could attend a closed circuit viewing at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The fight was also closed-circuited to auditoriums in Long Beach and San Bernardino.

On the afternoon of the big fight, 49,554 attended the thoroughbred races at Hollywood Park. Sports of various stripes were in high cotton in April of 1970, a stark contrast to the distressing situation that prevails today.

By the way, several thoroughbred tracks continue to operate during the coronavirus lockdown, but without fans in the stands. This past weekend there was racing at Gulfstream in Hialeah, Florida, at Tampa Bay Downs, at Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska, at historic Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and at Will Rogers Downs which sits on Cherokee land in Cleremore, Oklahoma near Tulsa. The legalization of online horse betting has diminished the significance of the on-track handle. There likely won’t be a Kentucky Derby or Preakness this year, both events have been postponed, but at the moment the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, is still a go for June 6.

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Back to boxing. Fifty years ago this month, LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium was in something of a rut, the bigger fights going to larger venues. However, the card on April 16 had an intriguing main event, a 10-round contest between 26-year-old light heavyweights Richard Steele and Pete Riccitelli.

Steele was 11-3. Riccitelli, who was a fixture at the bi-monthly shows in his hometown of Portland, Maine, was 46-17-1 and recognized as the New England light heavyweight champion.

What’s interesting is that Riccitelli had been a pro for only 55 months and yet already had 64 fights under his belt. That shows how robust the sport of boxing was – especially at the grass roots level – back in New England during his day.

For the record, Steele, an ex-Marine, stopped Riccitelli in the fifth round. Steele would have one more fight, losing a split decision to a journeyman, before retiring, but would remain in the sport as an official, carving out a Hall of Fame career as a referee.

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Many boxing web sites, often without attribution, recycled Chris Mannix’s recent interview with Terence Crawford. The Omaha welterweight, who sits high on every pound-for-pound list, created controversy with his comments regarding COVID-19.

Crawford told Mannix that he was disregarding social distancing directives and that he suspected that the coronavirus scare was part of some conspiracy.  “It ain’t no different to any other day. I’m not locked up in the house. I’m not locking my kids up in the house, I’m telling you,” said Crawford. “I don’t feel like these people that say they are dying and sick from it is actually true. I think they’re using fear to try to control us right now, for something else.”

What this reporter finds perplexing is that so many people that commented on the story were in full agreement with Crawford. As of Sunday, April 12, there were 242 confirmed cases of coronavirus and six deaths resulting from it in Douglas County which encompasses Omaha.

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While we are on the subject of COVID-19, Hart Island, a small, uninhabited island off the coast of the Bronx, has been in the news lately with a number of news outlets displaying photos taken from a drome of a mass burial. Since 1869, Hart Island has been New York City’s Potter’s Field, the final resting place for indigents and others whose bodies were never claimed. Inmates at the nearby Rikers Island prison were employed as gravediggers until just recently when the job was contracted out to a private company whose workers wear hazmat suits.

Hart Island has served other purposes over the years. During the Civil War it was a POW camp for Confederate soldiers. Unbeknownst to most, it was also a popular destination for bare-knuckle prizefights during the 19^th century.

Stay safe. Be well.

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