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I had never been to the Hall of Fame, yesterday was my first time ever...really amazing trip..next year I play to get a hotel and stay for two nights at least...my only regret is that I had to leave last night and couldn't stay later at Graziano's, that place is like the headquarters and I'm sure last night it was jam packed until the early hours... anyway, I got in yesterday at 12 noon...and I ran into many old friends, acquaintances and boxing fans, it was crazy...GREAT TRIP...Kostya was there, I saw him at an autograph signing but didn't get to meet him...spent some time with Michael Carbajal at Grazianos, hadn't seen him since the 1988 Olympic Trials!!! I'll post pics in a couple days...
I called Dickie Ecklund because someone said he was there and not only was he there at his hotel but he immediately came down and picked us up in a golf cart (Aaron Pryor rode past in his own golf cart, going in the other direction) ...Dickie is always entertaining and today was no exception...we went to Graziano's and got a table, (me, him and two of my friends) and it was so crazy, within 5 minutes there were numerous bottles of beer on the table from fans who ordered them for Dickie just so they could get in with him, he was wanting to finish one of them and get ready to go the banquet but it was impossible, every 30 seconds someone came up and wanted to take a photo with him...
Angelo Dundee sat near us at Graziano's...he was in a wheelchair!! But he was VERY NICE and seemed mentally sharp as ever... I'm not sure if he was in the wheelchair because he cant walk anymore or because he's so much older now and they didn't want him to wear himself out walking everywhere all day...
Also, boxing is such a small world and life is funny how we can inter-connect...check this out: when I first got there at 12 noon I made quick plans to meet Frank Stallone at Graziano's...so I come in and he is sitting at a table with Chuck Zito and a couple guys...well, one of the guys gets up to leave and is talking to Chuck before he heads for the day...I am looking at him and I have a funny feeling as to who it is...he looks familiar, a blast from the past...when he starts to leave I ask Chuck what his name is and he tells me, "Tom Patti"...well, how about this for small world?? I fought Tom Patti 26 YEARS AGO in the Golden Gloves!!! He was a part of Cus D' Amato's stable (Kevin Rooney worked his corner when we fought and if u look at the old fims of Tyson when he was in the house in Catskill you can often see Tom sitting right next to him at the dinner table..so we call him back over and have a nice reunion...amazing...
also, the very first person I ran into when I got to Canastota was a former cruiserweight named David Sewell, Dave and I used to spar each other back in 1988 at Sugar Ray's gym in Maryland, I even the sessions on tape...and then at Graziano's later on I ran into a woman named Carol from Florida, huge boxing fan who I first started talking to online more than 12 years ago...Leon Spinks were there just hanging out, too...
Also, this is really cool, too...when I first got there at 12 noon today someone at the memorabilia show told me, "Oh man, you shoulda' been there this morning...Jesse James Lejia gave a talk to the crowd and someone asked him about what it was like in the hours before a fight and he told the crowd that "John Scully has the best description I've ever heard as to what its really like for fighters in those moments" and then he recited your 'dressing room quote' for them."
I talked to Al Bernstein for a while at the autograph show, first met him in 1989 when he was the commentator for my first TV fight...Jimmy Lennon Jr. was giving a talk for the fans at the Pavilion, memories from his experiences in the game...
Next year I plan to go for two days and get a hotel room...it was a boxing fans FANTASY, believe me...hanging out at Graziano's is probably the most amazing thing any boxing fan could ever do...its like being at a family dinner and every fan, boxer, trainer, is your family...
I called Dickie Ecklund because someone said he was there and not only was he there at his hotel but he immediately came down and picked us up in a golf cart (Aaron Pryor rode past in his own golf cart, going in the other direction) ...Dickie is always entertaining and today was no exception...we went to Graziano's and got a table, (me, him and two of my friends) and it was so crazy, within 5 minutes there were numerous bottles of beer on the table from fans who ordered them for Dickie just so they could get in with him, he was wanting to finish one of them and get ready to go the banquet but it was impossible, every 30 seconds someone came up and wanted to take a photo with him...
Angelo Dundee sat near us at Graziano's...he was in a wheelchair!! But he was VERY NICE and seemed mentally sharp as ever... I'm not sure if he was in the wheelchair because he cant walk anymore or because he's so much older now and they didn't want him to wear himself out walking everywhere all day...
Also, boxing is such a small world and life is funny how we can inter-connect...check this out: when I first got there at 12 noon I made quick plans to meet Frank Stallone at Graziano's...so I come in and he is sitting at a table with Chuck Zito and a couple guys...well, one of the guys gets up to leave and is talking to Chuck before he heads for the day...I am looking at him and I have a funny feeling as to who it is...he looks familiar, a blast from the past...when he starts to leave I ask Chuck what his name is and he tells me, "Tom Patti"...well, how about this for small world?? I fought Tom Patti 26 YEARS AGO in the Golden Gloves!!! He was a part of Cus D' Amato's stable (Kevin Rooney worked his corner when we fought and if u look at the old fims of Tyson when he was in the house in Catskill you can often see Tom sitting right next to him at the dinner table..so we call him back over and have a nice reunion...amazing...
also, the very first person I ran into when I got to Canastota was a former cruiserweight named David Sewell, Dave and I used to spar each other back in 1988 at Sugar Ray's gym in Maryland, I even the sessions on tape...and then at Graziano's later on I ran into a woman named Carol from Florida, huge boxing fan who I first started talking to online more than 12 years ago...Leon Spinks were there just hanging out, too...
Also, this is really cool, too...when I first got there at 12 noon today someone at the memorabilia show told me, "Oh man, you shoulda' been there this morning...Jesse James Lejia gave a talk to the crowd and someone asked him about what it was like in the hours before a fight and he told the crowd that "John Scully has the best description I've ever heard as to what its really like for fighters in those moments" and then he recited your 'dressing room quote' for them."
I talked to Al Bernstein for a while at the autograph show, first met him in 1989 when he was the commentator for my first TV fight...Jimmy Lennon Jr. was giving a talk for the fans at the Pavilion, memories from his experiences in the game...
Next year I plan to go for two days and get a hotel room...it was a boxing fans FANTASY, believe me...hanging out at Graziano's is probably the most amazing thing any boxing fan could ever do...its like being at a family dinner and every fan, boxer, trainer, is your family...
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