Met a pro boxer at work the other day...

Never met Pep but yea I heard he was a cool guy. As far as Ray.....hes a crazy guy lol thats about all I can say. If he don't know you he wont talk to you usually. But hes crazy man that guys tappt, and his training is like boot camp. Cool guy though once you get to know him. I didnt like him at first becase he wouldnt spar with me a while before he even trained me. I asked him at the gym when he came by and he told me he wasnt doing me any "honors," but I realized hes a nice guy and a cool guy after a while. Just a little crazy lol. The first time I ever saw Ray in person was at the 1985 New England Golden Gloves tournament in Lowell when he was stopping a kid from Team Vermont with body shots...he was 106 pounds.

Im pumping this guys gas, I work at a full service gas station, and I notice he has a boxing glove on his key chain. So I ask him if he likes boxing because I box myself and Im a huge fan. He says yea I used to do a little bit of boxing and we talked about the state of boxing today. He gives me his credit card to pay for the gas before he leaves. I remembered his name and searched it when I got home. his info: www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=12891&cat=boxer Jimmy Connors New Bedford, MA 29-8-1 (16 KOs) He even fought Willie Pep. I cant wait to see him again so I can ask him about it! you better be quick judging by his age, he could kick the can at any second

Hey cool story RTS. I had something similar happen to me. I met Fred Ladd out here at Fedex one day. This was a few months before the Hatton vs Castillo fight. I was up here for some training, and I just happened to strike up a conversation with this guy. I have to say, he was a really nice dude! I felt bad because I never saw him fight. He even fought Castillo! He told me that Castillo was real slick and kept hitting him in the ear with shots he never saw coming. Said he couldn't hear out of one ear for eight months after the fight! Of course, I had to go straight to boxrec and he was telling the truth: http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=7735&cat=boxer Its a small world! Yea man its crazy how that stuff happens. I had never seen Connors fight either, but he didnt even talk about his career. He fills up gas on Saturdays so i think I'll see him tomorrow.

Hey cool story RTS. I had something similar happen to me. I met Fred Ladd out here at Fedex one day. This was a few months before the Hatton vs Castillo fight. I was up here for some training, and I just happened to strike up a conversation with this guy. I have to say, he was a really nice dude! I felt bad because I never saw him fight. He even fought Castillo! He told me that Castillo was real slick and kept hitting him in the ear with shots he never saw coming. Said he couldn't hear out of one ear for eight months after the fight! Of course, I had to go straight to boxrec and he was telling the truth: http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=7735&cat=boxer Its a small world!

Cool Story. I got to meet Willie Pep at some fights at Foxwoods around 2001 or 2002. He sat with me and my friends and talked with us for about 10 minutes. Very nice man. I've also seen Oliveira fight several times in Rhode Island and at Foxwoods. Met him too at the club in Foxwoods. He was pretty cool. Kinda quiet. Never met Pep but yea I heard he was a cool guy. As far as Ray.....hes a crazy guy lol thats about all I can say. If he don't know you he wont talk to you usually. But hes crazy man that guys tappt, and his training is like boot camp. Cool guy though once you get to know him. I didnt like him at first becase he wouldnt spar with me a while before he even trained me. I asked him at the gym when he came by and he told me he wasnt doing me any "honors," but I realized hes a nice guy and a cool guy after a while. Just a little crazy lol.

well that's good. wait who is ur trainer? Hes not anymore. Hes going to be m.i.a for a while, im not going to say why i dont want his personal business on the net. But he's Sucra Ray Oliveira.

My last trainer...well ex trainer right now hes gone for a little while.... He fought Vernon Forrest, Vince Phillips, Ben Tackie, Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton, Emmanuel Augustus, and tons of good fighters. Sucra Ray Oliveira himself. He hates Zab Judah he always wanted to fight Judah and he said Zab was scared to spar him one day in NY. O yea and he even beat Phillips and Harris, and he lost the Forrest fight but he took it on short notice. And the Hatton and Augustus fights were too late in his career. But I just thought the Jimmy Connors story was cool because the way it happened. Caught me completely off guard. Cool Story. I got to meet Willie Pep at some fights at Foxwoods around 2001 or 2002. He sat with me and my friends and talked with us for about 10 minutes. Very nice man. I've also seen Oliveira fight several times in Rhode Island and at Foxwoods. Met him too at the club in Foxwoods. He was pretty cool. Kinda quiet.

damn dude he is old. Hes in good shape for an old man. He also spoke clearly, no slurrs or anything like that. Didnt talk slow or walk slow like an old geezer or anything. Hes in good shape.

My last trainer...well ex trainer right now hes gone for a little while.... He fought Vernon Forrest, Vince Phillips, Ben Tackie, Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton, Emmanuel Augustus, and tons of good fighters. Sucra Ray Oliveira himself. He hates Zab Judah he always wanted to fight Judah and he said Zab was scared to spar him one day in NY. O yea and he even beat Phillips and Harris, and he lost the Forrest fight but he took it on short notice. And the Hatton and Augustus fights were too late in his career. But I just thought the Jimmy Connors story was cool because the way it happened. Caught me completely off guard.

Damn that's pretty tight, Willie Pep? God damn. My trainer faught Micky Ward back in the day, I saw the tape of it. Great fight, every fight was nearly even in my book but Ward escaped with a UD over him. Also, supposidly, my friends girlfriends grandfather faught Muhammad Ali, but I still don't have solid proof of it.

he lasted all 10 rounds of the fight against willie pep...and the fight was even for the first four rounds...that's very impressive...

I'll feel dumb asking for a picture lol but I swear im telling the truth. I just want to hear some stories about his career and what it was like fighting Pep and what not.

When you look at the old records from the fighters from the 40s and 50s, makes you wonder just how skilled these guys must have become having faced sometimes 100 or 200 other fighters and fought against a multitude of styles and skill levels in varying situations in terms of dealing with pressure, injury, degrees of conditioning, etc. I for one get excited when I see skill overcoming raw power (Mayweather Hatton, Lacy Calzaghe, Pavlik Hopkins spring to mind). Maybe the MTV style, short attention span led culture we have been brainwashed with for the past 15 years has led us to long for the dramatic KO instead of appreciating some good old fashioned ring craft...is this why the best fighters still seem to be those who are considered "past prime" these days...??? Who else agrees that pure boxing skill is ebbing out of the fight game...???

Yea he was a very nice guy. He asked my name, shook my hand, and all that good stuff. He asked the name of my trainers, I told him and he knew all of them. He was also on his way up to Twin Rivers for some event where I think some promotor was getting an award or something. But the guy still loves boxing to this day, and hes a Shane Mosley fan. He said he can't believe Shane is still fighting at the level he is after all these years and at these higher weights. he didnt talk about his career at all, all he said was "I did a little bit of boxing" lol. Humble guy.

i met an amateur boxer the other day. the one the only joe calzaghe!

pretty cool!! :) You gotta let us know if you get a good convo out of him. I live in Manchester and see Ricky Hatton when in the pub all the time. Hes a nice guy! I know him well enough to say hello to, nothing else really. lol.

Im pumping this guys gas, I work at a full service gas station, and I notice he has a boxing glove on his key chain. So I ask him if he likes boxing because I box myself and Im a huge fan. He says yea I used to do a little bit of boxing and we talked about the state of boxing today. He gives me his credit card to pay for the gas before he leaves. I remembered his name and searched it when I got home. his info: www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=12891&cat=boxer Jimmy Connors New Bedford, MA 29-8-1 (16 KOs) He even fought Willie Pep. I cant wait to see him again so I can ask him about it! no shit! wow, willie pep, you gotta update us after you talk to the dude about that.