Roberto Duran vs. Henry Armstrong

[OctoberRed]

Rusty,

Armstrong didn't duck Freddie Miller, because he thought he would lose, it's because the gate wouldn't draw peanuts. If Freddie Miller's manager thought he could beat Armstrong, he would have offered Armstrong a $35,000 guarantee for a Title match. Eddie Mead, Al Jolson and George Raft owned Hank, including Mike Jacobs piece of the action, all would lovingly accept the dough and pay his medical bills. I am not degrading Freddie he was a good fighter. Cheers.

Ron does have a point here.

[QueensburyRules]

Kov has complained to the ref in other bouts...The russian seems to do so a bit...

Here is a great stat that I often share with people: If we take Las Vegas and Oakland, we see that Vegas is a bit bigger, has venues for sure, but the Oakland Coleseum is a very nice venue! Used to take my older boy there for car shows lol! BEST nachos and chicken I ever had... We found the nice part of the stadium and this great guy, bless his heart, loaded up a plate of the stuff steaming hot, with all the trimmings, would not accept a dime. My son and I could barely finish them!

I digress....sorry, so anyhow...The airport in Vegas is a little better perhaps, Oakland airport is kind of out there...But they have all manner of modern conveniences... Oakland can easily host a boxing match and is also not really far from Vegas, when we consider the country as a whole.

Now you must know that Dre was the home son done good in oakland! He was beyond popular. His dad had been an Irish strevedore type, the kid was home grown, and... wanted to fight where he was raised up all his life. So I hear people cry, the same people who will go to Vegas for a match, dropping dimes with no complaints... And I have to ask why not Oakland? And what of a fighter giving back to his community by fighting out of the community? Why does Vegas deserve those dimes? when the people of Oakland support their fighters, and may want to identify with their home town guy.

So the American public can do what they want, for all I care. Dre lives in a suburb of Oakland, and had a career giving back to Oakland.

- -Thought he lived in his Imelda Marcos shoe collection.

That a museum now?

[ShoulderRoll]

Kov has complained to the ref in other bouts...The russian seems to do so a bit...

Here is a great stat that I often share with people: If we take Las Vegas and Oakland, we see that Vegas is a bit bigger, has venues for sure, but the Oakland Coleseum is a very nice venue! Used to take my older boy there for car shows lol! BEST nachos and chicken I ever had... We found the nice part of the stadium and this great guy, bless his heart, loaded up a plate of the stuff steaming hot, with all the trimmings, would not accept a dime. My son and I could barely finish them!

I digress....sorry, so anyhow...The airport in Vegas is a little better perhaps, Oakland airport is kind of out there...But they have all manner of modern conveniences... Oakland can easily host a boxing match and is also not really far from Vegas, when we consider the country as a whole.

Now you must know that Dre was the home son done good in oakland! He was beyond popular. His dad had been an Irish strevedore type, the kid was home grown, and... wanted to fight where he was raised up all his life. So I hear people cry, the same people who will go to Vegas for a match, dropping dimes with no complaints... And I have to ask why not Oakland? And what of a fighter giving back to his community by fighting out of the community? Why does Vegas deserve those dimes? when the people of Oakland support their fighters, and may want to identify with their home town guy.

So the American public can do what they want, for all I care. Dre lives in a suburb of Oakland, and had a career giving back to Oakland.

But what is there to do in Oakland?

A trip to Las Vegas to watch a fight can include a lot of entertainment options for before and after the fight.

[Anthony342]

But what is there to do in Oakland?

A trip to Las Vegas to watch a fight can include a lot of entertainment options for before and after the fight.

Swap meets? Drive bys? Maybe go to an A's game if it's summer?

[Anthony342]

Kov has complained to the ref in other bouts...The russian seems to do so a bit...

Here is a great stat that I often share with people: If we take Las Vegas and Oakland, we see that Vegas is a bit bigger, has venues for sure, but the Oakland Coleseum is a very nice venue! Used to take my older boy there for car shows lol! BEST nachos and chicken I ever had... We found the nice part of the stadium and this great guy, bless his heart, loaded up a plate of the stuff steaming hot, with all the trimmings, would not accept a dime. My son and I could barely finish them!

I digress....sorry, so anyhow...The airport in Vegas is a little better perhaps, Oakland airport is kind of out there...But they have all manner of modern conveniences... Oakland can easily host a boxing match and is also not really far from Vegas, when we consider the country as a whole.

Now you must know that Dre was the home son done good in oakland! He was beyond popular. His dad had been an Irish strevedore type, the kid was home grown, and... wanted to fight where he was raised up all his life. So I hear people cry, the same people who will go to Vegas for a match, dropping dimes with no complaints... And I have to ask why not Oakland? And what of a fighter giving back to his community by fighting out of the community? Why does Vegas deserve those dimes? when the people of Oakland support their fighters, and may want to identify with their home town guy.

So the American public can do what they want, for all I care. Dre lives in a suburb of Oakland, and had a career giving back to Oakland.

Ever see the 30 for 30 on The Raiders? They got Dr. Dre to narrate it and he also tells the story of how the rap group NWA formed in Oakland and how the guys wearing Raiders colors made the team more known worldwide.

[billeau2]

But what is there to do in Oakland?

A trip to Las Vegas to watch a fight can include a lot of entertainment options for before and after the fight.

You can hop on a flight, pretty much by the hour, for under a hundred and be in Vegas in an hour. I mean its not like Ward fought out of Topeka lol. The only real issue, and most people would not even think of this, is that the car routes from Northern California to vegas are all secondary. But on the other hand, when you do get into Nevada, you can average 80, 85 per an hour, even more really, because the speed limit is around 70 to 80 and cops are not arresting those who will be spending that ticket money at the gaming tables.

I have driven across country many times...I enjoy the trip lol. I will never forget when going on my merry way through Nevada and passing a cop car to the point where it was a blurr... I thought I should wait for the cop... I just knew I was screwed...But no. Cop did not seem to care. Lol.

[billeau2]

Ever see the 30 for 30 on The Raiders? They got Dr. Dre to narrate it and he also tells the story of how the rap group NWA formed in Oakland and how the guys wearing Raiders colors made the team more known worldwide.

Oakland is a very colorful place! It was hardscrabble back when Johnson was fighting and Jack London was calling for his head. I have been to parts of Oakland that looked very different than Brooklyn but people behaved the same...Billy Martin was from Oakland. Just a real feel of working class solidarity and... the feeling that you could be swallowing your teeth if you were disrespectful.

Al Davis lol.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Rusty,

Armstrong didn't duck Freddie Miller, because he thought he would lose, it's because the gate wouldn't draw peanuts. If Freddie Miller's manager thought he could beat Armstrong, he would have offered Armstrong a $35,000 guarantee for a Title match. Eddie Mead, Al Jolson and George Raft owned Hank, including Mike Jacobs piece of the action, all would lovingly accept the dough and pay his medical bills. I am not degrading Freddie he was a good fighter. Cheers.

Great insights, ROn.

But I am curious how Petey Sarron was a bigger draw than Freddie Miller. That's like saying Leon and Mike were bigger draws than Ali and Holmes, respectively.

Armstrong wasn't even a Lightweight champ. I dunno why Miller would be lookingto fight Hank.

it's all too su****ious.

[ShoulderRoll]

Ever see the 30 for 30 on The Raiders? They got Dr. Dre to narrate it and he also tells the story of how the rap group NWA formed in Oakland and how the guys wearing Raiders colors made the team more known worldwide.

NWA actually formed in Compton, CA.

The Raiders played in Los Angeles at that time. Which is why the guys wore Raider colors (and the colors of other L.A. area sports teams.)

[billeau2]

But what is there to do in Oakland?

A trip to Las Vegas to watch a fight can include a lot of entertainment options for before and after the fight.

You asked for it buddy: One of my boring stories!! When I first came to the Bay Area I lived, as I always had, in San Francisco. I had these part time jobs while going to grad school, one of which was to look after guys in a house where they lived. These guys had pretty severe mental ******ation and needed constant supervision. This house was in an area near Oakland.

My fellow councellors were, among others, some real street guys from Oakland. One of them became a martial arts student of mine, and is, to this day, one of my dear friends. So one day we have to take the guys out for a spin and we are deciding what to do... I had not been to Oakland very much back then, and had heard about how tough, how bad it was.

So I ask Chet if he can give me a tour of the real bad areas of Oakland. We pile in... Chet shows me the street where Huey was gunned down, the projects, the street where the kid got hit and the Black Panthers started, the whole nine yards! Here is the funny thing I noticed about Oakland. All the projects have one road and that is it! Really bad because one can be ambushed in a second.

So...there is plenty to do in Oakland!