Charles Shaughnessy as King Arthur and Mariand Torres as The Lady of the Lake
In the early spring of 2020 hope began to fade that the Corona Virus was going to recede, and the reality that life for all of us was going to be quite different for some time was setting in. At the time Brad Kenney, Executive Artistic Director of the Playhouse, had to make the announcement the 2020 Season would be canceled. Brad did this via video and the poor guy could not have looked more beaten down. His heart and soul is in the Ogunquit Playhouse and having to let the public know the curtain wouldn’t be going up last year was heart wrenching. It seemed sure the place wouldremain dark for a long time. Some wondered if it would be able to survive.
Well, Brad may have been staggered and even floored, but the count never got to ten. He soon recovered and was back in the fight, a fight he was not going to lose. After having to refund over 50% of the ticket sale money for the up coming season Brad went to work on fundraising, and more importantly, keeping the flame burning at the playhouse. This began with video talks with Playhouse Alumni such as Sally Struthers. The mood was changing for the better. Next was the Playhouse Cabaret Series where performers from past seasons displayed their talents before small crowds outside the theatre in a cafe setting. So, even though the season was officially canceled, there were still performances taking place before a live audience.
Left to Right) Jen Cody, Dwelvan David, Charles Shaughnessy, Mariand Torres, Josh Grisetti, and Daniel Lopez (Photo by Gary Ng)
As the 2021 Season approached it was still unknown if the COVID restrictions would allow for the theatre to reopen. Since it takes some time to put together full scale productions it was decided to build a pavilion next to the theatre where it would be easier to allow for social distancing and ventilation.
With generous donations from the many loyal supporters of the Playhouse, and a huge gift from benefactors Carol and Noel Leary, the Leary Pavillon was erected and a four show season was planned.
Last Friday night the season kicked off with Monty Python’s Spamalot. As one of the tag-lines from Monty Python goes; “And now for something completely different”. Well, not completely different as this production lives up to the high standards the Ogunquit Playhouse has always adhered to.
The laughter that came from the audience in response to those lines shows the resilience people have and how, just like the Ogunquit Playhouse, we are not giving up.
It was an interesting choice as the first musical to play since the pandemic hit in that it opens with references to plague and deaths. Grim? Not at all, gallows humor is exactly what is needed at this time. The laughter that came from the audience in response to those lines shows the resilience people have and how, just like the Ogunquit Playhouse, we are not giving up.
Charles Shaughnessy is excellent in leading the cast as Arthur the King who just can’t seem to command respect. Sent by God on a quest to find the Holy Grail, Arthur is accompanied by his faithful companion Patsy (Jen Cody). Along the way the King assembles members of his Knights of the Round Table, a motley crew who often take things Arthur says literally which causes more than a little Pythonish confusion.
Josh Grisetti as Sir Robin (Photo by Gary Ng)
Dennis Galahad (Daniel A. Lopez) is not easily convinced to become a knight as he has the radical idea leaders should be chosen by the people and not by Divine Right. The Lady of the Lake (Mariand Torres) appears and wins over Dennis with Come With Me who now becomes Sir Galahad. Ms Torres while singing hilarious songs shows her talent as a genuine Broadway Belter with the Diva’s Lament and Find Your Grail/The Song That Goes Like This.
Jen Cody is outstanding as Patsy. Her performance of the show’s best known song Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life was pitch perfect, and she showed great comedic expressions when Mr. Shaughnessy sang I’m Alone. Poor Patsy who had stood by the King throughout thick and thin was a riot as she looked to the audience with “What about me looks?” as Arthur spun his tale of loneliness.
Jen Cody as Patsy Photo Credit: Gary Ng
With many of the devices that make Monty Python so popular, such as a giant wooden rabbit, the huge hand, poking fun at the French, and riding on horseback sans horses, fans won’t be disappointed.
The big show tunes are a treat as well. You Won’t Succeed On Broadway (Josh Grisetti) is Mel Brooksian in its formula for it’s humorous take in what you need to produce a Broadway Show while His Name Is Lancelot (Nic Rouleau) is best described as Lancelot’s coming out song.
Music, laughter, beautiful sets, and the joy of the Ogunquit Playhouse is back. Life is good again.
By the finale the audience was fully back in theatre mode. Music, laughter, beautiful sets, and the joy of the Ogunquit Playhouse is back. Life is good again.
I’d like to say a few things about the Leary Pavilion. While it is different from the main theatre it is a very interesting setting for a play. It accommodates 75% of the Playhouse’s indoor capacity. The 25,000 square foot steel structured, fully covered, open air performance venue has a 96 foot wide stage, a full array of lighting, and much better acoustics than I expected. A major plus is having the seats arranged in “pods” of two for social distancing. This also ensures every audience member is guaranteed an aisle seat with plenty of leg room. For a fidgeter like me this is a positive delight. Site lines are clear and unobstructed. You doin’t have to crane your neck to look past people’s heads. Is the pavilion better than the indoor theatre? No. Is it worse? No. It is a different and very interesting experience, and it works very, very well.
Brad Kenney deserves more than high praise for making this all happen. Don’t think twice about buying tickets for Spamalot and the rest of the season. Come out of your cocoon and step into the world of outstanding musical theatre at the Ogunquit Playhouse. It really feels good to be back looking at the bright side of life!
In addition to the four Main Stage plays being presented this season, the Ogunquit Playhouse will once again be welcoming patrons to their Playhouse Patio Cabaret. The Patio proved extremely popular last year and will be an extra treat this season as things begin to shift back to normal in Ogunquit with the opening of the Main Stage.
The opening performance will see the return of Nat Zegree to the patio. Nat, who rocked the house in Million Dollar Quartet, will be sharing his talent and musical knowledge June 4 through 6. This will be a great prelude to the opening of the first full musical in nearly two year which takes place on June 16 with Monty Python’s Spamalot.
The Playhouse Patio Cabaret will continue throughout the summer withtotal of 10 events. In addition to Nat Zegree the performers along with the plays they were in are Diana Huey(Elf The Musical) June 25-27, Jeffry Denman (White Christmas) and David Lamoureux(An American in Paris)July 23-25, F. Michael Haynie (Hunchback of Notre Dame)July 30-August 1, Alysha Umphress (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) and Jeff Blumenkrantz(Broadway’s Bright Star) 6-8, NicoleVanessa Ortiz August (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)13-15, Kyle Taylor Parker (Kinky Boots) August 20-22, Lindsay Roberts (Ragtime)September 10-12, Jonathan Mousset Alonso (JerseyBoys) and Vince Di Mura September 17-19, and Graham Scott Fleming (Kinky Boots)September 24-26.
With seats limited to 100 per performance, tickets will run out fast. Last years series sold out within days. Cabaret performances are On Sale Now at ogunquitplayhouse.org and through the Box Office phone lines at 207.646.5511. Seating is by table, priced as $140 for a table of two, and $280 for a table of four, limited to 100 patrons per performance. Pricing includes one complimentary drink per person.
This will be a very exciting summer in Ogunquit led by the very talented performers and staff at the Ogunquit Playhouse. You don’t want to miss out.
SURVIVING THE HOLOCAUST CAMPS BY BOXING (1940 – 1945)
By Len Abram
As much as Holocaust stories horrify, they also inspire. Decades of research detail the murderers and their methods, from the industries that produced the poison gas or exploited slave labor, to the rail systems across Europe, with thousands of employees, that transported millions to final destinations.
Luck plays its part in survival stories. But when their fate is in their hands, in some cases literally, the survivors outwit and outlast the system determined to take their lives.
The survivors are the other side of the tragic equation. Their stories inspire hope that courage and faith can overcome evil on a scale still hard to imagine. Luck plays its part in survival stories. But when their fate is in their hands, in some cases literally, the survivors outwit and outlast the system determined to take their lives.
In 1980, the film “Playing for Time,” was based upon Fania Fenelon’s memoir, in which an orchestra at Auschwitz helped Fenelon survive the Holocaust. A Jew in the French resistance, Fenelon was arrested in 1943 and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the work camp in the Auschwitz complex.
Maria Mandl was the SS commander of the women’s camp, where Fenelon was imprisoned. Along with her brutality, Mandl was fanatical about her love of music. Fenelon couldn’t understand murderers appreciating the beauty of music. Mandl was complicit in the deaths of 500,000 women. Fenelon watched Joseph Kramer, commandant of Auschwitz, rush to attend her concerts, after he had killed 24,000 Jews that day.(Kramer was tried, convicted and hanged in 1945, as was Mandl, in 1947.)
As one of the cellists in the orchestra said, “As long as they wanted an orchestra, they couldn’t put us in the gas chamber.” Fenelon too survived, barely. Shipped to Bergen-Belsen in Germany as the Russian army approached Auschwitz. Fenelon was dying when the Allies arrived.She recovered to continue her career.
As with the musicians, boxers also provided the SS officers and guards with distractions from their grisly tasks — and later a war not going well. Boxers fought in the extermination and slave labor camps, trying to survive by boxing for time.
At Auschwitz and at other camps, selection for life or death was based upon a person’s usefulness.
At Auschwitz and at other camps, selection for life or death was based upon a person’s usefulness. The SS was looking for physicians or barbers or even forgers, among other skills. Anyone strong or young was chosen for forced labor.
Boxers were also on the SS list to entertain SS officers and guards.In Europe and America, boxing was as popular as soccer and football are today. American boxers and baseball players were the most highly paid athletes. A championship fight in the 1930s, says boxing historian Mike Silver, drew as much public attention as a Presidential election. The German Max Schmeling beat leading heavyweight contender Joe Louis. Hitler touted Schmeling’s Aryan superiority, until African-American Joe Louis defeated Schmeling in the rematch.
Leen Sanders
Dutch boxer Leen Sanders (40 wins, 6 KOs, 19 losses, 16 draws) fought, as a middleweight and welterweight across Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. As a Jew, he wore the Star of David on his trunks. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, Sanders and his entire family went into hiding. They were betrayed and arrested. In January 1943, the family was shipped to Auschwitz. Sanders’ two children were gassed immediately; Sanders’ wife was murdered in late April. Seven of his siblings, including his brother Bram, and his parents, were also killed. Sanders was performing slave labor in the camp, when he was recognized by a member of the SS, who had seen him boxing in 1936.
Sanders was offered a chance to box and train the guards in boxing. This must have been the critical point for all the boxers who cooperated: to live and fight the evil in their own way or likely die, along with all the others. The Nazis expected no witnesses to their crimes. Fenelon’s memoir was titled as delaying the time, not the liberation she finally experienced. Sanders used his boxing position to help other inmates to survive with food and clothing. As an inmate recalled, Sanders “held his hand over me.” Sanders survived the war by boxing to return to the Netherlands, remarried, and won two more bouts before retiring.
Contemporary fiction is mindful of the connection between boxing and the Holocaust. Szczepan Twardoch’s 2020 novel “The King of Warsaw,” mentions Teddy aka Tadeusz Pietrzykowski (Wins 334, Losses 14, Draws 2), Warsaw city champion, and another fighter who boxed to survive.
As a member of the Polish resistance, Pietrzykowski was imprisoned in a camp for political prisoners named Auschwitz. In 1940, Pietrzykowski was prisoner number 77. Less than a year later when it became a killing center, Harry Haft, another boxer from Poland, was prisoner 144738.
Teddy Pietrzykowski
Pietrzykowski reported intelligence back to the underground and performed acts of sabotage. The commandant at the time was Rudolph Höss, who trained his dog to bite Jewish prisoners and killed one.Pietrzykowski found a way to kill the dog, which the inmates and he, always short on rations, cooked and ate.
The Polish saboteur wasn’t done with Höss, who rode his horse around the camp.Pietrzykowski sabotaged Höss’s saddle, so that the horse threw the commandant. It was assumed to be accident when Höss suffered a broken leg. In 1946, when Höss was on trial, Pietrzykowski testified and watched Höss hanged.
Pietrzykowski didn’t start boxing right away – in the beginning he was assigned to work in a carpenter’s shop. Being fit helped all the former boxers survive the hard labor. His first boxing opponent was Walter Dünning – a German prisoner – who, before the war, was a middleweight vice-champion of Germany.
They fought in their work gloves. Most of the boxing at the camps was done with bare fists.
In March, 1941, Dünning’s fellow inmates suggested, if he liked abusing others, maybe he should try fighting Pietrzykowski. Dünning was 154 pounds. Bantamweights like Pietrzykowski fight between 115 and 118 pounds. Against Dunning, on camp rations and hard labor, Pietrzykowski weighed 88 pounds. They fought in their work gloves. Most of the boxing at the camps was done with bare fists.Dünning stopped the fight when he realized that he was losing, and Pietrzykowski got a loaf of bread and a bar of margarine as a prize. He shared his win with the other inmates.
Boxing became part of Pietrzykowski’s resistance to the occupation. Since he wasn’t Jewish, Pietrzykowski fought Jews and Gentiles, whereas Jewish boxers fought other Jewish boxers, with exceptions. A Jew winning a match against the Master Race would be intolerable. Boxing became popular with the inmates as well as the SS. Pietrzykowski’s victories over German opponents or collaborators boosted morale among his fellow slave laborers.
Pietrzykowski fought around 40 times in Auschwitz and another 20 in Neuengamme, another camp in Germany. He fought Leen Sanders, the Dutch champion, twice. Sanders was his true equal in skill. Pietrzykowski won the second match. Pietrzykowski adjusted his boxing style according to his opponent, some of whom, like Sanders, were professional boxers. By his own account, his bouts against two German professional boxers were vicious, but he won both.
Pietrzykowski’s style was to outwit the opponent, to slip punches and dance away, elusive rather than a toe-to-toe beating of the opponent into submission. He had fans among the SS – and certainly his fellow inmates – who called him “the White Fog.” Pietrzykowski changed his style, however, when the opponent was a Jew. He would try for a draw. The SS might condemn a loser to gassing or shooting – especially if they lost money gambling.
In a remarkable bout for even those surreal times, Pietrzykowski interrupted a prisoner beating another prisoner. With the permission of the SS, he challenged the bully to a bout.The man whom he saved from a beating was a Polish priest, who later gained fame for taking the place of a man condemned to death. In the Catholic Church, the priest is known as Saint Maximilian Kolbe. After liberation, Pietrzykowski returned to join in the rebuilding of Poland. He fought 15 times after the war, winning most of those, and then retired to teach boxing.
Victor Young Perez
Messaoud Hai Victor “Young” Perez was another boxer, who fought to extend his chances for survival – but this time to no avail. A TunisianJewish boxer, Perezbecame the World Flyweight Champion in 1931 and 1932, fighting under his ring name “Young Perez” (Wins 92, KOs 29, Losses 31, Draws 15). Perez was a hero to the Tunisian Jewish community, his life celebrated by that community for decades after his death.
In 1931, he beat an American opponent in Paris to become World Flyweight Champion.Boxing made him rich by his humble background and famous too – thousands of fans, a Peugeot convertible, and dating a movie star.By 1938, with over 160 fights, lately more losses than wins, Perez retired. He was living in Paris when the war started, and meant to return home in Tunis, but got delayed. By then, France had surrendered and the Vichy government cooperated with the Nazis in its war against the Jews.
Perez refused to register as a Jew with the Vichy regime. He posed as a Spaniard and supported himself with odd jobs, including assisting in boxing matches. While he was trying to escape again, he was betrayed and arrested. In September 1943, he was interned in the Drancy camp. There, his fame as champion boxer followed him, and he performed boxing demonstrations for inmates and guards. In October, he was moved to Auschwitz, to a subcamp about six miles from the main camp, a four-day trip in a cattle car with no food or water.
Perez was at Monowitz, the camp where I.G. Farben had a factory producing artificial rubber. Inmates Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel were also there – although it’s unlikely they met.The commandant was an avid boxing fan and Young was his favorite.Boxers were forced to participate in bouts twice a week, in which Nazi officers placed bets. Boxers got a day off to train and an extra bowl of soup for winning. The loser – if an inmate — was executed. Perez fought against taller and heavier German personnel, since no regard was paid to weight class restrictions.
Perez lost his boxing privileges in 1944 for breaking a camp rule. His work after that was digging earthworks against aerial bombardment. In January 1945, with Russian troops closing on Auschwitz, Perez was on the infamous forced march to Germany, where thousands died. Harry Haft and his brother survived that march. Perez was shot and killed on January 20 or 22. Some said that he was killed while getting bread for other inmates on the trek
Salamo Arouch
Salamo Arouch (before the war, Wins 27, KOs27, Losses 0; during the war, estimated Wins 208, KOs 206, Losses 0, Draws 2; after the war, Wins 4, Losses 1, Draws 0) was a Greek middleweight champion with 27 wins (all knockouts).Rounded up by the Nazis in May 1943, his family and he were wedged into a cattle car at Thessalonica, Greece, and transported to Auschwitz.His family members either were gassed immediately or died later – his brother was shot for refusing to remove gold teeth from the dead.
After the first selection, Arouch, as inmate 136954, was standing nearly naked in a line of other prisoners, when a German officer arrived. He asked if any of the prisoners were boxers or wrestlers. At 5’6” and 135 pounds, Arouch didn’t convince the officer that he was a boxer. The officer put together an impromptu boxing match right there, drawing a circle in the dirt where Arouch would face his first opponent, another prisoner. Arouch knocked that man out in three rounds.
For two years, Arouch was boxing two or more times a week as entertainment for the German military. Special privileges, an indoor job and extra rations, helped him survive, while around him, was death. Of the 47,000 Jews from his home town taken by the Nazis, only 2,000 survived the war.Arouch was a 135 pounds in his prime, but on camp rations he lost weight. Still, the SS put him in the ring against much larger men. He said he once knocked out a 250-pound opponent in 18 seconds. Arouch’s fancy footwork and style earned him the title of “the Ballet Dancer.”
His opponents were other Jewish inmates or Gypsies, occasionally Nazi guards. The outcomes of the bouts were often deadly for the Jews or Gypsies. “The loser would be badly weakened,” Arouch said. “And the Nazis shot the weak.” The same would be true for Arouch, should he lose. His toughest opponent, he said in an interview, was a German-Jewish boxer named Klaus Silber, an undefeated amateur boxer. The fight was brutal, each man landing on the floor several times. Arouch recovered to knock out his opponent. He never saw Silber again.
Like Fenelon, he was shipped to Bergen-Belsen as the Russian army drew near. Although his family had been murdered and he was alone, he met a young woman from his home town, whom he eventually married. They moved to Israel, where he boxed until he retired from the sport in 1955.He summarized why he fought during the war: “What kept me alive was a burning determination to someday tell the world what I saw at Auschwitz.”
Harry Haft
From around 1940 until liberation, Harry (Herschel) Haft (Wins 13, KOs 8, Losses 8) spent five years as a slave laborer and then a boxer in six different camps. Haft arrived in Auschwitz in 1943, sometime after Salamo Arouch, given Haft’s number as inmate 144738. At age sixteen, Haft had grown up in poverty and joined his brothers in smuggling to make a living. The physical demands placed on him at an early age trained him for hardship in the camps and in the ring. Skirting the law, if not breaking it, helped prepare him for finding ways around camp rules, there to weaken and eventually kill inmates.
At Auschwitz, Haft’s first job was as a Sonderkommando, disposing the dead from the gas chambers. The work drove some of the workers to suicide. Haft contemplated his death, when an opportunity to mine coal presented itself at a subcamp at Auschwitz.Haft was strong and handled the hard and dangerous labor. The SS guards at the camp entertained themselves with boxing.
They picked the fighters from among the inmates, and bet on who would survive long enough for the next match. Haft’s physique as a teenager was more impressive to the guards than the skeletal appearance of his opponents, and he was a favored contender. At Jaworzno, the subcamp near Auschwitz, pouring rain turned a field into mud, which became the ring and Haft’s first bout. Another Jewish prisoner was Haft’s opponent, facing each other with bare-knuckled fists. Haft fought hard. He knew what happened to losers. That intensity was his style in the ring, even when he boxed professionally in America. The SS guards called Haft “the Jew Animal.”
An SS officer saw Haft’s skill in the ring. Disillusioned with the war, the officer became Haft’s advocate. He got Haft the boxing bouts to keep him alive for three-and-half years. When Haft complained that his wins meant his opponent would likely be gassed or shot, the officer assured Haft that they would die anyway, now or later.Haft fought 75 times in the camps, often with bare knuckles, against many larger and more powerful opponents.
When the Russians were closing in to the camp, Haft and one of his brothers, all that was left from his family of eight, joined thousands of other inmates, including Young Perez, on the forced march into Germany. Haft escaped death once again – and had to kill to survive.American GIs adopted the young Haft, who weighed 106 pounds, when his fighting weight was around 175. Under Army auspices, Haft recovered his health, boxed and became a local champion. When Haft found his way to New Jersey, his only skills were boxing and surviving.
Haft became a professional light heavyweight and heavyweight boxer. It was a short career, two years and 21 fights. The most important fight of Haft’s career was against Rocky Marciano, soon to be heavyweight champion. Haft contended that gangsters threatened to kill him if he won. He never boxed again.He married, and raised a family in Brooklyn. His story is in a memoir authored by his son, and soon to be released movie called “The Survivor.”
Sanders, Pietrzykowski, Perez, Arouch, and Haft – except for Perez, killed while leaving the camps — survived the war because of their boxing. By boxing for time, they outlasted and outlived their Nazi tormentors. Books and movies have been written and filmed about each, witnesses to one of the great human tragedies. Boxing is about skill, the training and the dedication. It is also about the courage to lift fists, face the foe and never give up.
The pandemic put a serious damper on live theatre, and last year the Ogunquit Playhouse was limited to just a few cabaret style outdoor events. Things were up in the air for this year, but the show will go on. The team at the Playhouse have worked hard to come up with a way to stage productions in a safe environment. They have been as creative with providing a new setting as they are with their stage work. It looks to be an exiting year in Ogunquit.
Bradford T. Kenney, Executive Artistic Director stated, “When it became obvious we couldn’t produce shows indoors this year, the creative wheels began turning on how we could deliver that legendary Ogunquit Playhouse magic in an entirely new way”. Rising from the grounds of the South lawn on the campus this April is The Playhouse Pavilion, a 25,000 square foot, fully covered, open air venue designed to give audiences the greatest theatrical experience in the safest of environments. Fully wired for lights and sound, the 75 foot wide stage will dazzle socially distanced audiences seated in pods of two seats with clear sight lines for all the show stopping glitz and side-splitting laughter they’ve been without for the past year.
The 2021 Season kicks off with Spamalot, which returns in a new 90-minute, no-intermission extravaganza. From the comedic brilliance of the mighty Pythons and their hysterically inaccurate retelling of King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail, Eric Idle adapts his original Broadway script to streamline the music and laughter for a COVID-friendly environment. Spamalot will runJune 16 through July 10.
Next up will be the regional premiere of Escape To Margaritaville. You’ll be dining on cheeseburgers in paradise and wasting away with this 90-minute no intermission journey through the music of the incomparable Jimmy Buffett. Kick off your flip flops for seven weeks from July 14 through August 28, as Maine’s Seacoast is transformed into a Caribbean paradise where love and laughter are the keys to growing older without growing up.
Act Three of the season will run from September 1 through October 2 with The Pavilion stage transforming into a quaint New England seacoast village for the World Premiere of Mystic Pizza, the beloved 1980s MGM romantic comedy that launched the career of Julia Roberts. Three girlfriends navigating life, love, and coming-of-age in a working class seaside pizza joint. This pizza is topped with the hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Bringing the curtain down on the season’s Pavilion stage spectacular will a new 90-minute, no intermission, side-splitting version of Young Frankenstein! Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman scared the pants off Broadway giving his 1974 cult classic creature new life on stage as a mind-blowing tap dancing monster of an experience. The creepy and kooky family will run from October 6 through, fittingly, Halloween!
While audience members are not being required to provide their proof of vaccination, Ogunquit Playhouse encourages all patrons and guests to get vaccinated for their own safety and the safety of those around them. They are also making it clear that everyone on campus — staff, artists, and patrons alike — adhere to current State and Federal CDC guidelines for social distancing. Masks will be required at all times, except when eating and drinking. Masks will be provided to those who arrive without one. And patron traffic flow will be managed to ensure the safest, most efficient arrival and departure from the campus.
It’s important to keep in mind that seating in The Pavilion is limited, so it would be wise to purchase tickets and subscriptions early. Playhouse Members will receive a week of pre-sales beginning April 19 at 10AM ET. With an annual Membership of $100 or more, you too can get a fast pass to the front of the line! General Public sales begin April 26 online at ogunquitplayhouse.org and by phone at 207.646.5511.
Knowing this Season will be completely different from what Playhouse audiences are used to, all patrons are encouraged to share their questions and concerns by filling out the comments form at https://bit.ly/3snypuR. While it is not possible to address each inquiry individually,responses will be shared on the Playhouse Facebook page and in the weekly eNews.
An All Time Great Champion And Decent Man Is Taken From Us
By Bobby Franklin
Last Saturday night I was logging onto the internet to check my email when I saw on the newsfeed the headline “Marvin Hagler, Former Middleweight Champion, Has Died”. It couldn’t be true I thought. The story said his wife Kay had posted the news on Marvin’s Facebook Page. Knowing the unreliability of social media and how rife for rumors it is I assumed some person with a sick mind had started the rumor and things would be cleared up soon.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. Soon, other media sources also reported the story. The Champ had died unexpectedly at, or near, his home in Bartlett, New Hampshire. The indestructible Marvelous Marvin Hagler, winner of 62 fights with 52 knock outs was gone. He was only 66 years old and appeared fit enough to still go fifteen rounds at a moments notice. It just couldn’t be.
In 1967 Marvin’s mother moved the family from Newark, NJ to Brockton, MA. Newark had been torn by riots and she wanted a better life for her children. Soon after settling in Brockton Marvin found the Petronelli’s gym and began a career in boxing that would take him to the National A.A.U. Championship and then onto to a spectacular professional career culminating in winning the World Middleweight Championship.
The road to the title was not an easy one. Hagler had a few strikes against him when it came to his quest for a title shot. He lacked connections, he was very good and he was a southpaw. Those at the top avoided him at all costs.
Another thing about Hagler; he was never satisfied. No matter how much he improved he believed he could be better and he kept working at it.
But Marvin had another quality, he was determined and unrelenting. He knew he would be champion some day and he kept working at it. Rising early mornings he would do his roadwork. After finishing running he would spend the day working his job at roofing and construction. Evenings he would be in the gym working to perfect his technique. Another thing about Hagler; he was never satisfied. No matter how much he improved he believed he could be better and he kept working at it.
Fighting for short money Marvin took on the likes of Bennie Briscoe, Willie Monroe, Bobby Watts, Eugene Cyclone Hart, Kevin Finnegan, Mike Colbert, Doug Demmings, Sugar Ray Seales, and Johnny Baldwin. He lost only two times and in both those cases he returned to decisively beat his opponent. And remember, this was all before becoming champion.
It wasn’t until his 49th bout and after six years of fighting that he finally landed a title shot. On November 30, 1979 he got his chance against Champion Vito Antuofermo. After fifteen rounds it appeared to all who had seen the fight that Marvin had won the crown. Unfortunately, two out of the three judges did not see it that way and the fight was ruled a draw allowing Vito to retain the title.
Hagler was crushed but he did not let it stop him. He went on to rack up three more wins and then challenged Alan Minter for the title in London, Minter’s home town. Alan had previously won the championship from Antuofermo.
Marvin Lands A Right On Alan Minter
Marvin did not leave it to the judges this time. He destroyed Minter inside of three rounds. Finally, the title was his, but he was not allowed to celebrate. The British fans rioted and Hagler was lucky to get out of the ring without being injured or worse. He was denied the joy of being presented with the championship belt in the ring.
Marvin would go on to successfully defend the title 12 times with only one challenger, Roberto Duran, going the distance with him. To say he was dominant would be an understatement. He had no soft touches in his title defenses. He took on the best and showed what a true champion was made out of.
It was in his thirteenth defense that he agreed to fight Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard’s career was everything Marvin’s was not when it came to getting breaks. His first pro fight was a televised main event. He made money from day one and was carefully guided to the championship, and he was a media darling. He had retired three years earlier but decided to make a comeback when he perceived Hagler was starting to show signs of slowing down a bit.
Hagler vs Hearns
The fight was held in La Vegas, the site of the robbery in Marvin’s challenge to Antuofermo. The terms were all set in Leonard’s favor, from the location, to having a large ring, to the distance of the fight being reduced from 15 to 12 rounds. In spite of all this and with Marvin coming off wars in his two previous fights, against Hearns and Mugabi, he appeared to have won the fight. But once again two of the three judges did not see it that way and Leonard was given the decision and the title.
Again, Marvin was crushed by this theft. The title had been stolen from him. It was believed that he would come back and fight Leonard again, but Leonard did not immediately agree to a rematch. He decided he would leave Marvin dangling. However, Hagler did something not expected and very wise; he walked away from the game. He knew he had defeated Leonard. He had accomplished everything he set out to do in boxing. He had to do it all the hard way, but Marvin knew how to work hard. He left the sport with his head high and his mind intact and a healthy bank account. Not many do.
Hagler Victorious Over Hearns
The adjustment to a life away from boxing was at first a bit rocky, but after some struggles and a divorce Marvin found his stride, He moved to Italy where he made movies. He remarried and bought a second home in the quiet town of Bartlett, New Hampshire. The intensity with which he had to live and fight for so many years was now in the past. Watching interviews with him that were done in recent years you see a content man. He had no demons haunting. He was happily married to his wife Kay for thirty years and they had a great life together. They traveled extensively making personal appearances. The fans still admired him.
Marvin was truly the last of the great throwback fighters. He was without a doubt an all time great. He could have fought in any era and been champion. While it can be argued that some of the greats of the past could have beaten him, it cannot be said for certain that any of them would have.
Kirk Douglas and Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler was also a throwback in another sense. He never gave up his dignity, he was always classy and decent. Hagler never let setbacks keep him down, nor did he ever embrace a victim mentality , a way of thinking that is so common today. He was able to channel his disappointments and anger into positive forces that contributed to his successes. I doubt his like will ever be seen again, and we are the lesser because of it.
Rest In Peace Champ. You were taken too soon and will be missed.
If looks could win fights Jack Palance would have been heavyweight champion of the world. His face appeared as if it were cut out of stone and he had the persona to go with it. While well liked, he was known as someone who didn’t pull his punches, figuratively or literally. At 6’3”’ and 200 pounds, he was built lean and hard and was an imposing figure.
He was born Volodymir Ivanovich Palahniuk on February 18, 1919 in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania to Ukrainian immigrants. At an early age he decided he didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps working as a coal miner. After 39 years working in the mines his father died of black lung disease. As a young man it bothered him that his mother was forced to buy groceries at the company store when the same goods could be had for cheaper in nearby establishments.
A natural athlete, Jack earned a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina but dropped out after two years. It was then that he decided to take up boxing. He fought under the name of Jack Brazzo and reportedly won his first 15 fights with 12 coming by way of knockout. I was unable to verify this record, but it is a fact that he took on future heavyweight contender Joe Baski in 1938 losing a four round decision. It was after the Baski loss that Palance left boxing for a career in acting. He later recalled, ”…Then I thought, ‘You must be nuts to get your head beat in for $200.’ The theater seemed a lot more appealing…”.
His career was sidetracked by WWII. He was seriously injured when bailing out of a B-24 Liberator that had caught fire. He required facial surgery for wounds he received. When later asked if the plastic surgery had enhanced his looks he responded “If it is a ‘bionic face,’ why didn’t they do a better job of it?” After the war he returned home and to the coal mines. He then enrolled at Stanford University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for a time as a sportswriter while resuming his acting career having now changed his name to Jack Palance.
In 1956 he got to put his boxing experience to work when he starred in the Playhouse 90 production of Requiem For A Heavyweight. Most people remember the movie version that had Anthony Quinn in the leading role. With a screenplay written by Rod Serling, another former boxer, the Playhouse 90 performance was aired live on television on October 11th of that year. Co- starring Ed and Keenan Wynn along with Kim Hunter, this version is different from the big screen production.
The character Quinn played was named Mountain Rivera, while Palance’s was Mountain McClintock. Palance brought a more nuanced tact to the role of the over the hill boxer who now had to find his way in the world outside of the ring. His experience as a boxer certainly aided in his being able to dig more deeply into the role. The two versions show the fighter suffering from pugilistica dementia, while also struggling with his loyalty to his manager who wants him to continue boxing even after being warned by a doctor that one more fight could kill him. It’s a touching and tragic story enhanced by the grim fact it is something that happens time and again in boxing.
While aired live, the performance was saved on film and is available on Amazon and Youtube. I highly recommend it both for the outstanding acting done by Palance and the hard-hitting screenplay by Serling. While the big screen version is an excellent movie, Quinn’s Rivera tends too much to the pathetic side and sinks into caricature while Palance’s McClintock has a depth and realism that makes for a very moving performance. While Quinn’s character remains under the spell of his manager, Palance’s McClintock struggles to break away in a pursuit to regain his self-respect. Palance brings complexity to the role, for which he won an Emmy. It is interesting to watch the two versions and compare them.
Palance went on to have a legendary career in film, while never feeling at home with the Hollywood crowd. A life long vegetarian and health fanatic he stayed fit all of his life. In 1991 while accepting the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Curley in City Slickers he brought the audience to its feet when at age 73 he dropped to the floor and did one armed pushups.
I wish more information was available about his boxing career, but there is no doubt that any of his opponents would have felt at least a brief chill when looking across the ring at Jack Palance.
While a genuine tough guy, Jack liked to spend his free time painting and writing poetry and fiction. On November 10, 2006 Jack Palance passed away at the age of 87 of natural causes. A true original, he will never be forgotten.
Johnny Bratton and Kid Gavilan Weigh In For Their Third Fight
Recently, I received an email from my friend boxing historian Mike Silver, the author of The Arc Of Boxing. Mike included a link to a Youtube video of the second Kid Gavilan vs Johnny Bratton fight. He described the bout as one of the best he has seen and commented emphatically, “This is BOXING.” After that ringing endorsement I had to take a look for myself. Mike certainly was right. The fight was indeed entertaining as well as a textbook example of how much boxing has devolved over the years.
Kid Gavilan and Johnny Bratton fought three times during the period from 1951 to 1953. In their first fight Gavilan won the NBA World Welterweight Championship from Bratton.In their third fight the Kid defended the title against Johnny. Their second fight was a ten round non-title affair.
Rare today, non-title fights were not unusual years ago. They would take place when the fighters would come in over the weight limit of the division the title holder was in. This was prearranged and the fans knew they were not going to see the champion risk his belt. It was a way for a title holder to stay busy without risking his title. It was also an opportunity for someone not rated high enough to get a chance at fighting a champ and, even in losing, be able to enhance his reputation by showing he could stay in there with the best.
The second Gavilan/Bratton fight was a bit unusual as the two had fought for the title just six months earlier. In that fight, held on May 18, 1951, Bratton fought with a broken jaw from the fifth round on but lasted the full distance while losing a decision. Just six months later on November 11, 1951 the two would meet again, this time in a non-title fight. And what a fight it was.
Bratton Lands A Left On Gavilan
You might think Bratton would have been a bit gun shy after having taken such a licking in their first encounter, but at the opening bell he came out with guns blazing. Of course, Gavilan was their to meet fire with fire, and this led to a very “entertaining” fight. It also was a display of two ring wise boxing veterans plying their craft.
For the first three rounds Johnny tried matching Gavilan’s speedy combinations. This led to some great exchanges but The Kid was getting the best of them. In the 4th round Bratton changed tactics and started looking to counterpunch. He had more success with this strategy. Gavilan was a very rhythmic fighter and Johnny was trying to break that rhythm by making moves to throw the Champ off his game. Bratton even mimicked Gavilan’s trademark bolo punch in an effort to rattle him. In the seventh round the two tried to outdo one another while digging into their bags of tricks. Gavilan used head feints and a shuffle (yes, this move was around long before Ali trademarked it), and Bratton at one point pointed to the crowd in order to distract the Kid. Neither fell for the tactics but it is fun to watch them trying to one up each other.
Gavilan Lands A Right Counter On Bratton
There a few things that really stand out in this fight. Things that you will not see today or for that matter ever again in boxing. In the entire 10 rounds the fighters only clinched two times, and neither of these was a hug fest. They also went to the ropes on just one occasion. This fight, like so many from the age of boxing when it was an art form, took place almost entirely in mid-ring.
It was in the eighth round when Bratton was stepping back from Gavilan that he went against the ropes. He immediately responded by neutralizing a left hook the Champ was throwing by placing his right hand on the inside of Gavilan’s elbow as he stepped away from the ropes. This was one of two times that the referee intervened, and even that action by the third man was not needed as the two were breaking on their own.
Gavilan Beats Bratton To The Punch
It is also a pleasure to watch how these two artists used their left jabs. Today, most fighters hold their hands up against their faces in what makes them look like they are wearing ear muffs. It is impossible to throw a decent jab from that position, not that any of them seem interested in throwing jabs anyway. Both Johnny and the Kid used a classic stance where the left hand is held low and out in front of them while the right hand is kept open and held high in order to parry the opponent’s punches, their chins stay tucked into the shoulder. Having the left in this position allows for the punch to travel a shorter distance while also leaving the option of turning it into a hook or an uppercut, and for the real masters, a hook off the jab. It is also a great defensive position as Bratton showed in the 8th round when he was able to disarm Gavilan by grabbing the inside of his elbow and walking him away from the ropes. The left can also be raised in a stiff arm fashion to deflect a punch. They both employed feints in an effort to get the other to lead, knowing that a fighter is most vulnerable when he is throwing a punch.
It’s funny, but at one point the referee took a round away from Gavilan for holding and hitting. This was odd as I wasn’t able to see anything close to holding and hitting. I think the ref was feeling unneeded and wanted to justify being paid.
At the end of the ten rounds the decision was announced as a draw. If not for the referee taking away the round from Gavilan, the champ would have won the fight.
The two would meet one more time in November of 1953, this time for the title. Gavilan won a one-sided decision over fifteen rounds. The press reported that Bratton was thoroughly beaten by the 12th round but he held on until the final bell.
I highly recommend viewing the second fight between these two excellent fighters. You can watch it a number of times, and as with any great work of art you will notice new things each time you see it. And Mike was right, it is a very entertaining fight.
For anyone following the Boston boxing scene in the late 1960s and 1970s the name Johnny Coiley will certainly ring a bell. John was an outstanding amateur fighter who turned pro in 1969. He was a slick boxer with a decent punch who went on to win the New England Middleweight Championship.
John was never in a dull fight, using his rapier like left jab to keep his opponents at bay and also as a way to set up his solid right hand. Sixteen of his 24 wins came via stoppage.
Fighting most often at the Boston Arena he also made stops in Taunton, MA; Portland, Maine; and the Boston Garden. His biggest win was over veteran Mike Pusateri for the New England title. The two had fought to a draw in their first encounter, and Johnny pulled out the win in their rematch. Things were looking good for the Cambridge middleweight as he had developed a loyal following of fans.
Meanwhile, in New Orleans another young prospect was making a career for himself. Tony Licata, trained by the legendary Bill Gore and managed by Lou Viscusi, was also compiling an impressive record. Licata was a smart boxer/puncher whose lightening fast combinations earned him the moniker “Machine Gun Tony.” He began his pro career a little ahead of Coiley and was facing stiffer competition than the New England Champ.
Tony Licata
In 1971 John Coiley’s manager agreed to have his young prospect travel to New Orleans, Licata’s hometown, to face Machine Gun Tony. The wisdom of taking this fight could be questioned. While both fighters had identical records when it came to the numbers, with Licata undefeated in 24 fights with 1 ending in a draw, and Coiley with 24 fights, no losses, and one draw, their level of competition was vastly different.
Out of the opponents Coiley faced only two had winning records. By far his biggest and most impressive win was over Mike Pusateri, and that was a major victory for him. Licata had also defeated Pusateri.
Out of Licata’s 29 opponents, only five had losing records and these were fighters he faced early in his career. By the time he was signed to fight Coiley he had wins over such solid fighters as Gene Wells, Walter Opshinsky, Danny McAloon, Luis Vinales, Dave Adkins, and a knockout victory over Lowell’s very tough Larry Carney.
Despite this vast difference in the quality of their opposition, Johnny’s manager still agreed to the fight with Licata, and on October 27, 1971 they fought over ten rounds with Tony winning a one sided decision. John was cut under his left eye in the fight.
Machine Gun Tony Licata And John Coiley Before Their Rematch
Soon after returning to Boston, Coiley’s manager was offered a return fight with Licata by promoter Sam Silverman. The Coiley team immediately accepted the fight, despite the fact that Johnny was still cut under his eye. The fight would take place just six weeks after the New Orleans battle, hardly enough time for the cut to fully heal so that he could train in earnest for the fight. The wound prevented Coiley from sparring in preparation for the fight for fear it might worsen the injury. The only ring work he got was 3 rounds with a heavyweight a week before the contest. In contrast, Licata put in 70 rounds and was injury free.
John Coiley With His Manager in 1970
Why on earth would Johnny’s manager agree to the rematch so soon after their first bout and under these conditions? The answer is he shouldn’t have. This was gross mismanagement, the kind that results in bad things happening to young fighters. It is boxing malpractice. John was clearly out of his league when he fought Licata the first time. He was given a boxing lesson in New Orleans where Machine Gun Tony’s superior experience showed. There was no shame in losing to a fighter of Licata’s talent in his hometown, Coiley needed to reset and work his way up facing the type of opponents Licata did with his career. Instead, he was back in on short notice with the man who was his better.
At the time, I spoke with people who were close with Licata’s management team. They told me Tony had actually carried Coiley for the ten rounds in their first match. Their strategy was to get a rematch in Boston where they felt Licata would get more exposure and be able to advance his career. His trainer Bill Gore had trained Willie Pep and had connections in the Northeast. It was a smart move on their part abetted by the horrible decision by Coiley’s manager.
As for the rematch, it was sad to watch. It was held at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston. Tony gave it his all this time. That, combined with the fact that Johnny was poorly trained for the fight and still injured from the first fight, led to a blowout. Tony gave Coiley a beating for seven rounds. In the eighth he dropped him with a left hook. The knockdown was so forceful it caused a bone separation in John’s lower back. In the ninth John would once again hit the canvas. In serious trouble he would now be saved by referee Jimmy McCaron who stopped the fight.
John Coiley Squares Off With Old Rival Mike Pusateri
Coiley was shattered by the loss both physically and emotionally. He was back in the ring less than four months later stopping Danny Perez in Boston. That would be the last time his hand would be raised in victory. He had six more bouts after that, being kayoed five times with one fight ending in a draw. I saw him kayoed in Waltham, MA by Stan Johnson. It was an even more brutal beating than the one he got from Licata. This punishment took a severe toll on him that would last for the rest of his life.
Think about it, in less than four years John Coiley was knocked out five times. That’s like having been in five auto accidents resulting in brain trauma. The difference here is the fact that these injuries were not the result of accidents but of a manager who never put the health and safety of his fighter first.
The rematch with Licata was tragic enough, and perhaps it could be chalked up to stupidity, but to continue throwing John in the ring when he was no longer able to properly defend himself was criminal. And for what, a few bucks?
Boxing is different than other sports. Mismanagement in baseball or golf results in losing and embarrassment. In boxing it results in brain injuries and even death. Put a baseball player in over his head and he will look bad and then be sent back to the minor leagues. In boxing fighters get thrown in again for another beating.
There is no excuse for what was done to a handsome and intelligent twenty-one year old middleweight from Cambridge, MA in 1971. Unfortunately, since it is boxing this scene has been and will continue to be repeated over and over again.
Mike Silver Talks With Teddy Atlas About His New Boxing Instructional Videos
By
Mike Silver
Teddy Atlas is a world renowned trainer and boxing commentator. Over the course of his 40 plus year career Teddy has mentored and taught scores of top amateur and professional boxers, including world champions Wilfredo Benitez, Mike Tyson, Simon Brown, Michael Moorer, Timothy Bradley, Joey Gamache, Barry McGuigan and Alexander Povetkin. He is also one of the sport’s most popular and respected broadcasters, having worked for ESPN as both an analyst and color commentator for over 20 years.
Although Teddy is no longer actively training boxers his expertise and wisdom is now available to everyone via a series of exceptional instructional videos. They are the next best thing to having Teddy right in front of you teaching you everything from the basics to more sophisticated “tricks of the trade” (not to mention the many life lessons that are always interwoven into Atlas’s memorable teaching style). Whether you are a boxer, armchair fan, trainer or just someone who is curious to know more about this ancient sport, you can have no better guide than Teddy Atlas.
So far three instructional video programs have been released and have proven to be extremely popular. They are: The Fundamentals of Boxing; The Peek-A-Boo Style of Boxing; 14 Signature Punches From All of The Greats. Nine more programs are planned, each covering a different aspect of the sweet science. Each video program is broken into separate segments that total about 3 hours.
Following are excerpts from an interview I recently conducted with Teddy to discuss the videos and his plans for future tutorials.
Mike: Whose idea was it to do these videos?
Teddy:The owners of Dynamic Striking.com contacted my daughter and asked if I would be interested in doing a boxing instructional video. They are the biggest makers of instructional fight videos in the world. A lot of the videos are about the MMA [Mixed Martial Arts] world, but they have some boxing and they wanted to get more involved with that.
After the initial success of the first one we found out there is a base out there that is interested and wants to learn.
Mike: Was the idea to do just one video?
Teddy: I thought so, but after seeing how successful the video was they suggested to keep doing them on specific areas of boxing. After the initial success of the first one we found out there is a base out there that is interested and wants to learn. So we started off with one, and now we’ve done four. The plan is to do eight more after that.
Mike:You’ve spent 45 years teaching the finer points of the sweet science. Will you still be involved in personally training boxers?
Teddy: I’m not inclined to train fighters so easily anymore. It takes a lot out of me. I’ve always been saying on ESPN for 25 years that when a fighter enters the ring they leave with less of themselves. What I never said was, it’s the same for a trainer. At least it’s been that way for me over the years. There is such a strong bond between trainer and fighter. You lose a piece of yourself physically, emotionally, even spiritually. You lose faith in people sometimes. You put so much into them they sometimes disappoint you in such a close proximity. So I’m not inclined to so readily say yes, anymore.
Mike: Who was the last boxer you trained?
Oleksandr Gvozkyk And Teddy
Teddy: I was asked to come out of retirement about three years ago to train light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozkyk. We won a world title against a really good puncher, Adonis Stevenson. Following that fight I was asked to train some marquee fighters. I’ve been saying no to them for the most part because it’s hard to want to make that commitment because of all of the things that float around that commitment that I know will go into it—going away from home, being in camp, the physical, mental and emotional demands of being responsible for a person.
Mike:Doing the videos, at this stage of your career, seems like a good idea because in a very real sense you will still be teaching.
Teddy Atlas Working The Corner With Michael Moorer The Night He Won The Title From Evander Holyfield
Teddy: Cus D’Amato said I was born to teach. I don’t know, but I’ve been doing it since I’m 19 years old. I was training Wilfredo Benitez when I was like 21. Not that I deserved it, but I was with Cus D’Amato, so I got that opportunity. If I told you some of the names of fighters I trained before I was 24 you’d shake your head. They’re all world champions, or guys who just fought for a world title and came up short. I became a commentator for 25 years with ESPN. I still work for them doing SportsCenter stuff, and I was fortunate enough to be put into the Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. But with all of that I’m still a teacher. Like Cus said, when you’re a teacher you teach. It’s always in you, it never leaves you. Because what is teaching? Teaching is really an opportunity, a privilege, and its work. It is a responsibility that could be a burden, like I just pointed out, but it’s also a privilege because you get a chance to make somebody better. You get a chance to help somebody in this world. That’s pretty good.
Mike: Modern technology has made it possible for you to reach a much wider audience who will benefit from your knowledge even if you’re not doing one on one teaching anymore.
Teddy: Like I just explained to you, I was reticent to do it anymore. I was keeping myself out of it. So this opportunity with Dynamic Striking comes along and my daughter talked me into it.She reminded me that this was a chance to do what I do best without having to go to camp, without having to have that personal involvement with the fighter that has worn me out. She explained to me that instead of helping one person I could help thousands who could learn something the right way, hopefully. They can improve on their interest in the sport, on their partaking of the sport, whether it’s a professional or an amateur, or a parent that wants their kid to learn the fundamentals properly, or a white collar guy who wants to work out but wants to do it the right way, not the wrong way. So she reminded me that here is an opportunity that came knocking on my door to continue teaching where I was inclined not to teach anymore.
Unlike other sports where you have to have a background in that sport, in boxing anyone can be a trainer. I couldn’t wind up on the sideline coaching a football team in the NFL because I don’t have that background.
Mike: It is my belief, and I’ve written about it, that we do not have nearly enough competent trainers who know how to teach the finer points of boxing technique.
Teddy:It’s true. Unlike other sports where you have to have a background in that sport, in boxing anyone can be a trainer. I couldn’t wind up on the sideline coaching a football team in the NFL because I don’t have that background. I don’t belong there, even though I may know the basics of the sport. But you can do that in my sport. I’m not saying they have to spend 8 years apprenticeship up in Catskill away from everything with Cus D’Amato, who was my mentor, and who had a great boxing mind. But the opportunities to do that aren’t even there anymore, to be quite honest. There should be some apprenticeship served. I look around and I see too many of these so called trainers without a background that are teaching fighters, so therefore the teaching is inappropriate. It is not correct in a lot of ways. So here is an opportunity, while I can still do it, without having to pick up the responsibility of the personal relationship with a fighter that I talked about earlier. I can still be able to teach people in a way that is fundamentally correct, and in a way that’s been lost in the sport to a certain degree because we do not have the teachers we should have. We have some good ones, but we have some that are not.
Mike: Are the lessons in these tutorials the same that Cus taught you in the eight years you were with him?
Teddy: Yes and no. I learned the nuts and bolts from Cus, the ABCs, the laws, the rules. There are laws in life and there are laws in boxing. You break the law in boxing you don’t get a ticket, you don’t get jail time, you get punched in the face. So you learn the basics and you have that foundation, and then with experience you start to add certain things.
Mike: What are some examples of the “nuts and bolts” of boxing?
Teddy: Moving your head after your last punch and covering back fast with your hands; keeping your chin down; keeping a slight bend in your knees; sharing the weight on both legs. You don’t put it all on one leg, or even 60% on one leg, it has to be 50-50 on both legs. Why? So you’re available to react without a millisecond lost. The weight is on the balls of your feet so you are ready to move while having the benefit of balance. You have to learn all those things and more, and you eventually advance.
Mike: The second video in the series explains the peek-a-boo style of boxing that Cus made famous. It was used to great effect by former champions Floyd Patterson, Mike Tyson and Jose Torres.
Teddy: The peek-a-boo was pure Cus D’Amato. People are interested in it. It’s part of the history of the sport. So when we did the peek-a-boo video of course I drew it directly from the blueprints of what Cus taught me and gave me, and instilled in me. But from there we advanced to other techniques.
Mike: In the video program titled 14 Signature Punches from All the Greats you explain and demonstrate some of boxing’s most effective “signature” punches that are identified with certain boxers. One of my personal favorites is the one called “The Walk Off”.
Jersey Joe Walcott Sneaks A Jab In On Rocky Marciano
Teddy:Jersey Joe Walcott [heavyweight champion 1951-1952] had this move where he would hitch up his trunks and start to walk off to the side a little bit. What the hell is that? Probably a habit he picked up, maybe a wasted habit? No it’s not wasted. It was thought out. It was developed. It was designed for a reason. The natural instinct of the person in front of him was to relax just for a moment…just for a moment. Like you have in nature when an animal, say a snake, a python, will make you relax just for a second and then–bang! Strike and it’s over. Well it’s the same thing. Jersey Joe would adjust his trunks and take a little walk off to the side, and you relax a little bit, you start to follow him and you don’t even realize you’re following him. And you start to follow him and– bang! He’s got you. Like the python. He’s got you. Sometimes it doesn’t even register with the spectators who see it. They think, “Oh, it just happened”. But it didn’t just happen. It happened because Walcott made it happen. You don’t knock great guys out by accident. Like Sugar Ray Robinson said, “I’ve got to dress them up before I take them out”. And that’s what Walcott did. He adjusted his trunks a little bit, he started moving his shoulders, walked like he was just taking a casual walk in the park, and then all of a sudden he synchronized the slip of his shoulders with that left uppercut and he caught Ezzard Charles—a great fighter—and knocked him out.
Mike: I’ve seen film footage of that fight but never quite understood what Walcott was doing until you explained it.
Teddy: Walcott had all those little subtleties, nuances, instinctive things that he knew he could do from experience. He knew how to walk the tightrope. He knew to take something that looked risky, and take the risk out of it. All that was left was the ingenuity and the genius of it that gave him that little edge.Life’s about overcoming, about finding a way. That’s what boxing’s about. I try to bring those things to this video series as it relates to boxing.
Mike: What is another example of a boxer’s “signature punch”
Teddy: Hector Camacho’s “trip hammer” jab. Camacho was a helluva fighter. He had great, great speed, and great boxing ability. His jab was very effective, but he did it different than anyone else’s. Nobody even noticed it. I liken it to a trip hammer. He didn’t turn it over, he just dropped it. He just dropped it! And what did that do? Well It saved him probably 2 tenths of a second. It sounds like nothing, but it’s everything. It got him there just a little quicker, without some of that excess motion, but he still threw it straight. He didn’t give any warning. So the basics were still there, but his genius, his instincts took it to a different place. I let my experiences do the same thing for me as a teacher.
Mike: What other instructional videos are planned?
Teddy: The next one is called Keys to the Door. Itshould be up in about two weeks. It’s all about the jab.
There are cave paintings found in Ethiopia that go back thousands of years depicting boxers and you always see the lead hand extended.
Mike: Why is it called Keys to the Door?
Teddy: The title is appropriate because the jab is the key that opens the door. It’s the lantern that lights the way. There are cave paintings found in Ethiopia that go back thousands of years depicting boxers and you always see the lead hand extended. There’s a reason for that. Even way back then they knew there had to be a science to it. There had to be something that was more than just the brawn. The jab shows the way. If it was just the brawn all the creatures would have been the ones that were in charge. But they weren’t in charge; they were the ones that were on the grill being cooked. Man used his brain to give him the edge and figure out the advantages. There were tribes that weren’t necessarily the most physical but they were the ones that lived a little better. They were the ones that won the battles they had to win. They were a little smarter and had a little more ingenuity. It’s the same with boxing. The guys who were big and strong and came in there throwing haymakers did not have the edge against those who were a little smarter and had a little more ingenuity.
Mike: So what you’re saying is the jab is probably as old as boxing itself?
Teddy: Apparently. Even back then they knew there had to be a jab to lead the way. There had to be science connected to the physical that would give them an edge. I explain some of the history in these tutorials and why the jab has been around since the beginning of boxing. Without the jab it wouldn’t be called boxing. It would be called slugging. It would be called throwing or chucking, but it wouldn’t be boxing. It is boxing for a reason, and a big part of that reason is the jab. The jab is what makes it possible for you to do everything else. It is part of the militia that clears the way, which gets there first so you can come in with the artillery. Something has to clear the way. Something has to set up the way for the tanks to come in—that’s the jab.
Mike: I’ve never heard the jab described that way, but it makes perfect sense.
Teddy: How many guys out there know there’s 14 different ways to throw a jab? Not too many.
Mike: What’s an example of using the jab in a different way?
Teddy: Say you are about to throw a jab but you realize your opponent is set. What does that mean? That means he’s looking to counter you. Don’t throw it. So what do you do? You throw a little feint and you freeze him, then you quickly step just six inches off to the left, and you throw it from there—different place, different position, different result. Instead of getting hit, you land, and he doesn’t land. It’s just one example of a different kind of way to throw the jab.
A lot of people forget that when Tyson was Tyson–when he was good–he out jabbed taller guys.
Mike: I’ve seen fighters you’ve trained do that move, including Mike Tyson.
Teddy: A lot of people forget that when Tyson was Tyson–when he was good–he out jabbed taller guys. How? He was shorter than most of his opponents. How did he out jab a taller guy? He did it by learning how to slip a punch, taking away the guy’s reach, so now he could jab inside it.
Mike: A boxer who knows how and when to use a jab certainly has an edge over one who does not.
Teddy: I make the following point when I introduce the video before I get into the ring and show it. Can you imagine Muhammad Ali without a jab? I can answer that—no. Could you imagine Floyd Mayweather Jr. without a jab? Go back to the great golden era; can you imagine Willie Pep without a jab? No, you couldn’t. Can you imagine George Foreman without a jab? Everyone saw the big shots that took Joe Frazier off the ground to win the heavyweight title. The jab set up that big uppercut. The jab kept him off balance, the jab never let him recover, the jab discombobulated him.
Mike: Your videos have proven to be a valuable resource for anyone interested in boxing. Thank you Teddy for continuing to teach, inform and entertain.
Teddy:I’m blessed and grateful that people are going out there and purchasing it. They’re interested in the topics and I’m hoping they’ll understand the truth of it.
Ed. Note: The Teddy Atlas instructional videos can be purchased and downloaded from Dynamic Striking.com. The cost is $97 dollars per program.
Mike Silver’s newest book is The Night the Referee Hit Back: Memorable Moments from the World of Boxing. Available from Amazon.com or publisher’s website: Rowman.com
Boxing Paintings: The Big Three From An Artist’s Point of View
By
Mike Silver
Sol Korby Self Portrait
From ancient times to the present, the visual and emotional drama that is inherent in the sport of boxing has always attracted and inspired artists. Statues, friezes, vase paintings, and murals depicting boxing scenes and boxers have been discovered in ancient Crete, Greece and Rome. Many are on display in the great museums of the world. One of the earliest known images is a stone slab relief, discovered in Baghdad, which shows two boxers with taped leather hands. It is estimated to be 5000 years old.
In more recent times important American artists have produced an impressive volume of work devoted to the sport. Three of the most famous boxing paintings of the 20th century were done by American artists. They are Dempsey and Willard by James Montgomery Flagg; Dempsey and Firpo by George Bellows, and Brown Bomber by Robert Riggs. Each of these compelling masterpieces depicts a scene from an iconic heavyweight championship contest.
Three of the most famous boxing paintings of the 20th century were done by American artists.
A great painting, like a great boxing match, can be appreciated on many different levels. There are layers and nuances to each—some obvious and some not so obvious. I can analyze a fight much easier than I can analyze a painting. So, I thought it might be interesting to seek out the expert analysis of an accomplished artist and hear what he had to say about the aforementioned paintings.
One of my dear friends is renowned artist Sol Korby. Sol is an award winning painter and illustrator. After service in World War II Sol was employed by various advertising agencies, and subsequently for most of the leading book publishers including Time Inc., Dell, Ace, Fawcett and Avon. (A sampling of Sol’s amazing creations can be viewed at: SolKorbyIllustrations.com)
Sol is ageless. At 90 years plus he is still active and productive, working in his studio almost every day. He is also familiar with boxing’s colorful history. In fact, his work includes a number of boxing subjects. I was anxious to hear what he had to say about each painting.
But first a brief history of the artists and their subjects:
“Notice how Flagg put a cloud in the sky and how he silhouetted Dempsey’s head against the white cloud to emphasize Dempsey’s importance.” –Sol Korby
Dempsey and Willard James Montgomery Flagg (Click On Image To Enlarge)
Dempsey and Willard (6’ x 19’): James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960), was a popular and prolific artist best known for his World War I recruiting poster of Uncle Sam pointing to the viewer (inspired by a British recruitment poster showing Lord Kitchener in a similar pose) with the caption “I Want YOU for U.S. Army”. The Dempsey and Willard mural is 6 feet high by 19 feet wide and is by far the largest of the three paintings. It depicts heavyweight champion Jess Willard and challenger Jack Dempsey in a scene from the July 4, 1919 title fight. Dempsey was 60 pounds lighter than the 6’ 6 ½” 250 pound champion. It didn’t matter. In a savage beat down Dempsey floored Willard seven times in the opening round. The game champion withstood a terrible beating until his corner finally threw in the towel before the start of the 4th round. The electrifying “Manassa Mauler” would hold the title for the next seven years and become the greatest sports superstar of the roaring twenties.
The mural was commissioned by Jack Dempsey and completed in 1944. It was prominently displayed on the wall of his popular Broadway bar and restaurant. Although invited to participate in the celebrity packed unveiling Jess Willard declined to attend. He wired Dempsey, saying, “Sorry I can’t be there. But I saw enough of you 25 years ago to last me a lifetime.”
After the restaurant closed in 1974, Dempsey and his wife Deanna donated the painting to the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art in Washington D. C. where it is on permanent display.
Dempsey and Firpo George Bellows
Dempsey and Firpo (51” x 63 ¼”): George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925) was one of the most renowned artists of his generation. His previous boxing paintings and prints, numbering 46 in all, had already won him considerable fame, most notably Stag at Sharkey’s. Bellows was commissioned by the New York Evening Journal to cover the heavyweight title fight between champion Jack Dempsey and Argentina’s Luis Angel Firpo on September 23, 1923 at New York’s Polo Grounds. The fight was witnessed by 90,000 fans who contributed to boxing’s second million dollar gate.
In a wild first round Firpo was dropped seven times and Dempsey twice. The painting captures the dramatic moment when Dempsey is knocked out of the ring by Firpo. As the painting shows, he landed on reporters sitting in the first press row. Controversy erupted when it was claimed Dempsey was unfairly aided by the reporters who proceeded to push him back into the ring (in the painting one reporter’s hand is seen on Dempsey’s back).
Bellows inserted himself in the painting. He is the bald fellow seated on the extreme left. The painting is owned by the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Brown Bomber Robert Riggs
The Brown Bomber (31” x 41”): Robert Riggs (1896-1970) was a painter, printmaker, and illustrator well known in the 1930s for his realistic images of the circus, boxing matches, hospitals and psychiatric wards. The Brown Bomber is the nickname of the great heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who held the title from 1937 to 1949 and defended it a record 25 times. The scene depicts the climactic ending to the historic championship fight between Louis and Germany’s Max Schmeling on June 22, 1938 at Yankee Stadium. Louis was seeking to avenge his knockout loss to Schmeling (the only blot on his otherwise perfect record) that had taken place two years earlier. This fight had huge political and social significance. On the eve of World War II, with Nazi Germany ascending, the world focused their attention on this fight. Louis was not just fighting for himself. To the 70,000 fans in the sold out stadium and millions more listening on radio, the fight symbolized the struggle between democracy and Nazi Germany. Joe Louis’ swift and brutal annihilation of Schmeling in the very first round made him a national hero and cemented his legendary status for all time. The painting is owned by the Taubman Museum of Art, in Roanoke, Virginia.
Of the three paintings, Dempsey and Willard is Sol Korby’s favorite: “I think most people who are interested in art would say Bellows is the best painter of the three, probably because he’s in between Flagg and Riggs. Riggs is too stylized, and Flagg is not stylized at all, and Bellows is right in the middle. Personally, I like Flagg best because his work is realistic. I do that kind of work. I like to see things the way they are in nature. When I do a painting I try to make it as close as possible to nature.
“One of the main differences between Flagg’s mural and the two paintings by Bellows and Riggs, aside from the size, is that the others have action. This painting is not really a fight picture the way you and I know a fight picture. There’s no action. There’s no blood. It’s just the two principle fighters in their typical poses. Flagg depicts the two fighters in their prime and the way they move. Willard is moving forward and he’s got one glove near his chest and the other is down near his thigh. He’s not concerned that Dempsey’s going to hit him. It shows he’s not afraid of him at all. He thinks he can beat Dempsey. It wasn’t until the first couple of punches that Willard really knew he was in for a fight now.
“On the left side of the painting you have the referee standing there. He’s not running towards them. He’s just standing there to balance out the ring post on the right side of the painting. It works as a mural because we’re talking about a painting that’s measured in feet. The other paintings are measured in inches. So you have a painting that’s 6 feet by 19 feet symbolizing their fighting styles. I think he did a fantastic job on it.
“This painting is an example of what I call a David and Goliath theme. Flagg wanted to get that big vs. little effect. You’ve got the small guy, who everybody roots for, and you’ve got the monster who everybody wants to lose. Flagg shows Dempsey at his best in that tiger crouch against this giant. He looks like he’s just about to spring up. You’ll also notice how Flagg put a cloud in the sky and how he silhouetted Dempsey’s head against the white cloud to emphasize Dempsey’s importance.
“Flagg and Dempsey knew each other very well. They traveled in the same circles. He was always in the restaurant.”
“Flagg and Dempsey knew each other very well. They traveled in the same circles. He was always in the restaurant. The end result was a very personal type of painting. Flagg put all his friends in the first row. Not only his friends, but also friends of Dempsey. He’s got different sportswriters and people they associate with, including satirist Damon Runyon, cartoonist Rube Goldberg, promoter Tex Rickard, humorist Bugs Baer and Dempsey’s trainer, Jimmy DeForrest. [note: Flagg, like Bellows, inserted himself into the painting and is seated in the first row]. That’s the intent of this picture. It’s not really a boxing picture like the others because there’s no action in it and there’s no blood and neither is being knocked down.
“Many of Flagg’s friends were in show business. Two of his best friends were comedian W.C. Fields and actor John Barrymore. He used to go out all night with them carousing and drinking and would get home very late. If they weren’t in a play or anything they had nothing else to do, so while they had a lot of time, he had work to do and, tight or not, he could knock off an entire illustration in one afternoon. That’s how fast he was.
“In his painting of Dempsey and Firpo, George Bellows did something very unique”, explains Sol. “He has Dempsey falling back and somebody in the press row with his hand on Dempsey’s back is about to push him back into the ring. Many people today are not familiar with this fight, even though they may have heard the name Jack Dempsey. Looking at the painting for the first time they might think it is Dempsey who knocked Firpo out of the ring. But the one thing that tells you Dempsey won this fight, even though you know he is knocked out of the ring, is to look at his hair. His hair is immaculate. There is not one strand out of place. The guy was knocked out of the ring and his hair didn’t move! Bellows painted it that way to show Dempsey wasn’t even hurt to begin with and, as we know, he got back into the ring and knocked out Firpo in the next round.
“Dempsey had only ten seconds to make it back into the ring before being counted out. Bellows shows the referee starting the count right away. In this way he draws attention to the controversy about whether Dempsey could have gotten back into the ring in time without the help of the people who pushed him back.
“You’ll also notice that at the top of the painting there are lights above the ring and two more lights in the far reaches of the stadium. Bellows didn’t want all that area dark. He wanted to show there was space and distance and he wanted to show where the lighting on both figures is coming from and it works very well. And he has nice little figures in the back all cheering and raising their hands and hats and all those things going on in the ringside to show that everyone is excited about what’s happening.
“Robert Riggs’ painting, The Brown Bomber, takes a little explaining, because this is a violent picture. It is the aftermath of violence. This is really an amazing picture in terms of its composition. Starting with the referee’s outstretched arms, and going clockwise past Louis’s back we see the towel flying into the ring and then the guy who threw in the towel, and then we see the heads and the shoulders of all the people sitting at ringside, which brings us right back to the referee. In other words, it makes a complete oval.
“The title is The Brown Bomber but this painting is not about Joe Louis. This painting is about Max Schmeling!”
“Just off center in the oval, on all fours, is Schmeling. He’s out, completely finished, and Louis is standing over him. If he ever attempts to get up he’s going to be smashed down again. The title is The Brown Bomber but this painting is not about Joe Louis. This painting is about Max Schmeling! The whole thing is about Max Schmeling. He’s in the oval and he’s groping to get up. His head is turned because he wants to see where Louis is and he can’t do anything about it. Look at the people at ringside. They are all looking at him. They are not looking at Louis. Nobody is looking at Louis, including the referee, who is about to stop the fight. This painting is about Max Schmeling. Joe Louis is one of the figures that complete the arc. He’s part of it, but he’s not the main figure in the painting—Schmeling is.
“This is the most violent of the three paintings. Dempsey being knocked out of the ring didn’t hurt him, didn’t bother him. But this one, Schmeling is in agony and there’s no getting away from it.
“Each of these artists had different styles. Flagg paints in a more true to life style. Bellows and Riggs are more stylized and you can see it in everything they do, especially in the heads and figures around the ring and the shapes of the fighters’ bodies. Everything is stylized. But that is the property of the artist. They feel they’re enhancing the subject. An example is Louis’ arm. Riggs paints him with more muscles than Louis ever had. But he wanted that. It shows that Louis had the strength to do what he did, to put Schmeling on all fours on the canvas. He also made Schmeling’s muscles prominent to show he wasn’t just a tomato can. He was a good fighter. He was champion at one time. Louis is not beating some club fighter—this was a champion.”
There you have it, an artist’s take on three magnificent boxing paintings. Sol asked me which one I liked best. Well, here it is almost two weeks later, and I am still trying to decide. All three are so unique and spectacular in their own way. At this point it’s a dead heat. Which one is your favorite?
Mike Silver’s newest book is The Night the Referee Hit Back: Memorable Moments from the World of Boxing. Available from Amazon.com or publisher’s website: Rowman.com
I’d like to say a few things about the Leary Pavilion. While it is different from the main theatre it is a very interesting setting for a play. It accommodates 75% of the Playhouse’s indoor capacity. The 25,000 square foot steel structured, fully covered, open air performance venue has a 96 foot wide stage, a full array of lighting, and much better acoustics than I expected. A major plus is having the seats arranged in “pods” of two for social distancing. This also ensures every audience member is guaranteed an aisle seat with plenty of leg room. For a fidgeter like me this is a positive delight. Site lines are clear and unobstructed. You doin’t have to crane your neck to look past people’s heads. Is the pavilion better than the indoor theatre? No. Is it worse? No. It is a different and very interesting experience, and it works very, very well. 
