Sad news, my boyhood hero Enrique Bolanos died today. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=44&cat=boxer
Enrique Bolanos......Obit latimes http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-enrique-bolanos-20120605,0,5852339.story?track=rss http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-23/sports/sp-198_1_de-la-hoya
Very sad, RIP. I've only seen the second fight against Williams where he pushed Ike pretty hard boxing on the retreat iirc, which apparently wasn't his usual way of going about things. Very unlucky having to square off against a human nail gun like Williams three times; hopefully some winning footage of him will find it's way on to the web.
Bolanos was a boxer/puncher at his best. I seen all three of his fights with Williams live. In the 1th and 3th fight Bolanos tried to fight Williams punch for punch and got ko'd. In the second fight he boxed more on his toes and was able to last the distance ...I followed his career in my youth real close, was at most of his fights here in LA....He had the tough luck of fighting in the same era as Williams, if not for Williams Enrique would had being champion.
A little essay that I wrote The 1951 Fight for Life By Frank kiki Baltazar In 1951 when I was a fifteen year old kid I used to ride the bus and streetcar from the Simons Brickyard to the Teamsters Gym in downtown L.A. to spar with Keeny Teran as he was getting ready for his fight with Gil Cadilli. Keeny and Gil were two hot prospects at the time. Back then prospects didnt shy away from fighting each other as they were coming up the ranks. Keeny, who was two or three years older than me and a much better fighter, didnt try to hurt me in our sparring sessions. He would move, jab, move, jab my job was just to help him sharpen-up his boxing skills. Of course I was just thrilled to be in the same ring with Keeny. We only sparred a few times because he would have to go to the Main Street Gym to get some heavy sparring with local pros. Keeny was a small guy who at the age of eighteen looked like he was fourteen years old or younger. But if you tried to take advantage of his youthful looks in the ring he would make sure you paid for it. The Teran vs. Cadilli fight was between two cross-town rivals. Cadilli had an 8-1 record and Keeny was undefeated in six fights. It was a fight that on its own merits would have sold out the Legion. The main-event was Enrique Bolanos and Eddie Chavez in a twelve rounder. The Bolanos vs. Chavez fight was the 1951 Fight for Life where some of the gate proceeds would go to the City of Hope Cancer Hospital. Fight for Life was a big yearly event and it was decided by matchmaker Hap Navarro to make the 1951 Fight for Life card the greatest card in the history of the yearly event. In my opinion, he succeeded. On fight night, June 22, 1951, Tony Ramos and Ray Gonzalez, my uncles, and I jumped in Uncle Rays 1948 Chevy coupe to drive to the Hollywood Legion Stadium to see Keeny and Gil fight the six-round semi main. As we walked into the sold-out smoke-filled arena we could feel the electricity in the air. It felt so thick that it seemed like you could have sliced it with a knife. And I felt proud to have been close to Keeny Teran, who played a big part in creating the electricity the fans were feeling that night in the Golden Age of Southern California boxing. The fight started fast with Keeny having the upper hand in the first four rounds. Cadilli came on strong in the last two rounds to make it a close fight, but not strong enough to win the fightat least not to my eyes. I thought Keeny had won the fight, but the fight was called a draw. Maybe I was biased. The Bolanos vs. Chavez match, which was a California State Lightweight Title fight, was an action packed bout, with first one then the other having the upper hand. In the end Enrique Bolanos walked out of the ring with a unanimous decision. The night of June 22, 1951 was a great fight night
:good Did you see any of the other Chavez-Bolanos fights kiki? Quite a rivalry they had going, and Eddie had a pretty notable career himself. Neat, it pretty much confirms what I thought. Good for Bolanos that he managed to squeeze those wins against Chavez in after Williams battered him third time around, because he seemed to drop off a bit from that point on (although losing to the likes of Carter, Aragon and DeMarco is nothing to be ashamed of). How would you have liked Bolanos' chances against the likes of Dawson, Jack, Larkin etc? Tough crowd to get ahead of even without Ike in the way.
I did see the Chavez fight earlier in 1951 at the Olympic Auditorium that ended in a TD. Don't remember what round it ended in....Don't know much about Larkin, but prime to prime against Dawson and Jack I think it would had being pick'em fights...Eddie Chavez was a very good boxer, but was lacking KO power...Eddie fought most of the big names of his time and did well for himself...It is sad though that he is a forgotten fighter in his hometown of San Jose, Ca.
