The following individuals have not been inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame: 1. Uncle Tom McCarey, the first great boxing promoter in the Los Angeles area 2. Jack Doyle, a promoter who staged boxing cards in Vernon from the middle 1910s to 1927 and at the Olympic Auditorium from 1927 to 1933. 3. Sam McVey, who became a professional boxer while living in Oxnard, California in 1902 and had all of his bouts in California before going to New York and Europe in 1907. 4. Tommy Simpson, a promoter who staged numerous boxing cards in the Oakland area during the first half of the 20th Century. 5. Wad Wadhams, who was Jack Doyle's matchmaker from 1916 to 1933. As a result, Wadhams was the first great boxing matchmaker in the Los Angeles area. 6. Oakland Jimmy Duffy, the greatest drawing card in Oakland during his career which lasted from the middle 1910s to the early 1930s. He was essentially Northern California version of Bert Colima. 7. Dave Shade, one of the top welterweights and middleweights during the 1920s and 1930s and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. 8. Charley MacDonald, the matchmaker at one of the most successful boxing venues of its time, the Hollywood Legion Stadium, from 1931 to the late 1940s. 9. Joe Waterman, who revived boxing at the Olympic Auditorium in his capacity as the matchmaker during the middle 1930s, giving a huge boost to Henry Armstrong's career as a result. Waterman had an incredible career as a boxing man in the Philippines, the Northwest and the Los Angeles area. Hap Navarro, a matchmaker at the Hollywood Legion Stadium during the middle 1950s, cited Waterman as a big influence on him. Note- There are a large number of other individuals who were involved in the California boxing scene before 1940 and would be worthy inductees into the California Boxing Hall of Fame. - Chuck Johnston
Well, you should. I find it hard to believe that McVey and Shade aren't in Cali's Boxing HOF at any rate.
Sorry if this is a dumb question... Does every state of the union have its own HOF chartered? ...and is there a national centralized body that recognizes or determines legitimacy of each? Does either of the 'big ones'? (IBHOF/WBHOF)
As far as I know, Aurelio Herrera is not in the California Boxing Hall of Fame. I agree that he is worthy of induction. One problem is that living inductees are what sell tickets. - Chuck Johnston
Considering how important Filipino fighters and fans were in the history of California, I find it astounding that Speedy Dado, Pablo Dano, Young Tommy, Little Pancho, Little Dado and Young Nationalista are not in the California Boxing Hall of Fame. - Chuck Johnston
Steve, I couldn't find Sunny Jim Coffroth on the list of inductees in the 2010 California Boxing Hall of Fame program. As I recall, he hasn't been inducted since that time. It is doubtful that he will be inducted in the near future because I don't think that he has many relatives and friends living in Southern California. I go to the luncheon and ceremony each year in order to see people, but it has become less fun because I have become discouraged. The late Billy Mahoney, a boxing history enthusiast, had a California Boxing Hall of Fame in Fresno about 45 years ago. Mahoney often wasn't that careful in regards to the facts when writing about boxing history, but it appeared that he did a good job in identifying the most worthy candidates. - Chuck Johnston
If Coffroth isnt in then that might be the worst oversight. Coffroth was the nations foremost boxing promoter for over a decade prior to the four round era in California in addition to numerous other contributions to California in general.
I agree. In fact, I can't think of a more important California boxing promoter than Jim Coffroth in his time and place. Great California promoters such as George Parnassus, Aileen Eaton or Uncle Tom McCarey can't match Coffroth in that regard. One California trendsetting promoter was Alex Greggains, the virtual father of the four-round bout shows which were a staple in the state for about twenty years until the Ten-Round Law went into effect at the beginning of 1925. With the law limiting bouts to a maximum of four rounds going into effect in late 1914, the careers of Coffroth and McCarey as boxing promoters essentially came to a premature end. Coffroth did promote at least one benefit card in San Francisco during World War I, but generally was a horse racing promoter in the Tijuana area afterwards. McCarey was only in his early 40s when his promoting career came to an end. With the population in Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California growing by leaps and bounds during the first few decades of the 20th Century, McCarey may have been denied a chance of promoting boxing shows on an even larger scale. - Chuck Johnston
