Briefly discussed Frankie on another thread with Salsanchezfan and it got me thinking how some of these great old contenders hardly get a mention. Frankie was a real character, but one that could fight. Rick Farris of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame, could tell you stories about Frankie, being friends with and having sparred with him on countless occasions. Rick told me Frankie had a real knack for being able to rip the speedbag from the swivel with the sharpness of his left hook. And indeed, the sharpness of the punch was clear when he decked Shozo Saijo in the first round of their first title fight and again evident in their rematch when he hurt Saijo bad in the 4th round. He also nearly dropped Vicente Saldivar with that left hook during their 10 rounder. I loved the way he could box and punch and, as I mentioned to Sal, I loved the way he would spin his opponent into the corner and make him pay. A feat he performed several times on Mando Ramos during their first fight. Somewhere along the line he got hooked up with Robert Conrad of Wild Wild West Fame, who was a big fight fan but knew nothing about working a corner. When Frankie got stopped by Dwight Hawkins all the scribes panned Conrad's shoddy corner work stating about the only thing he offered Frankie between rounds was his ability to rinse off the mouthpiece. Afterwards he hooked up with Jackie McCoy who got him his 2 title shots. It wasn't over with the Conrad saga though, in '73, Crawford sent some goons over to lean on Conrad because he said he still owed him money (I said he was a character). A couple of years later Frankie was shot in the back in a casino and wheelchair-bound after that. And around '82, probably despondent, took his own life. Boxrec has him getting stopped in his last fight by Jose Luis Ramirez in 7 rounds down in Mexico. I love boxrec but have found many fights of theirs in error and I think this is one of them. I don't think this fight happened. But I'm too wordy here. Suffice to say Frankie was a helluva fighter.
Iwas in the crowd the night Frankie beat Mando Ramos 1.Frankie was one of my favorite fighter, his death really stung me.Frankie was acrowd pleasing, hard puncher non stop warrior .A modern day Ace Hudkins.I heard Frankie took on 7 toughs in Pasadena and heard he came out not only alive but the victor!! Maybe you can enlighten us all,Iheard Frankie was robbed of victoy vs. SAYJO in Japan. the 60s in L/A had loads of great fighters Mando,Rojias,Quarry bros,jess Burnett,Felton Marshall,The LOPEZ BROS. Ernie and little Red,Hedgemon and many more. Thanks a million ending and starting 2019 off. I will never forget a great feather Frankie Crawford RIP
Ray, here is my scorecard on the second title bout between Shozo Saijo and Frankie Crawford. A tight, close, evenly contested bout. In fact, I will say it is probably the closest fight I've ever scored. I always heard about the Saijo jab and it is good. It is a hard jab as opposed to Frankie's which is sharp and more of a point-getter. On the other hand Frankie had that sharp left hook and visibly hurt Saijo in the 4th round. Terrific contest and if anyone scores this, be on guard, the Japanese audience scream at everything Saijo throws. So don't be swayed. here we go, 5 point must in effect. Round 1: 5-5 Even Round 2: 5-4 Saijo Round 3: 5-5 Even Round 4: 5-4 Crawford Round 5: 5-5 Even Round 6: 5-4 Saijo Round 7: 5-4 Crawford Round 8: 5-5 Even Round 9: 5-4 Saijo Round 10: 5-4 Saijo Round 11: 5-4 Crawford Round 12: 5-4 Crawford Round 13: 5-4 Crawford Round 14: 5-4 Crawford Round 15: 5-4 Saijo (if anyone scores this round even I wouldn't bat an eye) Total: 70-69 Crawford Ray, don't know if we can scream robbery on this one. Damn close. Haven't seen their first fight where Frankie dropped Saijo, but obviously it warranted a rematch. I did see Frankie's bout with Chucho Alonso many years ago which was scored a draw and felt Frankie was robbed in that one. I had it 7-3 or 6-3-1. But tell me. You obviously are a west coast fan. Do you recall anything about Frankie going down to Mexico 3 years after retiring and engaging the upcoming Jose Luis Ramirez in a 10 rounder? It is something crazy that Frankie would do, but I had my ear to the ground very tightly back then and never heard anything, which would have gone through west coast gyms and the scribes like a dose of salts. That result I seriously question.
Yes I grew up in So.Cal. No I NEVER heard that one before. But I guess anything possible with Frankie.Thanks for great memories.
Here´s a nice article on Frankie: https://www.maxboxing.com/news/news/tough-guy-frankie-crawford-how-good-could-he-have-been
Wow! Since I wrote that first post on the thread, I've met Jeff Crawford a couple of times. He asked me as many questions of his Dad as I asked of him. Mainly because he was so young when his Dad died he really didn't know a lot of what went on. On the question of the Ramirez fight - which I felt hadn't taken place - he said it may have. He said that his Dad didn't really know anything other than boxing. He tried to make it in the world to support the family by doing anything including at one point being a car hiker. Jeff said to me incredulously, "Can you imagine him doing that?" He said nothing worked and said I do remember him taking some fights (that apparently didn't make it onto his record) down in Mexico. So again, he said it may have happened. God only knows what he could have been making down there for a fight. Perhaps trading on his name. Although that result never made it onto any results page of any magazine so i don't know how it was even publicized. But nothing about Frankie Crawford could surprise me.
The stories Crawford and Mando Ramos could give us would have filled a dozen books. 2 great talents from a fantastic era. Shame there isn´t much more footage of either. As for Crawford vs Ramirez, I think the Mexican bomber was about 16 at the time. Incredible. Even crazier that Ramirez´s only ko loss in 111 fights was to an ancient Ruben Olivares!
Nice thread scar, it deserves more traction than it's gotten. Crawford was a very good contender at his best, especially when he had Jackie McCoy in his corner. Like a lot of really good forgotten contenders he could've done with more luck and a clean break in at least one of the Saijo fights. He seems to have been quite unlucky in the first fight not to have gotten the nod. I remember thinking that Saijo edged the second fight but it was quite a close run (and high quality) thing with a lot of good exchanges. I've never scored it properly though tbh. His career went downhill after it somewhat and iirc it was his trainer after McCoy who was a b*stard and a bit of a loose cannon who shot and crippled him. Really sad how his life planned out after that. If he'd had McCoy all the way through his career and won one of the Saijo fights..... He reminds me a bit of a smaller version of Jerry Quarry. A very tough, fit, technically solid boxer puncher with an excellent left hand and good counterpunching skills but lacking the sort of power and defensive reflexes within his style that would have made him a genuinely excellent/great fighter. He hurt Saijo a couple of times in the second fight but didn't have the sort of power needed to fully punish Saijo's defensive naivety and tendency to try and slug his way out of trouble. On a similarish level to someone like Famoso Gomez, maybe nearing Ruben Castillo etc. A bit better fighter at his brief peak for example than some of the splinter titleists in the nineties/2000s imo. Medina, Tom Johnson, Chris John etc. And better than some of the mediocre title holders in recent years, which goes to show how important timing and era depth can be.
