Art "Golden Boy" Aragon

Art "Golden Boy" Aragon/Mario Trigo, May. 8, 1951

In defeating Mario Trigo at Los Angeles Olympic, Art Aragon won the California lightweight title and the dubious distinction of being the foremost contender (California version) for world title. And some of the local scribes stated that he looked the part. It was an action scrap and although not one-sided, Trigo was the recipient of much punisment. Mario was not as elusive as usual, in fact, was an easy target, but, due to poor timing, Aragon missed half his punches. Aragon, set on a kayo victory, stalked Trigo continually and had his jinx opponent hurt and wobbly several times, but couldn't put over the finisher. Trigo appeared about to cave in numerous times, but he recuperates quickly, and would always come back with a counter-attack. Mario was decked once, a short hook dropping him for a 1-count in the second.
Trigo outslugged the tired Aragon in the 8th, and came out fast in the 9th, forcing Art to give ground, but shortly after was knocked into the ropes from a left hook to the jaw. Seeing his foe was hurt, Aragon tore in with a vengeance, raining lefts and rights to Mario's head. Trigo was being badly pounded but appeared in no worst shape then on several previous occasions and the referee's action in halting the fight at this point brought forth considerable booing. Aragon looked drawn and pasty at 134 1/2, Trigo came in at 135.

 

Art "Golden Boy" Aragon/Morris Leviege April. 21, 1955

Art Aragon the Golden Boy, who attracted over $9000,000 into the till of promoter Cal Eaton in his last 26 fights, returned to a California ring after an absence of ten months to score a 7-round knockout over Morris Leviege, Eureka, at the Olympic Auditorium. Aragon somewhat slow and rusty after his long lay-off, flashed his old-time form in the 7th, after being nailed by some hard punches. He flamed into action with a sharp left hook which set Leviege back on his heels, then followed up with a blistering barrage for which he is famed. Referee Lou Grossman, sensing the helplessness of Leviege, halted hostilities after 1 :25 of the 7th. Aragon weighed 146 1/2; Leviege 140.

Leviege is the lad who had Cisco Andrade on the canvas last November, up in San Jose, though Cisco won the duke. In his last appearence in Los Angeles. Aragon drew a gate of $130, 000 with Vince Martinez at Hollywood Ball Park, to establish a California record for a non-title fight. Despite a driving rain, a crowd of 4,038 cash customers paid a gross $6,388 to see the rukus. As one scribe put it; "only with Aragon could this happen". This fight was not televised.

 

Thanks John G.

 

Art "Golden Boy" Aragon/Johnny Gonsalves, July. 24, 1951

One big round, in which he almost stopped his foe, gave Art Aragon a decisive victory over Johnny Gonsalves in their ten-rounder at the Los Angeles Olympic. Whithout that lop-sided round, Aragon would still have rated an edge on his aggressiveness, for the Oaklander boxed too much on the defensive. However, toss out the fifth heat and the result might have been different, for even after that pummeling, Johnny came back to cop a couple of the remaining rounds. Gonsalves wasn't the boxing wizard he was against Rudy Cruz, although he did some beautful defensive work, causing Aragon to miss two-thirds of his punches and at times look like a rank amateur, several times he had the enraged Golden Boy lunging into the ropes and occasionaly Art would find the elusive Oaklander behind him. But Aragon kept winging and his peristence paid off in the fifth. Aragon nailed Gonsalves with a right on the jaw that sent Johnny reeling into the ropes and Art was at him with the fury of a wounded beast. Aragon rained blows on his hurt foe, who covered up as best he could, but many of the punches landed on the Oaklander's jaw and head. How that boy can withstand punishment! After 30 seconds of this pummeling, Gonsalves turned away and his head protruded outside the ropes, which prompted Referee Mushy Callahan to push Aragon aside and start counting over the Oaklander. At the count of three, Johnny turned around and put on a counter-attack that forced Aragon to give ground. The crowd yelled like mad! The all-out attack took a lot of steam out of Aragon and no doubt sapped a lot of Gonsalves' stamina, so the fight slowed down a bit in the following rounds, although they were still exciting sessions and closely contested. Aragon weighed 139, Gonsalves 137.

 

Art "Golden Boy" Aragon: "Somebody asked me, 'What's the first thing you do in a fight?' I bleed!" Reminiscing about his fight with Carmen Basilio, "The bell rings for the first round. I ran to the center of the ring. I threw a hard left hook, an uppercut, two right hands and another left hook. Then he came to the center of the ring!" "Basilio, what a guy . He was so tough. I was a lightweight and he was a middleweight champion. But I was the Golden Boy, and the Golden Boy was supposed to do things, Unheard of, I couldn't do this. So I hit him with my best shot, right on the chin. Whack! He just smiles at me. My best shot, and he smiles. Thank god he went easy on me!"..

 

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Art ko's Enrique Bolanos

 

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Art arriving at the courtroom

 

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Art "Golden Boy" Aragon, The Fight Magazine 1953..

Art's regard for Lauro Salas was further illustrated when he stated, "I'll take on Kid Gavilan for 50 percent of the gate, and I'd meet Sugar Ray Robinson when he was champ if they gave me 60 percent. But, you know, I'd fight that Lauro Salas for nothing." He did. The two squared off in the Sunset Boulevard cafe. Reports on the extemporaneous battle varied wildly, since no accommodations were made for a press row to render a professional analysis. Some versions had it that the encounter lasted 15 minutes; others, that it lasted 45 minutes. In any event, the customers were treat

 

Art "Golden Boy" Aragon/Bolton Ford, Fight-26th August 1949,

During the rest period after the opening round of his clash with Art Aragon, 136, at the Hollywood Stadium, Bolton Ford, 136, Pittsburgh, appeared very much at ease. He had just garnered the first round with a few rights to the body, had not been hit a solid blow, and was probably recalling his start in this ring last winter when he scored the upset of the year. What Ford didn't realize was that Aragon had held back and was coolly planning the pittsburgher's doom. Aragon took over in the second round. The Golden Boy (You're welcome, Art) sunk a couple of hooks into Ford's furnace. Bolton lowered his guard-and Aragon lowered the boom! A left hook put the muscular Pittsburgher flat on his back, looking up and seeing the roof still there. Bolton scrambled to his feet at the count of seven. Aragon moved in quickly and dropped Ford with another left hook to the button. Bolton was up at the count of 3 this time, but he was wearing the expression of a guy in love and when referee Johnny Indrisano saw that far away look in Ford's eyes-the setto was declared over..

 

May 1, 2008
‘Golden Boy’ Art Aragon keeps the faith

By Brad A. Greenberg

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Art Aragon, left, Marilyn Monroe and Mickey Rooney at Hollywood Entertainers Baseball Game, 1952. Photo by Gerald Smith - © 1978 Gerald Smith - Image courtesy MPTV.net

The "Golden Boy" celebrity boxer of the 1950s wasn't born into the Tribe. But Art Aragon also wasn't one to let religion interfere with romance.

"My grandfather wouldn't let my mother marry him because he was a real swinger," Aragon's son, Brad, recalled recently. "So he offered him $100,000 to just leave. And my dad said, 'I can't be bought.' Then my grandfather said, 'Well, Irene, he's not Jewish.' So he converted."

Aragon, who died last month at his Northridge home after suffering a stroke, was buried at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park, a worthy resting place for someone who shrank his conversion certificate so he could be a "card-carrying Jew." He was 80 when he was buried on April Fools' Day.

"Everybody expected, because he was such a joker, him to wink his eye and say, 'Just kidding,'" Brad Aragon said.

The boxer was a strikingly handsome pug as well known for his Hollywood persona as his 89-20-6 record; he was given his nickname, maybe apocryphally, by actor William Holden and was often seen cavorting with starlets like Marilyn Monroe.

"He said he didn't like boxing," his son said. "He liked to make people laugh, but he was good at boxing."

Though not encouraged by Jewish tradition, there is a respectable history of Jewish pugs. Fighters like three-time world champ Barney Ross, many of whom embraced boxing as a ticket out of New York's immigrant ghetto, emerged from a very different world than Aragon, who was raised Catholic in East Los Angeles.

With no qualms about the righteousness of pummeling his opponents, Aragon was a notorious fighter who relished packing the Grand Olympic Auditorium downtown and bringing the crowd to its feet, not with cheering but raucous booing.

"People loved to boo Art, and at his funeral I made people stand up and give him a standing boo," said Julian Eget, executive vice president of the World Boxing Hall of Fame, which inducted Aragon in 1990. "That is what he lived for, all his life that was his trademark."

In the process, Aragon helped transform Los Angeles from a boxing backwater and became one of the few fighters world renowned without winning a title fight.

Eget, who attends Shomrei Torah Synagogue in West Hills, said Aragon wasn't very religious -- eating Jewish food was his highest level of observance.

"But he was very proud to be a Jew," Eget said. "It was incredible for me. It just doesn't happen; most of the time it goes the other way, people changing their names and trying to hide from being Jewish."

 

THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BOY: ART ARAGON


Los Angeles, 1949. Men wore hats, women were dames and sawbuck tossed on the bar at Ciro's made you the toast of the town. The Dodgers were in Brooklyn, the Lakers in Minneapolis and the Rams had just come out of Cleveland. Horse racing and boxing dominated the sports pages, five daily newspapers battled for copy and sports heroes were in short supply. Into that vacuum strutted boxing's original "Golden Boy," Art Aragon. "The ladies, my friend, the ladies!" laughed Aragon, remembers the time with a twinkle in his eye. "There were women everywhere you looked and I was makin' a living, so life was pretty good." The Golden Boy began his pro career on May 23, 1944 with a win over Frenchy Renee, notched 11 wins before his 17th birthday, entered the Coast Guard after turning 18 and, while stationed in Boston, managed to fight seven times in 1946, piling up six wins and a draw. "I did pretty good considering I couldn't train," he said. His only bout in '47 was a loss to Charley Early in Salem, Massachusetts, then It was back to L.A., Where in '48 he learned his trade the hard way, scoring quick knockouts over overmatched opponents like Ray Louis and Connie Smith in between hard-fought draws with nationally ranked veterans Tommy Campball and Jesse Flores. The "Wavy-haired fighter with a vicious left hook" had a knack for self-promotion to go with his heavy hands and his star rose quickly. Next on the hit list was Alfredo Pescatore, the self-styled lightweight champion of Italy. "After a minute of dancing, Pescatore walked straight towards Aragon, who was waiting with a right hand cocked. He pulled the trigger and the fight was over, with the Italian having suffered a broken nose," Less the three weeks later, well regarded "Irish" Tim Dalton stepped through the ropes to face the man the Herald's Morton Moss called "the handsome hard-hitting Golden Boy of southland fistiana." Dalton lasted seven rounds before the referee stopped the fight. Three weeks later Aragon was in Detroit, staying at the same home of his Idol, Joe Louis, who was making his first foray into promoting. "There I was Joe Louis' house, reading all his scrapbooks, and following him around. He was a real class act, but I don't think he said 10 words to me he whole time I was there, not that I cared," he said. On the card that Included exhibition bouts featuring ring legends Williie Pep and Jack Dempsey Aragon battled Luther Rawlings in the main event, dropping a close 10-round decision to a local favorite in a fight the Associated Press described as "One of the best scraps seen in a Detroit ring in years, so hard-fought it had the crowd of 10,062 tossing paper from the rafters into the ring as a way of cheering the bloody brawlers." Aragon returned home the #7-ranked lightweight in the country. He stayed busy, beating Benny Black and Wilf Desjardins before facing wily southpaw Harold "Babyface" Jones. "I hated lefties, you could never catch 'em, especially the ones who jabbed and ran," joked Aragon. The hard-earned victory kept the Aragon train rolling along. As did his marriage, the first of many. "I had plenty of wives I guess, but I loved 'em all, and they loved me, too, it's just that I had trouble staying put," he recalled with a grin. "They were all classy, too. I kept hoping it would rub off on me." In the ring Aragon continued wowing the crowd at the Legion Hall. First, ringsiders Joe Louis and Bob Hope watched Tony Chavez fall in one, then fighting with his right eye swollen shut for the final four rounds, he decisioned John L. Davis in what the Herald called "The best action fight of the year." Next up was Julio Jiminez and "Blood flowed like wine in the savage scrap, with both men cut over both eyes...Aragon had what it took when it counted and took the decision." A fith-round KO of Freddie "Babe" Herman followed, then the Golden Boy took out Alfredo Escobar in three. Aragon was crowned "Los Angeles Fighter of the Year" by boxing writers.

 

During the weigh-in before his bout with former welterweight and middleweight champion Carmen Basilio in 1958, Basilio innocently asked Aragon how he was doing. Aragon replied, "Not so good. Both my wife and my girlfriend are here."

 

Controversy reigned at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles after Tommy Campbell’s (140) strange performance in a third round stoppage loss to local star Art Aragon (137 ½).

Campbell’s odd antics started after he knocked the favored Aragon through the ropes and onto the ring apron with a right hand in the second round. According to George Main of the Los Angeles Herald-Express, Campbell appeared "amazed" by what he’d done and "reached out as if to help Aragon to his feet" before backing off while the count was administered. After rising at eight, the Golden Boy looked none too steady but rather than go for the finish, Campbell made the bizarre move of retreating to a neutral corner and allowing Aragon (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring) to wail away on him until the end of the round…

Never once did the onetime high-ranking Illinois battler make a serious move to ward off Aragon’s stream of leather.

At this sudden turn of events the crowd went into an uproar with many fans making uncomplimentary charges about Campbell’s integrity.

– Cal Whorton, Los Angeles Times

When he came out for the third session, Campbell continued to make no effort to defend himself, seemingly content to stand and get drilled by Aragon's right hand, before eventually being dropped for the count. At the finish, "most of the 7500 spectators were on their feet yelling 'fake' and showing the ring with debris." Commission representative Clayton Frye was none too impressed either, and told the press he believed the strange happenings "could do with some investigating."

The opinion of foul play wasn’t shared by matchmaker Babe McCoy, who stated that he saw nothing amiss with the bout, brushing aside rumors that Campbell had taken a dive "to help build Aragon up."

The purses of the fighters were held up until a hearing before Norman Houston of the California State Athletic Commission two days later. Campbell explained his performance by saying that he didn’t want to veer from his plan of trying to outbox Aragon, believing that the local star wasn’t really hurt after the knockdown. He also reiterated the reason he’d given immediately after the bout for backing off, explaining that he’d been partially blinded after being hit in the eye.

Though Mushy Callahan and Joe Stone, the two official fight judges, stated at the hearing that something wasn’t quite right about the fight, Houston ruled that "the facts don’t support any form of collusion."

First they ask the supposed culprits if they had been bad boys, then accept their denials as factual… Then they ignore the fact that two of the three ringside officials swore under oath that they though the bout was "fishy" while it was in progress. Result: None, as usual.

– Dick Hyland, Los Angeles Times

* In 1956, McCoy was banned for life by the CSAC for "ordering fights lost to fighters including Art Aragon, Harry Mathews and Del Flanagan." The ban came after Campbell testified as a surprise witness before a special investigating committee set up by California Governor Goodwin J. Knight. Campbell told the committee he was there voluntarily "to do what was right." According to Campbell’s testimony, his manager George Moore had made a deal with McCoy before the bout. Campbell explained that he was supposed to "make it look good" for three rounds, and in doing so had nearly knocked Aragon out by accident, prompting the strange sequence of events in the second round that had lead to the original suspicions over the bout’s legitimacy.

* Fighters Georgie Hansford and Watson Jones also testified at the hearing, stating that they had tanked fights for McCoy. Jones also testified that the influential matchmaker had robbed him of his purses.

* At the hearing, it was also revealed the Clayton Frye had been barred from the dressing rooms by the Olympic Auditorium management, making it very difficult for the commission member to properly oversee what took place at the venue. Rather suspiciously, the CSAC refused at the time to do anything about Frye’s lack of access.