Ray Robinson gives a beating to game journeyman Tony Riccio

Yeah, if the economy continues to tank and the separation between the haves and the have not's continues to grow, boxing might get the shot in the arm that we've all been hoping for.

Gotta run for an hour or so Greg. Talk later, if you're still up. :good

 

Shows how good a prime la motta was takeing rays unbeaten record and haveing a 6 fight series with him. Also props to kid gavlian who took a welterweight robinson to the wire in there first fight. Robinson was the greatest followed by hank

 

I have the Boxing Gloves for Robinson's bout against Riccio. Tony passed away in September of 2008.

Several weeks before he passed away I talked to him on the phone. He said he would Love to see his son again, as they haven't talked in decades. I happened to have his son's number and I gave him a call. A couple of weeks later, Tony's lady friend told me that she was sitting with Tony in the hospital when a stranger walked in. Tony was in bad shape and for a second or so, Tony didn't even know that it was his son. They both started crying and spent hours together catching up on old times. She said that she couldn't remember when Tony was as happy as that day.

A few days later, Tony passed away and I received a call from Tony's lady friend, saying how grateful they were for making a dying mans wish come true.

 

Thanks for the touching inside recollection, h.

Wish more precious memories would be posted.

 

Wow, what a story ^^, and what a gift you gave both of them. Not only did you give Tony a great gift, but his son too, who won't have to carry the guilt of not reconnecting with his father for the rest of his life. Bravo and cheers!!

 

great story

im so glad for Tony and his son that they got to speak to each other

 

Thanks guys!

I have a similar one with Bobby Joe Young and his son several years ago.

This guy named Eddie went on one of the boxing forums asking if anyone knew the where abouts of Bobby Joe Young. He said that Bobby was his father and he would like to contact him. I gave out some contact numbers I had on him and I even talked to Bobby about it. He seemed very excited. I didn't hear anything more until about a year and a half later.

Bobby came to me at one of the boxing shows that I was ring announcing and said that they never made contact and if there was some way I can contact his son. Bobby said that he was planning a trip to Ohio and would Love to see him. He told me that he only met his son once in his life.

I went on the web site and looked for hours and I could not find anything. Then I googled Bobby Joe Young and my name and there it was. It had the message that his son had on the forum and he also had a workout gym that he owned. I then looked on line to see if there was a telephone number and low and behold it did. This was around 12:00 Mid-Night BUT I called anyway, and I got a recorder, so I left a message with Bobby's phone number.

The next day, Eddie, the son, calls me up in tears. He said he just got of the phone with his father and they plan to meet when he comes to Ohio.

A month or so passed and I was ring announcing another show in New Jersey and running down from the stands comes Bobby. I really didn't know what to think. He came right into the ring in front of everyone and gave me a BIG hung and he started to break down in tears. He couldn't thank me enough. He said they all met down coming off the plane and they had a surprise party for him and not only did he met he son BUT also many other relatives he hadn't seen since he was a young man. He spent several days with his son and as far as I know, they still keep in touch.

I LOVE these kind of stories. As I was writing this, I started breaking down myself.

These are the little things that we do for people that mean so much to them.

 

again such a great and brillaint story

 

Reading your story, I almost broke down. Beautiful, these are the things that matter in life. To the untrained eye it might seem funny how emotional and sensitive a lot of fighters are, but if you think about it, not at all. There's something very fitting about guys who engage in battle for a living having such access to that side of themselves as well, since it's really just the flip side of the same coin. Love this stuff HH, thank you!

 

MORE! MORE! MORE! hh...'n any of you other posters who have personal stories, please share 'em.