Interview and photos courtesy of Michele Chong and Rudy Tellez
You may recognize him as “The Mouthpiece Doctor” but Rudy Tellez has been very active in the sport of boxing for over 40 years now.
During a phone interview this afternoon from Tucson, Az., where he’s traveled for tonight’s Telefutura (World Boxing Council) WBC Latino title fight, the affable Tellez told me about his four decades in the fight game and his very busy upcoming schedule.
He’s had his hand in everything from being a trainer and manager, to making mouthpieces for too many champs to possibly name, founder of the Alhambra Youth Boxing Club, and is currently a member of the WBC Board of Directors. One of his latest achievements was the opening of the WBC Legends of Boxing Museum in San Bernardino, Ca., where he is the Chairman of this new museum. Tomorrow marks their second Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Luncheon, where John Montes, Jr. will be inducted and Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to Freddie Roach, Chuck Bodak, Tony Rivera and Carlos Avilas.
A Los Angeles native, he says he grew up in Palo Verde, better known now as Chavez Ravine and the home of Dodger Stadium. He did box as a kid, but says it was more street fights than boxing matches, “beating the sh– out of each other” he jokes.
Meeting Sugar Ray Robinson changed his life and he founded the Sugar Ray Robinson Foundation, thus beginning a long career in the boxing world. He counts the late Howie Steindler as a mentor and was involved with the Main St. Gym for many years. “I was going to USC Dental School at the time. Howie was a mentor to me and he always made sure I’d finish my homework before I’d box,” Tellez remembers with a chuckle.
He also recalls hanging out with Ray Robinson and the champ’s famous pals Bob Hope and Sammy Davis, Jr. and later helping out a young Sylvester Stallone–who was training for the first “Rocky”– and also Barbra Streisand, who was training for the boxing film, “The Main Event,” co-starring Ryan O’Neal, former amateur boxer and pugilist fan.
The celluloid boxers still come calling for Tellez’ assistance–due to the demand for his custom mouthpieces, “I’m now a reitred dentist, but I’m still a dental technician and I’ve made mouthpieces for Denzel Washington, Will Smith, and a lot of other Hollywood actors.”
The busy Tellez is enthusiastic about his future travels with the WBC. He’s been involved with the organization his whole career and has been officially supervising fights since 1990. After the Telefutura fights are over tonight, he’ll fly back just in time to make the awards ceremony tomorrow, “I can’t wait to see everyone who’s coming out and showing their support to John and Chuck.”
He counts Rex Walker (NABF President) and Dr. Jose Sulaiman (WBC President) as more than mentors, “They are good people and great friends.” Tellez will also be heading to China soon for next month’s WBC 46th Annual Convention.
But before that trip, he’s got a full plate: Atlantic City on October 18th for the undercards of the Kelly Pavlik-Bernard Hopkins fight and after that he’ll be going to Lemoore, Ca. where he puts on a four-card title fight night at the Tachi Palace.
The energetic “mouthpiece doctor” is glad he gets the chance to see a lot of up-and-comers in the ring, “We had a fight in September in Phoenix and I’m really impressed with the new WBC Youth Champion Jose Hernandez. He’s got an old-school style and is an awesome fighter. He could be another Diego Corrales, same height and weight. We’ll be presenting him as “Fighter of the Year” in Ft.Worth, Tx. on November 28th. I’ll be picking up his awards in China.”
Then after China, it’s back to the new museum as Tellez tells me about his January event that he’s already planning, “We’ll be honoring the whole Goossen family, Goossen Tutor Promotions and allof their champions. It’ll be great!”
Tellez rapid sentences quickly end as he excitedly tells me he has to leave for an impromptu reunion with a relative he hasn’t seen in 32 years, who happens to live nearby the Tucson fight venue. Since his mother recently passed, he knows that family is still the number one priority–even though boxing sometimes takes up a lot of his time!
But as we all know, boxing becomes a second family for many of us, and Tellez says he’s really looking forward to cheering on all the inductees tomorrow. He was there at the beginning with many of them, there when some were just starting out, including Tony Rivera, Albert Davila, Joey Olivo, and Danny “Little Red” Lopez. The awards ceremony is doubling as a fundraiser for his good friend and former champ John Montes, Jr. former wife Joann, who is battling cancer. Tellez knows he’s had a great career in boxing and is happy to be in position to help and support others in need.
If you’d like to come meet Rudy Tellez and attend the luncheon–tickets are just 40.00–call
323-722-2473 to reserve your ticket today.