Fighters appear at L.A. show
Last weekend was a boxing bonanza for L.A. fight fans.
If you were to bring a brand new boxing glove to the event, you could’ve walked out with over 30 signatures scrawled on your shiny new mitt!
The nonprofit World Boxing Hall of Fame (WBHF) held their annual Autograph and Collectibles Show at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott last Saturday afternoon. This was quite a lineup with over 30 former champs and boxers seated at the VIP tables. The event was a prelude to the group’s 30th Annual Banquet of Champions taking place later that night.
And it was a fun day for the boxers too, many of whom brought their families with them. It was a second-generation gathering with several of the fighters’ children present at the show. Greg Haugen and his son, Lane, are favorite repeat visitors to the yearly event and I’ve watched the boy grow up. Lane’s now a teen and almost as tall as his dad, a former lightweight champion. Also in the room, was pretty little Diamond Norris, who smiled brightly as her father, “Terrible” Terry Norris signed a ton of autographs for his fans. And South African visitor Damon Mitchell watched on as his dad and new 2009 inductee Brian Mitchell autographed photos from past fights.
For almost five hours, attendees could shop among the rows of memorabilia before cruising into the star-studded Autograph Row where they could get autographs and pose for photos with the sluggers of their choice.
For boxing fans of any level, the room offered many tempting treasures to fill your collections. Official Hall of Fame T-shirts, WBHF souvenir photo gloves (by Nazo Boxing), assorted works of art, books, DVDs, posters and more were just some of the items that enticed the crowd.
Here is a crop of photos I took throughout the afternoon.
Do you recognize these faces from the ring?
How many of these brave warriors from past and present can you name?
Here’s a “cheat sheet” with a full listing of those I saw at Saturday’s show: New inductees Rafael Herrera, Brian Mitchell, Al Bernstein, Amilcar Brusa, Orlando Canizales, fighters Michael Carbajal, Emile Griffith, George Chuvalo, Terry Norris, James “The Bone Crusher” Smith, Alex Ramos, Tony “The Tiger” Lopez, Loreto Garza, Manuel “Mantecas” Medina, Greg Haugen, Carlos Ortiz, Olympians Paul Gonzales and Mando Muñiz, Danny “Little Red” Lopez, Rodolfo “Gato” Gonzalez, Gaspar Ortega, William Guthrie, Jim Strickland, Bobby Chacon, Oscar “The Boxer” Muñiz, John Montes, Orlando De La Fuente, Yaqui Lopez and “Irish” Gil King, actor/singer Frank Stallone, referees Joe Cortez and Gwen Adair, and emcees Danny Valdivia and Jim FitzGerald.
Thank you again to all of our boxers for donating their time to this fundraising event!
And I look forward to seeing you all again next year!
Photos by Michele Chong