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Fidel LaBarba
was born on September 29th, Bronx New York. Named
after St. Fidelis, commonly referred to as "Semper
Fidelis" or always faithful in the Catholic
religion. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1910 to
pursue more gainful employment and to be near
relatives.
At age nine, Fidel and his two younger brothers were
living mostly on the streets, due to the untimely
death of their 42-year-old mother. It was during
this time that Fidel started picking up his fighting
skills. While working for The Los Angels Express as
a paperboy, little Fidel was used in establishing
street corner domination from rival newspapers.
They would drop him off on a corner where the Herald
or the Times was being peddled. Crowding in as
potential customers approached, a pushing match
ultimately resulted with Fidel punching the other
peddler (usually a taller boy), knocking him down.
"After that, the guy would leave us alone." Fidel
often said.
By age 12 he was fighting in little amateur cards
(AKA "Smokers") held weekly at the Elks club, and
other small establishments. Bob Howard, the boxing
instructor at Central Junior High saw Fidel's
potential. It wasn't long before he met life long
friend & manager George Blake.
Fidel was naturally left handed, (AKA: "South Paw")
but was forced to learn boxing in a right hand
stance. This gave him a somewhat different weaving
style of fighting, and was why his left jab was his
most powerful punch. He was fast, accurate, and
great at defense.
Ultimately it was referee and manager Blake that got
him to the 1924 Olympic games in Paris, France.
Fidel had lost only one out of over 30 fights as an
amateur. This string of victories continued as he
not only won the Gold Metal, but his winning match
brought home the Gold Metal for the US boxing team
on July 15th, 1924.
Returning from the games, he decided to defer his
college education and turn professional. Fighting
against top names of the day, it took 26
professional bouts and close to two and one half
years for him to realize his dream. On January 21,
1927, he won the Flyweight Championship of the world
by defeating Elky Clark of England.
Fidel fought 12 more non-title fights and then
stunned the boxing world when he renounced his title
to attend Stanford University. After successfully
completing his freshman year, he returned to Los
Angeles to help with the burial of his father. He
then returned to the ring for six more years.
Fighting 58 fights, beating such boxing greats as
Bud Taylor, Kid Chocolate, Kid Francis, and Bushy
Graham.
Fidel was known as a clean, honorable, gentleman of
the ring. A role model for the Italian Americans in
the late 1920s and early 1930s. This was during a
time when the media portrayed most Italians as
gangsters. Ironically, it was this very thing that
inspired underworld king pin Al Capone to offer and
provide limousine service from the hotel to the
arena during one of Fidel's two 1930s Chicago
fights. The "ride" consisted of a motorcade of mob
owned vehicles which was said to have included
Capone's own 1930 armor plated Cadillac.
Fidel was never knocked out during his fighting
career Then on December 6, 1932 fate virtually ended
his boxing career. While training for the title
fight against Kid Chocolate, an elbow to the eye
detached his retina, ultimately causing removal of
the eye.
Against the wishes of both his manager and doctor,
Fidel fought the title fight three days later,
concealing his injury by the use of continual hot
and cold compresses. With over 50% loss to his left
eye, Fidel fought a convincing 15 rounds losing the
decision to Chocolate. But according to the New York
Times, "the majority of the 14,000 who witnessed the
battle disagreed." After three more fights with his
impaired vision, Fidel threw in the towel. He fell
back on a second career he had already started while
boxing, writing. One of his earliest published
articles was for the July 1926 Ring Magazine titled
"LaBarba's Hardest Fights". In 1928 he was published
in Coilers Magazine.
After a chance meeting on the polo fields of LA,
Fidel secured a career working under studio chief
Darryl F. Zanuck
in the early 1930s. During his stay at 20th Century
Fox Studios; Fidel co-wrote the stories for two
films. 'Susannah of the Mounties' (1939) starring
Shirley Temple and Randolph Scott, and 'Footlight
Serenade' (1942) starring Betty Grable, Victor
Mature, and Phil Silvers. The latter coming from a
story named "Kid Dynamite" loosely based on Fidel's
own life.
Fidel's final writing career was as a sports writer
for the Outlook newspaper, located in Santa Monica,
California. One of his most notable articles was for
the November 1957 Boxing and Wrestling magazine
titled "My toughest Fight" where he wrote about the
torment a fighter goes through hours before the
match, and a brutal bout he fought with Filipino
fighter Pedro Villa.
Fidel was forced to retire from his final job
working for the California State Athletic Commission
due to poor health in 1966. |
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