# Great Photos - 1970s Boxing at The Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles



## Theron (May 17, 2013)

"Theo Ehret was the house photographer at the Olympic Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles from the mid 1960s until the early 1980s."

Heres some of his great pics from The Olympic

Armando Muniz and Raul Soriano Swinging, The Forum, 1972 









Rafael â€œBazookaâ€ Limon K.O. Olympic Auditorium, 1977









Olympic exterior, sign reads 'Mando Ramos vs Crawford fight on October 5, 1967, Frankie would score an upset win over Mando when this fight came to be









Frankie Crawford, Olympic Auditorium, circa 1967









Raul Rojas, Olympic, circa 1976









"The Maravilla Kid" Ruben Navarro









Ruben Navarro standing over Mar Yuzon









Alexis Arguello and Sylvester Stallone, Olympic Auditorium, and actress Edy Williams doing her thing, 1967 at the forum in Inglewood, this was before the Olivares-Lopez fight while the introductions were being made, ill post the vid of this at the bottom, it was certainly different from how introductions usually happen :lol:









Olympic Auditorium wide view, circa 1975









Olympic, circa 1969









Exterior, Olympic Auditorium









Mac Foster vs Jack O'Halloran., Olympic Auditorium, 1970









Lupe Pintor with Jimmy Lennon Sr. in background, 1980









Roberto Duran Victory Olympic Auditorium, 1973









Unknown, Olympic Auditorium









Marvin Hagler, Olympic Auditorium, April 7, 1978 after beating Doug Demmings 









Mando after Sugar Ramos


















2:20


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## scartissue (Jan 6, 2013)

Theron, I loved pics by Theo Ehret. They had to have been about the most vivid and crisp photos I've ever seen. BTW, just to fill in the blanks on some of those photos, the fighter that Ruben Navarro is standing over is Mar Yuzon. The picture of Mando Ramos after battle was right after his bloodbath with Sugar Ramos. And the pic that is marked Jerry Quarry against George Johnson is actually Mac Foster against Jack O'Halloran. I can't figure out that unknown picture other than referee Rudy Jordan. Great pics, I've never seen that one of Muniz and Soriano before.


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## Theron (May 17, 2013)

scartissue said:


> Theron, I loved pics by Theo Ehret. They had to have been about the most vivid and crisp photos I've ever seen. BTW, just to fill in the blanks on some of those photos, the fighter that Ruben Navarro is standing over is Mar Yuzon. The picture of Mando Ramos after battle was right after his bloodbath with Sugar Ramos. And the pic that is marked Jerry Quarry against George Johnson is actually Mac Foster against Jack O'Halloran. I can't figure out that unknown picture other than referee Rudy Jordan. Great pics, I've never seen that one of Muniz and Soriano before.


Cheers for clearing some of those up ill add the changes in, he certainly took some great photographs ill add in some of his non Olympic Auditorium pictures to this thread aswell

I really like Soriano, against the less experienced Muniz he used all the little veteran moves he had picked up to great effect, turning Muniz to keep him off balance when up close, leading him onto punches on the inside, throwing short shots that used Armandos momentum against him, I actually uploaded a video a while ago showing a little sequence in the fight of him doing it that id forgot about


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## scartissue (Jan 6, 2013)

That was the only fight I've ever seen of Soriano, although I think one of his fights with Sugar Ramos is out there. He didn't seem to be much of a banger, but his stats would obviously disagree with me. Maybe he elected to box and outfox rather than show any oomph in his shots. You are right, he just brought a bag of experience into the ring that night. I understand he came soooooooo close to getting a title fight signed with Curtis Cokes. But back in the day, all those top contenders, who would all be world champ today with the multiple titles floating about, had to have a lot going for themselves talent-wise and politically in order to get that shot at the one world champ.


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## Theron (May 17, 2013)

scartissue said:


> That was the only fight I've ever seen of Soriano, although I think one of his fights with Sugar Ramos is out there. He didn't seem to be much of a banger, but his stats would obviously disagree with me. Maybe he elected to box and outfox rather than show any oomph in his shots. You are right, he just brought a bag of experience into the ring that night. I understand he came soooooooo close to getting a title fight signed with Curtis Cokes. But back in the day, all those top contenders, who would all be world champ today with the multiple titles floating about, had to have a lot going for themselves talent-wise and politically in order to get that shot at the one world champ.


I agree I think he went the more sly experienced route against Muniz, but he also didnt really look like too much of a banger vs Ramos, The Soriano-Ramos fight is their 2nd and only 2 rounds but worth a watch, Raul looked very good up until Ramos took him to the ropes and took him out. A Cokes fight woulda been interesting, I guess id have to bet on a Cokes win, most likely a TKO, Soriano didnt seem to do too well vs punchers but he was a cagey guy so might be on his feet till the end. Cokes would have to be favored though.


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## Theron (May 17, 2013)

Some of Ehrets other photographs

Frankie Crawford, Main Street Gym, 1969









Antonio Puddu, Main Street Gym, 1973









Sugar Ray Leonard, Main Street Gym, 1979, Ken Buchannon, 1971









Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton 1, 1973, San Diego Sports Arena 









Ali vs Norton II, at the Forum in Inglewood, 1973 









Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, Main Street Gym, 1974, and Alexis Arguello, Main Street Gym, 1975









Muhammad Ali, training at the Main Street Gym for the Rumble in the Jungle, 1974


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## scartissue (Jan 6, 2013)

Theron, absolutely brilliant shots by Ehret. I totally love the Frankie Crawford shot. The dude was a headcase, but he could fight. Always remember his 10 round draw with Chucho Alonso. It was scored a draw but believe me, Frankie was robbed that night. Not to nitpick, but the Puddu pic was from 1973 when Puddu came to L.A. to fight Rodolfo Gonzalez for the WBC lightweight title. You can also see above him a poster for the Muniz - Lope fight which was also from '73. The Buchanan pic was from - I think - '71 when he came to L.A. to defend against Ramos, which eventually went to Ruben Navarro. And the two Ali-Norton pics are inverted. The first one at the top was the San Diego fight and the second one was the fight at the Forum. Sorry to nitpick.


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## Theron (May 17, 2013)

scartissue said:


> Theron, absolutely brilliant shots by Ehret. I totally love the Frankie Crawford shot. The dude was a headcase, but he could fight. Always remember his 10 round draw with Chucho Alonso. It was scored a draw but believe me, Frankie was robbed that night. Not to nitpick, but the Puddu pic was from 1973 when Puddu came to L.A. to fight Rodolfo Gonzalez for the WBC lightweight title. You can also see above him a poster for the Muniz - Lope fight which was also from '73. The Buchanan pic was from - I think - '71 when he came to L.A. to defend against Ramos, which eventually went to Ruben Navarro. And the two Ali-Norton pics are inverted. The first one at the top was the San Diego fight and the second one was the fight at the Forum. Sorry to nitpick.


That Crawford pics gotta be one of my favorite Ehret shots, ive only seen one Crawford fight vs Mando but man what a gutsy performance by the smaller Crawford, he didnt seem to want to just beat him on the cards but beat him in any way he could that night, the last round with both just going at it till the end was wonderful.

Thanks for clearing more up ill put the changes in, a lot of Ehrets pics seem to be labeled incorrectly


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## scartissue (Jan 6, 2013)

Theron said:


> That Crawford pics gotta be one of my favorite Ehret shots, ive only seen one Crawford fight vs Mando but man what a gutsy performance by the smaller Crawford, he didnt seem to want to just beat him on the cards but beat him in any way he could that night, the last round with both just going at it till the end was wonderful.
> 
> Thanks for clearing more up ill put the changes in, a lot of Ehrets pics seem to be labeled incorrectly


Two things about Crawford, one of which could be seen in that first Mando Ramos fight you mentioned, was he was really adept at using his opponents momentum/balance and spinning him into the ropes. I loved the way he would time it. Also, he had this left hook that had some incredible snap to it. A buddy of mine used to watch him perfecting this in the gym on the speed bag. He would hit the speed bag which such snap he would tear it from the swivel. My buddy said he would practice this shot over and over. I know he decked Sho Saijo (I think twice) with that punch and he hurt Vicente Saldivar real bad with the shot. Interesting character that Frankie.


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## Theron (May 17, 2013)

scartissue said:


> Two things about Crawford, one of which could be seen in that first Mando Ramos fight you mentioned, was he was really adept at using his opponents momentum/balance and spinning him into the ropes. I loved the way he would time it. Also, he had this left hook that had some incredible snap to it. A buddy of mine used to watch him perfecting this in the gym on the speed bag. He would hit the speed bag which such snap he would tear it from the swivel. My buddy said he would practice this shot over and over. I know he decked Sho Saijo (I think twice) with that punch and he hurt Vicente Saldivar real bad with the shot. Interesting character that Frankie.


Funny you should mention his left hook it was actually one of the first things that stood out about him when I watched him vs Ramos, in the first few rounds his left hook was landing really nicely, he threw it short and it just stuck in there especially on the inside. At some points he was throwing it so it wouldnt loop around like a usual hook but threw it so itd go through the middle of Ramos' guard like a jab/hook mixture, very effective I love when boxers use that shot. Jimmy McLarnin has to be my favorite user of that one


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