|
|
PHILLY BOXING HISTORY STAFF
|
JOHN DISANTO - EDITOR & WEBMASTER |
-
DiSanto is a life-long boxing fan with a particular affection
for all things Philly. Tired of waiting for the ultimate
reference on the topic to be produced by someone else, John set out
to tackle the job himself. He founded Philly Boxing History.com in 2004 with a passion for the sport AND its heritage. DiSanto applies his experience in marketing, research, writing, film
& web to the quest to create the definitive guide to the history of
the prize ring in the City of Brotherly Love. John is a member of IBRO,
the Veteran Boxer's Association, and is the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame.
DiSanto created the Briscoe Awards, which honors and celebrates the
best of the current Philadelphia boxing scene, and the Gravestone
Program which remembers deceased members of the Philly boxing
community by placing headstones on their previously unmarked graves.
Those honored so far are Tyrone Everett, Gypsy Joe Harris Garnet
Hart, Eddie Cool, and Matthew Saad Muhammad, with more to come. DiSanto has also curated and installed several
pop-up museum exhibits including the "Jeff Chandler Exhibit"
(2012), the "Philly Boxing Art Exhibit" (2013), the "Kitten Hayward
Exhibit" (2010). DiSanto was also named the
Ring One / Veteran Boxers Association Man of the Year in May of
2007.
|
|
|
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
|
CHUCK HASSON |
-
Widely regarded as the ultimate expert on Philadelphia boxing
history, Chuck is the keeper of the Philadelphia boxing archives
and has studied and written about the subject for many years. He is the co-author of the book
Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage, along with Tracy Callis &
Michael Delisa. Chuck is a voting
member of the IBHOF. In 2013, Chuck entered the PA Boxing Hall
of Fame as a Boxing Historian. For this website, Chuck provided
records, articles, photos, lists, and many other items. If a
really tough question comes in, it is surely Chuck who comes up with
the answer.
|
J RUSSELL PELTZ |
-
J Russell Peltz is a Hall of Fame boxing promoter who has made
Philadelphia boxing history for almost 50 years. In 1969,
he
stepped away from a budding career as a journalist to launch Peltz
Boxing Promotions. Quickly, he became the premiere
matchmaker & promoter in the city. Russell developed scores of
top-notch contenders like Cyclone Hart, Willie 'The Worm' Monroe, &
Frank Fletcher, as well as great champions such as Jeff
Chandler and Matthew Saad Muhammad. Russell has been a great
help in the development of this Web site. He has offered his vast
boxing collection, his archives, and his encyclopedic knowledge as resources, and is always quick with the answers to my many
questions. Russell regularly reviews the information posted on
this site and offers critical corrections and missing details. In addition, he has allowed me to lift numerous images from the
great Peltz Boxing Web site.
|
|
|
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS |
|
JIM ROGGE - Jim is a
long-time boxing fan who as a young man saw every local show at the
Cambria, Arena, Blue Horizon, Alhambra, et al, from 1958-1963.
After he married and while raising his family, he watched boxing on
television and mixed in a few live shows whenever possible. In the
1980s, in a comeback of sorts, Jim became a season ticket holder at the
Blue Horizon and didn't miss a card for ten or more years. Back in
the late 50s and early 60s with camera in hand, Jim often camped out at
Champs Gym (33rd & Dauphin) to watch and mix with some of Philly's
all-time greats. He photographed Sonny Liston, Harold Johnson, Len
Matthews, Garnet Hart, Ike White and many others. Rogge shared his
excellent photos with this website and we have used them throughout our
pages. Jim's contribution is greatly appreciated as it has added
much to our content. To the left is a sample of the shots Jim
contributed - Rogge then 18-years old proves that outside of the ring, Sonny Liston was
really a sweetheart.
|
|
GARY PURFIELD - Gary is a writer and photographer who has become
a key contributor to the site. He has covered many fights for
PhillyBoxingHistory.com as a photographer, and has shot at the Philly
gyms, the Briscoe Awards |
|
DARRYL COBB JR - Cobb is an up-and-coming ring photographer who
is quickly becoming the go-to shooter for local fights. He has regularly
provided his photos to support our coverage, and has shot the Briscoe
Awards. |
|
RAY BAILEY - Ray is an experienced boxing photographer who has
covered fights all over the East Coast. In recent years, he has provided
photos to this site for many Philadelphia, New York and Atlantic City
fight cards. |
|
CHRIS TONEY - Widely considered the top local boxing photographer
these days, Chris has shared his fine work from numerous fights. |
|
KEY ART PHOTOGRAPHY - Key has covered the local boxing circuit
for the past several years and has frequently shared her photos with us. |
|
|
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
|
-
Gary Purfield - Gary
is a boxing writer who has contributed interviews, analysis,
coverage over the past several years. More recently he became the
prime writing support for this web site.
-
Ken Hissner - Ken is
a member of the VBA - Ring One and through the years, has been a
boxing Jack of all trades - promoter, manager, agent, and these
days, a boxing writer. Ken covers the local boxing scene and often
tracks down former fighters for interviews and stories. He regularly
writes for Boxing Insider.com and frequently contributes pieces for
this web site.
-
Frank Lotierzo - Frank is a member of IBRO and has written for
many boxing Web sites including Boxingranks.com, &
Boxingscene.com. He contributed articles to Philly Boxing History on
Jimmy Young, Joe Frazier, Curtis Parker, & others.
-
Greg Smith - On line boxing scribe, Greg Smith
contributed articles on Tyrone Crawley & Gypsy Joe Harris.
Greg is a staff writer for the Web sites boxingranks.com &
hardcoreboxing.net.
|
|
|
FAMILIES of PHILADELPHIA LEGENDS
|
-
Henry 'Toothpick' Brown - Bryant Brown,
son.
-
Pete Byron - Pete Dooley, grandson.
-
Mike Evans - Dennis McClernand, nephew.
-
Tyrone Everett - Doris, Mike & Eddie
Everett, mother & brothers.
-
Tommy Forte -
Christian LaGrossa, grandson.
-
Gypsy Joe Harris - Tony Molock & Arenta
Miller, siblings.
-
Johnny Jadick - Michael Bizik,
grand-nephew.
-
Richie Kates - Dennis A. Cesare,
friend.
-
George LaRover - Bill Prosper, son.
-
Tommy O'Toole - Tom O'Toole,
grand-nephew.
-
Jimmy Riggio - Rocco Riggio, son.
|
|
|
OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
|
-
Billy Abel, Jr. - Former Philly
Lightweight prospect, and fellow member of the Veteran Boxer's
Association, lent me his personal collection of Spectrum & Flash
Gordon fight programs. These items help to further complete the
relics section of this site.
-
Emily Delaney Ward & Eleanor Ward -
Born in 1913, Emily Delaney grew up in West Philly and eventually
went to work for Philadelphia promoter Herman Taylor. For most
of her working life, she was a fixture at the promotional company
and assisted Taylor throughout an important stretch of boxing
history. She was a boxing fan and an integral cog of the
operation. Eleanor Ward, born in 1920, was Emily's
sister-in-law. She lived with Emily & Charlie Ward (her
brother) in West Philly, and for many years was an employee of the
Globe Ticket Company, the Philadelphia firm that produced boxing
and other event tickets for decades. After their deaths -
Emily in 1989 and Eleanor in 2003 - their family discovered a
precious collection of vintage, mint-condition boxing tickets kept
in a box in Eleanor's closet. The majority of that set is now
in the collection of this web site, and several of the tickets were
contributed by the family for free. We are not sure which of
the two ladies' careers or interest in boxing is most responsible
for this legacy, but it is safe to say that together Aunt Emily and
Aunt Eleanor are vital contributors to our efforts and will be
remembered very kindly for it.
-
Krister Palais - Krister was born and raised in Sweden, lived in France and currently
lives in Norway. He is an artist, journalist, musician, and an
editor for the
Boxing Records Archive.
Also a collector of fight memorabilia, he has provided the
site with photos and fight
details
that have helped make the information
presented on this site more accurate. In
addition to his contributions here and at BoxRec, Krister is working
to develop an art exhibit inspired by his interest in boxing.
-
Robert Snell - A boxing historian and researcher especially interested in the
1920's and 1930's, Robert has supplied me with many newspaper
articles and photos of fighters from those eras, including Tommy
Loughran, Midget Wolgast, & George Godfrey.
-
WHYY TV12 - Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and
Fall of Jack Johnson - The
spectacular film by Ken Burns premiered January 17 & 18
2005 (locally on WHYY TV12 at 9PM). The film is also available on DVD.
WHYY was good enough to add this Web site to the
Philadelphia-related boxing links on their
Unforgivable Blackness Web page.
|
|
|
|