Lupe was at the bout, screaming at yet another in a long line of men who came up short: ?You should wear a bathing suit with that sort of diving!?
?The first time you buy a house you think how pretty it is and sign the check. The second time you look to see if the basement has termites. It?s the same with men.??Lupe Velez
I recently came across a photo of Arthur De Kuh?and was reminded of Lupe Velez.
A heavyweight who fought from 1925 to 1932 (45-14-1, 33 KOs), De Kuh was born in Trieste, but fought out of Boston. He isn?t one of the greats, or even among the very goods, but he was tough enough to take on his fellow hard boys.
He lost to Jack Sharkey on points at the Arena in Boston on December 10, 1928, to Young Stribling, also on points, at Spiller?s Ballpark in Atlanta on November 11, 1930, and faced the limited but very durable Unknown Winston at Braves Field in Boston on May 27, 1931, beating him on points.
Winston, like the De Kuh himself, will never be confused with Joe Louis, but he had 123 fights in 17 years, compared to Paulie Malignaggi?s greatest of all time, Floyd Mayweather Jr., who?s fought a piker?s 45 times over a like period.
De Kuh also fought Max Baer, on December 30, 1931, at the Auditorium in Oakland, losing on points. But he?s perhaps best remembered for his bout with Tony Galento, which took place at the Laurel Garden in Newark on April 11, 1932.
It?s not that De Kuh won?Galento knocked him out in the fourth?but the story behind the fight is just so Runyonesque.
Galento actually trained for this fight, to the stunned relief of Pete Dodd, his manager at the time. But that relief soon turned to quavering fear when Galento failed to show up for the weigh-in.
While at a party, Galento boasted he could eat 50 hot dogs and yet still beat De Kuh. A $10 bet was made (about $170 in today?s money), and Galento not only consumed the 50 hot dogs, ?but two more for good measure,? as biographer Joseph G. Donovan reports.
Stuffed like a sausage himself, Galento decided against the weigh-in, instead repairing to yonder Loew?s Theatre for a snooze. The snoring boxer was discovered and recognized by the manager of the movie house, and a frantic Dodd quickly arrived to retrieve the bloated, somnolent, and aptly monikered ?Two Ton.?
Indeed, so bloated was Galento upon his arrival at the arena that he couldn?t fit into his boxing trunks and Dodd had to slit them at the waist.
De Kuh pounded Galento at will, but ?I?ll stop this bum in the next round,? Galento assured his skeptical manager.
The broken-nosed De Kuh was rushed to Beth Israel Hospital?Galento went out to dinner.
De Kuh ?never amounted to anything in boxing after that defeat,? wrote Donovan. True, he won his next three fights, but they were against nonentities Bob Moody, Teddy Jackson, and Seal Harris. He then lost to Leroy Haynes before his penultimate, and most controversial, bout?against the great Mickey Walker.
The bout, which ended at 1:48 of the first round, took place at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 6, 1932. Despite weighing 223 pounds to Walker?s 175, and having an eight-inch height advantage over the ?Toy Bulldog,? De Kuh?s performance was so awful as to be suspect.
Knocked down four times, the last three punches wouldn?t have bruised the proverbial grape, or so thought the 6,000 fans in attendance.
And Lupe, the ?Mexican Spitfire?? Where does she come in? Why, she was at the bout, screaming at yet another in a long line of men who came up short: ?You should wear a bathing suit with that sort of diving!?
Fortunate indeed that De Kuh wasn?t Mexican. If he had been, Lupe may very well have jumped into the ring with a well-honed cuchillo strapped to a caramel thigh, and the boxer could have ended his days more as Guinevere than Arthur. Yes, woe betide a Mexican who lost to a mere gringo. There will be blood! If not during the fight, then certainly afterwards.
Arthur De Kuh, Lupe Velez?impossible to think of one and not the other. Follow us on Twitter@boxing_com to continue the discussion
Tags: arthur de kuh Mickey Walker lupe velez Jack Sharkey Young Stribling Paulie Malignaggi Floyd Mayweather Tony Galento pete
