Imagine his dismay, and my amusement, when he ripped open the wrapping paper to discover a photo of a white guy in a cowboy outfit?
?Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.??A Christmas Story
One of my brother?s gifts to me this past Christmas was a signed photo of Jake LaMotta knocking Sugar Ray Robinson through the ropes. I was both delighted and reminded, reminded of a fellow boxing fan who once asked Santa, in the curvy form of his girlfriend, for an autographed photo of Rory Calhoun. Imagine his dismay, and my amusement, when he ripped open the wrapping paper to discover a photo of a white guy in a cowboy outfit. My friend wisely expressed his delight to the curvaceous Circe, who was no end pleased with herself. But he later took me aside with a ?What the hell??
I told my confused and disappointed friend that, as is so often the case in life, he received not what he wanted but what he asked for?in this case, a signed photo of B actor Rory Calhoun. Distressed by the look on his face, Sylvester foiled in noshing on Tweety, I thought it might make him feel better to know that Calhoun had portrayed Gentleman Jim Corbett in The Great John L. It didn?t.
My friend wasn?t a fan of that Rory Calhoun, but of the middleweight who fought from 1954 to 1962, and who once noted that ?No matter how often my father belted the devil out of me for fighting, it failed to curb my combative tendencies.? Combative tendencies?no wonder my friend wanted that autographed photo.
With a record of 45 wins, 21 by knockout, 15 losses and two draws, Calhoun won his first 23 bouts. His first loss came courtesy of Spider Webb, who won by unanimous decision at Chicago Stadium on August 29, 1956. Webb was also the first of five to stop Calhoun, by fourth-round KO at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, on January 20, 1958.
Rory scored victories over an impressive lineup, including Joey Giambra, Rocky Castellani, Yolande Pompey, Tiger Jones, and Dick Tiger. But his record turned spotty. Following his devastating loss to Henry Hank by second-round TKO at the Cow Place on April 25, 1960, which kept him out of the ring for seven months, he lost five of his seven remaining fights.
It was after being stopped by Florentino Fernandez by eighth-round TKO at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1961, that Calhoun moved up to light heavy, losing two of three.
He quit the ring after being stopped by Jimmy Ellis via first-round KO at the Jefferson County Armory in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 11, 1962. He was no longer a contender?and he knew it.
Rory Calhoun died of liver failure on February 15, 1988. He was 53.
Consolation to my fellow fan that Calhoun changed his name from Herman to Rory in order to capitalize on the actor?s celebrity? No soap. That the two men later became friends? Uh-uh. How ?bout that when suing the actor for divorce his wife claimed he?d had affairs with Betty Grable and 78 other lovelies, to which he said, ?Heck, she didn?t even include half of them?? That at least brought an admiring look to his sour puss.
Me, I lucked out. If my brother had gotten me a signed photo of the actor Jake LaMotta, the guy who appeared in Cauliflower Cupids (with Lee Meredith as Dee Body)…why, it?d still be the same guy whom the great Sugar Ray couldn?t knock down.
