G.O.A.T

Poetry in motion: An archive of fighters.

[goatbox]

“Before performances, Miles stayed away from others and often drove away anyone who might approach him. Like a boxer, preparing for a fight, he denied himself food and sex before playing, believing that a musician should perform hungry and unsatisfied…Like a fighter, he tied his shoelaces as tightly as he could bear, on shoes that were already a size smaller than his size 7 feet, so he could feel firmly in place.” -Excerpts from “So What: The Life of Miles Davis” by John Szwed, Simon & Schuster, 2002.

[goatbox]

Gene Tunney in a 1928´ cartoon by Miguel Covarrubias 

[goatbox]

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” R.I.P Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

[goatbox]

Howard Schatz amazing boxing studies... Eadweard Muybridge must be proud. 

[goatbox]

Stanley Kubrick´s first short film: Day of the fight (1951).

[goatbox]

The downfall of Vicente Saldivar. As I eat breakfast my father remembers his old neighborhood. He remembers how he met Saldivar, how he once sparred with him. He remembers how fast his left hand was. He remembers when Saldivar “Zurdo de Oro” fell in love with a celebrity, Malú Reyes. He was already the Featherweight Champion of the World.

 He also remembers when he dropped by his old neighborhood and found a sparring partner from his youth. This friend said that Saldivar was involved in the wrong fights, that he no longer trained like he used to, that he was madly in love with Malú. He tells my father that Saldivar was missing for months when she left him. That one day they dropped into Saldivar´s apartment and that he was already dead. This friend tells my father that Malú was the cause of Saldivar´s downfall.

 Wikipedia says that Saldivar died of Cancer.

Other sources say that he died from a heart attack. 

[goatbox]

“Me faltaban pedazos de tendones, tenia los huesos astillados. En un hospital me quisieron cortar los dedos, pero me negué (...) Se me apagaron todas las luces, mis proyectos murieron. Probé la cocaína y no pude parar. La droga fue mi anestesia para no sentir tristeza".- Jorge "El Karateca" Medina

[goatbox]

Un terrible boxeur (1914) Terrible Boxer boxing with his memories and his Thousand Desires .-Guillaume Apollinaire 

[goatbox]

Boxers - Morrisey

Losing in front of your home crowd

You wish the ground would open up and take you down

And will time never pass ?

Will time never pass for us ?

[goatbox]

"You know, I guess I´m just gonna have to start fighting again..." .- Fat City (1972)

[goatbox]

"Sísifo casi de veras, inagotable casi, Rubén Olivares emprendía esa noche una nueva ascensión, a cuesta su fardo de mujeres, de alcohol, de mariguana, de parásitos, de coca, de vagancia, de tedio, de impaciencia, de desamor, de anarquía, de nota roja, carnitas y totopos y fatalismos y resignaciones y prodigiosas facultades naturales para el arte de desmadrarse entre las doce cuerdas".- Los glorias del gran Púas, Ricardo Garibay. 

Almost Sisyphean, unquenchable almost, Rubén Olivares started that night a new ascension, carrying on his back a pack of ladies, of booze, of marijuana, of parasites, of cocaine, of sluggishness, of tedium, of impatience, of heartbreaks, of anarchy, of yellow press, of carnitas and totopos and fatalism and resignation and prodigal natural capacities for the art of breaking faces between the twelve ropes".- The Glories of the Great Púas, Ricardo Garibay.    

[goatbox]

do you box?

I used to when I was younger. Perhaps one day I´ll fight again. (I wish)

[goatbox]

A mosaic of Rodolfo El chango Casanova, one of Mexico´s most prominent fighters of the 40´s. With a record of  81 wins, 22 loses and 3 draws; he fought and defeated main figures like Baby Arizmendi, Kid Azteca, Tommy Young and Juan Zurita. At a later age, Casanova left boxing due to his problems with alcohol, spent a time cloistered in the mental asylum "La Castañeda", and lastly died in 1980 in a shelter for the poor.  

[goatbox]

Some photos I took a couple of years ago with a friend at El Nuevo Jordan, Mexico´s cathedral of boxing, the place where I train.  

[goatbox]

I´ve seen him shadowbox... and the shadow won.- George Foreman talking about himself 

[goatbox]

My arms are too short to box with God.

Johnny Cash

[goatbox]

A photo of Mexico City´s cathedral of boxing "Los baños del Jordan". Since 1938 El Jordan has been a home to fighters such as Raúl el Ratón Macías, Ricardo el Pajarito Moreno, Mantequilla Nápoles, Rubén el Púas Olivares, Kid Azteca, José el Toluco López and Carlos el Cañas Zárate, among many many others.