ART HAFEY

ART HAFEY in the black and white pages
of an old  magazine:  By Brian Zelley

*To many persons connected to boxing in Canada
and California they remember well the excellence
of our fine Canadian warrior named Art Hafey.
Much has be written and some of the moments 
have been remembered to add a chapter to the
history of boxing in Canada, California and
to professional boxing history.

For just a moment in time, one of many years
stands out for me when I travel back in time
and get lost in the black and white pages of the
dusty old boxing magazines.  Then there was
that one copy in 1975 that is one of my 
Art Hafey treasures.

It was the July 1975 issue of "The RING" magazine.
On the glowing cover in red, white and green was a
full profile photo of  Muhammad Ali,  but it was on
those old pages of the black and white pages where
a golden moment of recalling ART HAFEY was
displayed.  

And there it was between a story about Ali, and
a story about bantamweights Ruben Olivares and
David Kotey was the main article that focused on
our own Canadian "Toy Tiger" Art Hafey in an
article by Jess Hernandez  and that treasured photo
with some great narrative, as follows:
"Nova Scotia's Art Hafey poses with manager
Al Bachman  and trainer Burke Emery, right after
one of Hafey's workouts" and the second photo
of Hafey being helped into his robe, while his 
KO victim Fernand Beaudin is being helped by
his cornerman and watched by referee Gary Simon.

However, the theme and mood of the article was all
about Art Hafey and his standing in the world ratings
in the Featherweight division and touches on his two
bouts with the bantamweight champion Ruben Olivares.
Of course, the article touches on the broken promises
of the group that controlled the Forum boxing, and 
why Art moved to the Olympic Auditorium for a 
better chance for a title shot.

Beyond the Hernandez article:
*But in the black and white pages, there were more
stories and data on Art Hafey.  

in a column called "Sunny California", it featured
a photo profile of Art and a report about the 
recent bout in which Art defeated boxer David Sotelo.

In the various ratings, there he was as Number 1
Art Hafey to featherweight champion Alex Arguello.
On a personal note, those ratings bring back memories
of my own as one of my opponents in the 1968 Tacoma
Golden Gloves and opponent in the finals of the
1968 Seattle Golden Gloves/Pacific Northwest AAU
Championships was ranked number three in the 
lightweight division and his name was Ray Lampkin
who I had called the "Portland Panther" in a Lee Kerr
column in an old "Boxing Illustrated" magazine. And for
many of us that fought in the various Golden Gloves 
tournaments in the Pacific Northwest there was another
one of our alumni of those '68 wars named Mike Colbert
who was Number 7 in the middleweight division, and also
Tacoma's own Sugar Ray Seales.

Then we trip forward into the Commonwealth Ratings,
there was our lad ART HAFEY listed number 2 along
with David Kotey listed number 1 for the vacant 
featherweight title.  Of course, those ratings would be
nice for Canadians as other Canadians in the ratings
were welterweight champion Clyde Gray,  and Fernand
Marcotte and Lawrence Hafey.  There were also others
including Gary Summerhayes, Gary Broughton, Donato
Paduano, and Johnny Summerhayes.

Over the years, Art's name appears in many stories and
photos, but for one brief moment in the old black and 
white pages of that dusty old magazine, ART HAFEY
adds a touch of gold.

2012 NEWS:  Burke Emery
*Recent news from the California Boxing Hall of Fame
is former boxer and trainer of Art Hafey will be inducted
into their Hall of Fame in October 2012.