SCENE OF CRIME L. A. FORUM
Gerardo “The Victim” Martinez
San Jose, CA– This is not a story for “Unsolved Mysteries,” as this was a criminal case closed by yours truly. Before we get to the meat of the story, here’s a little background. Miguel Jara is a self made millionaire. The “Taco & Burrito King” of Northern California, Jara’s cuisine has won countless Zagat awards, among other for almost 30 years. With a love for boxing, along with a great desire to have himself a world champion, Jara opened his own gym here in Silicon Valley in the mid-1980s. Within his stable was one pugilistic gem, that being Gerardo Martinez, a bantamweight (118 lb.) born in Mexico and living in San Jose.
JARA WAS THE EVER SO BENEVOLENT ONE
With a heart of gold, Jara was the guy that donated to charities, helped friends who were down and out, the man was a prince among men. There were times when he promoted cards knowing in advance that they would not turn a profit. And yet, Jara was all smiles as he threw out six figures in an attempt to make it in the boxing business. Like a lot of people who enter boxing, Jara saw it as both a business and a love. What he failed to envision was that his love would turn out to be the likes of a Crack whore.
GERARDO TO FIGHT FOR WBC BELT
After fighting the usual suspects and building his record to a perfect 24-0, Martinez and Jara signed to fight Raul Perez for the WBC 118 lb. title. Training camp went smooth and Gerardo ho wwas close to weight three weeks prior to the fight set for May 7, 1990. His opponent was a worthy one in the 46-1 Perez of Mexico.
FORUM BOXING HAD CONTRACT WITH RAUL PEREZ
Handled by Nacho Huizar of Tijuana, Raul was an elongated bantamweight that stood 5’10. Checking into the hotel right across the street from the Inglewood Forum, the site of the fight, everybody in the Martinez camp was oozing confidence. These positive feelings were also felt by the Godfather of boxing writers Jack Fiske and myself who flew down from San Francisco.
YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING…
“Styles make fights.” Yeah, but in addition to the right style, there had to be a great level of talent and ability. We all felt that Gerardo had all of this going for him. What we didn’t know is that a criminal act would take place prior to the fight that took away any chance Gerardo had of winning. More background here as Perez was promoted by Forum Boxing which was still in the hands of LA Laker’s owner Jerry Buss. His matchmaker, the one and only Tony Curtis wasn’t afraid to drop a wager here and there so Tony got my eye for a minute.
TIME FOR THE FIRST BELL
Having been seated in the front row by John Beyrooty, the great ex-LA. Herald Examiner scribe who was now the Forum publicist, Fiske and I nervously sat through the preliminaries. A couple of times I went in the back to see how things were going. In the Martinez dressing room was Jara, Gerardo and trainer Pancho Lopez. The atmosphere was one of cautious confidence. That continued until the bell rang.
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”
As Gerardo stepped out of his corner, his front foot slid across the canvas in a manner that could best be described as somebody ice skating in boxing boots. We’re not talking about being a tad slippery, more like somebody had greased the soles of Martinez’s boxing shoes.
LIKE GOING DOWN A SLIDE OR ICE SKATING
Although Gerardo was able to land a few shots, Perez tried to keep him moving as he too could see Gerardo could barely stand, let alone fight with a man of world class caliber. Having never seen anything even remotely close to this, Fiske, 40 years in the biz and myself were dumbfounded as the Martinez corner worked unsuccessfully try and remedy the situation.
FIGHT STOPPED IN THE NINTH
Stunned and bewildered, most of us that knew Gerardo were perplexed, no it was more than that, we just couldn’t ****** believe what had just happened after the 9th round stoppage. Why couldn’t Gerardo even get a minimal amount of traction in the ring?
WD 40 LUBRICANT FOUND ON SOLES OF MARTINEZ BOOTS
Sliding like either a beginner on ice skates or a Bowery drunk, Martinez it turned out was the victim of a criminal conspiracy. Although there was some suspicion, we would find this out after bringing the shoes to a Santa Clara, CA laboratory. The shoes had a WD 40 type of lubricant applied to the soles before the fight! Gerardo had tried the shoes on and moved around on them the day prior.
NACHO & CURTIS CREW WERE TOP SUSPECTS
Having interviewed the lab tech for the now defunct FNN Sports TV Network, he laid out the chemicals involved in changing the boxing shoes into leather ice skates. My first thoughts were who could have done such a thing? The shoes were with Team Martinez from the time they left San Jose to the time he stepped into the ring. The lone time the shoes were not watched was when Martinez was at the weigh in. That being said, the Forum Boxing folks who in essence that ran the hotel were the primary suspects. Jerry Buss’ matchmaker, the one and only Tony Curtis wasn’t afraid to drop a wager here, thus uncle Tony got my eye for a minute.
DEATH BED CONFESSION TELLS PART OF STORY
As it turns out, some people in the Raul Perez contingent were involved. That much we know. But the person that applied the oily substance to Gerardo’s shoes were his trainer Pancho Lopez, he of Jimmy Montoya fame. Close to death many years later, Lopez admitted such to Miguel Jara. With death imminent, Lopez confessed to “rigging” the fight by oiling the soles of Gerardo’s shoes.
WOULD NOT GIVE UP WHO PAID HIM
What he would not give up however, who was it that paid, bribed or blackmailed him to do this despicable deed. And while I’ve mentioned some names, in fairness there are others, but Pancho Lopez, who was nothing but Montoya’s schlep until Jara brought him in took the identities to the grave with him.
CRIMINAL ACT TOOK AWAY MIKE JARA’S HEART & SOUL
Even though Gerardo would fight seven more times, the fight with Perez, the one that he should have won, will likely forever haunt him and Mike Jara. After a shot at IBF champ Orlando Canizales in 1994 ended with a TKO 4 loss, Gerardo laced them up one more time before calling it quits later that year. Jara had already closed his spacious gym, he was just waiting for Gerardo to retire before he would dump this Crack whore we call boxing.
TWO GOOD MEN DOWN FOR THE COUNT
And while Gerardo’s bitterness seemed to evaporate over the years, Jara carried these negative feelings all the way up until just a few years ago. Now he rarely watches boxing, and when he does it brings back that terrible night in 1990 when his dream of having a world champion was taken away. Paraphrasing the great recently departed Mickey Duff, “The first five years in boxing you’re having a good time. From that point forward, you can’t wait to get the **** out.” Rarely have truer words ever been uttered!
Pedro Fernandez