EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW BLOWS LID OFF ARIZONA CORRUPTION
San Francisco, CA– Before we start, thanks go to Edwin Ayala of RingTalk.com who transcribed this radio interview into text form. “Ring Talk” (RT) – 40 minutes past the hour, you’re tuned to XTRA Sports 860, my next guest is a current day Rocky Balboa, he is the man, Joe Diaz, manager extraordinaire of Phoenix, AZ, owner of the Top Level Gym down there in the desert. All by himself, this is the man who brought down the corrupt Arizona Boxing Commission, so says the latest report by ABC Channel 15 in Phoenix that was crucial in the arrest of boxing promoter Peter McKinn.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND TO GET YOU HIP
Mary Rose Wilcox, her being an elected Maricopa County Supervisor, the former Arizona Boxing Commission chairperson, and of course her husband Earl Wilcox, who was an aide to then Governor Janet Napolitano, who’s probably going to be indicted on trying to influence a judge. OK and then we got John “Papa John” Montano. If you’re listening tonight John, I hope you are baby cause you only got a couple of more days before you’re wearing the same clothing as Peter McKinn. Of course at the top of the food chain, the upper part of the food chain, we expect to see Bruce Trampler, the Top Rank matchmaker and people of his ilk. We expect to him to be thrown in the slammer as well cause you know what I’ve been saying is that there are the guys at the top, and now the guys at the bottom are starting to squeal now. Bruce if you’re sleeping tonight, you must be taking sedatives. You’re tuned to “Ring Talk” live worldwide let’s bring in the sometimes bombastic Joe Diaz. Joe congratulations on your hard work.
Joe Diaz (JD) – Well I thank you my friend.
RT – We’ve been together on this for five years and it’s been a tough tough long hard road you know.
JD – Well I know what they did to you when you were the only one carrying it.
RT – Well I appreciate that Joe. Of course they did a lot of stuff to me and you know basically they ruined me financially but guess what Joe, I’m still standing!
JD – I hear ya’.
RT – While I’m still standing, Peter McKinn is in jail. They got him on wire tap talking about the governor’s aide Earl Wilcox and this and that. I mean are all these guys going to go to jail like I said?
JD – What I would like to explain to you is something that’s been going on, and this case would’ve been done with I think in six months if it hadn’t. What had happened is that in 2004 I had one foot already out the door away from Top Rank and our last fight was scheduled in November at the Coyote Arena and what happened was that the $5000 check from May still wasn’t made good. But there was nothing about a forged receipt, there was nothing about an affidavit. There was nothing existing then except the check that I was holding and every time that we fought and we fought like four times prior to the last fight in November, each time McKinn said he would make the check good and of course I went along and we fought and of course he always said there wasn’t enough money left over. He cut us (“Yory Boy” Campas) down on a couple of purses. But I kept the faith, I held on. Around the second week of October this is really where I didn’t know I had the biggest problem, Norm Frauenheim, who was writer for years for the Arizona Republic …
RT – And now writing for 15Rounds.com, but go on.
JD – Right, well here is what took place, I got a call from Peter McKinn around quarter to seven in the morning and I was surprised because usually he never spoke to me before one in the afternoon because him and Trampler would be on the phone discussing, ah you know all the different fights that he was the promoter for and I understood that, so I said Pete isn’t this kinda early and he says well I got Bruce on the phone and we need a favor. So he says to me look you get along with Frauenheim, which that was the truth up until then. I had no problem with Norman and he always put good articles about my fighters and he attended the fights always gave them a piece in the paper. He says Joe tell Mr. Norman that if he doesn’t write about my guys before and after the cards and we’re gonna let some information loose that for 25 years he was on the payroll of Top Rank, that he was supplied the drugs, the girls, the booze and so forth. Before I could say another word, OK, I said to McKinn I say are you for real? I’m gonna lose a relationship with this guy over something I don’t even know is true. Well he says it’ll help us and it’ll help us put on more shows and it’ll help boxing here in Arizona. So anyway I hung up the phone with him and that was the end of that. About two or three hours later I think it was 11 in the morning I say to myself I better call Norman and let him know what these guys who are supposed to be his friends are saying.
So what happened is he answered the phone and I started to explain to him about what was just said to me and before you know it he started screaming “If I hear this story ever again from your lips I’m gonna get our lawyers, I’m gonna sue you for liable and I’ll own that gym of yours!” He went on screaming so I hung up. From that day on as this case progressed and all the information came out about the $5000.00 check, the account being closed, the forgery a year later which I knew nothing about until I subpoenaed the records. All this stuff emanating from the judges chosen by Earl Wilcox (unclear what Diaz states). That’s how the Wilcoxs got involved because for whatever reason, it was to keep Pete protected, in other words, they were spinning the story and Norman did it in such a way that we didn’t know if he was talking about a $3000.00 check or a $5000.00 check.
I mean Norman is a perfectionist when it comes to spinning the truth. He’ll lie, but in a way to make you laugh and make a joke of what took place and I want to clarify that record. And right now there would be no jail time for McKinn, there would be nothing had he been up front (and honest). Another thing, one day accidentally he asked me a question: Did I get paid? And I walked away from him and I said no, I didn’t get paid but they offered me $20,000 for the check. Think about that Norman, why would anybody offer to buy back a $5,000 check for $20,000, that they have an affidavit that they paid $5000.00, this doesn’t make sense does it. I left him there just staring at me and he never wrote anything about that.
RT – Hold on Joe let me reintroduce you to our listeners who just came on board, Joe Diaz is our guest, he is the manager of “Yory Boy” Campas and of course Campas for those of you who have been following our show for awhile and our website RingTalk.com as well, realize that we’ve been on his since late 2004. Then Mr. Frauenheim was a reporter for the Arizona Republic, and yet he never went to the bank to check things out. I went down to Phoenix, first thing I did was ask the cab to take me to the bank and I asked the lady hey what’s up with this $5000 check and the lady says to me there was never ever sufficient funds to cover that $5000 check or a $500 check to the IBA representative Norm Longtin not, to be confused with Norm Frauenheim, two totally different guys. One guy is sorta straight and the other guy isn’t so straight. But the bottom line is the cops detained me a couple of times down there in Phoenix. I mean it got a little ugly in fact when they ran me out of the athletic commission meeting when I stood up and read the actual Arizona state law in front of the commission (unclear) and said these negotiations between John Montano, then assistant director and Mary Rose Wilcox had to be held in public, well she had me thrown out of the athletic commission room for stating the truth as I read the rules to her. On another occasion, I was detained by the capital police in front of the Arizona state capital while walking a peaceful picket line with my guest here, Mr. Diaz. Of course we were walking this picket line because we were trying to get the state to realize that he we’re being screwed down here, Yory is being screwed and nothing is being done so what happens the cops detained me for like 20 minutes for assaulting, for allegedly assaulting a couple of guys and stealing from them. Now imagine this I’m in an Armani suit folks its 10 in the morning we’re walking a picket line very peacefully in front of the Arizona state capital, but that’s how powerful Joe, these people are.
JD – Well John Montano is the next in line, actually really the first in line before Norman because he had the authority and he still has the authority, watch this, to just say to McKinn, hey I want to suspend your license for ten days until I can get to the bottom of this $5000 check. He never did that. In fact he wanted to keep the check and I said no I’m gonna hold onto the check. Now I had to hire, after we found the false receipt, handwriting expert William Flynn.
RT – Now Joe, how did you end up with, how did you find this receipt with your name forged on it for $5000 in cash?
JD – Two years later here’s what happened. When he got arrested and they were going to put him in jail because he didn’t show up with the a good check, the county attorney issued an arrest warrant. That day Earl Wilcox on the payroll of then Governor Janet Napolitano, gets a hold of Peter McKinn and they go into judge Carlos Mendoza’s office and he reminds the judge that hey my wife, Mary Rose Wilcox, you know controls the budget for your court, and I’m an the aide to the governor and by the way this is Peter Mckinn and he has an arrest warrant running around. By that time the judge saw the whole picture and he ordered them out saying “all court business in court.” Then Earl puts down the gavel (unclear) and the court session started, he walks up to the judge without even being called the judge says to him, “Earl, I don’t ever remember you graduating law school are you a lawyer?” He (Earl) turned red as a beet like he wanted to kill the judge and then boom he went back and had Peter McKinn who says we have a receipt and we have a affidavit and I’ll give it you in 24 hours and that’s what they did. And with Mary Rose Wilcox’s fax machine on taxpayer’s time with her letterhead, they faxed a false receipt, a false affidavit, and false letters. All of these things are going on and in the meantime Norm Frauenheim is spinning it in the paper.
Johnny (Montano) gets away every time he gets in trouble, 33 years he’s been the dictator of Arizona boxing and in fact he just got convicted of robbing money (over $100 K) from the WBO in Puerto Rico by a Puerto Rican judge and he was still in charge of the state (until September 21) and he was the chief officer at this boxing card they had in Tuscon this weekend, this past Friday.
RT – So I thought he….
JD – This is what is going on in Arizona.
RT – A lot chutzpah being shown of course by Norm Frauenheim, John Montano, Mary Rose Wilcox, and Earl Wilcox. Now Joe I’ve only got about less than a minute left, who do you think is going to slam next?
JD – Well here’s the thing, under oath Montano lied even though it’s the kangaroo court that we call the commission. Under oath his secretary (recently resigned Norma Rivero) lied at least four times, she just left last week. Mary Rose Wilcox is going to go to prison as well as Earl Wilcox and many other people including judges who were involved in fixing cases and lied, a lot of stuff that’s going on is coming to an end. The FBI doesn’t fool around, neither does Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It’s not a vendetta like Norman Frauenheim said (at 15Rounds.com) If there’s a vendetta, he’s the one carrying it.
RT – With that Joe I gotta let you go. We know good things rise to the top and you know what I want to commend you Joe you’re a hard working guy, you wouldn’t give up. Like a pit-bull with a steak you just wouldn’t let go and God bless you Joe.
JD – Well thank you for your time and everything you’ve done and to all the people who supported us. Because you don’t do this to a champion, a clean fighter, a good man, “Yory Boy” Campas, he’s never did anybody any harm. The only harm is that he couldn’t read and write or speak English. They just used him.
RT – Joe Diaz on RingTalk live worldwide on XTRA Sports 860.
“Ring Talk Worldwide,” the longest running fight show in history, 25+ years, airs every Sunday in San Francisco at 6:05 PM on XTRA Sports 860. You can listen to the show on the Internet here at RingTalk.com both LIVE & on a delayed basis. Again, special thanks to Edwin Ayala.
Pedro Fernandez