That's an amazing story, SC. Running from a riot right into Ali.

When I was a kid, I used to go to the Scranton Catholic Youth Center whenever there was a card every two or three months. There were a few local fighters, including a crowd favorite and heavyweight, Jerry Foley, who would usually win as they would bring in a punching bag for him from some place. He wasn't really good, and I believe he was mildly retarded. The crowd would chant "Fo-Ley", much like the way other crowds were chanting"Ali."

My family was shocked therefore when we turned on ABC Wide World of Sports around 1980 and saw him fighting in France with Ken Norton providing the color commentary as if Foley were legitimate. It turns out that a good fighter was supposed to fight this star French heavyweight, but cancelled out two days before. ABC had trouble getting a replacement, so Foley was brought in and gave the Frenchman a surprisingly good fight, hitting him with a few good punches.

My uncle was part of the group who would put the cards together in the 1970s. Many of the fighters were young,new professionals from Philly, NJ or NY. I remember one fighter, who lived about an hour away and was very impressive in his first several pro fights in Scranton. After his wins, usually by KO, he would shower, change, come out and thank the guys who put the fight together. He went on to become the heavyweight champ of the world, Larry Holmes, a few years later. A group of us had our picture taken with him when he was a nobody, and most of my face was blocked by my brother, who now has the picture.

There was an 80 year old guy, who would come to the fights, who was a former boxer, named Kid Mango. In his day he was locally famous for boxing kangaroos. I remember him telling my brother and me, "Dem bastards don't fight fair." After the last fight of the night the old guy would fake a fainting spell so he could get a ride home.