THE KING OF L.A.
Man” Muniz, Duarte elected to go with John Cabrera (a printer by trade) as his new manager and trainer. Recalling his early days with Cabrera, Duarte said, “We were both on an adventure. We were both learning.” In 1973 at age 18, Duarte launched his professional career with a blazing start, knocking out 14 of his first 16 opponents, but alcohol and drugs soon crept back into his life. He told Dan Hanley of the Cyber Boxing Zone, “I paid the price of having Mando Ramos as an idol. I figured if he could party and fight, I could do it. I couldn’t.” Trouble in paradise followed. Frankie Duarte’s bout vs. Tarcisio “Famosito” Gomez caused a memorable disturbance at the Olympic Auditorium on April 24, 1975. “Danny Lopez had just knocked out ‘Chucho’ Castillo in the bout before I came on, and the Mexican audience was none too pleased. Then I win a very close decision (SD 10) over Gomez, also of Mexico. Now, John Cabrera had been telling me to acknowledge my fans. I had a habit of winning and then just leaving the ring. Well, this time I raise my arms to the crowd, and I get hit in the head with a bottle. Now I’m mad, and I really upset the crowd by giving them the old ‘Shove it!’ sign. Now they start to riot. They’re throwing things in the ring; they’re setting fire to the seats.” Duarte, who needed a police escort to his dressing room, stated, “It was so bad that KCOP-TV canceled their contract with the Olympic.” Rowdy Mexican fans were the least of his troubles. Known as “Huero” (“Light-skinned”), Duarte was not growing as a boxer and placed blame on the inexperienced Cabrera following an embarrassing, drug-addled fifth- round TKO loss to Alberto Davila in a WBC title elimination bout at the
Pinango for the title, and now it gets that much bigger,” Duarte recalled. “If it wasn’t for boxing, I might have been dead by now. My comeback was to save my own life.” Even in the twilight of his career, the aggressive Duarte brought fans to their feet. In his bout against the respected Pinango, a 1980 Olympic silver medalist from Venezuela who was also defending The Ring belt on February 3, 1987, a celebrity-studded
Frankie! Frankie!” as he walked down the aisle to the ring. Duarte told Springer, “I wasn’t champion of the world, but I came as close as you can get. I take great satisfaction in what I accomplished, even though I don’t have the money to show for it.” With an iron chin, hard punch, huge heart and the willpower to remain sober, Duarte revived his career at an age when he realistically should have been retired or way past his prime.
on all three scorecards after nine. But Duarte was awarded a TKO win after referee Lou Filippo stopped the fight in the 10th round due to a bad cut over Davila’s left eye, thinking it was caused by a punch. Duarte, who won The Ring’s 1987 Comeback of the Year award, was not proud of how the long- awaited Davila rematch played out. “It was a tainted win. I was behind on points. I headbutted him – accidentally, of course. The referee
crowd assembled at The Forum to cheer him on. Duarte recalled, “[Sylvester] Stallone was at ringside with his people, and I can hear him yelling, ‘Right hand, son, right hand!’” Even though Pinango was deducted three points for low blows and dropped by Duarte in the 12th round, Duarte incredibly lost a bloody and highly controversial 15-round unanimous decision. A key factor in the outrageous result was the selection of judges, who were from Puerto Rico, Panama and Argentina. Duarte explained, “The WBA ruled that because
didn’t see the headbutt. I don’t like winning fights that way. I don’t want Davila to look at me and say, ‘There’s that guy who thinks he beat me.’ As it stands, Davila got burned. It’s hard for me to say that. I want him to know I don’t claim I beat him. For some reason, God has used Davila to humble me. I take that fight as a loss. I want Davila to know that.” In an odd union, Duarte turned to veteran manager Bennie Georgino for guidance, along with Jackie McCoy in his corner. Georgino, a former restaurateur, had managed world champions Danny “Little Red” Lopez, Jaime
Duarte and Albert Davila display the fight poster for their first showdown.
I was not the mandatory No. 1 contender, we had no say in the judges. I figured I got robbed. After that fight, I was never the same. I don’t get the decision, but the next day I’m as big a hero as if I’d have won.” Duarte leaving it all in the ring prompted the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Springer to write, “Even at his peak, Duarte took as much as he gave. The scar tissue piled up over his eyes. Even in victory, his blood flowed with champagne.” The hoopla surrounding Duarte’s inspiring comeback was staggering. Duarte recalled, “If you could put this feeling in a bottle, you could sell it. I was in a dream, almost like I died and went to heaven.” He became a Southland boxing star, with impassioned crowds chanting “Frankie!
Garza and Davila. He negotiated a title shot against WBC 122-pound titleholder Daniel Zaragoza at The Forum (then called the Great Western Forum) on August 31, 1989. Though the lanky Duarte showed toughness throughout, he clearly absorbed too many of the Mexico City champion’s punches, resulting in a 10th-round TKO victory for Zaragoza. This would be Frankie’s last fight. Duarte retired from boxing with a record of 45 wins (33 knockouts), eight losses and one draw while fighting from 1973 to 1989. Hailing from East Los Angeles, Gene Aguilera is the author of four award-winning books from Arcadia Publishing.
Duarte’s close nod over Tarcisio Gomez sparked a riot at the Olympic.
Olympic Auditorium on June 9, 1977. Coach Jauregui recalled, “Cabrera left him alone. It’s the same deal as music. You have to practice, and I couldn’t help him.” After losing two bouts in a row (along with what was left of his self- esteem), Duarte retired from boxing in 1981, only 26. A modern-day miracle occurred three years later when Duarte walked away from substance abuse addiction (without clinical help) and landed at the Ten Goose Boxing Club in Van Nuys asking for a second chance. The brawling, all-action veteran was
“I was on a natural high, an unbelievable high,” Duarte said. “It was a high no drug could ever match. All of a sudden, the fans are cheering. I’m in the newspapers, then here I was on TV. People are asking for my autograph. It was like something out of the movies.” Ten years after their first fight at the Olympic Auditorium and just about five months after the Pinango fight, Duarte met Davila once again, this time at The Forum on June 27, 1987. Davila, now a former world titleholder, got the better of his old rival once again, dropping Duarte in the fourth round and leading
resurrected by young promoter Dan Goossen and trainer Joe Goossen, who guided him to the NABF title and the Stroh’s bantamweight tournament championship with a punishing ninth- round TKO over undefeated future titleholder Jesus Salud at The Forum on July 10, 1986. “Then I signed to fight WBA bantamweight champion Bernardo
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