Tijuana is a Fight Town Part 2

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Before Tijuana boasted of the stars Raul “JIbaro” Perez, Erik “Terrible” Morales and Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito among its boxing galaxy, the border town was the home for Gaspar “Indio” Ortega, who in his prime in the late 50’s and early 60’s, fought numerous times in the cathedral of boxing, Madison Square Garden.

In the last installment of “In the Squared Circle:Tijuana is a Fight Town!”, we visited the story of Ortega’s beginnings in the sport.  Now, we dwelve into his journey accross the border and into boxing immortality.

indioandfelipeOrtega was discovered by southern California scout Nick Corby who put out the word that promoters in the United States and especially in New York City where searching for rugged, tough Mexican fighters to send up north.  By that time, Ortega had been retired for about four months after securing a job at a cobbler’s shop.

“One day a fellow boxer came looking for me and told me that a man had gone to ask for me at the gym,” Ortega recalls.  “The kid told me that he wanted to see me train and I was reluctant since I hadn’t been in the gym for some months.”

They met at the famed but now defunct Arena Mexico where when Corby finally came face to face with Ortega, he was incredulous that the scrawny teenager was the famed “Indio”.  After Ortega convinced Corby that he was the fighter he was looking for, the scout made Ortega the offer of traveling north to represent Mexico in the United States.

When Corby stated that he would be going “up north”, Ortega believed he meant San Diego or as far as Los Angeles, perhaps.

After convincing his parents to signing the needed documents necessary for him to travel accross the border by himself since he was a minor, the seventeen year old Ortega found himself on a bus heading to New York City.

“I got on the bus with a bag of tacos, a five dollar bill and three quarters,” Ortega remembers with a smile.  “I would win extra money off the service men who were also on the bus, tricking them with slight of hand tricks that I knew back then.”

Three days later, Ortega found himself among the skyscrappers and the throngs of people that the city is known for.  Ortega did not have the slightest idea who was going to pick him up at the bus depot and he had no idea the time he was going to arrive since he was traveling by bus.

“It was pretty scary since I didn’t know anybody and was so far from home.  I remember that there was a lot of people around, I walked out to the street, 54th and 8th ave,” he reminisces.  “Suddenly a man approached me, he asked me if I was Mexican and if I boxed, I thought he was an immigration agent but he turned out to be ‘Happy’ Rodriguez who was there to pick me up.”

“At first, I regretted to have gone up north, I missed my family,” Ortega explains.  “I felt I had made a mistake.”

Soon there after, Ortega returned to what was familiar, boxing.  Once he began to step into the ring in New York City, Ortega realized that the ortegavsbasiliomove was not only smart one but a lucrative one at that.

“When I used to fight in Tijuana, I used to make $3-4 dlls. for a four rounder,” Ortega explains.  “The first four rounder I fought in New York City, I made $150 dlls.”

“For a six rounder, I made $500 dlls, so I said, I’m never going back!,” Ortega says while chuckling.

In New York City, his persona of the “Indio” began to take shape as Ortega became well known.  He began to wear the full native American headress into the ring.

“That was an idea of the promoters,” “Indio” recalls.  “They used to say that I had nothing Indian about me so they got me the headress.”

In part three of “Tijuana is a Fight Town”, Ortega will re-visit his greatest fights…

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1 COMMENT

  1. Gaspar Ortega was a friend of my dad’s when Gaspar lived in New York. I come from a boxing oriented family, of which some of us either managers, trainers or fighters, going back to the 50s and for as long as I can remember Gaspar was a family favorite. We, including my mom, we regulars at The Garden, Sunnyside and other fight clubs in the vicinity and one of my unforgettable memories was being present when Gaspar fought and defeated Billy Bello at the Garden. I had seen him fight on TV before but never in person. I have a copy of his win over tough Gene Porier. I wish him well.

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