January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

decent man. But as a fighter, Lopez would hit the other guy so much he would
become exhausted. Because of that, Lopez would always fill an arena, because he
would give the fans their money's worth…. It was his heart that made him
win."For much of his career, Lopez fought out of Los Angeles' Main
Street Gym. He and his brother Danny, who won a world championship, were managed
by Howie Steindler. "Howie treated me like a son," Lopez said. "I loved
Howie."Lopez was born on the Ute Indian Reservation in Fort Duchesne,
Utah, the third of eight children."Our life wasn't easy," said a sister,
Naomi Adams. "There was trouble at home and many of us ended up in foster
care."Lopez says his father taught him to box. "But sometimes I learned
when I watched my father hit my mother," Lopez said.Lopez met Marcia
when they were students at Orem High School, and the couple moved to Pasadena
when Lopez began fighting out of the Pasadena YMCA.Over a decade, Lopez
compiled a 51-18-1 record, fighting champions such as Napoles, Emile Griffith
and Katsuya Nakano. He fought in England, Hawaii, Japan and Mexico as well as
all over Southern California and Nevada. "My biggest purse was $40,000," Lopez
recalled. "But it's gone."Lou Filippo, 79, a veteran referee from Downey
who worked many of Lopez's fights, says that if Napoles hadn't been in Lopez's
way, "Ernie would have been a great champion…. I feel so good for him. He
deserves this. I hate to say it, but when I heard his story, it brought tears to
my eyes."Fraser said he was going to introduce Lopez at Saturday's
induction in the City of Commerce, "but I think I'm going to ask someone else
because I will not be able to keep from breaking down."Lopez says he's
not sure when, how or why he came to Fort Worth.He remembers living with
a church family in Missouri, shoveling snow for a hotel owner in Portland,
Maine, sleeping in New York's Central Park, working construction in Florida and
cleaning hotel rooms in Phoenix. "Twice at that hotel, I went to clean a room
and found a dead body," Lopez said. "After the second time, I
left."Lance Lopez has spent many years collecting bits and
pieces of his father's boxing career. "I've found video clips of some of his
matches by searching the Internet," he said. "I've turned up some newspaper
clippings."He wants to share these things and some other memories with
his father."I remember we'd have this big jar of silver dollars on a
shelf," Lance said. "Whenever I'd hear the ice cream man coming, I'd grab one of
those silver dollars. Later on I found out that fight fans had thrown those
silver dollars into the ring as tips."On Halloween, Lance would dress up
in his father's boxing robe, recalling that people would stop him and say, "Oh
my goodness! Do you know Indian Red?" Many years later, Lance took Ernie
to the Forum to watch boxing."I snuck down during the first match. Gil
Clancy was there. I told Gil my dad was in the stands. Gil said, 'Oh, no, you're
kidding. Indian Red is here?' Before I could even get back to the seats, they
were introducing my dad. He got a standing ovation."Pennington and
others at the shelter have worked hard to get Lopez ready for his flight home.
They took him shopping for pants and shoes, and to the airport for a dry run.
Pennington told Lopez he might have to take off his shoes for security "because
of 9/11.""What's that?" Lopez asked.Pennington says he hopes
that when Lopez gets on the plane today, that it is a one-way trip: "We all hope
he finds a home."Daughter Kami, who lives in Apple Valley with her six
children and her husband, William Watkins, gets choked up when she considers the
reunion this weekend."I had a dream years ago that my dad had died,"
Kami said. "It really, really scared me. From that time on we all started
pitching in, being more proactive about finding him. We'd call police stations
in places we knew where he had been, checked out unidentified John
Does."It's very exciting we have found him alive but also very sad that
he was so alone. We just want him to know now that he is always welcome in any
of our homes." Photos athttp://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-
lopez4mar04,1,5040480.story?coll=la-home-sports|