Cal Boxing Alums Share Much More Than War Stories at 95th Reunion

Cal Head Coach Jim Riksheim

BERKELEY, CA – The other day, I talked to a guy who once had Big George Foreman down for the count.

Really, I did!

“We fought in the finals of the 1967 Golden Gloves junior division,” recalled the towering Bob Winter ’63, my hand vanishing inside his upon greeting me. “I told my brother that Foreman was going to stick that cornball left jab because he would leave it out there. At the beginning of the fight, he jabbed once, jabbed the second time, and just like I planned, I hit him with a counter straight right hand. It actually lifted him off his feet and put him straight on his back.”

So did Bob pull off the upset?

“He got up and they gave him a split decision,” Winter replied, shaking his head while he grinned. “But he was a tough kid, and I ended up with this story.”

That conversation in the Haas Pavilion Club Room marked the beginning of my day as a guest of the University of California boxing program for their 95th Reunion, and it wouldn’t be the last to raise an eyebrow or two.

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