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Wes Wambold, center, of the Bulldog Boxing Club has trained 2,000 victors over his 40-year boxing career.
Photo by Jim Craven
By FRANK SILOW
Fred Spiegelberg never met Wes Wambold, but the two men had something in common boxing.
Spiegelberg, who died on March 22, 1996, is best known for his contributions to Medford High Black Tornado football. But his first love was boxing.
Wambold, trainer for Bulldog Boxing Club of Medford, recently registered his 2,000th win as a corner man in a career spanning 40 years.
Because of Spiegelberg's interest in boxing, Bulldog founder Joe Pedrojetti decided to honor the legendary football coach with a boxing program at the stadium named after him.
Thus, the Fred Spiegelberg Memorial Invitational will take place Friday at Medford's high school football facility.
Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the first of at least 10 amateur bouts begins at 7:30.
Ticket prices are $10 ringside, $7.50 reserved and $5 general admission. Also, any child under 12 will be admitted free accompanied by a paid adult. Cost for students, with a student body card, is $3.
Approximately 11 local boxers ranging from 11-year-old Jose Cabrera to 32-year-old Ken Stickler will have bouts with fighters from Coos Bay, Albany, Nyssa, San Diego, Reno and Carson City, Nev.
Pedrojetti remembers whenever he got together with Spiegelberg, the former football coach always reminisced about boxing.
"I think he loved football, but his real passion was boxing," says Pedrojetti. "Friday is his night. It's at his stadium. Why not honor a guy who touched a lot of kids' lives and a lot of people's lives?"
Spiegelberg began boxing as a boy in Omak, Wash., and fought collegiately at Washington State University.
"He grew up boxing," says Spiegleberg's daughter, Shawn Retzlaff of Medford, "and he always loved reading about it and keeping up with boxers.
"I was thrilled to see Joe put this together. It's totally apropos."
While Spiegelberg had a positive effect on Medford's young people throughout his career, Wambold is doing much the same now. Both coaches used discipline and conditioning as a foundation for their success.
Wambold's interest in boxing began inadvertently as a 20-year-old track team member at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey in 1951.
"I had been out running and when I came into the gym the boxing coach asked if there was anyone in shape to work out with a welterweight," says the 66-year-old Applegate Valley resident. "I said I was in shape and went on to spar a couple of rounds with his boxer."
That initial experience taught Wambold something he never forgot: "You can have all the talent, but if someone is in better shape that can make the difference. Conditioning is everything in boxing."
The next year Wambold became the boxing coach for the installation and the Navy electrician continued in a similar capacity wherever he was stationed until his retirement from the Navy in 1967.
Wambold was the all-Navy coach for four years and was a finalist for the Olympic boxing coach in 1964.
When Wambold left boxing in 1989, the veteran trainer was 76 wins short of 2,000. He ended his long association with the sport because of health problems and the desire to do something else with his life like painting landscapes. But the notion of achieving 2,000 wins lingered in his mind.
"I always thought about it when I stopped," says Wambold. "It was really just something personal. It's kind of an honor bestowed upon me by my fighters."
Wambold wasn't intending to return to boxing when he moved to Southern Oregon in 1992. But a chance encounter with Pedrojetti at the Rogue Warrior gym in Phoenix eventually led to the formation of the Bulldog Club last fall.
"The biggest thing that attracted me to Wes is his love for the kids, not his boxing knowledge," says Pedrojetti. "He puts out the effort for the kids and they sense that. If they call him he picks them up and takes them to school or brings them to the gym. It's unusual for a pro trainer who has trained seven world champions to have such involvement with the kids."
Through the guidance of Pedrojetti and Wambold, the Bulldog club has achieved much success. The club, which began with four members but now boosts about 30 regulars, has posted a 94-21 record in matches against similar organizations.
On May 18 at the Region 12 Junior Olympic Championships in Portland, a 4-foot-6, 80-pound fighter provided Wambold with his 2,000 victory. The lofty milestone was achieved when 11-year-old Daniel Boone Wyatt of Medford registered a victory by decision.
Despite his many accomplishments, Wambold's experience with the Bulldog Club ranks with the best of what he's done in the sport.
"This is nothing like I've ever done before," says Wambold. "I get a lot more pleasure out of it than the kids do. Or at least that's the way I feel. These kids tell us things and ask us for advice in areas that really surprises me."
Even though Wambold didn't know Spiegelberg, he has a perspective on the coach's legacy.
"The only monument that you leave behind is what people think of you," says Wambold. "That's the case with Spiegelberg. He'll never be gone as long as people remember him."
Friday's boxing show at the football stadium will keep that memory alive.
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