BOXING’S ORIGINAL “GOLDEN BOY” ART ARAGON SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH SOLD
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PH0293
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Gelatin silver print, 8” X 10 matted; signed “to my pal Bill / Best wishes/ Art Golden Boy Aragon. Excellent condition.
Art Aragon, boxing's original "Golden Boy," who never won a world title but whose brashness, good looks and celebrity lifestyle made him one of the sport's biggest drawing cards of the 1940s and 1950s. Although top-ranked as a welterweight and lightweight, Aragon lost his only world title fight to lightweight champion James Carter in 1951. Aragon, who struggled to make his weight class throughout his career, said afterward he was weak from having to lose seven pounds in the days before the fight.
"I was the only fighter they ever carried into the ring, I was so weak," he said in 2006 when he was inducted into the California Boxing Association Hall of Fame.
Aragon had 116 fights with a 90-20-6 record, including 61 wins by knockout. He fought such stars of the era as Tommy Campbell, Jesse Flores and Carmen Basilio, who knocked him down after eight brutal rounds in 1958.
Born in Belen, N.M., the fighter grew up in East Los Angeles and began boxing in 1942. His first recorded professional fight was in 1944.
Flamboyant both in and out of the ring, Aragon wore a gold robe and trunks and reveled in playing the villain. Often he would taunt a crowd into booing him, sometimes thumbing his nose at the audience after defeating a popular opponent.
He was equally colorful outside the ring, golfing with Bob Hope and counting as friends such celebrities as Marilyn Monroe and William Holden. He was married four times and had a high-profile romance with actress Mamie Van Doren.
"The Golden Boy' was a perfect title for him," Van Doren told the Times. "His smile turned everyone on. His skin was golden. His floppy hair bounced so perfectly. He was just so sexy."
His career, however, was marred by allegations that at least some of his fights were fixed. In 1956, he was convicted of offering a $500 bribe to welterweight Dick Goldstein to take a dive in a Texas fight, but the conviction was overturned on appeal.
Los Angeles sportswriters gave Aragon the nickname "Golden Boy" — later applied to boxer Oscar De La Hoya — in reference to the 1939 movie of that name that starred Holden as a prizefighter.
Art Aragon, boxing's original "Golden Boy," who never won a world title but whose brashness, good looks and celebrity lifestyle made him one of the sport's biggest drawing cards of the 1940s and 1950s. Although top-ranked as a welterweight and lightweight, Aragon lost his only world title fight to lightweight champion James Carter in 1951. Aragon, who struggled to make his weight class throughout his career, said afterward he was weak from having to lose seven pounds in the days before the fight.
"I was the only fighter they ever carried into the ring, I was so weak," he said in 2006 when he was inducted into the California Boxing Association Hall of Fame.
Aragon had 116 fights with a 90-20-6 record, including 61 wins by knockout. He fought such stars of the era as Tommy Campbell, Jesse Flores and Carmen Basilio, who knocked him down after eight brutal rounds in 1958.
Born in Belen, N.M., the fighter grew up in East Los Angeles and began boxing in 1942. His first recorded professional fight was in 1944.
Flamboyant both in and out of the ring, Aragon wore a gold robe and trunks and reveled in playing the villain. Often he would taunt a crowd into booing him, sometimes thumbing his nose at the audience after defeating a popular opponent.
He was equally colorful outside the ring, golfing with Bob Hope and counting as friends such celebrities as Marilyn Monroe and William Holden. He was married four times and had a high-profile romance with actress Mamie Van Doren.
"The Golden Boy' was a perfect title for him," Van Doren told the Times. "His smile turned everyone on. His skin was golden. His floppy hair bounced so perfectly. He was just so sexy."
His career, however, was marred by allegations that at least some of his fights were fixed. In 1956, he was convicted of offering a $500 bribe to welterweight Dick Goldstein to take a dive in a Texas fight, but the conviction was overturned on appeal.
Los Angeles sportswriters gave Aragon the nickname "Golden Boy" — later applied to boxer Oscar De La Hoya — in reference to the 1939 movie of that name that starred Holden as a prizefighter.
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