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STP'S
GR. CH. BUCK ROM
As a pup Buck was sold by Pat Patrick to
a physician. He proved to be an unsatisfactory pet and was sold to the
late Alan Waldman who matched and won two with Buck in the low 50's.
One over Aldo's Zeke, who later became a Champion, and the other over
Winchester's Conan. STP purchased Buck from Alan Waldman when Buck just
turned 2 years old and campaigned him at his correct weight, 46 lbs. As
soon as STP started to work Buck they saw he had incredible stamina. In
STP's hands, Buck demolished all of his competition, which included some
highly regarded match dogs. Buck did not dazzle fanciers with ten-minute
wins, but he had virtually no weakness as a match dog and always
dominated his opponent, no matter what style.
Buck's first match, with STP, was into
Tito's Tonka, which was no match for Buck as Tonka stopped in less than
:30 minutes.
His next was against Captain America's
Jumbo Jim. Jumbo Jim was a double bred Gr. Ch. Hank dog, and was hand
picked to defeat Buck. Jumbo made an incredible scratch at 1:30, but by
1:57 he collapsed in his corner unable to go.
In Buck's 5th he went into Rodney's two
time winner JR, littermate to Gr. Ch. Yellow ROM. JR was handled at :52
minutes and could not go any further. Jr. later went on to win three
more.
For Buck's 6th match was against P. &
H.'s Rocky, a rough son of Ch. Jeep and Gr. Ch. Miss Rage. Rocky was
picked up in a little over an hour. Rocky went on to win his
championship after another loss to Super Gnat's Gr. Ch. Ace.
At this point Buck was retired as a 6
time winner and not yet 4 years old. I was conditioning Super Gnat's
Gr.Ch. Ace for his 4th match, into P. & H.'s Rocky, when I received a
call from STP. He explained that after 2 years of retirement, his Gr.Ch.
Buck was contracted into Ricky Jones and Gr.Ch. Sandman, at 48 lbs. Both
dogs were exceptionally seasoned match dogs with similar styles and STP
predicted that the match would be a long one. This was the first time in
history that two registered Grand Champions were to meet.
Rebel Kennels Gr.Ch. Sandman was bred and
raised by Ricky Jones from a Rascal / Jeep and Boomerang cross. Word had
it that Ricky was able to take some of the unwanted dogs from some very
good dogmen, and by sheer determination and good sense Ricky had bred
bulldogs that could compete and win over the best in the country. Some
of the best match dogs, at any weight, were either owned by Rebel
Kennels, or were matched into Rebel Kennels.
There were about 25 fanciers waiting for
the match to start. My friend Peter from Holland was betting on Sandman,
while I was betting on Buck. This was the first time we were not on the
same side of the betting. The dogs were released and Sandman shot over
like a rocket and got a good hold. When Sandman got to the stifle, Buck
slowly and deliberately got him out. Ricky got all excited and said that
Bucks stifle was broken. For the first 20 minutes Sandman was all over
Buck, but then Buck started to dominate the action. Buck was a little
stronger and had a little heavier mouth. He was taking the match to
Sandman, but neither could get much of a lead over the other. Both dogs
could hardly be held in their corner as they rocketed across on their
scratches. About an hour and a half into the match Sandman got a good
hold on Buck's neck. As Buck tried to twist out of this hold, Sandman
held on and a stalemate ensued. Sandman would not release his hold and
Buck could not get free, so the two Grand Champions were locked
motionless and time dragged on. It seemed that both dogs were asleep.
Buck started to vocalize his frustration at being unable to move. Ricky
became even more excited, interpreting the noise as a sign of Buck
wanting to quit. Nothing could be further from the truth as Buck finally
extricated from the hold and resumed his dominance over Sandman. Ricky
not only began to denigrate Buck but also STP. At one point he said that
he was going to kick Buck's ribs in because he was such a cur. I
encouraged him to go ahead and do it since the foul would leave Buck the
winner. I think that Ricky began to realize that Buck was going to beat
his Sandman dog and this was his way of dealing with that possibility.
No matter how many times and how many ways Ricky verbally abused Buck
and STP he never let it bother him. STP stayed with his dog and ignored
all the outside shenanigans. STP gave fanciers a good demonstration of
coolness and decisiveness in a tough situation. This was an even match
until at the end when Sandman began to falter and it was clear that Buck
was going to win. At three hours and 17 minutes, after 3 more scratches
Sandman took the count. Buck's courtesy scratch, was a running one and
he slammed into Sandman.
We hustled Buck into a nearby shed and I
started an intravenous line. Buck received 10 cc's of Azium in about 800
mls of Ringers before he ripped the line out of his leg. In an adjacent
shed, Ricky worked in an effort to save Sandman. I was told that he gave
Sandman an injection of Epinephrine, which is often used by human rescue
personnel. The shot of "Epi" as it is known to the members of the rescue
squad, killed Sandman immediately. Buck would not be still so I stopped
the IV, which had leaked into the surrounding tissue. Buck stayed at my
house for two weeks after the match, recovering from his ordeal. At 5:00
AM every morning, Buck would start his scream / howl, which echoed
throughout the house. When I walked him outside, Buck would try to lunge
at the other dogs in my yard, even though he could hardly stand up. It
was obvious that his spirit had not been broken in spite of the lengthy
battle with Sandman. Once recovered Buck went back to STP's and the old
warrior lived the good life, breeding bitches and eating good food until
he died.
McGEE'S
PANTHER
Barney Fife purchased a female pup from a
Davis' Midnight Cowboy X Hand's Gr. Ch. Candy breeding and named her Sea
Train, after the famous rock band. While still a puppy, Sea Train was
sold to STP who raised her to maturity.
At the time Barney Fife was breeding Zebo
dogs, as Zebo was showing exceptional pit dogs, when STP phone to ask
who he should breed Sea Train to. It was no surprise that Zebo was
recommended as a stud. Tar Heel Matt purchased a pup named Margie, who
whelped Panther.
During her younger years, Margie whelped
two litters sired by Tar Hill Matt's Monzon, who had won two matches.
Panther was whelped in the 2nd litter. Monzon was sired by Lonzo's Mike,
who too was a 2X winner. His dam was also a 2X winner named Rick's
Thistle, who was Big Boy and Bullyson breeding.
Tar Hill Matt had some good dogs from the
first breeding of Monzon and Margie, so he repeated the breeding and
produced several more pit wilnners. Some of these were Willie, Billy
(1XW), Bonnie (1XW), Jimmy (who stopped Ch. Spike), Carlos (1XW, 1XL)
and Monzon, Jr. Tar Heel Matt contacted Barney Fife to condition Panther
and put his weight out at 55lbs., when Boss Hog picked it up. Boss Hog
came with a large boned, Red Boy bred dog, and weighed in exactly at
55lbs., Panther weighed in 2lbs. light. Panther came out fast trying for
the shoulders, but the white dog was adept at holding out Panther. The
patern continued with Panther trying, but unable to get any good holds.
At the twenty minute mark, Panther hit the front end and the white dog
was in trouble. By the 40 minute mark, Panther was putting the finishing
touches on the white dog, who took the 10 count in his corner making
Panther the winner in 40 minutes. For reasons unknown, Panther's weight
was never picked up again for almost two years.
In the mean time, Panther demolished
several roll opponents with such speed, that his formidable reputation
grew even more. At the age of six, Matt retired Panther and bred him to
several of his bitches. After several years Panther was sold to Rich
Cupo, where he died shortly after.
Panther sired 1 Grand Champion, 1
registered Champion, and many other winners. The best of Panther's
offspring retained the signature trade mark of this strain. They would
start fast and if a dog could not avoid their charge, the Panther dogs
would win in short order.
O.
STEVENS' GR. CH. VIRGIL ROM
Virgil was born in a litter of four and
he was the last one to turn on. He was rolled at eighteen months, but he
was not interested. Virgil finally turned on when he was at the age of
two.
In his first roll he fought against a
hard biting "Eli" dog, who hit two bleeders within four minutes. Virgil
retaliated by destroying this dog within the next six minutes. In his
next roll, Virgil came off the chain to fight against a big strong
opponent of "Boomerang" breeding, who was conditioned, and thirty
minutes later picked his dog up. Virgil had done considerable damage and
was about to put him away. Big Brad contacted Ozzie and set up a match
with a friend of his at forty-nine pounds. Ted and Frank used a dog
named Harley, who was barnstormed from the start, and was picked up in
:28 minutes.
Virgil's second came F. Rocca called to
inform Ozzie that Mike So. had a two time winner called Cain that nobody
would match. Virgil came in heavy and Mike requested the forfeit, but
was later convinced by B. Bryan that if the match was still going on a
:45 minutes, Ozzie would concede. Cain was counted out at :38 minutes in
a fast paced match, which gained Virgil his second victory.
Next was Grace's Ch. Elmo, who was a
litter mate to Gr. Ch. Mickey and Gr. Ch. Trouble. After a debate over
the scale, the match started. Elmo hit a bleeder in Virgil's muzzle and
another one in his shoulder. By :08 minutes Elmo had Virgil down. Virgil
came off the bottom with Elmo's chest in his mouth and pressed Elmo over
his head. After a flurry by Virgil, Elmo wouldn't fight back any longer
and was picked up in :30 minutes, thus making Virgil a Champion.
His fourth was into Swango and Sears' Ch.
Chisohm. By :40 minutes Ch. Chisohm was in bad shape and Swango conceded
at :52 minutes.
For his Grand Championship, Virgil went
into Phil's Little George who was a two time winner and a deep game dog.
Phil conceded this match at :43 minutes, Little George later went on to
win his Championship and also become a ROM producer.
In between Ozzie had contacted Brabham
and Singleton, who at the time owned another dog that had made a name
for himself , Grand Champion Snake, in hopes of hooking these two
destroyers into each other. Unfortunately, this match never came to.
Virgil was six years old, when he was
sold to Solo, formerly with STP, where he lived until he died at the age
of 11. Before his death, Virgil sired Champions Beast, Becky, Bonnie,
Brenda, and Jitney.
STEPP'S
GR. CH. ANGUS
Some dogs can be recognized by titles
they earn such as champion, grand champion and register of merit, Angus
is recognized by the title of "Champion of Champions".
Angus' sire was a dog named Willie
Brown's Nigger, who was a two time winner, sired by Clayton's Eli, Jr.
bred to his mother, Boudreaux' Spook. Angus' dam, O. Stevens' Heidi, was
bred by A. Steinberg from Sly Fox to Red Pepper (Ed Ritcheson blood) and
was a litter mate to Ch. Prince. She was originally owned by O. Stevens'
and matched once at twenty nine and a half pounds. She demonstrated the
fustrating style of hanging on the bottom jaw and discouraging her
opponent until Ziggy M. and Tony M. conceided the match in an hour.
Ozzie then traded her to Big Brad and Keummerling, because he didn't
have any use for her, as far as breeding. The bitch she was traded for
was a cold gyp, at the time, named Geraldine.
Big Brad tested Angus and because of the
fact that Big Brad had numerous winners already on his yard, he sold
Angus to Billy Stepp as a game dog. Angus then went on to shake up the
dog world by defeating Rixey's Coal Cat, Jay's Buster, Crenshaw's Ch.
Otis, Keummerling's Ch. Freddie (brother to O. Stevens' Ch. Homer),
Garza's Heman and Love's Tiger, all of which were great dogs. Angus was
then hooked into, the then 3X winner, Ch. Jeep as a rematch for the
victory over Stinson and Stepp's Ch. Black Glover. During the keep,
Angus was involved in an accidental kennel fight with Ch. Ruby and was
wrecked in the chest area, thus forcing Stepp to pay the forfeit to J.
Crenshaw. After Angus healed from this incident, they hooked up with
Crenshaw to try the Angus / Jeep match again. Unfortunately, Angus got
loose once again and ran straight into Ruby. By the time Stepp got
there, the damage was aleady done, because so much money was riding on
this match, Stepp and Co. asked O. Stevens if they could borrow, the 4X
winner, Ch. Homer as a replacement so as not to lose another forfeit.
Which is how one of the greatest matches of all time came about,
Crenshaw's Ch. Jeep VS Stevens' Ch. Homer.
Angus wasn't bred many times, but in his
few breedings he sired good dogs such as Diaz' Ch. Mac, out of Torres'
George. When bred to Stepp's Ch. Ruby, he produced Broadway Jack's Gee
Whiz, Super Gnat's Guess (2X winner), Super Gnat's Ch. Butch, Suzy, and
the 7X winner Racehorse. Also, there was Solo's Cobra, Big Brad's Loco,
Patience, and Tara, Texas Ron's Major, Frankie, Sassy, Evil (who lost to
O. Stevens' Ch. Zero), and Ralph's Prince (who was picked up at 1:57).
He was the sort of dog that would
overcome, and adapt to any style that was put before him as his record
shows. In competitions, he defeated many whom went on to become
foundation stock for other breeding programs. From all accounts told he
possessed smarts, mouth, ability, gameness (reason he was sold by Big
Brad), structure, his only downfall was he was a man-biter, such as many
of the best-to-be were ie; Gr Ch Art (ROM), Gr Ch Zebo (ROM), Dbl Gr Ch
Tornado, Ch Honeybunch (ROM), and Ch Yellow John (ROM) just to name a
few with very similar qualities.
BASS'
TRAMP RED BOY
Red Boy was the result of a
father/daughter breeding of Teal's Jeff and Mc Leod's Susie Q Gal.
Teal's Jeff was off of Teal's Sarge bred to Teal's Lou. Teal's Sarge was
a pure Colby dog out of Colby's Dime bred to Colby's Margie. This
combination of Red Boy/Cleo had produced top quality proven brood
females, who in turn were bred back to Red Boy or other inbred Red Boy
studs to strengthen and improve the line. The gameness of this line is
legendary, and is what has made the Red Boy strain so highly desirable.
These are fast starting fiery dogs with tremendous wind. Some would say
that the only draw back to the Red Boy line is the lack of mouth, this
is not the case with all Red Boy dogs, but has pretty well been accepted
as the truth by most. It really comes down to a list of priorities,
gameness versus mouth.
His classic match against Cables Fang
exemplifies that:
1st match: - Mr. Bass vs. William Cable - males @ 52 lbs. J. Adams -
referee. J.C. Vincent is handling a red-red nosed dog that he been
conditioned for this match by Howard T. He's called Red Boy. William
Cable conditioned and handled his two-time winner Fang, a red dog black
mask. Fang in Red Boy's chest and has a good hold and stays there. Red
Boy trying to get him out with ear holds. At 9 minutes a turn is called
on Fang, but he's in hold with Red Boy's leg in his mouth. Handled at 17
minutes Fang scratches good. Red Boy scratches at 21 minutes and comes
to the top fighting the head. Fang evens things up fighting the back end
at 28 minutes. Red Boy on the nose. 30 minutes Fang scratches. The dogs
are handled again at 33 minutes and the referee makes an error and Fang
scratches again. Three more scratches by Red Boy and two by Fang and at
1 hour 2 minutes Fang is to scratch. He wanders off to a neutral corner
and is counted out. Bass' Tramp Red Boy wins.
The Red Boy dogs gained their fame in the
Carolina's, but their main introduction into the fast lane came with the
cross of Ch. Jocko. Jocko, a Carolina dog himself, was a pit intelligent
dog with good biting ability, something the Red Boy dogs did not have.
Red Boy dogs were extremely game soft mouth dogs, with the exception of
Chavis Ch Yellow John. Yellow John was the first of the Red Boy breeding
to earn the title of champion. He was a 43lb. buckskin dog that won
three in th South in 1980-1981. Yellow John went on to produce some of
the most honest bulldogs of modern times Tant's Gr.Ch. Yellow. STP's Gr.
Ch. John Boy, STP's Ch. Sassy, Super Gnat's' Boots (who holds the record
for the longest recorded match in history, going 4:52 for the win),
Melvin's 5X winner JR. and others.
The Red Boy/Jocko cross continue to live
on today and are exceptional fast lane dogs. Some of the most successful
crosses with the Red Boy strain have been with: Red Boy/Jocko, Jeep/Red
Boy, Jeep/Red Boy/Rascal, and more recently Red Boy/Patrick. These are
all proven crosses that have taken the sporting game to a new level in
performance. Some additional Red Boy dogs of note are Marlowe's Ch.
Britches, Miller's Red Man a great producer in his day and the sire of
Hoffman's Booger ROM, Marlowe's Rattler the sire of Ch. Britches,
Marlowe's Mr. Bulldog the sire of both Peaches, Tabby Girl and Miret's
Bud, who sired Ch. Gambler, and O. Stevens' Red Ape, who has produced
Ch. Bear, Ch. Irish Rebel and many other winners.
ADAMS'
GR. CH. ZEBO ROM
In the early 1970's, in North Carolina,
was a young fancier named Lonzo Pratt who was just starting in th dog
game and was purchasing and breeding some well bred dogs from known dog
men. He had purchased a young tested gyp from J. Loposay by the name of
Fay, who was sold because she turned cold and wouldn't start for Jack
Kelly and was left on Loposay's yard by Pete Sparks. After numerous
breedings Lonzo struck fame from one breeding that conatined three males
and two females. The two females were Lena and Rosie, the males were
Crush, Vindicator, and Zero. Of the three males Zero and Vindicator
would distinguish themselves as great match dogs. The better of the two
was Zero, as Zebo was originally named, who gained his fame as a match
dog and producer. In all, this black 40-44 lb. dog won a total of seven
contract matches, thus becoming a registered Grand Champion, a Register
Of Merit sire, and a member of the Bulldog Hall Of Fame, the only dog to
be recognized by these three honors.
Zebo's career began on the yard of Lester
Hughes, "The Mountain Man", where he won four times, all quick kills.
After his fourth he was shipped to the yard of Grady Cummings and while
there, Cummings' Red Fox made the mistake of getting off his leash and
ran into Zebo and was killed. Grady then made Lester get Zebo off of his
yard. Zebo was then sold to Dave Adams' of Ohio, of whom Zebo is best
associated with. At first Mr. Hughes hadn't intended on selling Zebo,
but Mr. Adams came up with enough money to change his mind.
His most noted match was against Ch.
Greaser and how both sides thought they had trapped the other side by
running in an "ace" on their opponent’s "average" dog. How wrong they
both were. Champion Zebo was the black dog and Champion Greaser was the
brindle. How they came to meet on a cool night in a barn in Ohio, is a
complicated but interesting story. Champion Greaser was being campaigned
at 44 pounds in and around Oklahoma and Champion Zebo was being matched
around North Carolina at 40 pounds. "Greaser" was an extremely smart
defensive type of dog that could really bite. He’d gained his deserved
reputation by proving this in his first four matches against dogs that
were not pushovers. Likewise, so had Zebo. The difference being Zebo’s
matches were short ones, lasting only 22,26,17 and 33 minutes, all
kills. After his fourth win, a man named Adams bought Zebo and took him
back up north to Ohio. Adams had a friend named Hudson who had matched a
dog at 44 pounds into a father and son team from St. Louis. Hudson’s dog
was from Maurice Carver, and was a two time winner at 44 pounds named
Tex. Hudson was a nice fellow but, could really get on your nerves
bragging so much on his dog, because it was Tex this and Tex that, for
as long as you would listen. I guess the team from St. Louis got tired
of listening and just figured they would whip old Tex and shut Hudson
up. Now, when you matched into this father and son team, you had better
do three things, get a good dog, have the dog in good shape, and say
your favorite prayer. As luck, or fate, or whatever you desire to call
it goes, Tex got hurt in a chain fight and Hudson was going to have to
pay the forfeit. Rather than give away money, he called Adams and
offered Adams a deal. If Adams would take over the match with Zebo and
win, Hudson would split the winnings with him and, if he lost Hudson
would pay the whole bet. Adams had been walking Zebo and cutting his
weight, for at that time there was a big convention in Mexico being
matched up and Adams had turned Zebo’s weight in. The Mexican Convention
was supposed to be the biggest and best ever put on but, the law
intervened and it never did come about. Adams didn’t know the convention
would fall apart, but he thought that as he had almost three months
until the Mexican convention and Tex’s match was only three weeks away,
that he could take over Tex’s match and win without getting hurt too
much and still be healthy and set Zebo down in the Mexican convention.
So, he agreed to take over the match, but told his backer that if Zebo
wasn’t way ahead at 30 minutes he was going to pick him up, because he
wanted to match him in the "Big Convention." Hudson agreed to this as
with Zebo’s kill record…he would rather gamble and give up a few pounds
to make it number 5 than give up the forfeit.
Meanwhile, out in St. Louis, the "team"
had a dog that was considered to be the best 44 pounder of his time.
This Greaser had started out being called Yuebanks’ Greaser. If my
information is correct, Yuebanks’ campaigned Greaser in his first four
matches. All wins over some highly regarded opponents. Greaser had given
his fans real reason to call him the best 44 pounder alive, as his
opponents were good caliber dogs like Moloney’s Alligator and Mayfield’s
Go Devils. The "Team" purchased Greaser especially for the Tex match
since old Tex was a good dog in his own rights and the "team" knew they
had to have an above average dog in order to beat Tex (how and why the
"team" got Greaser is only hearsay on my part, the point is Greaser was
the best 44 pounder alive. And he was the dog they had to use on Tex.)
So we have the stage set. The Ohio boys have an "Ace" named Zebo, which
the "team" doesn’t know about. And the "team" has an "ace" named Greaser
tuning up that the Ohio boys don’t know about.
Then it became time to put up or shut up
for old Zebo, for Adams announced he was taking over Hudson’s match. The
night of the battle of Champions arrived, with only Greaser’s side
knowing now that they were going into Zebo. When they arrived, they
wanted to see this "killer dog" they were matched into and laughingly
said, "He don’t look like no killer to us." Adams, nor any of his
backers, knew Zebo was going into a 4 x winner. They should have
suspected something for fanciers from out west had driven all the way to
Ohio to see Greaser knock off this killer dog. Jimmy Jobe, the editor of
Pit Dog Report, a Mayfield magazine for bulldogs, drove all the way and
didn’t even mention the match in his magazine. This match was one of the
best kept secrets in the dog world and when the story of it taking place
did start to circulate, the match was down played. The first report of
it anywhere (that I am or was aware of) was in Richard Stratton’s book.
When you read the account, it tends to make you believe Zebo "got lucky"
and hurt Greaser bad at the beginning of the match. This is false as,
Greaser was on all fours late in the fight.
When the dogs were weighed, Zebo weighed
just over 40 pounds. Greaser hit the scales at exactly 44 pounds. As
Adams circulated among his backers before the match, he reminded
everyone that he was giving up 4 pounds and was going to pick Zebo up at
30 minutes because he’d only worked him for three weeks and 4 pounds was
too much to spot. As they released the two champions, you could bet all
you wanted on Zebo and get odds of 3 to 1 or three hundred against your
one hundred. As bets were laid and odds were taken, the name Greaser
started to finally slip out. Zebo’s backers were aware finally that this
was not going to be a walk over. People started to worry about their bet
because Adams had warned that he was gone at 30 if Zebo wasn’t way
ahead. Adams said later, "When Dogman and Johnson called me to the side
of the pit at about the five minute mark, and told me they recognized
the brindle dog as CH. Greaser, any thought of picking Zebo up at thirty
minutes was gone. I knew I would let him battle as long as he had any
chance to win. I realized that I didn’t have to go to Mexico to prove
that Zebo was a great dog, the chance had come to me." As the match
progressed, it could be basically reported in two sentences…."Greaser is
extremely smart on defense and punishes Zebo bad about the head. Zebo is
extremely smart on getting to the brisket and punishes Greaser bad in
the chest." That is how close the match was. You would think that the
four pounds would tip the scales in Greaser’s favor, but Zebo was ever
so gradually getting a little bit deeper in the chest and even though
Greaser was as smart as ever relying on defense, he was forced to allow
Zebo in more often as the match grew older. The following is an accurate
account of the match as can be made but, remember as you read this
excerpt from Mr. Stratton’s book, that in this writer’s opinion ( and I
was there), Zebo took Greaser down a notch at a time over the entire
match, where here it tends to make you think that Greaser was destroyed
early.
Unfortunately, Zebo attacked Mr. Adams'
son and nearly took his son's ear off. After the request of Mr. Adams'
wife, Zebo was sold again, this time to Mr. Johnson who fought him twice
more. The last time to a son of his litter mate brother, Vindicator. Mr.
Johnson hoped to get another match in, but was unable to find any
takers, despite the fact that Zebo was past seven at this point. Thus,
Zebo was retired to stud, and lived to the age of 13, siring his last
litter days before his death. He had lost sight at the end, due to the
extensive damage he sustained, for no dog was ever able to get to his
rear.
During the time of Zebo's career as a
match dog, there were two other dogs in his weight class that too was
making names for themselves: Stinson & Glover's Gr. Ch. Art and Giroux'
Ch. Gunner, 4X winner. It was planned to have a "round robbin" for the
title of the greatest match dog.lj yjy[jl]yt]jjljld, were as each dog
would go into each other to prove who was the greatest match dog. Each
of these great dogs where relatively close to each other in regard to
location. But, for whatever reasons, and hearsay has provided many, the
matches never materialized.
Vindicator, was a red/red nosed dog that
many, who had witnessed him matched contend he was a better dog than
Zebo. He was a two time winner, winning each in identical times of 1:30.
One of those victories was over Finley's Ch. Bo. He lost his third to
Cutchin's Ace. Vindicator died at a young age of heart worms.
Rosie, like Vindicator, was also red/red
nosed, but was never formally matched, though she was tested for 1:10.
She simply was considered to ge too valuable as a brood bitch. She lived
to the age of 10, dying also of heart worms a month after her last
litter.
Zebo produced Stepp's Ch. Willie and
Adams' Ch. Katy when bred to Tomsic's Spider ROM. Ch. Willie was, as
said by some, to have the same destructive force of his sire, by killing
each of his opponents in times of :27, :54, and :29 minutes. Others
produced by Zebo were Ch. Ruby, Ch. Abuelita, Ch. Zipper, Ch. Diamond
Jim, Clemmon's 2XW Z-Boy, Nigger Tobe, Super Gnat's 2XW Blackie and
Hughes' Gator just to name a few of the good dogs he sired. He is the
grand sire to some great ones like Doc's Ch. Moe who was a Grand
Champion until he ran into Red B's Ch. Charlie. Many said that Moe went
to the well one time too many in his loss against Charlie. After his
victories over Ch. Fargo and his brother Basket, too much was taken out
of him to go into a much younger dog like Charlie.
The breeding that produced Zebo and his
litter mates was one of those outstanding litters that come only once in
a while. Basically this breeding was a Dibo/ Old Family Red Nose/ Colby
cross, which explains why all of Zebo's litter mates were red or red/
red nosed. But where did this one black dog come from? Many speculate
Zebo wasn't bred as represented, for one Mr. Hughes purchased Zebo from
Lonzo without any papers. Some claimed Mr. Hughes sold many different
Zebo's. And a lot claim Zebo to be a half brother to another famous
pair, Eli, Jr. and Bullyson. Although, Lonzo's Andy was a black dog
himself and Zebo through nothing but black dogs, even when bred to
various, different colored females, it still remains a question in a lot
of people's minds.
COY'S
GR. CH. BANJO ROM
In 1990 The texas Iron Man Coy D. and a
friend purchased some dogs from the yard of Joe Hoskins and Tony McCool.
They left with some very good prospects and a 10 month old male, who was
whelped in April of 1989, out of McCool's Sack and Hoskin's Betty Joe.
Since the litter was out of Sack, who had quit in 1:42 against a good
dog of Bo Well's, for this reason the litter was not high on Mr.
McCool's list and wasn't worth much to him. As a matter of fact, the
whole litter of six was offered to L.G. for $300. The 10 month old male
was sold for $100 and was called Banjo.
After a quick roll, at the age of 12
months, Banjo was then purchased by Coy from his friend for $150. At
this time, The Texas Iron Man also returned to Hoskins and McCool's yard
to purchase three more litter mates of Banjo $100 each. Two of these
yearlings were culled and one female was kept, her name was BB Red.
Still young, Banjo was matched into
Wilson's Wolfy at 45 lbs. Wolfy couldn't scratch back. for number two,
Banjo was matched into Anderson's Slick and it was over in :29 minutes.
For his championship, The Oklahoma Boys brought their 2X winner named
Grunt, it took Banjo :33 minutes to diperse of the 35 lb. black dog, who
couldn't stand at that time and was believed to be dead. His fourth was
into W. River's Ch. Vito, who was picked up at :43 and made adead game
courtesy scratch. For his fifth and grand championship, Banjo went into
Raul's 2X winner named Sonny Boy. It ended with Sonny Boy being picked
up to save his life at :25. In an attempt to get Gr. Ch. Banjo matched
once more, The Texas Iron Man and M.A.D. futilely petitioned R. Hall to
use his Gr. Ch. Andy Capp in a battle of grand champions, unfortunately
Mr. Hall declined these advances.
Banjo and his litter mate sister, BB Red,
both made grand champions at the young age of three and a half years
old, and became the first brother and sister, registered grand
champions. Banjo went on to become a Register Of Merit before his death,
while his sister died in the summer of 1996.
PATRICK'S
TOMBSTONE ROM
Tombstone was bred by the great breeder
Don Maloney. Maloney sold to R. Petronelli as a young dog, who then sold
or traded him to Don Mayfield, where he was raised. His sire was
Maloney's Toot, who was a son of Tudor's Spike out of Carver's Black
Widow. Toot was a devastatingly hard biter who had produced dogs that
passed that trait to their progeny. another son of Toot who was a great
producer of hard mouth dogs was Maloney's Davis, who sired Ch. Our Gal
Sunday, Ch. Cobra, and Ch. Black Sabbath. Tombstone's dam Speedy Alan
Jena, was a scatter bred bitch containing dogs from P. Sparks, H. Heinzl,
J. Corvino, and E. Tudor breedings.
Tombstone was matched one time and after
that one victory he was retired to stud, after being available for a
second match with no takers. This match was against Bobby Hall and a 2X
winning son of Bullyson, named fittingly Bullyson, Jr. Ed Weaver was
putting on a show and notified Bobby Hall that Don Mayfield had a 55 lb.
male open, so Bobby Hall accepted the challenge. Ironically, Mr. Hall
conditioned Bullyson, Jr. at Mayfield's house, at the same time, Don was
conditioning Tombstone for this match. The match was one sided for the
first hour with Tombstone on defense and Bullyson, Jr. on offense with
stifle holds. At the hour mark it appears about even, at 1:09 both dogs
are down and at 1:14 an out of hold is called with Tombstone making a
hard scratch. Bobby Hall concedes the match at 1:25 making Tombstone a
winner in a game, come from behind effort.
Shortly after that match Pat Patrick paid
a visit to Mayfield's in hopes of purchasing some good dogs, he was
offered Tombstone. Pat purchased Tombstone, but left him there until, he
was matched again, which never happened. After the 14 months that he
remained at Mayfield's in hopes of another match, Mr. Patrick requested
Mayfield to send him his dog. Upon arrival to Pat's yard, Tombstone was
then bred to about 15 bitches. Due to the fact that he was a long
legged, rangy looking and scatter bred dog, he wasn't in high demand as
a stud. Of his few breedings, one to a daughter of Indian Bolio named
Red Baby, he produced champions Tonka, Crash, and Uptown's Snubby. He
also produced Ch. Reno, Dozer, and Gr. Ch. Hope just to name a few of
his progeny.
Tombstone died a few years later from
heart worms, as back then the cure was sometimes worse than the malady.
CRENSHAW'S
CH. RASCAL
Champion Rascal was born in 1972 on the
yard of Maurice Carver and was later owned by James Crenshaw. Rascal won
5 contracted matches, 6 off the chain and suffered just 1 lost, and that
was his first. His first match was at 52lbs. against C. Sykes' Sampson,
and took the count a 1:52. At this same match Ch. Honeybunch won her
second match in :28. In 1974 Rascal met Wood's Snooty, again at 52lbs.
and this close match ended in 1:57. For his third match and second win,
he defeated Irish Jerry's Soldier in 1:30. For his championship, he won
over Baxter's Booger in 1:16 at 48lbs., which turned out to be his ideal
weight. He then had wins over Hughes' & Hick's Big Boy in 1:45 and
Langston's Satan in 1:19.
Champion Rascal wasn't noted for
possessing a devastating mouth, as some would have had many believe, but
he was a very game dog as all of his matches went over the hour mark. he
fought any style, but preferred to work the head. Not many dogs could
put Rascal behind. Even in his loss to Sampson, Sampson died within an
half an hour after the match.
His ability to produce is evident in the
likes of Gr. Ch. Pedro, Ch. Rascal, Jr., Demon, Sugar, Bandit, Polly,
and Krypto just to name a few of his offspring.
Rascal died at the age of 11 in 1983, but
will be remembered as one of the best.
WILLIAMS'
CH. PALADIN
The late Barney Fife and his brother,
Matt, went traveling through North Carolina to visit Mrs. Loposay and
then go to the Fork Farm, to see Mr. Grady Cummings. Upon arrival to
Mrs. Loposay's, they were able to see the great producer Buster, who
made an attempt to bite both of them.
From there they drove to Red Springs, to
the home of G. Cummings, who had a yard of Eli bred dogs. Grady was a
talkative and personable individual, who would recite the pedigrees of
each dog on his yard as he passed them. Grady never officially matched a
dog. He would purchase match dogs and breed them to his stock. His claim
for not matching his dogs was that if they came from a line of match
dogs, then they should be able to produce match dogs themselves. But, to
his credit, he did put some of his dogs in capable hands to be matched.
While Barney Fife and Matt was there, they had the fortune of seeing a
short roll involving a red male named Eli, III.
Some notable dogs from Cummings yard were
Ch. Tom (who produced the great Saloon dog, who in turn produced the
double Gr. Ch. Tornado), Annie Oakley (out of Mosely's Smeller), Dear
Abbey (out of Eli, Jr. and Clemmon's Sandy), Red Fox, Dutch Boy and
Young Dutch Boy to name a few.
The three then traveled to Jim Williams'
home to see the two new acquisitions just purchased from Maurice Carver.
They were two yearlings, one red and the other black. The black was
named Paladin.
Paladin was rolled, during his schooling,
in a field of tall grass and was separated from his opponent. He was
then walked 50 yards away to see if he would scratch. When released he
mowed the grass down, streaking towards his opponent, proving his desire
to continue.
Paladin was sired by Hyde's Satchmo Bully
out of Rorex' Black Lady. This is blood closely related to Gr. Ch. Art
and Crenshaw's Ch. Hurt, who were both out of Java, a daughter of Black
Lady. Black Lady went back to the blood of Ed. Crenshaw's Reno, which
accounted for his black color and finishing instinct.
Paladin who his first match in close to
two hours. The length of time was mainly due to Paladin staying in hold
on a down dog, making a handle impossible. Paladin's second match was
into Big Boy, who gave a good account for himself in a losing effort
against Ch. Rascal. Big Boy was an uncle to Gr. Ch. Zebo, from a line of
dogs noted for their ability. The dogs were released on a freezing
morning with Paladin doing the driving, while Big Boy rode the head in
defense. However, Paladin was applying too much pressure and was soon
overwhelming Big Boy. Handles became difficult, since Paladin very
rarely came out of hold. By :48 a handle was made and Big Boy declined
to scratch. Paladin went on to win his championship with a win over his
nephew, also from the yard of Carver. After a tough 30 minutes, Paladin
was in control and Maurice told the handler to pick up the other dog and
concede the match.
Paladin's ability to produce can be found
in dogs like Quincy, Ch. Wild Thing, Hanna, Monster Man, Ch. Tyrone, Ch.
Trackdown, Ch. Stephano, Gr. Ch. Cheif, and many other winners.
GARNER'S
CH. CHINAMAN ROM
Chinaman was born on the yard of R.
Abernathy on November 29, 1977. He was one of three pups born to
Abernathy's Molly and sired by Wood's Trouble. Molly always seemed to
have 3 pups. This time there was Chinaman, Boy and a female who would be
named Onyx Lady (who went to the owner of Trouble, Dr. Wood). Boy would
end up in the hands of G. Wright, where he would win three matches.
Chinaman was raised by R. Abernathy and when he came of age he was
placed with Dr. Wood to find out what he was made of.
In 1981, V & B bought a dog from Kimsey
Woods called Double Trouble, they had bought this dog to run in the fast
lane with on the west coast and after rolling him out they found out
they were pleased with his gameness, but disappointed with his ability
and bite. They contacted Kimsey and he told them he had a good rough dog
that had just rolled with Wood's Sundance and had crippled Sundance, it
was Chinaman. So V & B decided to trade Double Trouble for Chinaman.
Double Trouble went on to win two and lost one game in 2 hours and
twenty minutes. He arrived full of hookworms and roundworms and weighed
only 42 lbs., 4 lbs. below his eventual best match weight of 46 lbs. Rob
kept him on a long cable run and tried to help him overcome his
emaciated state. Chinaman thanked him by biting him, so Rob shipped him
to Vince. It was love at first sight. Vince wormed Chinaman and
scheduled a roll for him. After a 3-hour drive Chinaman was nauseated
and dehydrated. He was pitted 10 lbs. uphill against a powerful red dog
named Ch. Ceasar who proceeded to mop the floor with him. When the big
dog tired, Chinaman went to the stifles and punched very hard. Even
though he was still nauseated and underweight he came up from the bottom
to bite down and stop Ceasar at: 28. Chinaman's next roll was into Doc,
a highly respected wrecker. If he could hang with Doc for even 10
minutes, Chinaman would be worth a bet. Doc came out hard and slammed
Chinaman into the corner and tried to trade with Chinaman. Big mistake!
Chinaman hit the gut and killed the Doctor in his own living room in 17
minutes! It was clear Chinaman was something special.
For his first two matches, Chinaman was
hooked into respected head dogs that some expected to weather the storm
and challenge the killing stifle and gut dog. Like their predecessors,
neither lasted to the half-hour mark with Chinaman. For his third, a
match was made with the highly renowned Gray's Hubcap who had dispatched
the famous Red Danger dog in a classic 2-hour encounter. Vince and Rob
traveled 7 hours with their dog and when they arrived, odds of 5-1 were
being offered against Chinaman. The betting line changed dramatically
after the dogs were released. Chinaman drove Hubcap into the corner on
his back and this is where the match ended 18 minutes later. Hubcap was
a memory and Chinaman was proclaimed a champion and best in show.
Suddenly no one had a 45-46 lb. male.
Respectable dog men avoided him like the plague. Finally, when he was 7
years old, some determined fellows bought an expert head dog from R.
Jackson, just to take out the aging Ch Chinaman. The dog from Jackson
showed a lot of ability, but it wasn't enough to keep out an athlete of
Chinaman's caliber. Chinaman worked past his defenses and curred him out
in 38 minutes. This had been Chinaman's longest match, but the outcome
was the same as always: he destroyed everything in his path.
For all who witnessed his matches,
Chinaman became known as one of the roughest ever and a true finisher.
According to scientific tests, he had the air of a greyhound. According
to all who saw him, he had the mouth of an alligator. He was very
clever. He would outsmart slick ear and nose dogs and cur them out. He
would finish straight-ahead dogs even faster. Swapping-out was his game.
Like all the truly great ones, Chinaman's build was like a sleek,
muscular thoroughbred.
The Chinaman name appears in many of
today's pedigrees. His contribution as a producer equals, or exceeds his
dominance as a performer. Among his better known offspring were Ch.
Eightball, Ch. Cotton, Ch. Chinabuck, Ch. Chinagirl, Ch. Stormy, Ch.
Missy, Ch. Chinarose, Ch. Ninja and Ch. Crock. He had three sons (Brodt's
Boar, Cottingham's Cotton, and Shockley's Header) go over the 3-hour
mark on the same weekend! Perhaps his greatest contribution is as a
producer of producers, as his son Frisco ROM has produced champions and
grand champions.
O.
STEVENS' CH. CHOLLY BOY
Cholly Boy was a product of the Geist's
Easy / O. Stevens' Old Charlie breeding. Cholly Boy was a well put
together dog that seemed to favor Ozzie's old Homer stock.
Campained by Ozzie Stevens into some of
the very best from the North. None of his matches were walk-overs as all
of them went over the hour and a half mark. In his first match, he went
into Captain America and his dog Herman. This match lasted 1:33, and
Herman proved to be a dead game dog. For Cholly Boy's second, he went
into Buffalo Soldier's Mister, who was from Rebel Kennels' breeding.
Mister won a few before this match and was highly regarded. Cholly Boy
won this match in 1:32. Ozzie was a little worried before the match as
Cholly Boy had gotten a serious kidney infection towards the end of the
keep, but went through with the show and even at 60% healthy, Cholly Boy
came out with the victory.
The third match was into STP's Revenge.
It was set in a private location, outside on a cool autumn night. Both
dogs weighed in at 46 and at "release your dogs" they met in the middle
with Cholly Boy coming up with an ear hold and Revenge getting in and
driving for the front end. This was the pace for a while with Revenge
only getting the chest every now and then and would throw Cholly Boy and
get in the throat. But, whatever Revenge would do to Cholly, Cholly
would come up and do it back, but harder and longer. Then he would land
back on the head with Revenge driving and Cholly steering. Both dogs
were real pit smart, Revenge was trying at every chance to run Cholly
into the walls to get a hold of something, but just before he would get
there Cholly would steer him around to the middle of the pit. The pace
of the match was real fast for two 46 pound dogs, both were moving fast
and were on their feet for the first 1:20. When it seemed they took
their first moment of breath, one dog was always in hold and it usually
was Cholly Boy with Revenge constantly trying to get in and go to work.
At the point of the fight, it seemed that Cholly knew it was time to go
in and finish Revenge, so he started working the throat more and more
and Revenge was becoming less effective in keeping him out. It was at
this point that Cholly started to bite harder and popped a bleeder in
the shoulder of Revenge at 1:27. Revenge turns at 1:30, a handle was
made and Revenge goes over straight and true. Now Cholly Boy is in
trying to finish Revenge in the throat and it was obvious that Revenge
had no chance and Cholly Boy wasn't going anywhere. At 1:39 STP asks if
Ozzie will scratch to win, it is agreed and Cholly Boy goes open right
back into the throat of Revenge. Then Revenge gives on hell of a game
courtesy and was picked up by STP to go another day.
This was Cholly Boy's third, but I'd say
his most famous match was into Jesse Rod's Whitefoot, down from J. Rod's
Gr. Ch. Midnight blood. This was one of those classic matches that sort
of mirrored the Ch. Homer vs Jeep match as it went three hours, with
Cholly Boy the victor. Unfortunately, Cholly Boy passed shortly after
the match.
Ch. Cholly Boy would not expend any more
energy then he had to, to wear his opponent down and when he felt it was
time to finish one, he did.
When Ozzie was asked who he ranked as the
best dog he has owned, he replied Ch. Cholly Boy. This coming from a man
who has owned the likes of Gr. Ch. Snake, Jr., Gr. Ch. Virgil, Ch.
Homer, Ch. Tammy, Ch. Zero, Ch. Suzy, Ch. Rastus and many others.
STONE
CITY KENNELS' GR. CH. YELLOW BUCK
Here is a little bit about a fine bulldog
named "Destroyer". His registered name was "Yellow Buck" and was bred
and raised by Jesse of Stone City Kennels. Yellow Buck was sired by Gr.
Ch. Buck ROM out of Stone City Kennels' Awesome Baby ROM. Yellow Buck
was dark brindle, with a red nose and he weighed about 53lbs.
conditioned.
His first match was at the age of two and
a half against Tension Turf Kennels from ST. Croix. and their dog David
Koresh (a half brother to the famous Gr. Ch. IBM) battled with Yellow
Buck for 1:05 and was picked up game. For his second match he went into
Dennis and Hector's Brick at 52lbs. Yellow Buck finished Brick right in
the pit with only one hold, deep in the stifle. That match only lasted
seven minutes, Dennis and Hector picked Brick up, but it was too late.
From there on he never looked back. For
his championship Jessie had to look off Puerto Rico for another
opponent, because noone wanted any parts of Destroyer. Death Row Kennels
answered the call with their 2X winner Predator, so Stone City and Co.
traveled to South Jersey for this match. This proved to be Yellow Buck's
toughest match and he wasn't supposed to come home alive. The dogs
swapped it out for about :45 until Death Row decided to pick up
Predator, thus making Yellow Buck a champion.
After about a year off with no takers,
some dogmen from Florida stepped up with Bulldog P.'s Tere, a 1X winner
out of Havana Boys' Sandal and Rebel Kennels' Gr. Ch. Shady Lady. They
Flew down to Puerto Rico, but Yellow But was on the warpath and he made
Tere stand the line at :27.
For his fifth, they hooked up with Work
Kennels and their dog Buster, also a 4X winner. Work Kennels also flew
down to Puerto Rico and after 1:30, they picked up Buster making Yellow
Buck an official Grand Champion.
He was the second Gr. Ch. to come from
the yard of Stone City Kennels out of Awesome Baby.
INDIAN
BOLIO ROM
Bolio was bred by Maurice Carver and
Eddie Klaus in 1969. His sire was the famous pit ace Klaus' Zeke and his
dam was Klaus' Goldie. Bolio's pedigree is very heavy in the blood of a
bitch named Carver's Judy and her sister the great Carver's Black Widow.
In fact he carried fifty percent of this blood in his breeding.
Bennett Clayton of Texas bought Bolio
from Carver and sent him to Floyd Boudreaux to be matched, he was hooked
into a dog that had killed both of his previous opponents. This dog's
name was Rowdy. Bolio was contracted into Rowdy twice. The first time
Floyd was not content with Bolio's conditioning for the fight, he knew
that Bolio must be perfect to fight a dog of this caliber. After Floyd
paid the forfeit he set up a new match with Rowdy for the big night of a
southern convention. This time Bolio was in great shape and when they
hit, it was a real war. Bolio killed Rowdy in about two hours and was
voted best in show! At this same convention, there were many champions
being shown and among them was Davis' Grand Champion Boomerang. I was
not at this fight and I got my information from other dog men and the
sporting dog magazines.
Sometime after the fight Bolio was sold
to a fancier in southern California. The new owner of Bolio was not
interested in matching him again, even though I felt he was the best 43
lb. dog alive at the time. He decided to use him as a stud dog and that
was the best use for him. Bolio was so talented he never got hurt in
rolls. I was lucky enough to see him roll many times against all kinds
of dogs including dogs that were up to 15 pounds larger than he. He
handled ALL his opponents with ease.
I have not seen a large number of the
famous foundation dogs fight and maybe some of them were better dogs
than Bolio. I have seen many fast lane dogs in action since these
foundation dogs faded into the past and I can say that Bolio is the best
dog I have ever seen pound for pound. He was not an extremely hard
biter, but he could shut his mouth. He was very skilled at keeping his
holds and sometimes it would appear that he was glued to his rivals
head, he liked to fight the head. He was very strong and fast wrestler
and would quickly get his hold and then use his body weight and muscle
power to wear the opponent down while punishing him the whole time. He
would move in such a way that the other dog would be carrying most of
Bolio's weight with him. When the other dog would slow down from the
head holds, Bolio would go into the throat. If a dog did happen to get
Bolio off his head, Bolio would go toe to toe with him, but not for
long. Bolio would work his way back to the head and again be in total
control. He was the fastest, smartest, and most effective head dog that
I have ever seen. He had natural air and I never saw him slow down. He
was a very intense dog and he loved to fight. When in the corner he
would scream with rage until he was released into the other dog.
Occasionally, he would bite you if not released quick enough.
Bolio as a producer was the best stud dog
that I know of that ever lived. He was bred to some poor cur bitches and
produced excellent pit dogs from them. When he was bred to good bitches,
those results were amazing.
Some friends of mine had a dispute with
Bolio's owner and ended up taking the dog while he was at church. I had
no part in the taking of Bolio from his owner's yard and do not know the
details of the dispute between him and my friends. I don't use his name
because the purpose of this article is to praise Bolio, not to put down
his former owner. Bolio's former owner had stolen dogs from me and so I
feel that I owed him nothing. When the people who took Bolio offered me
breeding rights to the dog, I accepted immediately. Bolio remained on my
yard until he died at the age of thirteen. He would sire litter after
litter of good dogs and I would rate him as a better stud dog than my
Tombstone dog, who was also a great stud in his own right. Bolio
produced fine dogs from all his breedings, no matter what the bloodline
was. His pups carried the same traits that made him such a great dog.
When I bred a daughter of Bolio's, Red
Baby, to Tombstone, the result was thirteen very good dogs. Eight of
these dogs won 20 matches. The other five was used as brood bitches.
Champion Tonka, Champion Snubby, Champion Crash, and Creamator were some
of the better known dogs I sold from this breeding.
One of the first bitches I bred to Bolio
was Faith, a Clouse bitch. This breeding produced eight game and
talented dogs, including Chen Leng and Champion Princess. Red Baby's
mother was a sister to Offer's Crazy Babe, a pure Clouse bitch. Red
Baby's litter was a bunch of great dogs.
I had a bitch named Tuffy that was heavy
in Clouse blood. She was by Tater and Faith, and when I bred her to
Bolio, I got some very good dogs including Bull Boy Bob ROM and Champion
Dugan. Bolio worked well with good Tombstone and Clouse bitches. He also
sired good ones to great dogs out of bitches from the bloodlines of Eli
Jr. and Ironhead. This reminds me of a statement made by Ricky Jones. He
said, "My favorite bloodlines are the Eli / Ironhead cross dogs that
came from Maurice during the early and mid seventies. Percentage wise
these dogs will get you to the pit more times than any other bloodline
out there. There are a lot of good dogs from other bloodlines, but over
all you will get more dog for your money and time from the Eli/Ironhead
line." Ricky Jones can run any bloodline he wants and he has a right to
his own opinion. I don't think any bloodline is so superior to the other
top bloodlines that it wins every time. However, Ricky stated very
clearly that his dogs will win more that any other, now how in the hell
would he know this to be a fact, he never used anything except the Eli
blood and did 99.9% of his winning in his own back yard! I say his
opinion is weak and wrong! I owned and saw dogs of Bullyson, Eli Jr.,
and Ironhead when Ricky still had his hound dogs. I say the Bolio blood
is superior and I sold my Bullyson-Eli Jr., dogs to make room for the
Bolio blood that I breed. I talked with Carver on many occasions and he
told me more than twice that the Bolio dogs are his best without a
doubt. In the whole article he never spoke about two of the best dogs he
owned, Chome and Chocolate Soldier. These two dogs won 4 matches for him
and they were bred by Diamond Jim out of a Bolio bitch bred to the great
Luther dog. The mother of Chome and Soldier was Patrick's Rose. I
understand that Jones had a lot of wins to his credit, but the fact is
that a puppy I sold as a pet beat Grand Champion Sandman even though
Sandman outweighed him by 3 lbs. I am talking about Grand Champion Buck,
a Bolio dog. If Ricky can make a statement that his dogs are the best, I
can tell you that the people with Bolio dogs aren't losing any sleep
over his "Honest Dogs." I would not trade one good Bolio dog for any of
his dogs. I quess most serious dog men run the line of dogs they like
the best.
Bolio's blood is by far the biggest part
of my yard. Almost all my dogs have some Bolio blood in them and many
are 60-70% Bolio blood. I don't think you get the best results by just
inbreeding on one good dog. You need other good bloodlines to cross them
with and to keep them strong. I am without a doubt the biggest Bolio fan
in the world and i have been bragging about him for twenty years.
Maurice Carver told me that "all the Bolio dogs will do for you is win.
Lots of people don't like them after they win, but they get the job
done!" Eddie Klaus and Maurice Carver deserve the credit for breeding
Bolio and his great litter mates Mendicino, Andy Capp, Daisy, and Leggs
Diamond. All I did was realize his potential as a stud dog. I am sure I
would still have bulldogs if I had never heard of Bolio, but I know my
yard is a better yard because of him.
If I could have any dog that lived in the
past, today, as a two year old dog, I would take Bolio!
CAROLINA
KENNELS' CH. TERMITE ROM
In the late 1970's and early 1980's, Mr.
Fletcher Chavis bred some dogs that any dogman would be proud to own.
Much of his original stock was from that grand old dog, Champion Yellow
John ROM and for years Mr. Chavis campaigned with that inbred Red Boy
dogs that he had gotten from RT Bass. He was rated one of the best.
During the mid 1970's an outstanding
discovery was made. Vernon Jackson had a dog that he had gotten from Don
Mayfield that he called Hank, inbred from Mayfield's Lightning II blood.
Hank never started until he was three years old, but when he did, he not
only turned out to be a phenominal performer but an excellent producer
as well. He was bred to a bitch of Bob Rast's called Queenie and from
that litter came Jocko, Argo, Pearl, Apple, and a few other good ones.
Mr. Chavis ended up with Jocko and that was the beginning of the famous
Red Boy/ Jocko bloodline.
Mr. Chavis campaigned with Jocko and he
looker to be unbeatable due to the inherited trait of Hank's backend
style. Jocko became a champion and was retired to stud. Jocko was bred
to his sister Apple and several inbred bitches that he sired. These
bitches were bred to Yellow John, a triple inbred son of Tramp Red Boy,
and that was the beginning of Jocko's fame as a producer. Out of these
breedings came Tant's Gr. Ch. Yellow ROM, Gainey's JR., Chavis' Roho,
STP's Gr. Ch. John Boy and his littermate brother Ch. Toro, alnog with
Super Gnat's dead game Boots and a host of others. However, there is
another side of this story that few people knew about.
Mr. Chavis had a bitch by the name of
Lady Sassy Mead. She was half Red Boy and half Lonzo's breeding. He bred
Lady Sassy Mead to Champion Jocko and created a whole new strain of
dogs. In that litter came Dangerous Dan, Thor, Margarett and Rose. Rose
was the grand dam of Gr. Ch. Yellow and Jr. However, these dogs were
black in color and were thought not to be up to the standards of the
original stock and were sold as pets.
Carolina Kennels purchased a son out of
Dangerous Dan and a friend purchased a male and a female. The male
Carolina Kennels purchased was called Termite. Termite's first show was
in 1983 with Hargroves. Termite came in over the weight and had to pay a
forfeit. Later on in that year, Termite got hooked into Tant. Tant he a
reputation of being one of the best dogmen in the south and many of
Carolina's friends thought they was being too cocky going into him.
Termite was declared the winner in :38. Next, Termite won over Jacky S.
in :20 minutes and was ready for his Championship match. Crenshaw and
Tugboat had won several matches and both had outstanding reputations.
Carolina Kennels couldn't resist the oppurtunity of gonig into the best.
Tugboat lived up to his rep for the first :30, then those Jocko traits
started kicking in and Termite was the winner at :58.
Well, by this time Carolina Kennels was
satisfied with Termite's performance and was concidering his retirement,
but again couldn't resist another challenge. This time it was the grand
old man himself, Fletcher Chavis. Terms of the contract couldn't be
agreed upon, so Mr. Chavis sold the dog to Rastaman and said that Big
Joe had the perfect style to beat Termite. Rastaman's Big Joe put on a
great show, but at 1:17 Termite won his fourth. Termite was retired
after this and was put out to stud. He has produced some very good dogs
among the best is Gr. Ch. Cirus. Cirus won 5, including a victory over
Solo's Champion Thunder.
Termite died in November of 1995.
GARRETT'S CH. JEEP ROM
Throughout the history of the sporting
American Pit Bull Terriers, no single dog has made quite the impact as
Garrett's CH. Jeep, and that being the combination of not only his
worthiness as a supreme pit dog, but the ultimate supremacy of his
reproduction. Jeep was bred by James Crenshaw and sold to James Garrett
as a young dog and was campaigned and brought to notoriety by James
Garrett asssisted by James Crenshaw. Jeep achieved his fourth win over
Ozzie Stevens' Ch. Homer. This fight making history, for the caliber of
these two dogs meeting in the pit is unusual in itself. Although, Jeep
the victor, Homer, in his own rights, had proved to be just as good a
combat dog and both dogs were truly entitled to the legacy that they
have earned through this match.
Now that the formidable worth of Jeep has
been established, we will go on to the greatest asset this dog ever
possessed and that was his ability to reproduce a staggering figure of
Champions, one Grand Champion and numerous one and two time winners. The
conversation at many conventions always leads to great dogs and a
dispute of which bloodlines are the best to utilize to get the highest
percentage of game and winning dogs. I have often heard this one
statement being passed when Jeep's name is brought up as to his high
figure on the R.O.M. (Register Of Merit) list and that is, well look how
many bitches JEEP was bred to to create the amount of Champions he has
sired. My answer to those dogmen is this. Take three major pit dogs that
are from outstanding bloodlines such as STP's Grand Champion Buck, six
time winner, STP's Champion Toro and Burton's Grand Champion Hank, as
these three were considered exceptional pit dogs and many utilized these
three different bloods for the sole purpose of producing or establishing
new lines from them. All three lived approximately to the same age which
was ten years. Two were campained approximately the same time and died
not to far apart, that being, Ch. Toro and Gr. Ch. Hank. Hank made his
pit history prior to theirs, but was bred as many times as Jeep, if not
more. Gr. Ch. Buck, probably second to Hank in the amount of his
breedings and Toro, who was bred to 23 different bitches during this
period. The fact is all three of these great dogs combined together,
produced about half the number of Champions as Jeep has. So common,
sense will tell you how many champions doesn't hold water. In
retrospect, dogs like Ch. Homer, Gr. Ch. Art, and Tombstone who was bred
limited amounts of times and was still able to produce high quality dogs
should also be considered. Certain dogs should be on the ROM list
considering the number of times they have been bred, like: Jeep, Buck,
Yellow, Frisco and Mayday to name a few.
Some of the crosses which are well known
where Jeep created some great dogs and the blood seems to click the best
with are Jeep / Red Boy and Jeep / Rascal.
Ch. Jeep was born in August 1976 on the
yard of James Crenshaw, in the famous litter of Finley's Ch. Bo ROM to
Crenshaw's Ch. Honeybunch ROM. That produced four champions. The most
famous of the four was Ch. Jeep ROM. But there was also Crenshaw's
(Super Gnat's) Ch. Charlie, who has been said to have been a better pit
dog than Jeep. Ch. Missy who is seen in alot of pedigrees today, and
Swetman's Ch. Holly, who was said to be a terrible biter with lots of
ability. This was a great litter that was made once, for reasons that I
don't know.
CH. Jeep is believed by many to be one of
the best match dogs of his time.
Defeated Pylant's Ch. Kato at 43 pounds
in :28 minutes. Cooper's Weenie also at 43 pounds in :58 minutes.
Stinson & Stepp's Black Dog, who was said to be a three time winner at
42 pounds in two hours and five minutes. And, for his fourth and final
match we went into Ozzie Stevens' Ch. Homer, at 43 pounds and won in
3:45. This was one of those classic matches, that history is made from.
Two great game dogs met, and only one could win. One created a legacy
and the other a dynasty.
DEAD
SERIOUS KENNELS' CH. EL DIABLO NEGRO
In March of 1995 a young black male dog
called "Tex" was brought to MAD's yard. The dog was owned by Smokey of
Texas and was obtained from Chicago Mike by buying a pregnant bitch that
had been bred to Well's Ch. Oscar.
Tex was your typical Eli, Jr./ Bullyson
bred looking dog. His body was long, muscular and big headed. He had
big cutters to match.
When Tex turned 14 months old, Smokey was
concerned if the dog would even start. So, MAD agreed to help school
the young dog. At the time Dead Serious was looking for match dogs and
MAD had a proven one-time winner the size of Tex for sale. After only
:15 mins, he had killed his first opponent at an early age. The first
:08 minutes Tex buried deep in the shoulders, teeth sunk to the gums.
For the remaining :07 minutes, he laid deep inside the kidney area until
the one-time winner layed dead. Dead Serious was convinced and bought
Tex from Smokey and changed his name to better suit him. "El Diablo
Negro", which translates to "The Black Devil".
Diablo was later rolled about 6 or 7
times in their yard with none of his rolls going over 8 minutes without
being stopped.
After witnessing Diablo roll, their
friend Mr. Woods told them something that molded their philosophy. He
said, "Son, put that black dog into shape and I'll find you a roll to
see how game he is. You bring the dog and I'll bet the money! If you
still don't know what to do after that, let him heal up and put him back
into shape again. I'll find you a roll, bet the money and you bring
Diablo!!" Well, needless to say, they found the roll and they bet the
money.
For Diablo's first match, we were hooked
up into Aries Kennels at 47 lbs. At this time, Diablo was twenty months
old and was headed south of the border to their backyard, Mexico.
On the morning of the show, Diablo
weighed in at 51 lbs, some 4 lbs overweight. But, by 9:00 PM that
night, after being walked, rubbed and emptied, Diablo made weight which
was somewhat hard on him. The show was definitely still on!!
Upon arriving on location we discovered
that Aries Kennels had gone out and borrowed another kennel's dog. The
dog was Espy's Joker, a two-time winner and a two-time best of show.
Diablo dominated the Joker dog from start to finish and by the :33
minute mark Joker sat the line.
For Diablo's second match some 5 months
after his first win, they was hooked into Norman K.'s Drexal, him also
being a two-time winner and a truly deep-game bulldog. Only this
time they traveled east to "Cajun Country" Louisianna with Diablo now
being 25 months old.
this match was being used as a
measurement of where they stood with Diablo. Being matched into Mr. K.,
a legend and one of, if not the most well respected and honored people
in the game, truly made it an honor.
Drexal was to be Diablo's toughest and
longest match to becoming a champion. Had Drexal not met up with
Diablo, he would have had a long and more promising career in the game.
The box was 16' by 16', but it could have been 10' by 10' and neither
dog would have touched the walls. It was truly a classic match
"Southern Style" with Diablo's speed and extremely hard mouth rapidly
becoming the deciding factors. Finally, at the :38 minute mark, Drexal
was picked up and brought to his corner for courtesy scratch. Upon
Drexal's release he had fallen a total of three times catching himslef
with his muzzle until finally lunging and taking hold of Diablo to
complete a scratch that proved him to be dead game. After an hout of
work on Drexal, he couldn't be saved, but will always be remebered as a
truly dead game bulldog.
Soon after that match, Diablo was hooked
into Pete the Greek & Moe's Ch. Brazra, a four-time winner at 47 lbs. A
forfeit was paid to Ch. Brazra because Diablo could no longer make that
weight and the fight would never go off.
Diablo was matched for his championship
about 8 months later and at 33 months of age. It was agreed that this
match needed to be an against all odds type of match for the two-time
winner. So to confirm everything, DSK felt he was capable of doing and
more, so they headed north. This time, traveling to their opponent's
back yard once more, over 1500 miles from home to the "Big Apple", New
York City, "where all lanes are fast".
The match was set at 48 lbs, into the
Gator Boyz and their dog Dunga. After tow hours of waiting past the
scheduled time of the show, Dunga arrives. He weighed in at a
conditioned 49 1/2 lbs. and with Diablo being on weight. Diablo being
1500 miles from his home in Texas now had to push an additional pound
and a half. Just one more odd to go against. Once the dogs were
released, Diablo took control, but at the :03 minute mark Dunga had the
tip of Diablo's muzzle and had suddenly torn Diablo's nose from the bone
which had him breathing through the mouth. The odds were again stacked
higher, but after :21 minutes of being dominated, Dunga shut it down
with this turning out to be Diablo's easiest victory of his career.
Afterwards, El Diablo Negro was retired
to stud.
HOOTEN'S
CH. BUTCHER BOY
Butcher Boy was bred by Frank Fitwater.
He was born in Irving, TX on June 4, 1967. Norman Hooten obtained
Butcher Boy at 6 weeks of age by trading $50.00 worth of horseshoeing to
a man who knew Frank and had a litter of pups, but said that Frank would
not sell a dog to a stranger or to anyone who did not come with
references.
The man introduced Norman to Frank, the
deal was made and he picked up his pup, or rather he picked him since he
was the only one that came up to him and grabbed him by the pants legs
and started shaking like a true bulldog. Frank and Norman became close
friends and remained the same until Frank's death.
Butcher developed rapidly and later
proved to be an outstanding dog. He was first rolled at 12 monthsof age
against his littermate brother, Weaver's Mike. It was at this time that
Norman knew that he had a special dog as he went deep into the shoulder
and left holes like a 12-gauge shotgun. When scratched, he went low,
hard and very fast with power like a fullback. Mike, who was owned and
campaigned by Ed Weaver, went on to become a champion in his own right
at a lighter weight than Butcher Boy, winning three and losing one. The
one loss was because he went blind during the match adn couldn't find
his opponent in time to beat the count.
At 16 months of age Butcher Boy was
rolled into Carver's Rastus. This roll was better than many contracted
matches witnessed by Norman. Maurice picked Rastus up at the :20 minute
mark, stating that Butcher Boy was just too big for him, which he was.
Norman believed that it was at that roll that Maurice start to take a
real interest in Butcher Boy, though he was still doubtful about his
gameness. Rastus went on to prove his greatness in his loss to the Tater
dog i California in a match that went over 2 hours. Rastus proved beyond
a doubt that he was indeed "dead game".
After a three dog test, Norman and
Maurice started looking for a match and Maurice finally called and asked
if he wanted to match into the 2X winner, Kennedy's Booger Red. He
agreed and the match was made, set for the Oklahoma Convention.
Danny Burton conditioned and handled
Booger Red for this match. For the first :20 minutes both dogs had been
fighting even, when Butcher Boy threw Booger Red and took a killing
chest hold, cutting a artery, causing blood to spurt. After working this
hold a few times, it was visible that Booger Red was in trouble. Red got
to his feet, but could no longer fight even with Butcher Boy. A turn was
called on Red at about the :30 minute mark. Red made agood, hard
scratch, but was put down by Butcher Boy. A pickup and Butcher Boy went
fast, knocking Red down and shaking hard. At about the :45 minute mark
Red had about all he was capable of taking, when he was released he was
unable to stand...he fell on the floor too weak to move. Butcher Boy the
winner in :46. Booger Red took his death without a whimper.
It was in Butcher Boy's 2nd match, in
1969 in Mississippi, against Edward's Luke, a 2X winner, that Butcher
Boy scratched into Luke so hard that he actually knocked Luke's handler
completely OUT of the pit at least 5 times. At :15 minutes, a turn was
called on Butcher Boy. Edwards was having a hard time holding his dog in
the corner. :18 Luke scratches good with Butcher Boy meeting him in the
center, hard. :21 Butcher scratches like a jet. The next 7 scratches
came almost once every minute until Luke goes down in his corner and
takes the count at :33 minutes, making Butcher Boy a 2X winner.
Butcher Boy's dam, Womack's Big Liz was
also on the card for this convention winnig in :28 minutes.
The "Day of the Upsets" was in 1972 and
that was day that Butcher Boy won his championship match over Corn's
Smokey, a son of Bullyson. He was the only favorite to win his match,
which went :18 minutes as Smokey just could not take what Butcher Boy
had for him and quit cold. On this same card Bullyson was defeated by
his son Benny Bob.
Shortly after his win over Smokey, it ws
determined that he had heartworms adn was subsequently treated twice for
the deadly parasite and retired from combat.
His true test came in 1973 at six years
of age when he was brought out of retirement, after being treated for
heart worms twice, to go into the 2X winner, Stinson, Glover & Co's
Sampson. Sampson, Carver bred dog had beat a dog of M. Carver's at 56
lbs and was in his prime at 30 months of age. Because of Butcher Boy's
age and the fact that it was known that he had been treated for heart
worms twice, he was a 3 to 1 underdog going in. But, he beat Sampson by
biting him down in 1:45 minutes in a classical match. Both, Sampson and
Butcher Boy died after this great match. Butcher Boy was awarded Best
of Show for his dead game , hard biting efforts.
Of the four contract opponents that faced
Butcher Boy in the pit, only one survived- Corn's Smokey and he curred
out in :15 minutes.
Champion Butcher Boy was a great dog and
has been touted by many longtime, top dogmen who witnessed all his
matches as perhaps the greatest 57lb. dog of the century, and most
certainly the best 57lb. dog of his time. He was, truly, a once in a
lifetime dog.
TUDOR'S DIBO & TRAHAN'S
RASCAL
Because of the importance of both Dibo
and Rascal in todays bloodlines, I've chosen to tell their story
collectively.
The two famous dogs, Tudor's Dibo
(pronounced DIE-BO) and Trahan's Rascal shared the same sire, Hubbard's
Bounce, also called Corvino's Bouncer. Bounce, as he is more frequently
recognized, was out of Hubbard's Lena and sired by Hubbard's Gimp.
Bounce's grand-parents were comprised of three Corvino dogs: Gimp,
Goldie, and Shorty.
DIBO
The Dibo line descended from the inbred Lloyd's Pilot ( Pilot was bred
at the "Red Lion Inn" in Birmingham, England and imported by Charles
"Cockney Charlie" Lloyd, of Manhattan, New York City ) strain of Con
Feeley of Chicago which was then selectively bred by Joe Corvino, also
of Chicago and resulted in 2 key dogs, Corvino's Gimp ( Dibo's
Great-Grandsire) and his litter brother Corvino's Shorty. Dibo also had
some influence from the powerful strain of Frank Henry of Marietta, Ohio
whose blood centered around his "Richmond" dog which was imported from
Wolverhampton, England. This Richmond blood was blended with Lloyd's
Pilot blood of W.T. Delihant and great aces such as Swineford's Ch King
Paddy, Henry's Ch Black Brandy, Tudor's Gr Ch Black Jack and his
much-feared son Peterson's Gr Ch Black Jack, Jr. resulted. Gr Ch Black
Jack, Jr. was out of Cunningham's Nellie, a pure Henry bitch descended
from Richmond. A daughter of Gr Ch Black Jack, Jr. was then bred to the
imported Irish "Old Family" gamedog Bill Shipley's Red Jerry owned by
Shipley of Texas who maintained a breeding partnership with Irishman Jim
Corcoran. This breeding yielded the bitch Tudor's Goldie, a devastating
pit dog which Joe Corvino bought from Earl Tudor and incorporated into
his breeding program, which ultimately resulted in Dibo.
Dibo's dam was Ed Ritcheson's Bambi.
Bambi, also known as Heinzl's Bambi, was sired by Ritcheson's Spike and
she was out of Ritcheson's Spotty. A novice by the name of W. D. Smith
acquired Bambi and made the breeding to Wiz Hubbard's Bounce. Smith
eventually sold Dibo, as a pup, to a man named Jensen who only wanted a
pet for his son. The young boy named his pet Dumbo, but tired of him
and wished for a collie, as Lassie was popular at that time. Jensen
then contacted Mr. Heinzl in regard to trading Dumbo for a collie pup.
Howard Heinzl knew Bounce and Bambi were good individuals, but still had
his doubts as one of Bounce's sisters were questionable, and Bambi was
cold. The trade was made and Dumbo went home with Howard Heinzl and
stayed, where he would follow Mr. Heinzl and stayed out of the reach of
the other chained dogs on the yard for about two years.
Earl Tudor visited Heinzl's yard and took
a liking to Dumbo. Mr. Heinzl offered Mr. Tudor any dog on his yard,
trying to convince him to purchase a good dog. In spite of everything,
Tudor took Dumbo home and changed his name to Dibo. Dibo was stolen
shortyl after and was sold to a black restaurant owner, who named him
Runt, Frank Ferris later changed all the incorrect papers. The pup
wouldn't hit a lick until it was 2 1/2 years old, but when it did, it
was an cae dog from that day forward! Floyd Boudreaux and William
Burley owned a good brindle dog named Buzz on halves. They had to pull
this pup off Buzz in :18 minutes as he wrecked Buzz in short order.
Floyd matched him at 39 lbs. into a 40 lb. dog and won the contest in
style and short order. He used his dad's Man dog 6 weeks later and
matched into Gaboon Trahan and his highly regarded Country Boy dog, gave
him a pound and beat him in :33 minutes. Tudor got Dibo back from the
gentleman and by the age of four, Dibo had finally turned on and
eventually became a three time winner at 44 lbs. His performance record
is minute in comparison to his ability to produce.
He's sired:
Tudor's White Rock 4X winner Tudor's Spike 4X winner
Tudor's Jeff 3X winner Trahan's Blackie 3X winner
McCraw's Snowball Harrel's Topper 5X winner
Heinzl's Polly Ed Crenshaw's Buck
Edward's Sam Carver's Cracker
Start (Haye's) Cry Baby 4X winner Boudreaux' Blind Billy
and the list goes on.
Dibo had two litter mates that also made
names for themselves: Heinzl's Arizona Pete and Langham's Lil.
RASCAL
Rascal was sent to Hanson by Corvino and
later Rascal went to Pete Lormond, then to Clavelle and finally Rascal
was traded to Floyd Boudreaux, where he and Gaboon Trahan collaborated
on many of the breedings with Rascal. Boudreaux said Trahan never owned
the dog and it should appear as Boudreaux' Rascal, like he is
registered. Anyway, Floyd owned the dog and crossed him with Blind
Billy.
Like Dibo, Rascal wouldn't start as a
young dog and as a matter of fact, he was also stolen, but because of
the fact that he hadn't turned on, they turned him loose into the
streets.
Boudreaux saw him in 1957 when he got out
of the service and he fought against a big black dog that was out of
Cannon's Black Shine and those dogs. At that, time they was all
arrested, but in those days it was just a misdemeanor, there was really
nothing against bulldogs. Rascal was owned by SP and Floyd traded one
of Rascal's sons for him, a young dog called Rascal, Jr. This pup had
only one testicle, but SP took him and later sold him.
It is believed that Rascal won
approximately 6 matches at a weight of 57lbs. He was considered a game
dog, who was a very rough ear dog.
He's sired:
Trahan's Peter (Country Boy) 3X winner Trahan's Little Rascal
Trahan's Marciano Trahan's Lou
Trahan's Boy, a game loser in 2:30 Elias' Pistol
Carver's Sherly Boudreaux' Rascal, Jr.
Trahan's Ruby, who produced Cotton's Bullet.
Cajen 2X winner, who lost in 2:12 to Komosinski's Rocky II
and many more.
To reinforce the importance of these two
dogs in the history of today's American Pit Bull Terrier, it is very
unlikely that you can trace the pedigree of any pit bull bred in the
USA, and not find at least one of these two dogs in the pedigree. I
believe the only strain of pit bulls that does not trace back to Dibo or
Rascal would be the Colby bred dogs. But, they are being crossed with
these strains to produce winners, I.E. Jeep / Red Boy, Red Boy / Jocko,
and Red Boy / Bolio.
FITZWATER'S
GOLDIE
Frank Fitzwater's Goldie it is said
resulted from an accidental breeding on Howard Heinzl's yard in
Tempe,Arizona. His sire was Heinzl's Colonel who was out of a Colby
bloodline sire and a Lightner "Old Family" bitch and Colonel's dam
Heinzl's Amber Annie was an inbred Lightner "Old Family" bitch. Most of
the Lightner "Old Family" blood went back to such Old Family Red
Nose dogs such as Fergusson's Centiped, Harvey's Red Devil, Hemphill's
Broke Jaw and Dickenson's Tangerine. The blood of Jim Searcy's Jeff was
also there. So, Goldie who won 4 matches was 25% Colby blood and 75%
Lightner Old Family (mostly red nose) blood. It is interesting to note
that the Lightner bloodline was of Irish descent and was known to be one
of the gamest strains of pit dogs in the history of the game.
Goldie was labeled as a cur, something
Heinzl had bred to sale and make a little feed bill money. This dog had
been tried at 2 ½ years old and would not fight. Frank bought this dog
known as Fitzwaters' Goldie for $15.00, as they were going to kill the
dog.
Fitzwater's Ch. Goldie proved and
validated his pedigree in the able hands of Mayfield in one match by
scratching an incredible 24 times and winning the show. His offspring
include Klaus Zeke ( the sire of Indian Bolio ROM and Sorrells' BULL)
and his litter sister Womack's Mert (dam of Carver's Miss Spike who
produced Gr Ch Boomerang, Ch Fox, Ch Nell, Art's Missy; also dam of
Stockton's Ch Big Liz the dam of Hooten's Ch Butcher Boy, from whom such
as Gr Ch Banjo and Gr Ch BB Red descended when the blood was combined
with that of Art's Missy).
The Dibo and Ch Goldie lines were first
combined by Frank Fitzwater and Don Mayfield and with great results.
Such greats as Mayfield's Pit General, Davis' Gr Ch Boomerang, Hooten's
Ch Butcher Boy, Gr Ch. Banjo and BB Red as stated before, STP's Gr Ch
Buck, Jackson's Hank (sire of Ch Jocko and Ch Argo), even Gr Ch Mayday
ROM has a lot of the influence of this combination via the Ch Jocko and
Hollingsworth (Tombstone / Bolio) blood. Also we should not forget the
Eli (heavy Dibo) / Snooty ROM (Ch Goldie / Dibo ) crosses which has
yielded such aces as Ch Chinaman, Gr Ch Bo, Gr Ch Spike and the yard of
champions owned by the Viera Bros.on the west coast.
Pat Patrick has been having continued
success with Dibo / Goldie crosses over the years and still continues to
produce competitive gamedogs. However many do not realise that Don
Mayfield was one of the originators of this potent cross and deserves
due credit. An interesting fact is that the "great California ear dog",
McCaw's Ch Going Light Barney, was defeated by Van Parkman's Pistol a
Dibo / Goldie cross dog, which took all Barney had to dish out and
caused Barney to quit as his gameness apparently frustrated the
California destroyer.
..... By Mr.Cool in the interest of those
who do not know.
WALLING'S BULLYSON
Bullyson was whelped sometime in the late
1960's. He was just one of the many well thought of pups from the
breeding of Eli to Spook.
At one time Floyd Boudreaux gave a nice
red puppy to Jerry Clemmons. He took the pup, kept it for 6 weeks and
then sold the pup. He came here and I gave him another pup I had here
in the blacksmith shop. I called that pup Spook. She was out of a
litter that had killed each other when they were very young. He kept
her two months at most and then she came in her first season. He
brought her back and I bred her to Eli. They had 4 pups, 3 black and
one brindle. two males and two females. One of the black males was
Bully, the other was Eli, Jr., the brindle female was Brendy. She bit
the hardest of all of them and she was the biggest. She could break a
dog down in less then three minutes. Brendy was awesome, a bad
bulldog. As bad as a man has ever seen. She beat a dog one time like
she was eating breakfast. I've never seen anything like her again. The
other female in the litter out of Eli and Spook was a black named Lady.
She was my kind of dog and I think the best from that litter. Both
Bully and his brother Eli, Jr. were exceptional Bulldogs. They were the
cream of the crop, top-notch Bulldogs and went into some tough
competition to make history.
When this litter was being raised on
Jerry's yard he took a special interest in Bully. Jerry walked him
three miles a day and ran him 15 minutes each day on the mill. Also,
while he was schooling him he had taught the dog to go where he was
pointed in combat and also trained him to work with a ball. One day
Bully was rolled with Boudreaux' Napoleon and Boudreaux' Paco, a son of
Blind Billy. He smoked both of them quickly and then was bred to one of
Floyd's bitches. All this in one hour in the noon July sun. The bitch
later had 13 puppies.
When Bobby Hall owned Bully he was
attacked, when he walked his run. Bobby had a large mouth shovel in his
hand and he went upside Bully's head and put Bully on his backside, then
was just able to get out of Bully's run before he came to his feet and
came for him again. This occured numerous times until the last when
Bobby put the shovel in one hand and held it beside him and said "Come
here Son." "Bully son come to me" and Bully then walked over to Bobby's
feet and waged his tail. Bobby said he stuck out his hand to him and he
licked his hand, then Bobby walked over and shoveled up his dung. From
that day Bobby changed his name from Bully to Bullyson.
When Bobby Hall matched the dog for
Maurice Carver, who refereed, when he went into Bert Clouse &
Becker. At weigh in Bert's dog weighed in at 46 3/4 lbs. and Bullyson
weighed i at 49 1/2 lbs. When Bobby came over the pit wall with
Bullyson you knew something different was going on. This dog acted like
a crazy dog or a maniac of the devil in disguise. When they turned them
loose all hell came with it. Everybody there was at attention.
Clouse's Red dog was out of it in five minutes as Bobby sent Bullyson to
the scrotum of Clouse's charge and that was the cue for the fat lady and
she sang. At :10 minutes, the final scratch, Bobby could hardly contain
the dog in the corner. And he was scared the crazy son of gunwas going
to bite him. This was was the worst kind of man-eater when conditions
are normal, and they sure weren't normal then.
Sometime later Bobby sold Bullyson to Red
Walling. Mr. Walling decided that Maurice Carver was his man with his
dog. Again, this dog was known on several occasions when someone was
moving him in a car and he was looes to go off his rocker. Despite
these problems, they often hauled him loose, I think because it was too
hard to put him in a sky crate. On the move from Hall's in Houston to
Carver's place in San Antonio, Mr.Raymond Holt was elected to carry the
dog. As usual Bullyson was carried loose in the car. Raymond said the
only way he could keep Bullyson from jumping on him during the trip was
by playing with his testicles. That's a helluva a deal!!! Anyway,
Maurice got the dog. He was scared to death of him all the time he had
him. At the time Maurice would move his wife in the other room and
bring the dog in the house with him, watch TV with him and such and just
become the very best of friends when a dog is in a keep. Maurice had a
feeling that if he was going to the pit with a dog he wanted to be his
friend. He said often, "If I am going to get down on my knees and ask a
dog to take a killing for me, I want him to be a friend of mine."
Eventually, Bullyson was matched into Ed
Weaver's Sir. Again it was the same old story, Sir was helpless in :05
minutes as Bullyson defeated him with the same barnstorming type style
used against the Red dog. Don Mayfield made a comment right after the
match that Ed Weaver should be commended for even going into Bullyson,
as most people were already spooked of him.
Bullyson VS Benny Bob was the big match
of the day as there were people from all over the US, Canada and Mexico
to see this event. The convention took place in Fort Worth and it was a
big show. The had bleachers up around the pit and a canvas over the
whole thing. It was wonderful until the bleachers collapsed and the
canvas cover came crashing down during the Bullyson match. Carver
conditioned and handled Bullyson and Haliburton did the conditioning &
handling for Benny Bob with help from Don Mayfield. Benny Bob was out
of Bullyson bred to a bitch out of Boudreaux' Boze bred to Clemmons'
Brendy. The dam of Benny Bob was known as Clemmons' Jesse and her name
was later changed to Wikerson's Tina. The breeding of Bullyson and
Jesse was done while Bullyson was still on the yard of Jerry Clemmons.
At the match, Carver made a deal to enter
the pit last as he didn't want to stay in his corner for an extended
time with Bullyson. When he entered, Rick was ready, the ref was ready
and that was Floyd Boudreaux. Maurice didn't even set Bullyson all the
way down he dropped him 3 inches above the floor and the match was on.
Don Mayfield reported it was pretty obviousquickly that if Bullyson was
going to get there today, it was not going to be a blowout. After a
while, Bullyson turned. He scratched well. Then Benny Bob scratched
good. After this Benny Bob started getting faster and Bullyson slower.
Everything Bullyson did, Benny Bob came back and did it better. At thed
end, their stifles looked like you had shot them with a buckshot. At
:40 minutes into the match Bullyson's ass end collapsed completely and
Carver offered Haliburton a scratch to win, Haliburton would not take
the offer as it was hot his turn to scratch. Finally, at :48 minutes,
Bullyson's turn to go. Maurice faces him. When released, Bullyson
turned his head a little to the right. His tongue is out, he doesn't
move! At the end of 6, Maurice stepped over the dog and threw in the
towel. He then asked Floyd to see if he could get him to go since Floyd
had a part in raising him. The reason Maurice did this, I suppose was
that everyone was in shock that this dog stood the line. Floyd took
him, straightened his head, shook him and released him. The results
were the same. His head tilted a little to the right and he stood
there. After this Floyd picked up Bullyson and handed him over the pit
wall to Maurice, who turned and walked off with the dog. Jerry
Clemmons, who was working as a lab technician, did the blood work the
day before the match, said Bullyson's blood count was at 33 when it
should have been at 50. In addition, Carver bred the dog to practically
every bitch he could in the Southwest.
They took Bullyson out to the field and
anyone that tried to touch his ass end had him trying to bite them. He
was given medical treatment, but it was to no avail. He lost control of
his body and died shortly there after. This 48 minute match with his
son had brought an end to Bullyson's life.
Benny Bob went back to Willie Brown's
yard and was later matched into Ralph Greenwood's Jimmy Boots. Which was
said to have been the most vicious match ever seen. R. Haliburton and
W. Brown did the conditioning on Benny Bob and Greenwood the same for
Jimmy Boots. It was said the match was like watching two grown men with
icepicks and you knew it just couldn't go any further, but that five
minutes would pass and then you knew for sure it was impossible to go
another five minutes. The whole match was like that...because no two
dogs could take that kind of punishment. After the match you could have
bet that it didn't last longer than 20 minutes, that's how exciting it
was, but it lasted nearly 2 hours with Jimmy Boots being the winner.
CASTILLO'S TROLL ROM
Troll was born and raised on the yard of
the famous breeder Ozzie Stevens. Ozzie bred his 2X winner Zera,
daughter of Ch. Zero, to Red Rhode's 2X winner Amos, who was a son of
Gr. Ch. Virgil ROM.
Troll was rolled once and looked very
good, but unfortunately broke his hangers in his schooling. To make
matters worse he had the bad habit of chewing on rocks and his chain,
thus dulling all of his teeth making it improbable for him to be
matched. He was bred to a few gyps on Ozzies' yard.
At around the age of 3, Troll was sold to
Ron Castillo who kept him for a few more years until finally selling
Troll to Pit Magic Kennels.
Troll sired Ch. Waldo out of O. Stevens'
Butterfly (Carver blood), Ch. Tyrone, Ch. Ozzie, and Gr. Ch. Krueger out
of O. Stevens' Ramona ROM.
CHAVIS'
CH. JOCKO
Vernon Jackson bought a puppy from Don
Mayfield in 1971 and named him "Hank", the sire to Jocko and 5 other
champions. Then Don gave him many more dogs to build his kennel on this
bloodline. Champion Jocko was bred by Bob Rast, when he bred his bitch
Queenie to Hank.
Jocko, along with Bass' Tramp Red Boy,
were the foundation of one of the most successful bloodlines of the past
thirty years, the Red Boy/Jocko bloodline.
Jocko was bred to his daughter, Tant's
Rose, to produce Tant's Miss Jocko, who was then bred to the pure Red
Boy dog, Chavis' Ch. Yellow John ROM, to start the famous bloodline.
Jocko, in addition to being one of the
foundation dogs of the Red Boy/ Jocko bloodline, was a first class
performance dog. He was matched and won four times between 1977 and
1980. He won over Hanner's Black Jack in 1:08. His second time out he
won over Middleton's Bucky, a 2X winner, in a wild 11 minutes of back
end techniques. His third was over Hodges' Ch. Brute, a dog reputed to
have won 6 or 7 matches. His last time out he won over the black dog of
Moutain Man's.
Jocko was matched between 46 and 48 1/2
lbs. and was considered one the better, if not the best, back end dog of
his time.
RUSHIN'
BILL'S GR. CH. 35
GR. CH. "35" : THE BEGINNING It was a
blistering hot day in central Oklahoma the second time I saw the little
buckskin dog that, as fate would have it, was eventually to change my
life. We were in the midst of the heat wave of 1980, suffering through
over forty straight days of hundred degree plus temperatures, and when I
heard the knock at my door, I really didn't feel like answering, not
just because of the heat, but due mostly to one of the worst hangovers
of my adult life. Fortunately I did answer, only to be confronted by a
fellow who looked at least as bad as I felt. I didn't recognize him
immediately as we had only met once before and it wasn't until I saw the
dog in the back seat of his car that I knew who it was that had summoned
me from my nauseous stupor aboard the "porcelain pony" in my bathroom.
He probably didn't remember my name either as we had only spoken briefly
one day when I had seen him walking the pup and stopped to ask about it.
He didn't know how the dog was bred |