Ex-Champion Down but Not Out : Boxing: Willie Pastrano was the best 25 years ago. Now he is training a few novices in a dingy New Orleans gym.

A quarter of a century ago, Willie Pastrano was the best in the world at what he did.

He was 26 and the world light heavyweight boxing champion, and his slashing, dancing style would be studied by another young fighter who later called himself Muhammad Ali.

“Sometimes, I don’t like it any more when people say, ‘There’s the champion of the world.’ I’m driving an old jalopy now and all. And then Ali comes to town with his suit and tie,” said Pastrano, who celebrated his 52nd birthday last Sunday.

Pastrano is out of shape and overweight. His face and hands bear a lifetime of gladiator’s scars. He has divorced three wives who bore him five sons and four daughters, two of whom live with him in New Orleans’ suburbs.

He is short of cash, but he still has a champion’s heart.

The money he does scrape together and all of his spare time are spent shaping up a dingy gym where a few dozen novices train.

The New Orleans Boxing Club, House of Champions, occupies the garage section of a 65-year-old former seafood processing plant. The phone does not work, and the plumbing has not been connected. The ring has a plywood floor because there is no money for canvas to cover it.

“We’re borrowing, floating money from people who come over to see what we do. I’m glad the phone doesn’t work. I don’t want it to ruin their concentration,” Pastrano said.

Then, proudly, he said: “If you’ve got a pro working with kids, it’s the best experience they can get.”

Pastrano started fighting at 12, turned pro when he was 15 and was among the top 10 middleweights in the world when he turned 19.

“My mom had to sign an affidavit so I could fight on TV,” he said.

Pastrano won the championship with a 15-round decision over Harold Johnson on June 1, 1963. He lost it when Jose Torres knocked him out in the ninth round on March 30, 1965.

He won a $100,000 share of the purse against Torres--Pastrano’s biggest payday in 84 professional fights.

It was his last.

Frustrated and confused over the loss of his title, Pastrano found comfort in heroin, a habit it took him three years to conquer.

“There’s too much stuff on the street now--ice, smack, crack. Everybody’s on a kamikaze trip,” he said.

The work ethic and attitudes have changed, he said.