Ex-Redondo Football Star Jimmy Ellis Thinks Boxing Is Smarter Move

Jimmy Ellis, a big lug at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, stepped into a boxing ring last Thursday night at the Alpine Village in Torrance with the initials of the college he attended stenciled on his white trunks.

In a sport known for brawn more than brains, Ellis is no dummy. He is a former all-star football player from Redondo Beach High School who, unlike the majority of athletes who went on to play in college, completed a degree.

“Top athletes, to be successful in any sport, you have got to be smart,” he said. “I don’t care what it is. You can’t be an idiot.”

There are those who contend that Ellis, 26, is a fool just for stepping into a boxing ring and risking a beating at the hands of an opponent.

“If I’m brought along right, I won’t have those problems,” he contended.

Ellis, who attended Boise State University, has carefully mapped out a future career in outside sales. But for the time being, he said, “I got my education, and now I’ve graduated into boxing.”

The heavyweight is 8-0 with seven knockouts, including a victory by TKO in the first round of his scheduled four-round fight at the Village.

“He has two good hands,” observed ring veteran Fabela Chavez, a former lightweight who runs the Carson Boxing Center for amateurs. “That is a good sign.”

Saturday nightQ at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Ellis will box in another four-rounder on the undercard for the Michael Nunn-Marlon Starling International Boxing Federation middleweight title fight. It will be his first national exposure, although he has fought several bouts outside California.

Ellis is not a boxer per se. He’s a brawler. He applies the same techniques in the ring as he did as a linebacker at Redondo, Boise State and, for a brief period, in summer camp with the Los Angeles Raiders.

“I just line up across from my opponent and beat the hell out of him,” he said.

At Redondo, Ellis succeeded in pounding Bay League opponents. But when the big man wasn’t wearing a football uniform, he was an even bigger prankster.

“Jimmy was always one of my favorites,” said Betty Smith, the school’s athletics secretary. “Everyone loved him, although you wanted to strangle him all the time.”

Ellis remembers it just a bit differently: “I had some good times there.”

Smith agreed, with a chuckle.

“Jimmy was like Dennis the Menace,” she said. “He was always in trouble, whatever he got into, but you still had to love him.”

Thursday night at the Village was a homecoming of sorts for Ellis. His brother, John, a boxing promoter, put on a three-fight card including a championship bout in which Rickey Romero of Torrance defended his flyweight title against hard-charging Jose Luis Herrera of Blythe.

Still, it was Jimmy Ellis who took much of the spotlight. His photo adorned the cover of the fight program, and his likeness could be seen in posters plastered around the Village beer garden, where the older Ellis managed to put together a credible outdoor boxing venue.

Said John Ellis, smiling about the hype for his younger brother: “I’ve got to help him any time I can.”

A former boxer, he actually spurred Jim’s interest in the sport.

“I used to work out with John (when I was in high school),” Jim Ellis explained. “I went to the gym with him and let him beat me up a bit. I kind of liked it.”

But the younger Ellis’ future appeared to be in football. He was a 1982 All-South Bay selection by The Times and later started at Boise State. In 1987, he was drafted by the Raiders and lasted until the final cut of training camp.

Ellis returned to Boise to complete his college degree. But without football, he had lots of time on his hands. He befriended a boxer, and the pair sparred in a gym.

“I fell in love with it. Boxing felt right for me,” Ellis said.

When he returned to Southern California, Ellis hooked up with veteran All-Pro lineman Howie Long of the Raiders, who had befriended Ellis a year earlier. Long had also done some boxing. Soon he signed on as Ellis’ co-manager with businessman Jerry Carrier.

After years of playing a team sport, Ellis found satisfaction in the ring.

“Boxing is all for me,” he said. “What I put in, I get out of it. No one can dictate to me how I am to play.”

Which has its good side and its bad side. Ellis presses opponents, hoping for the quick knockout. That’s OK for four-round bouts, but if he is to step into the mainstream with 12- or 15-round contests, experts say, he needs to learn to pace himself.

In addition, Ellis admits, he often forgets to cover up. If he doesn’t work on that, he said, he will probably “get tagged” in a fight.

“But that’s all part of my boxing education,” he said. “I need to climb up the ladder. I experience something different every fight. I’ve got 20 or 30 fights to go (before I learn everything).”

Thursday night, his 300-pound opponent, Hardy Martin, should have stayed in his corner. Ellis polished off the overweight Martin without breaking a sweat, landing a pair of uppercuts and a flurry of other punches.

The fight lasted less than 90 seconds. When the referee stopped it, Ellis was flailing away at Martin, who was pinned against the ropes. A standing eight count appeared more in order, but the bout was waved off. Ellis complained. The crowd booed.

“What do you want?” referee Chuck Hassett asked Ellis, who was standing in the center of the ring waiting to duke it out some more. “You knocked him out.”

Ellis retreated to the locker room, a converted cleaning supply locker with an asphalt floor. As he changed into street clothes amid mops and brooms, a string of well-wishers popped in. Each had his opinion of the fight and each offered advice.

“You hit the guy hard,” someone told him.

Martin, perspiring but wearing street clothes, walked in. They shook hands.

“You gonna be good, man,” he told Ellis.

Ellis put on a disarming grin.

“Boxing,” he said with a hint of disgust. “It’s a lot more Hollywood than football.”

Another man entered the room. He told Ellis that he has to duck and cover more.

When another observer suggested that it would be good for Ellis to get knocked down a few times, a smile crossed the boxer’s face.

“I’ve got a lot to learn, man,” he said.