‘Golden Boy’ Unbeatable to Punch Line

At Golden Boy Bail Bonds, just around the corner from the Van Nuys Courthouse, proprietor Art Aragon has a motto:

“I’ll get you out if it takes seven years.”

Aragon never could take himself, or anyone else, seriously.

In the 1940s, he was a talented boxer slugging his way through four-round bouts at joints such as the Valley Garden Arena in North Hollywood. Soon, “The Golden Boy” became a fixture in main events at the Olympic Auditorium, climbing to a No. 5 world ranking.

But he had a taste for the high life, for being seen with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. And he was always better-known for his punch lines than his punches.

Some of his best one-liners date back to his biggest fight, a 1958 bout against Carmen Basilio.

Aragon insisted that Basilio was scared to fight him. “He’s scared he might kill me,” Aragon said.

Indeed, Basilio hammered Aragon for eight rounds. “I was on my stool between rounds when the bell rang,” Aragon recalled. “I said to my manager, ‘That’s the bell. Go see who it is.’ ”

His purse that night was $104,000--the most he would ever make in the ring--but he later quipped:

“It cost me $120,000 to get out of the hospital.”

Aragon left the fight game in 1960 after 18 years and well over 100 bouts.

These days, the 69-year-old Chatsworth man splits his time between taking care of his wife, Billie, who has cancer, and running his business.

“I got busted a few times when I was fighting and bail bonds looked like easy money to me,” he says. “But it’s tougher than fighting. You can’t fix these.”