Near Phoenix on January 28, 1929, wrestler Hassen Muhammed (Nuhammed) was killed in a car accident at the age of 38. He was known as the "Terrible Turk. It was said that three years earlier, he gained notice when he beat Renato Gardini in 3-minutes and broke the latter's arm. He had been driving to see a wrestling show featuring Casey Berger and Pat O'Shocker, and had been planning to challenge the winner, according to the Associated Press. After dropping from the National Wrestling Alliance and selling his Tucson wrestling promotion, Rod Fenton retired from the business despite a report stating that he had remained active in Phoenix, Yuma and Mesa. On February 4, 1958, it was announced that he repurchased the Tucson promotion because he "couldn't stand the inactivity" of retirement. Paavo Ketonen was going to remain his matchmaker and shows were going to shift from Tuesdays to Wednesday nights. On April 23, 1959, Fenton became the matchmaker at Madison Square Garden in Phoenix, replacing his longtime associate and friend, Pierre LaBelle. In a column in the March 17, 1961 edition of the Tucson Daily Citizen, Ketonen was called "The most stubborn man I know." He tried to revive boxing in the city by staging show after show that no one ever attends. The last one grossed $310. Ketonen still believes he can turn things around. It was also stated that promoter Al Kashey closed his promotion in El Casino two weeks earlier with his final show grossing $170. In Tucson, Monte LaDue staged a show that attained a $650 gate and needed at least $1,000 in Tucson and Phoenix to stay active. Basically, things were bad all around the circuit. Kashey was doing live television shows on KGUN-TV on Saturdays from 5-6:00 p.m. and the ring was going to be "near KGUN studio." Research by Tim Hornbaker |
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