In late 1932 professional bantamweight boxer Pete Sanstol had again met up with his old friend Fidel LaBarba in New York. "He asked LaBarba if he thought [Fidel's manager George] Blake would take him now," recounted The Knockout magazine (April 1, 1933, issue). Blake had kindly refused to manage Pete three years earlier in Paris. He would manage no other boxer while Fidel was fighting.

Blake called LaBarba "Fiddle." [See In This Corner...! by Peter Heller (1973), p. 102.] LaBarba's true passion was football. Not only was Blake a respected manager, but he was also a famous boxing referee on the West Coast. He had been the boxing coach of the Los Angeles Athletic Club where he trained LaBarba for the 1924 Paris Olympics; LaBarba won the Olympic flyweight championship.

As they had done in Paris in October 1929, Pete was again training with LaBarba. They often went running together in Central Park. "I told LaBarba that I knew Blake would not have anything to do with a fighter who wasn't clean and honest and that I had set that as my ideal ever since I met him in Paris," said Pete. "Then came my opportunity after LaBarba had fought Seaman Watson.... I know Blake inquired into my habits, checked up everything I had done -- my fights in Montreal and elsewhere -- before he gave his answer. It was tthhe happiest day of my life when he signed me to a contract. I rushed out and cabled my mother and father in Oslo of the great news -- that I was being managed by the biggest figure and the best liked man in all America."

Blake agreed to manage Pete now because Fidel recently had surgery on an eye that was severely damaged during a sparring session and had decided to retire from boxing after one last fight. Some sources say the eye was damaged during his title fight with Kid Chocolate December 9, 1932. A newspaper clipping in Pete's scrapbook quotes Blake as saying the damage occurred when Fidel was training for the Kid Chocolate match. LaBarba himself is quoted by Mr. Heller in his book In This Corner...! as saying that, while training with his sparring partner -- who would throw left hooks then lift his hands to cover himself up as LaBarba came in to bang away, he came in too fast. "My left eye went right into the point of his elbow... That eye popped up, in five minutes got this big. This was on a Tuesday [before the Friday night fight with Chocolate]." Page 106. Fidel's retina had begun to tear.

Eventually he had to have the eye removed. It is ironic that LaBarba had inflicted similar but not quite as disastrous damage to the eye of British Flyweight Champion Elky Clark on January 21, 1927 -- causing Clark to retire from boxing. It was from this victory that Fidel had won the Flyweight Championship of the World, which he vacated in August to attend Stanford University. After a year at Stanford of listening to his professors and others tell him that he was nuts for giving up the title and another $100,000 in ring earnings, Fidel returned to boxing.

But now, with his own career just about finished, Fidel LaBarba pledged to help George Blake make their mutual friend, little Pete Sanstol, the Bantamweight Champion of the World.

This prompted Pete to head back to Montreal to request a release from the contract with his good friend and manager Raoul Godbout, who consented. Meanwhile Pete also applied for American citizenship.

This will serve to introduce Mr. PETER SANSTOL, the well-known Norwegian Bantam Boxer.

Mr. Sanstol, who has been in Montreal for some time, is very favourably known to this Consulate-General and to me personally. His pleasing manner and personality have won him many friends here, he is known professionally as the "Gentleman Boxer" and his ability in his chosen career has been generally recognized by an admiring public as well as by Boxing Officials on this Continent.

It is now Mr. Sanstol's intention to proceed to the United States of America, probably to California, and from there to Honolulu, Hawaii and other points in the Eastern Hemisphere, wherefore it is a great pleasure to me to recommend him to the courtesy of all Norwegian Consular Officers and other Officials with whom he might come in contact during his travels. I should, indeed, consider it a personal favour if he were to receive such assistance or guidance as he may require during his sojourn in Foreign Parts, and from my personal knowledge of him I know that he will not presume on any kindness or consideration shown him, but, on the contrary, will very much appreciate anything that may be done for him.

                                                                           /s/ Helmer Bryn

Pete attended a farewell party in Montreal.  His friend Arne Rutquist, the general manager in Canada for the Swedish-American Steamship Lines, wrote:

Dear Pete:-

Tusen tack för sist Pete! It sure was a wonderful little party and one that I, and I am sure Laila, Inez and Gerry will never forget. Your impressive speech had us all spellbound, and it topped off the excellent cuisine and service to make the great little farewell party one of personified perfection that will be a cherished thought to us always.

Gerry dropped in today and told me how Inez had cried while you were speaking, and Laila cried real honest to goodness big pearly tears when the train pulled out and carried you away from us again. That's how you knocked the ladies over. Anyhow, we all miss you very much....

Now, with the excitement over and in having obtained all the important papers that you have so long been wanting, take it easy for a while and enjoy it all. When it has all fully dawned on you as just another page in your career, forget about it, and go after business for all that's in you. You should be able to do so since your slate is now clean again and with no obstacles or worries to annoy you. The sun is now shining on you in all its glory, and you should be able to enjoy your life in a clean cut manner and get more out of each day than you have for quite some time in the past. It is all up to you and ... I also believe that you will, before too long, soon reach the goal that you have so long been aiming at. We are all with you, and our heartiest wishes are that you may acquire all that you seek, and I am sure nothing can stop you in your efforts to succeed.

Thank you again Pete for all that you did to make it so pleasant for us. In your moments of solitude, and if the little farewell party enters your thoughts, you can look back upon it as an occasion at which you afforded us the two greatest things in life – happiness and sadness. We were all very, very happy to be with you and enjoyed thoroly all that you had so splendidly arranged for our benefit, and our sorrow was equally as great as when you finally left us.

Nothing more Pete, but the best of good luck to you, and extend my bestest to Anna and Nore when you see or hear from them.

From Chicago the gang traveled to Kansas City, then apparently visited the Grand Canyon along the way because Pete pasted Grand Canyon postcards in his scrapbooks.

Once they had arrived in the Mecca of California in early March, Pete booked a room in the Olympic Hotel at 725 South Westlake Avenue in Los Angeles. He made an entry in his journal describing his first couple of weeks in California as "paradise." He had realized a dream: He was living in Hollywood! This was during what turned out to be the heyday of "Tinsel Town." (Over 67 years later, not far from where he was staying in 1933, the World Boxing Hall of Fame would induct Pete as one of only 197 fighters to ever be inducted by the Year 2000 - of the thousands and thousands of professional boxers who have ever lived throughout the world.)

While in L.A. Pete may have made some screen tests. He wrote years later that it was in California "I discovered that I was a poor actor," (maybe because he wasn't able to be anything but himself). It is also likely he took a side-trip across the southern border where at "Mexico's gambling tables I discovered that the hand is much quicker than the eye."

But this was not a pleasure trip. Despite the obvious attractions and distractions of Los Angeles, Pete was training hard and concentrating on his upcoming Californian debut against the local favorite, home-boy Georgie Hansford. Hansford was big, tough, talented and had powerful "guns." The bout occurred March 17, 1933, in the Hollywood Legion Stadium.

Click here to view a newspaper photo of Hansford, with the caption, "Let's hope Pete doesn't get scared easily."

The Los Angeles Examiner documents the fight as follows:

Hollywood Legion fight fans learned the difference between a good bantamweight and a second-rate featherweight.... Sanstol took nine rounds, the other being even. He gave Hansford as pretty a boxing lesson as ever handed any boy. Blake's young battler proved even better than touted before the bout....

Hansford established some kind of a record last night. He must have missed a thousand and one punches -- or maybe it was a thousand and two. Sanstol would get out at arm's length from Hansford and duck the young feather's punches without any difficulty whatsoever. Hansford probably landed four or five blows -- all on the Norwegian's back -- during the encounter.

According to Los Angeles columnist Chas. M'Donald (E.W. Krauch?):

If Georgie Hansford has a sense of humor he's still probably laughing at himself today. His bout ... was just that funny. Hansford missed so many punches and by such wide margins as the clever Sanstol weaved, bobbed and side-stepped, that the battle looked more like an act than a contest of fisticuffs.... In fact at times it looked like Hansford was shadow boxing with a common ordinary house fly. Sanstal (sic) proved to be just that fast and clever. At the end of the eighth round he had George so dizzy from missing that the local youngster insisted on going to the wrong corner as the gong ended the round.

At this time Young Tommy was on a roll. Until recently he had been the Bantamweight Champion of the Philippines. He had defeated the Bantamweight Champion of California Newsboy Brown in January 1932 and was, at the time he met Pete, the bantam champ of California. Young Tommy, born Fernando Opao December 25, 1910, at Silay, Philippine Islands, was based in Los Angeles under the management of Johnny Samson. He began fighting professionally in 1929. (1935 Everlast Boxing Record, p. 134.) He had left Manila - where he had been the Flyweight & Bantamweight Champion of the Orient - February 27, 1931, with Varias Milling (Featherweight & Junior Lightweight Champion), Young Uzcudun (Light Heavyweight & Heavyweight Champion), and Young Firpo (a contender for Tommy's two titles). They were all under the management of Pepin Javellana, a Manila promoter.

In early 1932 Tommy had been considered the fifth best bantam in the world by the National Boxing Association -- behind Al Brown, Dick Corbett, Pete, and Newsboy Brown. The Ring magazine ranked Tommy the fifth best contender in the world during 1932 and 1933. (It would later rate him the third best bantam of the world in 1934, behind Al. Brown and Sixto Escobar, during Pete's then temporary retirement from professional boxing).

In the press leading up to the fight it was reported that "The old-timers are now calling Sanstol a second 'Griffo' and a throwback to the durable Dane, Oscar Battling Nelson. Al Brown twice fought Sanstol. The Negro won both times in 15-rounders, but predicted the Norwegian would be his successor to the bantamweight crown." Oscar Matthew Battling Nielson was born June 5, 1882, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He became a professional boxer in 1896 at the age of 14. He was known for his ability to "take it" in long-distance contests -- hence the comparison to Pete by the "old-timers." The Ring (December 1982 issue), p. 16.

One can see a pattern here: everywhere Pete debuted, be it Oslo, Paris, Berlin, New York City, Montreal, Los Angeles, and so on, he always made an impression and was compared favorably with the greatest boxers who ever lived. He usually became a star attraction in whatever city he fought. He had never been to LA before, and apparently few knew of his previous accomplishments elsewhere, yet the old-time boxing fans were already calling him a second Griffo, based on only one fight and what they had observed while Pete trained.

Another pre-fight article reported that a few months before Pete had been ranked second only to Panama Al Brown by a national poll of sports writers.

"The big time for Sanstol was the two tests he had with Al Brown, champion of the bantamweight division. He lost both decisions in fifteen-round fights, but was fighting in territory that was practically Brownproof. Brown has never lost in Montreal. But the stuff he showed against Brown caused eastern critics to rank him next to Hat Pin Al in 1932." (By 1933 Pete had not fought Al Brown twice, at least not according to Pete's scrapbooks or from Brown's official fight record. Their second fight would not come until 1935.)

Nevertheless Pete suffered the fourth loss of his career. "Tommy Proves Too Much For Sanstol" "Young Tommy Whips Sanstol" and "Filipino Boxer Too Clever for Norwegian Rival" declared the headlines. But Los Angeles sports reporter Sol Plex conceded that Pete "must like his fighting. He waded in last night at the Olympic for ten rounds to take a terrific shellacking from Young Tommy, Filipino boy, but never backed up once in spite of the fact that Tommy won eight of the ten rounds by a wide margin." "Only a stout hearted Norwegian would have kept tearing in like Sanstol.... Sanstol's only attribute, and it kept the gallery gods stringing along with him, was his gameness." It was the most embarrassing defeat of his career. Thankfully Pete had the comfort of knowing it had been before a sparse crowd, yet he still fought his best to give that crowd "a show."

The Norseman might have mentioned to the press that his poor performance may have been largely due to a serious sinus problem he had developed from the warm and dry California climate. But he didn't. He made no excuses. Still, he was so unacclimated to this kind of weather that he was forced to seek medical help.

On May 4 Pete wrote in his journal (as translated from Norwegian to English by Mr. Morten Larsen): "I have just returned from a visit to Dr. J.J. O'Brien. What the doctor told me in half an hour was more than I have been able to find out regarding my condition.... A boxer's life is short. He is concentrated energy, and this energy is released every time he has a match. While he is young, he is able to regain his energy quicker than when he gets older.... Year by year one uses up the reserves of energy that nature has given you.... In my case it is correct. I have always put pride in being fit all the time.... I have now tried to put some weight on, and as soon as I am on my feet again, I will go forward again, but this time with a very costly achieved experience [his 4th loss of almost 100 professional bouts to date]." Pete further wrote that he didn't smile as much lately, and that he thought he was spending too much time on his books, studies and thinking. This had driven him away from his main task: boxing. He continued in his journal: "There is a wish behind my actions [the Bantamweight World Title], and if it is up to me, I will from this day do what I can to make it come true. Everybody is (becomes?) forgotten; only the Champions remain on the list. So do your duty, Pete. Forget your knowledge and philosophy until you are finished with your work. I feel a certain relief in writing this. The result of my striving shall not - win or lose - explain that I did try my best." Finally, he writes: "The word SINUS-TROUBLE will for a long time stand as an evil dream. What this has led me through is more than words can explain. Only to get out of bed and feel like a drunken alcoholic, is more than enough to give a young, life-loving boy a bad mood."

After he seemed more acclimated and felt better, Pete went to fight 23-year-old Speedy Dado (Diosdado B. Pasadas) at Dreamland Auditorium in San Francisco, Friday, June 9 -- three days after Richard Hollingshead, Jr., opened the world's first drive-in movie theater in Camden, New Jersey. (Dado had only recently lost a ten-rounder to Young Tommy on May 18.) The car in which Pete and George Blake were traveling had broke down along the way, so Pete was late in training for this fight with Speedy.

The Dado-Sanstol fight resulted in a ten-round draw. One paper said, "The Norwegian's weaving style confused Dado the first part of the fight. Dado had the better of longrange fighting but he was forced to concede the edge at close quarters to his opponent." (The Ring magazine had ranked Dado the fourth best bantam contender in the world during 1933, and the fifth best during 1934.)

Then Pete and George were off to Stockton in late June to meet Manila's Clever Sison. (One wonders if Pete had the opportunity, while in San Francisco, to witness the infant Golden Gate Bridge being built; construction of it had begun only months before.) The Northern California climate seemed better suited as Pete lost only one round of the ten. One newspaper reported, "The Norwegian showed an almost uncanny ability to make Sison miss his punches by bobbing and dodging, and how well he did it was indicated by the fact that a small piece of court plaster that he wore over his eye when he entered wasn't knocked off until the eighth frame. Usually, a court plaster is off before the first round is completed." John J. Peri reported that the fight was "one of the fastest main events staged here in months. There was not a dissenting voice in the crowd of 2000 fans when Referee Eddie Burns raised Sanstol's hand at the end of the 10th round.... Sanstol set the pace throughout in last night's encounter, and what a sizzling pace it was! He crowded the Filipino in round after round and the fight gathered momentum as it advanced, and the last four rounds had the crowd well agitated." "It proved to be an expensive victory for Sanstol, however," continued Peri, "as he came out of the contest with a rip an inch long on his right eye-lid." (Sound familiar?)

Meanwhile Pete learned his friend Fidel LaBarba was undergoing a third operation in an attempt to save his eye. As mentioned earlier, it was ultimately surgically removed. The surgeon was Dr. John D. Wheeler, who earlier had operated on the eye of the King of Siam. Peter Heller again quotes Fidel as saying:

When he operated on me, the doctor told me, "You may go the rest of your life and never have that retina tear another speck, or you may walk tomorrow and step down the curb and tear and you'll be blind. There's the situation. It's up to you whether you want an operation or not." I said, "Doctor, we'll operate." [The doctor's] object was to get in there and stitch it up, and it's a difficult operation. He didn't do it until he came out to Los Angeles about three or four months later, but it didn't turn out right.

Pages 106-107.
 

This completed Pete's first and only West Coast tour. One suspects that he initially planned to make Los Angeles his new headquarters and home, since L.A. was the base of manager George Blake's operations. Then he received an offer from Paris that changed everything. Undisputed Bantamweight World Champion Al. Brown had just cabled to Pete an offer that if he were to defeat two other world-class bantams -- Pete DeGrasse and Bobby Leitham -- Pete would have another title shot. Therefore, Pete headed back east. He had seen some of the western United States, and it forever would be his dream to visit Southern California again. Maybe even live there some day.

As reporter John Peri wrote, "The departure of Sanstol leaves Promoter Bill Hunefeld without definite plans for a Fourth of July card, as he had planned on Sanstol and Young Tommy as a major attraction."

Around this time Pete received a sweet letter from the daughter of the Lancaster family, who apparently were long-time friends of Pete. He pasted it prominently in his scrapbooks. Although this letter is obviously in the hand-writing of her mother (as are the parenthetical comments), the words are purely the child's. She says, "Dear Pete Sanstol. I like you very much -- Thank you for the [she draws a teddy bear]. Am I never going to see you? My Mother and Daddy would like you to play golf (10¢ a hole). I want you to pretty soon come. I hope you have a good fight in Canada (much concern because you hurt yourself -- very near tears). Write me a letter. Are you afraid of the big bad wolf? Patsy." Then Patsy herself writes "Hug" and "Kisses" and "Gingerbread Castle."

Patsy Lancaster's Fan Letter

Pete was returning to Canada because he was assured that if he beat both Pete DeGrasse and Bobby Leitham, the current Canadian Bantamweight Champion, he would get to fight Panama Al Brown in Paris once again for the undisputed world title. He had received a cable from Brown promising him a bout there if he overcame those two Canadian bantams. He could finally realize "The Dream."

One of the greatest rivalries in Canadian Fistory was then born. Although they had fought once before in 1931, Pete Sanstol and Bobby Leitham were about to fight twice more in 1933. It would get kinda ugly.

[NOTE: The Ring magazine has selected a "Fighter of the Year" for every year from 1928 onward except for two years -- 1933 and 1966. They remain officially as "No Award." ?]