In recent times, the term “legend” has become much cheaper, largely because WWE calls any veteran a legend. For WWE, even Alicia Fox is a legend.
True legends can be counted on the fingers of one hand. One of the last died on the night of Tuesday, August 9, according to Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider and confirmed Bas Rutten. The greatness of a man is not measured by the riches he acquires, but by his ability to positively affect those around him, said the popular singer Bob Marley. And that phrase fits like a glove perfectly for Ivan Gene LeBell, a man who never got tired of wanting to learn and improve and try to perfect his craft.
LeBell was born on October 9, 1932 and was lucky that his mother, Aileen Eaton was a promoter of Olympic Auditorium, Los Angelesan iconic venue for the world of wrestling and boxing.
► Gene LeBell, a key player in the growth of contact sports in the United States and the world
At age 7, Gene LeBell began wrestling training under the baton of Ed “Strangler” Lewis, the legendary four times World Heavyweight Champion and in one of the biggest stars of the pankration. She spent her entire teenage years attending sporting events and then, he fell in love with judo and quickly became a black belt at a very young age.
This caused him to leave for Japan, where he was able to train under a large number of masters. in from Kodokan Judo Institute. At the age of 20, he was already an experienced judoka, so he participated in the 1954 National Judo Championship that was held at the Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, California, winning the National Judo Heavyweight Championship and the United States General Judo Championship. The following year, he repeated his feat, but this time at the Olympic Auditorium.
Meanwhile, he competed in many other Judo events. But given the little money he earned, and the man’s own need to seek his livelihood by his own means, He decided to start practicing professional wrestling. LeBell once said: «I had won more than 200 trophies in Judo, but together they could not give me even a single installment to win my house ».
LeBell made more than 350 professional fights in his career since 1955initially in territories of Arizona and Texas, and later, he created his own company together with his brother Mike LeBell, the NWA Los Angeles, or also known as the NWA Hollywood, which promoted its events in the Grand Olympic Auditorium, which in 1932, the year Gene was born, it was the headquarters where Boxing, Olympic Freestyle Wrestling and Weightlifting competitions of the Olympic Games were held.
LeBell’s last fight was a victory by disqualification against Peter Maivia, The Rock’s father, on August 29, 1981. Together with his brother Miek they made the decision to stop promoting wrestling shows due to low fan attendance.
LeBell won several championships “recognized” by the NWA in different companies. he was champion North American Full Weight NWA, was Champion of Hawaii Full Weight NWA and NWA Central States Full Weight Champion, as well as NWA Television Champion “Beat the Champ” and NWA Americas Tag Team Champion with Chino Chou, though they didn’t last long. One of them only lasted 12 seconds.Well, they took away the title after accidentally hitting the fight commissioner in Amarillo, Texas with the belt.
But, LeBell’s influence did not remain only in judo and professional wrestling, but also participated in what we would now know as MMA. On December 2, 1963, he faced boxer Milo Savage, who also had a background in Olympic wrestling. A five-round, three-minute fight was agreed upon and LeBell was banned from kicking.
His rival arrived with a gi to which he had applied Vaseline to make it difficult for LeBell to grab it and He even wore mittens inside his gloves to give his punches more power.Plus, LeBell couldn’t do any takedowns below the waist.
With a judo throw, LeBell sent his rival to the canvas and He knocked him unconscious within seconds of applying a padlock, being declared the winner in the fourth round.
LeBell earned the thousand dollars promised by Jim Becka writer and also a boxer, who was the one who launched the challenge because he said that any boxer could beat a martial artist in a fair fight and with rules, but that did not happen.
LeBell’s greatness does not end here, since he participated in more than 100 movies, television series and commercials, either as an actor or as a stuntman, and in turn, he created two combat academies to teach all the secrets of the sports he practiced. and there he was able to create and innovate different techniques. A one of them is called LeBell Lock and is quite well known.
LeBell was able to meet Bruce Lee in one of his recordings and he taught him Judo and they shared fighting techniques, achieving a great friendship. Another big screen like Chuck Norris also trained with him. But he did not always make friends in this world of cinema, because Steven Seagal became his enemy after LeBell recounted that he once managed to knock Seagal unconscious with a padlock around his neck and this was made into clothing as a result of this.
LeBell is also known for being one of the toughest and baddest men on Earth. He learned from Thesz, Gotch and Lewuis and passed his knowledge on to Ed Parker as well. «Rowdy» Roddy Piper, Benny «The Jet» Urquidez, Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey, among others.
LeBell was also the referee for the fight between Antonio Inoki and Muhammad Ali in Japan in 1976.
LeBell spent the last years of his life mentoring new talent and judging MMA. The last fight he judged was Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3, on November 25, 2018, when he was 86 years old. Peace in his grave.
