1983: Saving Animals and a Local Boxer Without an Opponent

Here's what was happening in Spring Valley the week week of April 7, 1983.

– The rapid growth of San Diego County in the previous 10 years left many animals without a home. Housing tracts were built surrounding parks and canyons, trapping large groups of animals in enclosed areas without access to their natural food sources.

The Humane Society, San Diego Zoo, Animal Regulation and California Fish and Wildlife Service lacked the time and resources to help the animals in need throughout the county.

That’s when the local branch of Project Wildlife stepped in to aid!

Project Wildlife, a non-profit organization, is concerned with the rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured or orphaned wildlife and educating the public.

The organization is entirely volunteer-based and they will accept any animal or bird and treat or relocate them to a safer place. Because the organization is run entirely by volunteers, any money or donations they receive provides food, housing and medicine for animals.

The volunteers trap and relocate wild animals that are in problem areas instead of shooting or poisoning them. Project Wildlife also has a zoo permit that allows them to hold animals legally.

Project Wildlife was in desperate need of volunteers to help care for orphaned baby birds.

– San Diego’s undefeated middle weight boxer, James “The Heat” Kinchen, was slated to fight Mexico’s Ernesto Caballero in a  10-round main event at Palisade Garden on the evening of the 7th.

Kinchen was rated number six by the World Boxing Council and boasted 25 wins, one tie and 19 knockouts. But because of his boxing prowess and unbeatable game, Kinchen had a hard time finding other boxers who were willing to go against him in the ring.

Caballero was regarded at a boxer-puncher with 25 wins, seven losses and 14 knockouts. Prior to the scheduled fight, Caballero had been inactive for over a year.  But a few months prior he came back to the game and enjoyed six consecutive wins.

27-year-old Caballero was rated as Mexico’s number six in the country and was the former welterweight champion.

Kinchen said after the scheduled fight against Caballero, he was going to launch a write-in campaign which he hoped would force once of the top 10 middleweights to meet him in the ring.

– Pan American Airlines decided to stop service to Africa in an effort to save money.

Flights to Ghana and the Ivory Coast were suspended temporarily which affected the “round-the-world link” between India and Bangkok.

Frank Guzzardo, regional managing director for Pan-Am, told reporters the economic problems facing the African countries made it impossible for Pan-Am to generate enough funds for their operations there.

Guzzardo said operations would resume when conditions improved enough to make them viable and earn the airline a profit. Though the flights had been suspended to those locations, Guzzardo said the company wouldn’t stop technical assistance to airlines in these countries.

He went on to tell reporters that Pan-Am was working to help find jobs with other airlines and travel agencies in the African countries for workers who were affected by the suspension.