During this process, the trainer goes over fight strategy and reminds the fighter of the terrific condition that he is in as each muscle is being massaged. After the massage, the fighter puts on his underwear, protective cup, shorts, and any other attire. The fighter than finishes warming up and is ready to fight.
TRAINERS AND FIGHTERS COMMENT
Trainer, Carlton Jenkins, of Philadelphia: "All the great old time fighters use to get greasy before a fight. I used to get greasy when I was a fighter. I got greasy in the dressing room with my trainer before I won the Philadelphia Golden Gloves in 1965. I still grease down my fighters. I tell them all. If they want to train with me, they have to be willing to be old school. Back then, there wasn’t all this homophobia or whatever they call it. It wasn’t nothing for a man to massage the surrounding area of another man’s balls if it was for boxing purposes. The fighter knew that his trainer would do anything for him and it was vice versa."
Trainer, Sammy Garcia, of New Jersey: "I know about the naked slick down. We used to do that back in the day all the time. It originated in the prison boxing system. Sometimes the boxers even used to do it to the trainers. I think people stopped doing it because of the taboo and yes there was even some times when boxers would get a hard on and it would make things uncomfortable. I don’t know if it is true, but I heard that ex champ Demarcus Corley once fired a trainer for refusing to touch his genitalia during the rub down. That shows you how good the technique is. I don’t do it anymore, but if you are a trainer, you can’t be shy about it or else the fighter won’t respect you, especially if he is from the streets. Also, you should ask the fighter to take a shower first because even the ass crack must be greased. I think trainers should get paid extra money to do this but some trainers will do it for free."
Lou Mota, amateur boxing sensation:"At first I was hesitant about my trainer putting his hands all over my naked body but I saw the results and stuck with it. I never get aroused during the grease down and I usually get knockouts. I recommend all fighters to have their trainers rub them down before a fight."
MODERN DAY GREASE DOWN ACTIVITIES
Nowadays, the full body nude grease down has changed and no longer occurs exclusively in the Catholic Church or by Catholic officials. The pre-fight grease down is simply a time for the trainer and the boxer to cement their bond and for the fighter to achieve total mental awareness and concentration. The boxer is totally nude accept for socks, boxing gloves, and something to cover the head. Some boxers use executioner masks. The trainer usually makes sure the door is closed and not even the boxer’s wife is allowed to be in the dressing room. The trainer then takes a mix of petroleum jelly and vinegar and begins to rub it all over the nude body of the boxer with his bare hands. The entire body is massaged and greased down except the boxer’s genitalia. However, the areas surrounding the genitalia are massaged.
By Zeferino Jackson
A special combination of salt, vinegar, holy water, and turpentine were used exclusively for the massage of the genitalia in order to toughen the skin there. Hidalgo coined his new blessing technique “Manos En Culis”. According to Hidalgo, this procedure created a spiritual bond between the fighter, the master, and the priest. Hidalgo made a fortune from his services and passed the grease down technique to other local priests and several slave masters.
This business became very lucrative for Catholic priests in New Orleans and other states and many times they were paid in both money and sexual favors. When some slave masters did not have money to pay for the “blessing”, they would offer the priest an effeminate male slave for a weekend of pleasure.
Eventually, some slave owners began to avoid the cost of hiring a priest and started greasing down their slaves by themselves. Initially, it was simple for a master to go to a local Catholic church and buy some holy water from a priest. Eventually the price of holy water rose as the Catholic priests realized that they were being cut out of the equation since the slave owners were rubbing down the fighters themselves.
"Getting greasy" is an old school warm up technique first used on enslaved Africans in the United States. The grease down technique is making a comeback and is taking the international boxing scene by storm.
Boxing grease-down massage rooted in the slavery of African Americans
FIGHTING SLAVES WERE ABUSED
Most fight fans are familiar with most traditional tools of boxing training like the heavy bag, the speed bag, the jump rope, etc. However, there is one technique that was left out of the Rocky movies and only the most hardcore boxing fans or practitioners are aware of it. Several of today’s elite boxing trainers still practice the pre-fight grease down or what was simply known as “Getting slick” or “Getting Greasy”. Many fighters have attested to the calming effect of the grease down.
The origins of the full body nude grease down go back to the very beginnings of humans fighting for sport in the United States. It is well documented that white slave owners would train their slaves to fight and then have them compete in small town tournaments. In most cases, the fights were to the death. The slaves would often endure inhuman two-hour battles and were never correctly paid for their sacrifices.
The fighting slave was not given gloves, a mouthpiece, jockstrap, groin protector, or any of the other perks that modern day boxers are used to. There was no standing eight count and even the surviving victor of a fight would in many cases come out maimed. This has been depicted in modern day cinema in movies like the 1975 film, “Mandingo”.
THE BIRTH OF THE GREASE DOWN
The full body nude grease down was actually introduced to boxing by a Catholic priest named Father Francisco Hidalgo. For a time, he was stationed in New Orleans in the late 1700’s. Hidalgo saw the incredible amount of slave fighting tournaments held there and the relentless betting activities of the slave owners.
Hidalgo saw the opportunity to make some money and began to promote himself as being able to bless slaves and give them luck while in battle. Slave owners were very superstitious back then and began to take their slaves to the priest by the herd.
Hidalgo would receive the slaves at the St. Louis Cathedral. It was preferred that the slave not be bathed for a week when arriving for the rub down. The slave was accompanied by his master and would be made to remove any clothing and lay down on an altar. Hidalgo would then rub salt, vinegar, and holy water all over the nude body of the slave. Hidalgo stressed that it was important to reach all crevices and even massage the genitalia, as the fighting slaves would commonly bite each other in the groin.