The Original "Wild" Bill Trillo A Boxer From A Different Generation!   By Will "The Thrill" Trillo   Just a few short weeks ago my Grandfather and my role model, Guillermo Trillo took the 10 count and went on to be with his maker. He was a fine man who worked hard to take care of his family, along the way he found the time to squeeze in a boxing career in both the amateur and professional ranks.

As a young man he found his way to a boxing club in his Southern California neighborhood and was seen as a bright prospect, he was immediately taken under the tutelage of an Englishman by the name of Warwick and from there his fine amateur career began. While under the Brit, he was the only fighter to represent California in the Nationals at that time, and he traveled to Chicago to compete and was victorious, it was a moment in his life that he was always proud to share with me, I could listen to that story over and over again. In 1944, at the ripe old age of 30, "Wild" Bill, as he would come to be known, decided to try his hand at the professional ranks, and although he did not become a World Contender, he did have a pretty nice little career in the Los Angeles area and was known for his exciting and hard hitting style.

Let me put things into perspective for you, Tony Zale was the reigning Champ in "Wild" Bill's weight class, Zale was busy fighting a knockdown drag out trilogy with a fighter by the name of Rocky Graziano. Joe Louis was in the service and was boxing in a series of exhibitions to help the moral of the WW II troops. The year saw the start of what was probably the most important campaign of World War 2, the D-Day landings. The cost of living during that time is mind boggling to say the least, a car cost $1,220 and it would cost you 21 cents a gallon for gasoline. Need a driveway to put that car in? Get ready to shell out a whopping $8,600 if you want to buy a home! And if you want to feed your family, bread was 9 cents per loaf and a gallon of milk would set you back 62 cents. Want to send a letter first class and it'll cost you 3 cents. Don't worry though your average hourly wage was 30 cents per hour and the average annual salary was $2,600. No wonder my Grandfather was looking for a way to earn some extra cash! Check out his record as reported on Boxrec.com;

Bill Trillo    "Wild" Bill
Sex  Male
Nationality  United States
Hometown  Los Angeles, CA
Division  Middleweight   Won 4 (3 KO's) - Lost 1 - Draws 2 - tot 7 Bouts  
 

 

   Date            Opponent                           Location                                                        Decision                          
1944-10-23  Johnny Meadows  3-0-0    Arena, Ocean Park, CA, USA                              D PTS 4 
1944-09-30  Hugh Stell  6-3-0              Legion Stadium, Hollywood, CA, USA                D PTS 4 
1944-09-26  Clint Campbell  0-3-0        Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA     W KO 2
1944-09-20  Nate Gibson  2-0-0           Wilmington Bowl, Wilmington, CA, USA            W KO 3
1944-02-22  Ralph Lee  0-2-1              Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA        W KO 3 
1944-02-01  Rene de Leon  2-0-0         Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA        L KO 4 
1944-01-25  Charley Dilworth  0-0-0      Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA     W PTS 4

 

Not bad, huh? This was a day and age when fighters were cut out of a different mold and I am proud to say my Grandfather was one of those fighters! 7 fights in the span of 9 months, Those were the days! He fought them all at Middleweight, and let's not lose sight of the fact that there were no Super or Junior Classes back then, weights went from Welter to Middle to Light Heavy, there was no buffer weights in between.

His campaign started out good enough, he took a unanimous decision in his pro debut in the Olympic Auditorium, the building had not yet seen it's 20th birthday!
 

The following week, let me repeat that, the following week, "Wild" Bill came back to the Olympic only to be set back with a 2nd round knock out loss. Okay, his record is 1-1, time to go back to the drawing board, and the commission is going to stop him from fighting for 60-90 days depending on the severity of the KO anyway right? Not in 1944, in fact he was back in the ring 3 weeks later, in the same Olympic Auditorium, delivering a knockout of his own! Now I'm wondering if he got the nickname "Wild" Bill before or after this month of fights? That's right, 3 fights in the span of a month, 2 wins with one by KO and a KO loss! Not uncommon for many fighters from that era, but I challenge you to find many, or any with a similar record these days!

Bill put together 2 more KO victories in a row before ending his run with a couple of 4 round draws. "Wild" Bill Trillo hung up his gloves in October of ‘44 but like most fighters, from any era, he had to give it one more shot, and although it is not posted on Boxrec, Trillo did make one last attempt in the early 50's. The fight was at the Legion Stadium in Hollywood and was televised locally on Friday Night at the Fights! Details on this one are sketchy but the outcome was not, "Wild" Bill was KO'd by a young kid in the early rounds. After the fight Bill went out with his son, Bill, ( my Dad ), had a big steak dinner and said it was time to hang ‘em up for good!

My Dad's biggest memory from that night is some little kid coming up to their table at the restaurant and asking for my Grandfathers autograph, it was an innocent gesture that brought tears to my Grandfathers eyes! The strong man who could take on 3 men in a month was moved to tears as he knew his time in the ring was no more!   If you read this story and can shed any more light on "Wild" Bill Trillo's career, or you can fill in the missing pieces in regard to his last fight in the early 50's please contact me at Punchingbilly@aol.com!