
Cliff “Magic” Thomas was born with a hole in his heart the size of a silver dollar. His parents, Frank Sr. and Katie Mae Thomas were informed after an operation that left him with 142 stitches across his chest in the form of a cross that if they were careful with the lad he might live to age fourteen. He was not allowed to participate in contact sports at Bel Air High School in El Paso, Texas until his senior year. Then he was only allowed to compete in track and field. However, he yearned for some type of combat sport. So he decided he would try karate in 1972 and hooked up with trainer Robert Nava in El Paso, Texas. He was only fourteen and didn’t have the money for lessons. Nava let him clean the gym and do other errands to pay for his training.
In 1976, after only four years of karate training, Cliff earned his Black Belt. He was soon winning trophies at non-full-contact karate events and longed for full contact kickboxing. He signed up with Hilary and Tony Sandoval. Realizing they had a prize student, the Sandoval brothers hooked him up with the grand master of kickboxing, Demitrius Havanas, of Dallas, Texas. They also landed another top-ranked trainer in Ishmael Robles. Soon thereafter, it was noticed that Cliff needed stand up boxing skills. The late and renowned El Paso boxing trainer, Rocky Galarza, was next on board. Over his championship career, other karate trainers would include Joe Soto and Rick Reyna. Rocky brought boxing coach Tom McKay on board and the Sandoval’s would, over the years, employ boxing coaches Ralph Ruiz and George Villa to enhance Cliff’s boxing capabilities.
The Sandoval’s created a dream team, the perfect fit for the ‘Magic Man.’ Learning fast, furious and skillfully from his select team, Cliff would demonstrate over the next twenty five years that he was not only capable of beating the best, he beat them with authority. His first championship was as a 20-1 underdog against Minnesota’s undefeated PKA World Champion, Gordon Franks. El Paso was so fortunate that the Sandoval’s arranged to have the fight in the Sun City. On ESPN in 1980, Cliff came fit and ready and exploded his dynamic tools all over Franks, bloodied him early and knocked him out in the third round. It was amazingly, El Paso’s first world championship in any sport. It was a ‘Magical’ time in El Paso and the after-fight party lingered well into the next morning. Cliff was our hero and the next question was, “How long would his reign last?”



MMA



























































