Edward Mills Machen was born in Redding, California

Redding, California

Redding is a city in far-Northern California. It is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA. With a population of 89,861, according to the 2010 Census...

, on June 15, 1932. Machen was a convict

Convict

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...

 turned boxer. His 64-bout career began on March 22, 1955, and he went on to win his first 24 bouts.

Machen often fought at Civic Auditorium or the Cow Palace

Cow Palace

Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...

 in San Francisco. His first bout was with fellow first-timer Raul Flores, whom he knocked out

Knocked Out

"Knocked Out" is the first song Paula Abdul Recorded and the first single, released in 1988 from the album Forever Your Girl. It was written by Babyface, L.A. Reid and Daryl Simmons and produced in early 1988 by the former two.-Song information:...

 in the first round. He had eleven fights in 1955 and the six-feet, 195-pounder won them all, ten by knockout or technical knockout.