Former coach Lornie Kuhle sounds off about the alleged Battle of the Sexes match-fixing controversy
By Josh Gajewski
History locks people into boxes, and in the case of Bobby Riggs, history locked him in as the chauvinist pig finally put in his place by the feminist Billie Jean King.
We’re referring to the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match of 1973. The narrative of that pivotal day and its importance within women’s lib and pop culture seemed forever tidy.
But then last year, everything changed.
It happened when ESPN published an article and produced an Outside The Lines TV report about a man named Hal Shaw, a former assistant golf pro at a country club in Tampa, FL. Shaw came forward saying Billie Jean might not have won fair and square, that Riggs might have intentionally thrown the match to settle gambling debts. A fervent gambler and hustler who could never resist a bet—that, too, was thrown in the box defining Riggs, who died in ’95, at 77, from prostate cancer.
And so, upon interviewing Pancho Segura, Riggs’ longtime friend and frequent opponent (they spent some 15 years together as pros), we had to ask about Bobby. And about that famous match, which was under a new cloud of doubt.
We were, after all, sitting in the clubhouse of the Bobby Riggs Tennis Center in Encinitas, CA, a place now owned by Riggs’ former coach, Lornie Kuhle. Looking down on us was a large framed portrait of Riggs, gifted to him by Dean Martin. In the painting, Riggs has a slight grin.
Here is a transcript of the conversation beneath that grinning portrait, edited slightly for space and language:
Inside Tennis: I want to ask Lornie [Kuhle] this, too, because he was coaching Riggs at the time, but recently there’ve been comments about the Battle of the Sexes match, that [Bobby] might have—
Pancho Segura: That he might have thrown it? Who cares? Do you care?
IT: Well—
PS: I think Bobby was sick. That’s the only way he could have lost. Lornie can tell you because he was the coach. I beat [Bobby] a few weeks before, 6-0, 6-2, at the Beach Club 45-and-over. I beat him so badly he wouldn’t talk to me.
IT: Did you think after beating him so badly that he might lose the match [against BJK]?
PS: Well, [she] didn’t have a backhand, didn’t have a forehand, serve was [no good]. I said, “Bobby will win anyway,” but the way the match developed, Bobby looked like he was sick. Anyway, a lot of people lost their [rears]. A lot of money.
IT: But he never told you?
PS: He didn’t tell me [anything]. He kept his mouth shut. Bobby was too smart. He loved money.
Lornie Kuhle, Riggs’ former coach and the current owner of the Riggs Tennis Center, walks in from a back office…
Lornie Kuhle: You’re talking about that [crap] that you read. Well, it’s complete [crap]. That’s why I asked you what you were doing here, because I’m so leery of people coming in. And that guy [ESPN writer Don Van Natta Jr.] came in, and he took this thing, and he used the world “mafia.” Whenever you write “mafia,” they read it, [whenever] you write “Ku Klux Klan,” they read it, [whenever] you write “Hitler,” they read it. So here there’s “mafia,” and he [talked to] me, this [reporter], and ran this story. Bobby bet on football games. They said he owed $100,000 on football bets, that’s why he threw the match. It’s a joke! … He was betting $100 dollars and $50. He never bet that kind of money in his life! And they said he owed the bookies a hundred grand. He never owed anybody a dime, ever! So it’s complete [crap]. Did he prepare for the match right? No.
PS: He was sick.
LK: He wasn’t sick. Hey, when Nadal loses [in] the first round of Wimbledon, is there something wrong? Something’s wrong, [but] I don’t know what it is.
IT: [To Kuhle] Were you with Bobby in the weeks leading up to the match?
LK: Sure, I was with him, I worked on the promotion, I was there. I got paid $50,000, I was with him night and day.
IT: Did you see in the weeks leading up that he wasn’t preparing well enough?
LK: Yeah, I did. But he underestimated Billie. Hey, Pancho—honest to God, if [Riggs] played Margaret Court, and he plays her 10 straight times, do you think he’s [always] going to beat her 2 and 1? [Before playing King, Riggs had challenged and beaten Court, 6-2, 6-1.]
PS: No chance.
LK: No chance. That was a false score. And if he played Billie 10 times, I think he would do better. That’s the truth of it.
IT: Were you at the Astrodome that day?
LK: Yeah, I was sitting on the court, are you kidding? I’m a living witness to the thing.
IT: What do you remember about the atmosphere?
LK: It was unbelievable, but I’ll answer that question in a sec. [Turns to Segura] Did you ever see the show this guy put on TV? That [ESPN] interview?
PS: No.
LK: I got it right here (points to a nearby TV). It’s 15 minutes. It’s unbelievable. Here’s what the guy did—he took four or five shots that Bobby missed terribly into the bottom of the net. They keep repeating those shots, and they say, “You see how he’s tanking the match?” (Pancho laughs heartily) … This is no [joke], Pancho—this show is so good, making it look like Bobby threw the match.
PS: I want to see it!
LK: Now, I’m warning you, you’re going to say, “Well, maybe he threw the match.” And Larry, here’s the other thing—
PS: Larry who?
LK: Larry Riggs. Everybody keeps saying, “Did your dad throw the match?” So he thinks it’s funny and says, “Well, I think he threw it,” and he tells people that! And now people believe that [crap], and he [messes] around on the air with this guy and says, “Yeah, my dad’s playing golf with the Mafia guys,” and this [reporter] is buying this [crap], and now Billie Jean’s pissed, everyone’s pissed. It’s unbelievable!
PS: (Laughing) It’s good PR, anyway!
LK: We discussed that. At least you could say they’re still talking about Bobby. That’s one way of looking at it. … And then Bud Collins says, “Yeah, I saw him throw a match in Seabright.” Ah, what the [hell], some insignificant doubles match or something like that? I’m sorry. I’m so [mad] about this. It’s a joke. People put [crap] out there, and people buy it, you know?
(Kuhle finds the Outside the Lines segment and hits play. Over the next 15 minutes, he stews in his chair and pauses the program at various moments to counter what’s being said. For example, after Larry Riggs remarks about his father, “He said it was the worst thing in the world he’s ever done,” Kuhle emphatically points out, “They cut that [soundbite]. He [actually] said, ‘It was the worst thing he’s ever done: ‘I let my friends down, I let myself down’.’ But they make it sound like it’s the worst thing he’s ever done ‘to throw the match.’ … They cut that off. That’s what Larry [told me].”
LK: Listen, here’s the biggest proof, but only people who knew Bobby would understand—[Bobby] bet that guy, Dick Butera [King’s friend]. I made the bet. Bobby lost $15,000 … After the first set, Bobby sent me up to bet [Butera] another $5,000 even. I got to [him] and said, “Bobby wants to bet another $5,000 even.” [Butera] said, “No.” He thought it was a trap, so we dodged a bullet there! Bobby wrote the guy a check for $15,000—have you ever heard of Bobby writing a check for $15,000 in his life?
PS: No.
IT: This was actually during the match? He was sending you to [place another bet]?
LK: Yeah, but beforehand, he bet this guy $15,000 to $10,000 that he would win. And he never—ask Pancho, have you ever heard of him making a bet like that?
PS: No.
LK: I never knew him to make any bet that big, and he paid Dick Butera. I lost $800 to Dick Butera myself—I laid eight-to-five. I mean, I could tell you these stories.
IT: So, in reality, you guys lost money?
LK: Bobby made a lot of money. Not from throwing the match, but afterward he became a celebrity. He got $75,000 from [aftershave company] Hai Karate, he got $50,000 from American Express, he got $500,000 from Nabisco because he wore the Sugar Daddy jacket. He’s getting $50,000 a year from Nabisco, and you know why they ended his contract? Because he’s robbing the guy on the golf course, the chairman of the board! He’s winning $200 from the guy on the golf course, and the guy gets so pissed off he ends the contract! (Laughs) I mean, he couldn’t help himself, he had to make the money. But he did not throw the match. Believe me. If he wins the match, he makes millions, [and] then comes Chris Evert [to play him next].
PS: I’m surprised Bud Collins got involved [in the ESPN feature].
LK: Listen, in those days people did fool around in matches—there was no [huge purse] money involved, so guys would fool around. I can tell you, honestly, he’d be playing a match, and he’d have his hat on like this, and he’d take his hat off, and his brother’s up in the stands betting movie stars [that Bobby] is going to lose the next game. Bobby would lose the next game, and put his hat back on. There was a lot of fun going on, but it was all peanut stuff.
PS: He had fun!
LK: He did have fun.
