TexanMark
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OT: Sad Day For Boxing Fans Carmen Basilio Dead at 85
- Thread starter TexanMark
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cliftonparksufan
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I met him once in 1981 and he seemed like a great guy. I always thought he was a lot older than he was but I guess considering his ring history that would be understandable. Had some classic fights against some very classic fighters.
That link is great to the last four rounds of the 1st Sugar Ray Robinson fight when he beat him for the belt. Will have to sit down and watch the second fight soon even though I know the outcome.
That link is great to the last four rounds of the 1st Sugar Ray Robinson fight when he beat him for the belt. Will have to sit down and watch the second fight soon even though I know the outcome.
TexanMark
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Pound for Pound he was one of the toughest fighters of all time. A HOF Boxer.
To our younger posters: Boxing in the 1950s (before my time but my Dad/others told me) was a huge draw on TV (Boxing was easy to produce back in the infancy of TV) and in the arena. Syracuse was an "A-list" major league town for fights back then and hosted numerous important fights. Syracuse was mentioned in the same breath as NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc...for being a fight town despite being only about the 45-50th biggest city in the country.
Carmen was the most famous fighter from the Syracuse area
Another Syracuse fighter at that time Joey DeJohn was a top contender in the 50's and could've been a champion save for some bad luck.
Later in the early 70's Billy Backus (Carmen's Nephew) was a Champion for a short stint.
To our younger posters: Boxing in the 1950s (before my time but my Dad/others told me) was a huge draw on TV (Boxing was easy to produce back in the infancy of TV) and in the arena. Syracuse was an "A-list" major league town for fights back then and hosted numerous important fights. Syracuse was mentioned in the same breath as NYC, Boston, Chicago, etc...for being a fight town despite being only about the 45-50th biggest city in the country.
Carmen was the most famous fighter from the Syracuse area
Another Syracuse fighter at that time Joey DeJohn was a top contender in the 50's and could've been a champion save for some bad luck.
Later in the early 70's Billy Backus (Carmen's Nephew) was a Champion for a short stint.
Crusty
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Very sad day - RIP Champ.
Back in the fifties Friday Night Fights was the big TV sports show (along with wrestling if that is a sport). I remember seeing Yvon Durelle knocking Archie Moore down three times in the first round (no 3 knockdown rule in Montreal) and then Moore came back to knock Durelle out in the 11th round to retain his LHW chanpionship. One of the greatest fights of all time. Boxing was huge back then.
Carmen was just as tough as Archie.
Back in the fifties Friday Night Fights was the big TV sports show (along with wrestling if that is a sport). I remember seeing Yvon Durelle knocking Archie Moore down three times in the first round (no 3 knockdown rule in Montreal) and then Moore came back to knock Durelle out in the 11th round to retain his LHW chanpionship. One of the greatest fights of all time. Boxing was huge back then.
Carmen was just as tough as Archie.
Eric15
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To build on your post, another notable Syracuse fighter was Nick Barone (was a close family friend of ours) who lived a couple doors down from my grandparents in Eastwood for the final 40-50 years of his life. Nick went 11 rounds and ultimately lost to Ezzard Charles for the world Heavyweight title in 1950. It was Charles' first title defense after having defeated Joe Louis.
http://www.boston.com/sports/other_...ick_barone_lost_heavyweight_title_to_charles/
