There Really Was One: 1953

[SWC75]

Graham II

Carmen opened the year by taking on former lightweight champion Ike Williams in the War Memorial on 1/12/53. Williams had had an auto accident that postponed this bout from December. He may have still been injured or he may have simply been washed up but Carmen dominated him, winning two scorecards by 9 rounds to 1 and the other 7-3. “Coming out of his corner at the opening bell, Basilio was confident, poised, strong and hit Ike on the jaw twice as he set a fast, lighting pace which he kept up almost the entire route.”

On February 26th the town of Canastota held a “Carmen Basilio Night” at the local high school. Carmen came away with the keys to a new car. It’s something we don’t normally get to do for our heroes in these parts, because they are usually amateurs.

On 2/28 Carmen got another shot at Vic Cardell, who had beaten him in 1950 and he took full advantage of it. The bout was in Toledo but was televised. Carmen won a unanimous decision by a decisive margin on every card. “Basilio, who usually cuts easily, did not have a mark on him at the end of the 10 rounder. Cardell had a bloody nose, a cut beside his left eye and scuffs around the right side of his face, where the New Yorker’s left hooks landed repeatedly.”

On 4/11, Carmen met Carmine. Carmine Fiore, of Brooklyn, was “reputed to be one of the hardest hitting welterweights now campaigning.” He’d had a number of first round KOs. But Carmen proved even harder hitting with a 9th round KO in Syracuse. “It was a rough slugfest between two willing ring workers and Fiore was a marred warrior when referee Al Beri of New York called a halt.” A picture in the paper showed Basilio “measuring Fiore for a right before the referee steps in to stop the bruising bout….The Brooklyn veteran was knocked halfway through the ropes into his own corner, his right eye swollen and completely closed as the referee raised Basilio’s weary arm in triumph.” Basilio had gotten off to a good start but Fiore kept rocking him with left hands until the 8th when the fighters stood toe to toe with Fiore backing off and fading after that round.

Billy Graham was ranked the #1 contender for the welterweight title. Carmen was at this time eighth in the rankings. Their bout would also be the first ever for the New York State Welterweight title, a result of Norm Rothschild’s promoting skills. Graham has beaten Carmen in 1952 but Basilio had come back strong with 6 straight wins. The bout had been scheduled for late May but was postponed when Graham became ill with a virus.

“The fight opened at a fast clip with Basilio setting the pattern after 35 seconds with a sharp left hook which shocked Billy plenty. He then opened up with two quick left hooks in succession and then bored into his foe…for the rest of the chapter.” In the second and third rounds, Graham tried to keep Basilio off him with “a masterful boxing exhibition” but “couldn’t withstand Basilio’s relentless rushes”. The fourth round was “the hottest of the fight…with both men slugging toe to toe five times in the round. It was Graham who gave ground and backed away looking for a rest.”
The fifth round was even but Carmen’s mouth piece went flying in the 6th. Graham couldn’t follow up against Carmen’s bobbing and weaving and took some hard shots that left him “bleeding from his nose and his mouth when he went back to his corner”. Graham made a comeback in the 7th and 8th rounds, taking the play away from Basilio for the first time in the fight. But Basilio had him “in serious trouble” in the ninth, landing 5-6 sharp punches in the infighting and “having the best of every exchange”.

Both men were tired by the 11th “as they fought themselves out of clinches and tried desperately to land a convincer”. It was clearly Graham that needed the knockout in the 12th and final round but “Carmen tore after Graham for the full three minutes and the fans were standing and screaming the last two minutes, knowing that they were watching a great upset and a great fight.”
Ed Linn said “Graham had always had a reputation as the best infighter in the business but…Carmen went inside with him and just overwhelmed him”. The newspaper: “Carmen won because he made the veteran foe fight his style. Most of the match was fought at close quarters and Carmen out-gamed, out-punched and outfoxed the wily Graham…For Graham it was like being called upon to halt a young, charging, bull.” The 2-1 underdog won the referee’s card 9-2-1 and the two judges 6-5-1 and 7-5. The Post Standard had it 6-2-4. Carmen was the first recipient of the Ray Arcel belt for winning the New York State Welterweight championship. Graham suggested he had been weakened by the virus but acknowledged that Basilio had improved a lot from the previous year.

Jack Slattery of the Herald Journal speculated on what would be next for Carmen: big money bouts against top contenders and champions. He ”should go far financially. For the frugal farm boy from Canastota, this could mean security for life. Unlike many boxers, Carmen is sensible about money matters and should he reap a money harvest it’ll stay right in Mr. B’s pockets”. Or Mrs. B’s? “He’s not going to stick in the beak-busting business too long, he says. Just as soon as he can make a bundle, he plans on retirement.”

There were also high hopes for more championship bouts in Syracuse, which was said to have an advantage over bigger cities in that black-out rules for the local area didn’t affect as many people. And the new War Memorial was considered big enough arena to handle crowds for any bout. Gene Ward of the New York News wrote “Although the vast audience sees it only through the limited vision of the eye of the camera, the finest fight arena in the country is the War Memorial Auditorium in Syracuse NY. …many of the top fight writers were covering their first scrap in that multi-millions dollar, all purpose arena and they are still talking about the building, the overall facilities and the general goodwill spread around by the auditorium management and the Syracuse promoter, Norman Rothschild.” Rothschild was approached by some fans saying that they’d seen a poster saying that free seats were available for the Billy Graham fight and could they have some. He found the poster. Free seats were available to see that other Billy Graham throw punches at the devil, not this one at Carmen Basilio.

Graham, for his part, never left town. Almost as soon as the bout ended, he was negotiating with Rothschild for an immediate rematch, which was set up for 7/25 in the same arena. That was the way in those days- if you had a good match-up, why not do it again? Meanwhile Carmen busied himself with moving into a new home in Canastota. His payday for the win over Graham was a whopping $9,800.00.

 

[SWC75]

Graham III


The welterweight rankings were now reversed from the first fight. Carmen had risen from #8 from to #4 while former #1 contender Graham had fallen to #5. The understanding was that if Carmen could again beat Billy Graham, who had been the #1 contender before their first 1953 fight, he’d get a shot at the world title. This bugged Graham, who noted that he had twice fought for the title and been robbed and had beaten Carmen decisively the previous year. He said he didn’t realize how much Basilio had improved in a year but promised not to take him lightly this time around. “If I’m going to stay in the fight game, I have to beat him. You know how he fights. Puts out all the time. I’m going to do so, too. So you can draw your own conclusions”. Later he amended that to say that he wasn’t going to quit if he couldn’t beat Basilio but if he couldn’t, he’d “no longer be among the top fighters.” He told Ray Arcel, “If ever in my life I knocked out a guy, I am going to knock out Basilio” When Arcel told the press he’d said that, Graham tried to back track but them admitted he’d said it.

“Blood streaming from his nose and eye cuts, Carmen Basilio retained his New York State Welterweight title though held to a draw by Irish Billy Graham in a terrific 12 round bout… Carmen earned the draw with a brilliant display in the early rounds when he beat Billy the kid in nearly every exchange. Graham took charge in the eighth round and he had Basilio’s face a bleeding, swollen mess in the last four rounds. Even then, Basilio was going strong and the tempo of the entire battle was so fast and furious that the fighters continued exchanging punches for 10 seconds after the final bell….Without a doubt the fight ranks with the greatest in Central New York ring history. After a minute of sparring in the first minute, they never stopped for the entire distance and the fans stood up clapping for the last few minutes and for five minutes afterwards.”

Both fighters had been cautious in the first round but let it go in the second, with the result that Graham seemed to be in trouble but Basilio had a cut over his left eye, which eventually blinded him for the final rounds. Graham spent the third round trying to clinch but Carmen always fought his way out of it. The eye became more and more of a problem after that. Graham used his jab effectively to score points. Billy also was cut but he wasn’t the “bleeder” Carmen was. “Many figured Graham had won because of Basilio’s distorted face. But Referee Petey Scalzo of New York, a great fighter 20 years ago, voted 7 rounds for Basilio, four for Graham and one even. Judge Jack Michaels had it 6 rounds and 6 points each. Judge Jack Kimball scored it 7 for Graham and 5 for Basilio.”

Carmen appeared the worse for wear after the fight, with his face swollen and his left eye closed. Gerald Asche of the Post Standard suggested that Graham might have been granted a draw because he was less of a “bleeder” than Carmen. “The Canastota champ was bleeding profusely from his nose even while he was out in front in the early rounds. Then, in the later rounds, when he was unable to see from his left eye, he appeared to be taking more punishment than he actually was. Graham opened a cut under Carmen’s left eye as early as the second round. But Basilio rocked him and had him in trouble in the third, with Graham trying to stop him with clinches. Billy’s left eye was cut in the 6th but didn’t bleed very much. Graham’s left jab really started scoring in the 8th but after that both fighters were too tired to follow up on any advantages.

Carmen revealed after the fight that he’d been suffering from a stomach disorder for several days. You wonder how many body shots he took. I guess nothing hurts more than being punched. Of course, Graham had blamed the virus he had for his defeat in the previous fight. Maybe Carmen got the bug from spending so much time with Graham. Or maybe they were both sick of losing, (or drawing). The fight was the top-rated Saturday Night TV fight of the year.

 

[SWC75]

A Shot at the Title


On August 24th, Carmen was honored with a cartoon in the paper, of the sort that was common then in tribute to the top athletes of the day. It was entitled “Battling Basilio”. The caption said “There isn’t a more rugged battler inside the roped square, nor a more gentlemanly athlete outside the ring”. The day before his lovely mug had graced the front of the sports page, a big smile on his mouth, (and a little one above his left eye). The caption was “Gets Big Chance”.

John DeJohn had been “summoned”, (Youmans’ word), to New York for an audience with Frankie Carbo. Carbo suggested maybe Carmen Basilio should fight welterweight champion Kid Gavilan. DeJohn wasn’t sure Carmen was ready for Gavilan and he knew Carmen wanted nothing to do with the likes of Frankie Carbo or the IBC, but he listened. Carbo offered the idea of a fight in Syracuse, which would tend to draw more than in the biog cities because of the television black-out rules. It would be the first championship fight ever staged there. It would be in the new War Memorial arena.

Of course, Frankie Carbo did nothing for free. He wanted a cut of what Basilio would make from the fight. DeJohn knew Carmen would never go for that. But he also knew Carmen had a burning desire to be champion. Billy Graham refused to cut Carbo in before his fight with Gavilan and, while he got the fight, he didn’t get the decision everyone seemed to think he deserved. So he made the deal and whatever Carbo got came out of the manager’s end of it. Carmen wouldn’t know about it. If it had been left up to Carmen, he would have likely turned the deal down and he might never have gotten any crack at a title and we might have forgotten him. In a sense, he was able to achieve fame and keep his values intact because his managers were willing to sacrifice theirs. Somebody has to deal with the real world.

Everybody remembers growing up hearing that Sugar Ray Robinson was “the best pound for pound fighter ever”. The guy who might have been second to him in his own time was Gerardo Gonzalez of Camaguey, Cuba, also known as “Kid” Gavilan. He’d had been fighting since 1943 in Cuba and Mexico, running up a 26-2-1 record before coming to New York City in 1946. He continued winning, going 28-4-2 until he got his first title shot. Included in those losses were losses to lightweight champion Ike Williams and Ray Robinson. He came back to beat Williams twice and in that first title shot, (7/11/49), he lost in 15 to Robinson for the welterweight title. From that point on, he fought all the top welterweights, finally winning the title against Johnny Bratton on 5/18/51, after Robinson had won the middleweight title from Jake LaMotta. He’d held onto it for two years, defending it against Billy Graham, (twice- the second on the famous controversy that led to Graham being called “the uncrowned champ”), Bobby Dykes, Gil Turner and the previously unbeaten Chuck Davey, who, in my father’s words, he “took apart” on 2/11/53 in a 10th round KO in Chicago. He now ventured to Syracuse to take on Carmen Basilio with a 94-13-5 record compared to Basilio’s 35-10-5. It will be the first world championship boxing match in the history of the city”. In fact it was the first World Championship bout held in New York State between the Big Apple and Buffalo since 1891. Since Tommy Ryan, only one Syracusan, Babe Risko, had ever won a title and he had held it, (the middleweight title), only briefly, from 1935-36 and never defended it in his hometown.

Norm Rothschild told Jack Slattery that this would be his last fight promotion. He was tired of all the machinations and disappointments “He entered the business because he loves fights. He’s admitted he’s more of a fan than a boxing promoter...Unlike bigger organizations, Norm’s Arena Boxing Promotions consists mostly of himself and his wife, Ada”. One of his promotions was to have Carmen appear at McArthur Stadium-not for a fight but as part of a “Parade of Talent” displaying top local athletes in every sport. Golfer Mid O’Hare, baseball player Goody Rosen and SU quarterback Bruce Yancey were presented with Carmen, whose fame had already exceeded all of them.

Carmen told Herald Journal columnist Jack Slattery, “I feel wonderful. I’m going to be the next champion of the world. Believe me, I’m going to be the new champion. It’s a dream I’ve had for a long time. Nothing is going to stand in my way.” Joe Nitro said “You are wonderful. You are the best conditioned fighter in the world I never saw anybody like you.” Then he told Slattery “This boy is great. He’s just got to learn when to punch and when to take it easy. This boy will out punch that fellow and will hurt him, too. This boy will make that champion give ground. All he has to remember is not to waste himself.” Bill Reddy of the Post Standard noticed that Carmen signed autographs left-handed. It was explained he was converted from a southpaw stance to fight right handed, which had the added advantage of giving him a terrific left hook. Imagine trying to do things with your opposite hand first. Imagine trying to punch somebody with that hand. Carmen did it his whole career.

“Tonight will climax a terrific year and a half for the clouting Canastotan. Bothered with bursitis after losing to Johnny Cesario in Utica Carmen had just about retired from boxing when his manager, Tony Antonacci, died suddenly. He was persuaded to return to action by Joey DeJohn and Joe Netro, who turned him over to Ralph DeJohn, a high-ranking light heavyweight from 15 years ago. The results have been amazing and Carmen has since racked up an impressive series of victories….Gavilan gets credited with exploding the myth of Chuck Davey but it was Basilio who proved to the world that the former Michigan State college king was no professional champ….Win or lose, Basilio will make it a battle for he is in excellent shape and is known as one of the best conditioners, as well as one of the most improved fighters of the year.” Billy Reddy of the Post Standard added, “Even if he hasn’t had Gavilan’s long experience, Basilio will have condition to equal, at least, that of the champion for nobody out-conditions Carmen. They may outbox him or cut him but they aren’t likely to outlast or out-game him”.

Some optimism was generated by the fact that Gavilan’s last loss came at the same ring, in the War Memorial, from one Danny Womber in a non-title bout earlier in the year. Gavilan refused to acknowledge that Womber had beaten him and therefore refused to grant him a title shot. He was reminded that the referee, Ruby Goldstein, had voted for Womber. He said “Let Goldstein fight him. Maybe I’ll fight the winner.” Champions used to fight a regular schedule of exhibitions and non-title bouts to keep in shape and make some money between the big paydays and Gavilan had taken his opponent too lightly. Womber had pressured the champ and held his own in the flurries, forcing the champ back despite the Keed’s superior hand speed. People pictured Carmen doing the same thing. Gavilan’s supporters said “It wasn’t an important fight and Gavilan took Womber lightly. With the title at stake, Gavilan will be a different fighter. He always is.


Slattery then visited the Gavilan camp. “The difference between night and day, black and white. Gavilan is champion. He knows it and even one who has devoted his life to a career of bird watching can detect the aura of a champion when the Keed enters a room.” Gavilan worked with two sparring partners, one a speed guy and one an aggressive slugger type. The Kid motioned to the slugger type to keep coming with the right hand leads and made him miss effortlessly. Then Gavilan shadow-boxed and put on a jump rope exhibition. “His rope skipping is a thing of beauty. He dances rhythmically as the rope swishes through the air. First he pounds out a samba-like rhythm then you don’t’ hear a sound except the gentle swish of the rope. The man’s a master.” Gavilan liked to entertain fans by throwing jabs at them and missing their noses by a fraction of an inch. “You begin to realize the contest. The grim, deadly serious air of the first workout. The calmly efficient and light-hearted one that followed. The difference between champion and challenger.”

 

[SWC75]

The Big Fight

The fight took place 9/18/53 in the War Memorial, which theoretically held 6,800 people but had 8,000 on this night, including the great Joe Louis. Not all the 8,000 fans had tickets. Some had climbed to a second floor rest room window and forced their way in. Others had broken a lock on basement door. Then an attendant mistakenly opened the door to the Memorial itself just as the main event had started. It was a fire department’s nightmare but luckily the only fireworks were in the ring.

Both fighters had a hard time making the weight. Gavilan had the perennial problem of welterweight champs: at age 27 he was growing into a middleweight, (he would challenge Bobo Olson for that title the next year). Carmen’s problem was the scales used at his Sylvan beach training camp were incorrectly calibrated and he suddenly found himself at 148 pounds, one over the welter limit, on the day of the weigh-in. The measures taken to get him down to 147 in the next 41 minutes were not documented but Basilio’s handlers suggested after the fight that it didn’t help their man’s stamina in the match very much.

It didn’t seem to matter early. After a slow start, Gavilan won the first round with a late flurry. Then, in the second round, Carmen suddenly floored the champ with a left hook. The crowd went wild. Picture Rocky putting down Apollo Creed in the first movie. (The front page had a classic picture of this with Basilio following through and Gavilan falling backwards to the canvas.) The shot not only earned Carmen Gavilan’s respect but the flashy Kid lost his flash for the next several rounds, clinching or dancing away from the raging Basilio, who had waited all his life for this chance and now had the champ in trouble before the hometown fans. It was only the second time Gavilan had ever been down in a fight. The knockdown so shocked the boxing world that Ring Magazine named round two of this fight the “round of the year” in boxing for 1953.

Basilio tried to replicate the punch through much of the third but went to the body in the fourth, trying to slow the speedy Cuban down. Gavilan tried to steal rounds with late flurries but Carmen, despite not having as much hand speed, scored as many good punches in those encounters as the champ did. The fans reacted negatively to Gavlian’s safety first tactics, shouting “cheese champion”, which he definitely was not.

In the sixth, the “Keed’s” mind and body seemed to have recovered from that left hook and he “opened up with both barrels”. Carmen fought back but was starting to absorb serious punishment, especially around the eyes. In the 7th he “took the lead with good rights and lefts to the head while Gavilan was sticking out his left and missing most of his shots”. They had a good exchange along the ropes, which came out even. Carmen said after the fight that he got thumbed by one of Gavilan’s famous bolo punches and his left eye began swelling up after that.

“Basilio was chasing Gavlian furiously in the eighth, forcing him into the corner early in the round, but he was swinging wildly and although Basilio stayed on top of him, the Kid managed to tie him up inside.” In the ninth, Carmen got more defensive, bobbing and weaving to avoid Gavilan’s attempts to get to his rapidly closing eye. Still, he was confident enough after that round to tell his handlers that “they were managing the new welterweight champion”. The referee, George Walsh chose that juncture to have the ring doctor, Charles Heck, examine Basilio’s eye, He noted swelling but no cut and allowed the fight to continue. The paper suggested that in calling for that exam, the referee “tipped his hand”.

Another bolo punch “opened up” Carmen’s nose in the 10th and he had to hold on, but was back to throwing leather by the bell. But he seemed to tire in the 11th and absorbed a “fusillade to the midsection” that “took much of the sting out of his blows”. Carmen took some more shots to the eye in the next round but stood his ground in a furious exchange that left Gavilan rocked. “Gavilan came out of that flurry sneering but he had been hurt for a flash and was careful about starting any more serious slugging”.

Not much happened in the 13th but “some of the heaviest punches of the fight were thrown in the 14th but Gavilan’s blows seemed to carry a little more authority”. Both fighters were bleeding coming out for the 15th round, Carmen from the nose and The Kid from the mouth. Carmen went right at his man and Gavilan accepted the challenge. When the extended flurry was broken off, it was Gavilan who broke it off.

The scoring went like this: Judge George Barnes had it 7-6-2 for Gavilan. Judge Jack Kimball had it 7-5-3 for Basilio. Referee Walsh had it 8-6-1 for the winner and still Welterweight Champion of the World- “The Keed”. Carmen’s managers “protested the decision vehemently” and the boos from the crowd went on for 15 minutes. Walsh had an interesting trip to his dressing room accompanied by a phalanx of policemen who were somehow unable to prevent a fan from landing the evening’s final punch on him. They marched through a shower of cups and other debris- even a book. (Someone brought a book to a prizefight?) The scene continued outside as a dozen police held off at least 200 fans as Walsh made his way to his car.

Meanwhile, Carmen Basilio sat slumped in his dressing room, “heartbroken”. There’s a picture in the paper of him being consoled by his younger brother, Joe. The caption says “Still his champ”. Gavilan told the press that Basilio was “a rough, tough foe-tougher than he had been led to expect”. The fight had been nationally televised and was covered by journalists from as far away as Europe, all of whom “heaped praise on Basilio” but the consensus was that “the champion would have to beaten more decisively to be deprived of his crown”. This was the only time Carmen Basilio was ever defeated in the War Memorial, where he was 14-1-3 lifetime.

Calls came in from all over the country protesting the decision, including from 50 people in one small town in Indiana. Basilio got a stack of telegrams congratulating him on his performance then telling him he was robbed. Slattery said that while Gavilan had to be helped up the steps into his dressing room, Basilio “wasn’t even breathing hard. He could have gone 4-5 more rounds.” One of Slattery’s friends, Rock Roman, created a poem expressing what the fans seemed to feel:
“I said he’d do it and do it he did. The clouter beat the Cubin Kid.
He dumped him in the second round and carried the fight all the way to the “Hawk”
If I am wrong and just wildly raving, why did the whole house sqwauk?
It’s not just that we love the guy or that our boos shook the roof off the joint.
We honestly believe Carmen won the fight by piling up point after point.
Resentment reigns in the Salt City tonight. There’s a sour taste to our first title fight.
But if Carmen can take it, so will we, even if it’s a decision we just can’t see.
And though our eyes are sort of damp, we see the clouter as the uncrowned champ.”

There was a report on 9/14 that Gavilan couldn’t make the welterweight limit any more and that he would vacate the crown to campaign as a middleweight. It was said that Basilio would fight Johnny Bratton in Syracuse for the title. It never happened. Gavlian “assured” on 11/14 that he would give Carmen another shot at the title “in early ‘54”. Gavilan had just beaten Johnny Bratton to retain the title and said he intended to defend it twice more before challenging Bobo Olson for the middleweight title. “He needs the money because his wife is going to have a baby”. He was confident he could beat Basilio: “I feex him good next time.” The Keed beat up Bratton badly, his answer, many suspected, to rumors that he was slipping because Basilio gave him such a fight. But there was no “next time” for the Kid Gavilan and Carmen Basilio. Gavilan fought two non-title bouts, (one against Johnny Cunningham), then lost 15 round decisions to Olson for the middleweight title and to Johnny Saxton for the welterweight title. He fought for four more years after that, compiling a dismal 8-15-2 record as a “name” washed up fighter, the glory years just a memory.

 

[SWC75]

Aftermath

Carmen later commented that Gavilan had gotten to keep his crown but “I got all the publicity”. On 9/25, Carmen attended the Rocky Marciano-Roland LaStarza bout at the Polo Grounds in New York. He was treated like a celebrity, being cheered loudly as he entered the arena. Gavilan was treated a chorus of boos. An Irish cop stopped Carmen outside the ballpark to tell him that he was “the real champ”, Slattery said “Carmen is wearing his new found laurels very well. In fact, he seems to be wearing them like a champion.”

Carmen’s comeback fight, (11/28), from his big disappointment was against an old rival from the early days: Johnny Cunningham, whom he’d fought four times in 1949. The fight was a 10 rounder in Toledo and, like basically all of Carmen’s fights at this stage of his career, was televised. Basilio wanted to keep busy- and keep winning so he could have another shot at Gavilan.
Cunningham was coming off a win over lightweight champion Jimmy Carter. Still Carmen went into this fight as a favorite, for the first time in a while. It was deserved as he knocked Cunningham to the canvas four times on the way to a 4th round KO. Cunningham said “Man he was a rough boy. He never hit me as hard before. It really surprised me.” They never fought again. There was no need for it. Carmen had moved on to another level.

Carmen ended the year, (12/19), by taking on a full-scale middleweight, France’s Pierre Langlois, who agreed not to come into the fight weighing more than 155lbs. Langlois was not a big puncher, with only a dozen knockouts in 77 fights but was described as a “strong, tough fellow”. Carmen countered by working against bigger sparring partners and making sure to keep busy against them “to prevent grabbing and holding, which would sap his strength”.

The fight was described as a “Pier Six Brawl”. Langlois opened a big cut over Carmen’s right eye in the 9th round with a head butt. There was also plenty of pushing, elbowing, hitting and holding, which caused the hometown cord to boo the visitor loudly as he left the ring. Both fighters were cut over the eyes and in the nose and both were covered with blood at the end. Referee Ruby Goldstein had it 5-4-1 for Basilio, who felt his body shots had won the day. Langlois held that his “jarring lefts to Basilio’s head in machine gun fashion” had proved the difference. Judge Ted Shiles agreed, 4-5-1. The other judge, Jack Kimball, had it 4-4-2, as did the Herald-American, (Frank Woolever). “Basilio did not get off to his usual fast start and the French battler was impressive in the first three heats. Then the short-armed welter began to drive in. From that point on it was give and take from bell to bell.”

Ed Linn reports that John DeJohn felt that this was the real turning point in Carmen’s career, a fight that helped make him into a champion. He’d been afraid that the bigger Langlois would lean on him and use his greater weight to tire him out. So he tried to fight him from a distance. He wasn’t good at that. In subsequent film sessions, Carmen pointed out his own mistakes: “I’m standing too far away, my punches aren’t getting in. I’ve got to carry the fight to him and keep him so busy he can’t lay on me.” DeJohn felt, “Now he knows what he’s doing”. In a rematch with Langlois and in subsequent fights against middleweights, Carmen fought inside and kept the punches flowing so much that his opponents had no time to lean on him. If you look at the Gavilan fight on You Tube, you will see Carmen much more erect and father from his opponent than in the Sugar Ray Robinson fights.

Jack Slattery said that local interest in the fight was high, primarily because of Basilio’s popularity. “The fellow spends as much time at church and community functions as he does in the gym. He is, without a doubt, the most personable and easy-to-sell fighter going today. The run-of-the mill fighter is not the type to get much call from church groups for personal appearances. Carmen is, though. He does a fine job and makes friends every time he gets on his feet.”

As the year ended, Carmen Basilio, with a 36-11-6 record, (18KO’s), was ranked as the leading contender for Kid Gavilan’s Welterweight title. Amazingly, there would be no title fights for “The Canastota Clouter” in the coming year.

The full Basilio-Gavilan fight, (the commentary is not the original broadcast):

 

[br801]

Your series of Basilio posts is fantastic, SWC75. Thanks!

 

[SWC75]

Aftermath

Carmen later commented that Gavilan had gotten to keep his crown but “I got all the publicity”. On 9/25, Carmen attended the Rocky Marciano-Roland LaStarza bout at the Polo Grounds in New York. He was treated like a celebrity, being cheered loudly as he entered the arena. Gavilan was treated a chorus of boos. An Irish cop stopped Carmen outside the ballpark to tell him that he was “the real champ”, Slattery said “Carmen is wearing his new found laurels very well. In fact, he seems to be wearing them like a champion.”

Carmen’s comeback fight, (11/28), from his big disappointment was against an old rival from the early days: Johnny Cunningham, whom he’d fought four times in 1949. The fight was a 10 rounder in Toledo and, like basically all of Carmen’s fights at this stage of his career, was televised. Basilio wanted to keep busy- and keep winning so he could have another shot at Gavilan.
Cunningham was coming off a win over lightweight champion Jimmy Carter. Still Carmen went into this fight as a favorite, for the first time in a while. It was deserved as he knocked Cunningham to the canvas four times on the way to a 4th round KO. Cunningham said “Man he was a rough boy. He never hit me as hard before. It really surprised me.” They never fought again. There was no need for it. Carmen had moved on to another level.

Carmen ended the year, (12/19), by taking on a full-scale middleweight, France’s Pierre Langlois, who agreed not to come into the fight weighing more than 155lbs. Langlois was not a big puncher, with only a dozen knockouts in 77 fights but was described as a “strong, tough fellow”. Carmen countered by working against bigger sparring partners and making sure to keep busy against them “to prevent grabbing and holding, which would sap his strength”.

The fight was described as a “Pier Six Brawl”. Langlois opened a big cut over Carmen’s right eye in the 9th round with a head butt. There was also plenty of pushing, elbowing, hitting and holding, which caused the hometown cord to boo the visitor loudly as he left the ring. Both fighters were cut over the eyes and in the nose and both were covered with blood at the end. Referee Ruby Goldstein had it 5-4-1 for Basilio, who felt his body shots had won the day. Langlois held that his “jarring lefts to Basilio’s head in machine gun fashion” had proved the difference. Judge Ted Shiles agreed, 4-5-1. The other judge, Jack Kimball, had it 4-4-2, as did the Herald-American, (Frank Woolever). “Basilio did not get off to his usual fast start and the French battler was impressive in the first three heats. Then the short-armed welter began to drive in. From that point on it was give and take from bell to bell.”

Ed Linn reports that John DeJohn felt that this was the real turning point in Carmen’s career, a fight that helped make him into a champion. He’d been afraid that the bigger Langlois would lean on him and use his greater weight to tire him out. So he tried to fight him from a distance. He wasn’t good at that. In subsequent film sessions, Carmen pointed out his own mistakes: “I’m standing too far away, my punches aren’t getting in. I’ve got to carry the fight to him and keep him so busy he can’t lay on me.” DeJohn felt, “Now he knows what he’s doing”. In a rematch with Langlois and in subsequent fights against middleweights, Carmen fought inside and kept the punches flowing so much that his opponents had no time to lean on him. If you look at the Gavilan fight on You Tube, you will see Carmen much more erect and father from his opponent than in the Sugar Ray Robinson fights.

Jack Slattery said that local interest in the fight was high, primarily because of Basilio’s popularity. “The fellow spends as much time at church and community functions as he does in the gym. He is, without a doubt, the most personable and easy-to-sell fighter going today. The run-of-the mill fighter is not the type to get much call from church groups for personal appearances. Carmen is, though. He does a fine job and makes friends every time he gets on his feet.”

As the year ended, Carmen Basilio, with a 36-11-6 record, (18KO’s), was ranked as the leading contender for Kid Gavilan’s Welterweight title. Amazingly, there would be no title fights for “The Canastota Clouter” in the coming year.

The full Basilio-Gavilan fight, (the commentary is not the original broadcast):

Actually that stops short of the 15th round. This has the 15th round:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaGQYgXIbnE&feature=related

I graded it this way:

Basilio 9,10,10,10,9 9,10,10,10,9 9,10,10,9,9 = 144
Gavilan 10,8,9,9,10 10,9,9,10,10 10,9,10,10,10 = 144