There Really Was One

[SWC75]

A WELTERWEIGHT?

Carmen decided to try for the welterweight title in 1961, a strange decision for someone so late in his career. He was going to be 34 years old on April 2nd. Cuban Bennie “Kid” Paret had won the title from Don Jordan the previous year. But first Carmen had to test himself against Gaspar Ortega in New York on January 7th. Significantly, Ortega agreed not to make this a welterweight bout. He came in at 149 pounds to Basilio’s 155. In fact Carmen weighed 159 pounds at the weigh-in. it was a non-title fight so the fight went on as scheduled but Carmen drew a 30 day suspension for being over the agreed weight. His days as a welterweight were behind him.

Carmen had had only one bout in 1960, the second loss to Fullmer. Ortega had fought 10 times, winning seven of them. In fact, although younger than Carmen, Gaspar had had more professional fights. He had a 58-20-6 record to Carmen’s 54-15-7. He figured to be a tough opponent.

Significantly, the fight, although it was in Madison Square Garden, just rated a half of a column in the Syracuse paper. It recorded that Carmen “overcame a sluggish start…with a two-fisted attack reminiscent of the form that once earned him the welterweight and middleweight titles….There were no knockdowns although Ortega was staggered several times by solid right hands. Ortega fought back furiously each time he was hurt and on several occasions hurt his older foe with furious counter-punching. Basilio’s best round was the sixth when he forced Ortega to retreat with a furious two-handed assault to the body and head.” The scoring was 6-4, 6-4 and 5-4-1. It was Carmen’s first win since his tune up against Arlie Seifer two years prior. (U-Tube has nothing on this fight.)

His next opponent was ex-welterweight champ Don Jordan. This would also be his first bout in Syracuse since he won the welter title back from Johnny Saxton five years before. It would also be his last fight in Syracuse. Jordan was hoping for a rematch with Benny Paret. Carmen was hoping for a shot at Paul Pender, who had won a share of the middleweight title from Sugar Ray Robinson.

This time, Carmen did make it to 155 pounds. Jordan came in at 151. Carmen used his right uppercut to pound out an easy victory. Did he have Pender in mind? “Naw, Jordan was a sucker for it so I just kept popping it to him.” The paper reported “The nationally televised bout was surprisingly one-sided…Basilio, punching away incessantly, rocked his younger and lighter foe several times while Jordan, who came out of his defensive pose only occasionally, showed flashes of left-handed power...Basilio looked strong and sure all the way. He missed on some shots but his crouching, dodging style kept the longer-armed Californian missing repeatedly.” The scoring was 8-2, 8-2 and 7-2-1. It was Carmen’s 56th and final victory.

U-Tube has it in four parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hJS-JBRUIQ
The other installments are in the right hand list. It’s interesting to see Carmen boxing from a distance and schooling the younger Jordan, who had a reputation of being a good boxer himself.

 

[SWC75]

FINALE

Paul Pender of Boston had won a version of the middleweight title when Sugar Ray Robinson finally deigned to defend it in January 1960 after almost two years of inactivity following the second Basilio fight. Sugar Ray had been stripped of his crown by the NBA but was till recognized as champ in New York, Massachusetts and Europe. But he was unrecognizable in the ring: “his legs were all spent and all he had left were memories” Pender, a stand up boxer with a sharp jab but brittle hands, fought defensively, forcing his opponent to come after him and counter-punching. He outpointed Robinson over 15 rounds and did it again five months later. Robinson then went after Gene Fullmer’s NBA title, somehow managed a draw in December of 1960, then lost to Fullmer in 15 on March 4, 1961. It was his last title bout. He fought an incredible 45 more times over the next four years, from Honolulu to Rome always trying to keep the creditors away and wining 31 times but over increasingly lower-rated opposition. He finally retired at age 45 In December of 1965, having fought 201 professional bouts, winning 174 with 6 draws. He knocked out his opponent 109 times. The only recorded knockout against him in 25 years of fighting was when he collapsed in the heat vs. Joey Maxim in his sole try for the light heavyweight title in 1951.

Bill Reddy began imaging how things could go. “A couple of years ago, the most sought-after battle in the country was a third fight between Robinson and Basilio. Promoters wanted it but Robinson, by his preposterous actions, made certain it never came off. Wouldn’t it be strange if the fight was finally arranged with the full scale middleweight crown at stake? If Robinson beats Fullmer and Basilio beats Pender, the old feud could flare again.”

Pender predicted a knockout. “It’s only a matter of getting the timing down. I think I can keep Basilio off balance and not let him get set with that hook of his. I can tear him up with the left and then I’m planning on putting him away with the right.” Basilio countered: “I figure he’s going to be hard to hit. He’s tricky. He can be tough to handle because he’s learned a lot. But I don’t think it can go 15 rounds. I’m going to hammer him downstairs and then I’ll be able to wear him down and put him away.”

“It looked for a while like Basilio was due for one of his greatest nights. He had Pender rocky in the second round, stunning him with a left hook but he was unable to inflict any serious additional damage even though Carmen battered Paul around the ring for half the round.” Pender appeared hurt again the fourth, but latter denied it. “All agreed that Carmen was in command for the first five rounds.”

“Carmen was very much in the picture for eight rounds but began to tire visibly in the ninth and fought on sheer guts and strength from then on. His tremendous fighting heart wasn’t enough as Pender took the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds. Carmen’s punches had lost their sting and it appeared as if he was favoring a sore left hand or shoulder.”

“The roof fell in on Basilio in the 13th- blasting his dream of regaining the coveted middleweight belt. Pender opened the unlucky 13th with a series of jabs and then suddenly uncorked a left hook that hit Carmen on the whiskers. Caught by surprise, Carmen staggered backwards and slumped- almost sitting on the canvas. He struggled up, staggered towards a neutral corner and sagged again on one knee. He was upright again with his gloves up, both moves taking only eight seconds. Pender couldn’t tag Carmen with any dynamite for the rest of the round although the Canastota clouter was fighting on instinct and heart alone.”

“The 15th round was one of the most dramatic imaginable as Basilio, facing almost certain defeat, called upon his great heart and tried for the impossible miracle of a life-saving knockout. Pender knew he was well out in front and tried to play it cozy. When Carmen landed a couple of rugged rights Paul stabbed Carmen a few times and the weary Central New Yorker sagged down again for another count of eight. Carmen tried to go again but just didn’t have anything left.”

“Seldom, if ever in the history of fights has a fighter, particularly a loser, been cheered as was Basilio, before, during and after the bout when it was all too evident that Pender was still champ in New York, Massachusetts and Europe.”

Pender claimed that after getting hurt by Basilio’s left hook in the second round, he used his boxing ability to prevent Carmen from using it again. Carmen said after the fight that he’d suffered a pulled muscle in his left shoulder during the Jordan fight and “babied it” during training. But that the shoulder “went lame” on him in the second round vs. Pender. Carmen said that he had “kept flexing it and waving it at Pender in the late rounds just to keep Paul watching it but he was unable to put anything behind his punching.” The paper reported that “The shoulder ailment alone could force Basilio into retirement.” Basilio said he would retire if he couldn’t get a rematch with Pender. The paper said, almost hopefully, that an obstacle to a rematch would that “the knowledge that a Basilio in top condition can be a rough customer and Pender may not want to risk another outing with the Chenango Clouter.”


The Pender fight is also on U-Tube in four parts, the first of which is rather short:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQyInXaTfmk

Again, the successive parts are available on the right of the screen. The commentary is supplied some years later by a bloke with a British accent. Pender is taller than Carmen, (he’s listed at 5-10 but looks even taller here with Carmen fighting from a crouch), and knows how to use his jab and tie up Carmen and lean on him when he comes in. (Trying to holder Pender up may have exhausted Carmen as much as the punches). Carmen flexes his left arm several times as if he’s trying to get some feeling back into it. He clearly doesn’t have his full arsenal of punches available to him in this fight. I certainly agree that Pender won but I thought the scores announced at the end were a bit too one-sided.


　
　

 

[SWC75]

ENDGAME


On April 25, 1961, Carmen Basilio released a statement to the press.

“I have decided to retire. I’ve always made my own decisions and this one is mine. It’s not an easy decision but it has been getting harder to keep going at 34. Against Pender, I ran out of gas….I’m going to think about things for a while. I’m in no hurry. I’ve had a couple of good job offers but I don’t want to say anything until I’ve decided which one I wanted to take.”

He later told Bud Poliquin the main reason he’d retired: “I didn’t want to be anybody’s punching bag.” He would eventually take a sales job with Genesee Brewing and with the athletic department at LeMoyne College. He moved into a new house in Chittenango with an 8 acre apple grove. “I know my onions but I still don’t know my apples.”

I’ll give the last word to Carmen’s boxing protégé from the 70’s, heavyweight Greg Sorrientino: “Carmen Basilio should be in the dictionary under ‘fighter’. There should just be a picture of Carmen. “

 

[br801]

Great series, SWC.

I was a toddler when Basilio was finishing his career, but later heard much about him from my Basilio fan father. My two older sisters fondly remember watching the Friday Night Fights with him. How I wish I'd been able to do so too. But reading your posts was the next best thing. Thanks.

 

[SWC75]

Great series, SWC.

I was a toddler when Basilio was finishing his career, but later heard much about him from my Basilio fan father. My two older sisters fondly remember watching the Friday Night Fights with him. How I wish I'd been able to do so too. But reading your posts was the next best thing. Thanks.

And with the links, you can see many of them, too.

 

[br801]

And with the links, you can see many of them, too.

Yes, thanks for finding all the clips to accompany your narratives.