my grandma has been racking her brains. since i’m always urging her to get the internet because it’s so great and full of information, she’s enlisted me to find out this boxer’s name.
what i have:
-before 1958
-was beat up so bad, he suffered permanent brain damage
yeah. i tip my hat to anyone who knows, or can search it out. there’s not much in the way of directories of old boxers. and this information is very little to go by.
thanks anyway though. to anyone who attempts to try to look.
Here is a list of Hall of Fame inductees.
http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfrost.htm
This page has a tale of guy who took a severe beating at the hands of Rocky Marciano. I love the quote “He’s got a lot of guts. I don’t think I ever hit anyone else any more often or harder.”. No mention of brain damage though.
Perhaps you can print off the list of Hall of Famers and that will jog your grammas memory. Unless of course the boxer in question never made the hall of fame.
Another list of boxers.
http://lifestyleopportunity.org/index/Sports/Boxing/Boxers/
A searchable directory.
http://www.boxrec.com/
That is about as much help as I can be. Hope this helps.
Emile Griffith and Bennie Paret @ 1961. (Dates a little off, but it’s close) I’ve seen this one. It’s absolutely one of the most horrifying sequences I’ve ever seen–one you don’t want to see again. Paret was trapped against the ropes, out on his feet, and unable to fall, absorbing one after another hard punch from Griffith, each punch snapping his unconsious head round like a punching bag. Referee Ruby Goldstein, one of the most experienced referees in fight history, inexplicably froze, and did not step in until it was too late. IIRC, that was the last fight he ever refereed.
Rocky Marciano and Carmine Vingo @ 1949 in Madison Square Garden. As far as I know, no footage exists of this fight, but we have the descriptions of what happened. Vingo was also out on his feet, and taking a merciless pounding from Marciano. When he fell to the canvas, it was obvious that there were serious problems. He was carted off to a nearby hospital, where he was not expected to make it. He did survive, however, although that was the end of his boxing career. In fact, he was alive as recently as two years ago, but he might have died since then. Ironically, Marciano, the victor in that bloodbath, was the one who would have the much shorter life.
Rocky Marciano and Roland LaStarza (II) @ 1953. In their prior meeting, which I think was immediatly after the Vingo fight above, Marciano eked out a split decision victory. In this one, he didn’t want to take any chances. LaStarza covered up (sort of a rope-a-dope), but Marciano didn’t care–he hit whatever was available, in this case, LaStarza’s forearms. By the 11th round, LaStarza’s arms had been battered so badly he could not continue, and needed surgery to correct the damage to the blood vessels in his arm.
Some other well-known fighters who had opponents who died as the result of ring injuries: Ezzard Charles (as a middleweight or light-heavy), Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, and Primo Carnera.
None of these might be what you’re looking for, but they’re the obvious ones that come to mind.
Sugar Ray Robinson suffered from brain damage as a result of his long boxing career. So did Rocky Graziano.
Some of the heavyweight champions (a lot, actually) killed at least one of their opponents. Bob Fitzsimmons killed a boxer named Con Riordan. Jess Willard knocked Bull Young out of the ring, and Young landed on his head and died of a broken neck. Primo Carnera had an opponent (Ernie Schaaf) die after he knocked him out, but most believe the knockout Schaaf suffered at the hands of Max Baer did the most damage. Baer also knocked out a fellow named Johnny somebody (Soderberg?) who also died.
There have been others. Sugar Ray Robinson knocked out an opponent who died, and was asked by the coroner “Did you mean to get him in trouble?” Robinson replied “Mister, it’s my business to get him in trouble”. I saw Ray Mancini kill Deuk Koo Kim on national TV in the 80s. A boxer died after being knocked out in the 14th round in a championship fight, and the WBA reduced their championship distance to twelve rounds. Five months later, Albert Davila knocked out an opponent in the twelveth in a defense of the WBA bantamweight crown, and he died. There was another fighter I read about in the 70s who killed an opponent, and then died in the ring himself.
Tough business.
oh my gosh. you guys are fabulous. i’m going to print this stuff out and some of those names and tkae them over and see what’s what. i’ll let you know. thanks.