TRIP TO BOXING HALL OF FAME INVOKES GREAT HISTORY OF PUGILISM IN AMERICA

Posted on | June 22, 2009 | 1 Comment

By: Patrick McElligott

The ride to Canastota is one of my favorite parts of the annual Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend. It is an opportunity for me to take my children on a trip back in time, driving through the villages and hamlets where some of our relatives once lived. I’m also able to point out different places where, long ago, local men engaged in what was, at the time, the most popular sport. A couple places where professional fights took place; some where there were once amateur bouts; and also, in Sherburne, NY, a site where a number of boxers who would go on to hold world titles, engaged in “bootleg” matches.

There are a number of farms along the roads between the communities. We see some cattle, and huge corn fields. And a farmer cutting hay. There are far fewer “family farms” in upstate New York than there were when I was young. Few jobs offer a teenager who is hoping to make his mark in boxing the benefits that farm-work does. It’s a long way from one of these fields to the fast pace of city life, much less a title fight at Madison Square Garden. But it just that trip that the great Carmen Basilio made more than half a century ago.

This is the 20th year of inductions into the Hall of Fame. As we pull into a parking lot, and walk towards the main building, I’m reminded of how it was when I first brought my sons – then little boys – to the induction ceremonies. We have made the trip to Canastota most of the years in between, and the effort that Ed Brophy and others have invested in making the Hall of Fame what it is today has really paid off. Every boxing enthusiast owes it to him or herself to make the trip.

It makes for a great “family adventure.” My son Darren, now 22, and daughters Chloe, 15, and Darcy, 11, made the trip with me this year. They know the story of how one day, in New York City, the great boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson snubbed a young man named Carmen Basilio. And, of course, the price that Robinson eventually paid for his arrogance.

The first Robinson vs Basilio fight was held on September 23, 1957, at Yankee Stadium. The ring from Madison Square Garden was brought to the legendary baseball stadium, and on that Monday night, Carmen Basilio made history. That ring, of course, is now part of the Boxing Hall of Fame’s outstanding collection of the sport’s “artifacts.” My kids and I spend time watching how the fans at the Hall of Fame react when they look at the ring, and we listen to numerous older fans talk about what fights they watched take place inside it. After a while, Darren wants to have a photograph of him and I standing in front of the ring; his sisters take a dozen.

Outside, we have the opportunity to have Angelo Dundee and co-author Bert Sugar autograph “My View from the Corner.” Darren waited for 45 minutes, after a friend at the show told us that Angelo would be signing his book. He also gets George Kimball to autograph his copy of George’s 2008 classic, “Four Kings.”

On Sunday, we have the opportunity to talk to a number of fighters who are attending the induction ceremony. There is a fascinating mixture of past greats and of today’s top boxers: Billy Backus and Kermit Cintron; Emile Griffith and Paul Williams; Leon Spinks; Greg Haugen; the great Carlos Ortiz; and more.

One thing led me to recognize the very different ways that people experience the Hall of Fame There were three gentlemen walking by me. I immediately recognized one as Don Fullmer, one of the toughest guys I’ve ever seen fight. I lifted my camera, and although he was listening closely to his friends, he noticed. He stopped while I took the picture, then reached over to shake my hand and say, “Hey, sorry if I broke your camera,” before catching up with the others.

A couple guys politely asked me who Don was. I said that he was Gene Fullmer’s brother, who fought against warriors like Dick Tiger, Jose Torres, Virgil Atkins, and Emile Griffith – and that he decked Nino Benvenuti. They said they hadn’t heard of him. A while later, I saw the same fellows taking photos of a couple actors (my son said that one was from a tv series, the other some movies). Perhaps I should have told them that Don Fullmer once was in a movie, “The Devil’s Brigade,” with Bill Holden and Cliff Robertson. But, I’m sure that they were as pleased to interact with the actors, as I had been to talk with one of the men that defined “toughness” in the ring when I was young.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Darren and I had a chance to talk with Marlin Starling. As always, he spends a good bit of time walking though the crowd, mingling with the fans. It had been two years since we last spoke with Marlin, and when he posed for some pictures, he grinned and raised a fist towards Darren, and told me, “I notice this son of your’s is getting big.”

On the ride home, we talked about what a great time we had at the Boxing Hall of Fame. One of the things that we decided to do was have Darren help me prepare a series of reviews of the best books on the sport. Between us, we have quite a large collection, and I think that they play a large role in both recording the history and providing insight to boxing fans. Just as other forms of media – television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the internet included – are important, so are books.

Thus, my columns here will include reviews by Darren and I. His writing style is about the same as my own, as is his perspective. However, his energy level is greater, and so I expect that we will be able to provide a steady series of book reviews that I believe will be of interest to boxing fans here. We will start with the most obvious choice: Gary Youmans’ book on Carmen Basilio, “The Onion Picker.” After that, we’ll go through a variety of the classics, as well as some of the lesser-known, but very important, works on boxing history. I hope that you will enjoy them.

Darren McElligott (right, standing) and Bert Sugar (left, sitting)

Darren and Marlon Starling

Darren and Angelo Dundee

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