Carmen Basilio

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Carmen Basilio boxer
Data
Birth Name Carmine Basilio
Weight class Welterweight
nationality US-american
birthday April 2, 1927
place of birth Canastota , New York
Date of death November 7, 2012
Place of death Rochester , New York
style Left delivery
size 1.69 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles 79
Victories 56
Knockout victories 27
Defeats 16
draw 7th

Carmine "Carmen" Basilio (born April 2, 1927 in Canastota , New York , † November 7, 2012 in Rochester , New York ) was an American boxer .

Life

The son of an onion farmer with Italian roots turned professional in 1948. In 1952 he boxed against the undefeated Chuck Davey in a draw and lost once. He lost to Billy Graham . Nevertheless, he became known through these fights. His style was very popular: attack boxing with good punching power, above-average taker skills and defensive weaknesses, which almost always guaranteed action-packed fights. In 1953 he beat the lightweight Ike Williams , in two more fights against Graham he achieved a point win and a draw.

On September 18, 1953, he boxed for the first time for the welterweight championship, but lost to defending champion Kid Gavilán from Cuba on points, although he was able to achieve a knockdown in the second round against the known good taker.

In January 1955 he defeated the German Peter Müller . Basilio received his second title chance on June 10, 1955; he met his Italian-American arch-rival and reigning world champion Tony DeMarco . The defending champion initially dominated the action, but then Basilio came on and was able to win by knockout in the twelfth round. He also won the rematch, but then lost the title in March 1956 by losing points to Johnny Saxton . Here, too, a direct rematch was scheduled, which Basilio, like the subsequent third duel, won prematurely.

In 1956 he voluntarily resigned the title to continue boxing in the middleweight division. On September 23, 1957, he challenged the 38-year-old Sugar Ray Robinson and also won the world championship in this weight class, but lost the title again to Robinson in the rematch.

In 1959 and 1960 he lost twice to Gene Fullmer prematurely. After losing points to Paul Pender, he finally ended his career in 1961. Basilio then worked for 25 years as a physical education teacher at Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

Basilio died on November 7, 2012 at the age of 85. He left behind his wife, four children, eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

The future world champion Billy Backus was Basilio's nephew. Ed Brophy founded the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota to pay tribute to the boxers Basilio and Backus who were born there.

literature

  • Gary B. Youmans: The Onion Picker: Carmen Basilio & boxing in the 1950s . Campbell Road Press North, 2007, ISBN 0-8156-8175-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Carmen Basilio, 85, the 'people's champion' dies  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.democratandchronicle.com  
personal data
SURNAME Basilio, Carmen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Basilio, Carmine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American boxer
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Canastota , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 2012
Place of death Rochester , New York , United States