Panama Lewis

Carlos Humberto "Panama" Lewis (born November 4, 1945 in Panama ) is an American boxing trainer who achieved his greatest fame in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was involved in two of the most controversial boxing matches of all time and was banned from the boxing association for life in 1983.

Career

According to his own statement, he started boxing in 1960 and won 19 of 20 amateur fights in Panama before briefly switching to the professional camp and emigrating to the USA. From 1969 to 1971 he served in the US Army .

He was then trained in New York City under the guidance of some coaching legends like Chickie Ferrara, Ray Arcel and Freddie Brown to become one of the best boxing coaches in the USA. He trained and coached well-known world champions such as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad , Roberto Durán , Mike McCallum , Livingstone Bramble , Hector Camacho , Michael Nunn , Aaron Pryor and Vito Antuofermo . Together with Lou Duva and Emanuel Steward , he dominated the coaching scene in the United States at that time. According to his own statement, his strengths lay in his enormous talent to motivate the boxers, as well as to combine techniques of the old and new boxing school.

Aaron Pryor vs. Alexis Argüello

On November 12, 1982 he was in Miami as a trainer in the corner of the ring by Aaron Pryor during his defense of the WBA World Light Welterweight Championship against Alexis Argüello (72-5). Argüello fought for a slight advantage in this powerful duel and was thus close to becoming the first world champion in four weight classes.

In the lap break between the 13th and 14th round, an HBO camera accidentally filmed Lewis holding a special water bottle ( "Give me the other bottle, the one I mixed ") one that I mixed ”) from his assistant coach Artie Curley and gave it to his protégé Aaron Pryor to drink. After that, Pryor seemed much fitter, attacked his opponent with whole series of blows in the 14th round and won in less than two minutes Knockout: Until then, Argüello had been in the lead on two of the three scoreboards.

The doping allegation was compounded by the fact that the Miami boxing commission did not order post-bout urine samples. The outcome of the fight thus retained its validity and is still considered to be one of the most scandalous boxing matches of all time ("Black Bottle Fight"). The Ring Magazine chose the fight in 1996 at number 8 of the "100 greatest title fights of all time."

In later interviews, Lewis only mentioned tap water as the contents of the bottle, mixed with a French mineral water, which is supposed to increase lung volume when drunk ice cold .

Luis Resto vs. Billy Collins junior

On June 16, 1983, he was in New York City's Madison Square Garden in the corner of Luis Resto's ring . This played in a world championship fight between Davey Moore and Roberto Durán a preliminary fight in the light middleweight division against Billy Collins junior (14-0). Already in the first rounds you could see the clear punch of Resto, although he was not exactly known as a tough puncher (8 knockout victories in 30 professional fights). The technically superior Billy Collins suffered severe swellings and cuts to his face, but turned down a task and instead tried more and more desperately to deliver an even fight. He convinced his father, who also acted as his coach, not to throw in the towel.

While Resto showed no visible injuries apart from a small swelling under his right eye, Collins's face was extremely swollen, especially in the area of ​​the eyes and forehead, which, however, did not lead to a breakdown by the ring doctor. In the tenth and final round, Collins had to accept several hard hits, but did not go to the ground.

After the fight, Collins's father touched Resto's boxing gloves with a shake hands and felt the almost bare fist under a thin layer of leather. While still in the ring, he asked the boxing commission to examine the gloves, while Resto was declared the winner on points. During the examination of Resto's boxing gloves it finally turned out that most of the inner lining had been removed, which turned the fight into a worthless result ( no contest ). Billy Collins Jr. suffered irreparable eye injuries and had to end his boxing career. He died nine months later when he was drunk and caused a traffic accident, whereby a suicide is not excluded.

The New York Boxing Commission revoked Lewis' coaching license just two weeks later. He eventually had to answer in court for a criminal conspiracy to manipulate sports results. Since the hands of the professional boxer Luis Resto had been classified as a lethal weapon because the boxing gloves were not filled, Lewis was also charged with criminal possession of a lethal weapon and second-degree assault and sentenced in 1986 to six years' imprisonment, from which he was released in 1990 . After the final conviction, the boxing commission issued a lifelong license ban on Lewis and Resto. Lewis always claimed he hadn't tampered with the gloves and instead blamed his assistant coach Artie Curley, who died not long after the fight.

The fight was voted "Dirtiest Boxing Match Ever" by Ring Magazine in 1997 , and in 2009 the circumstances of the fight were included in the HBO documentary "Assault in the Ring".

Lewis can continue to train and supervise boxers in sports and fitness halls, but due to the withdrawal of his trainer license at boxing events, he is no longer allowed to stay in the athletes' cubicles and ring corners. After his release from prison, he worked with well-known world champions such as Mike Tyson , Arturo Gatti , Francois Botha , Sultan Ibragimow and Zab Judah .

Web links

• Aaron Pryor vs. Alexis Arguello (1st meeting) on BoxRec
• Billy Collins Jr. vs. Luis Resto on BoxRec
• Panama Lewis Zone , interview on TheSweetScience