Safe Side Of The Ropes

By: Andrew Harrison

Jul 18 2009

Category: alvaro yaqui lopez, arturo gatti, bobby chacon, carmen basilio, cornelious boza edwards, danny little red lopez, dwight muhammad qawi, ezzard charles, gene fullmer, jersey joe walcott, matthew saad muhammad, rafael bazooka limon, rocky graziano, rocky marciano, roland lastarza, sugar ray robinson, tony zale, Uncategorized

2 Comments

 As accolades and epitaphs flood in for fallen boxing hero Arturo Gatti, most observers return to a familiar phrase when describing the man; he was a true warrior. Never the most skilful or naturally gifted of prize fighters, Gatti attained a legendary reputation in spite of this and he did so through the sheer force of his indomitable will.

He belongs to a special breed of action fighters who have offered the sport an abundance of thrills, spills and mayhem and whose legacies will forever retain a special significance for boxing fans. Below are five fighters cut from a similar cloth to this beloved slugger from Montreal, boxing’s ultimate ring warriors.

Carmen Basilio

Basilio was the recipient of an astonishing five consecutive Ring magazine fight of the year awards from 1955-59, an unparalleled feat. A rough and tumble farm kid from Canastota, New York (home of boxing’s Hall of Fame) Basilio’s heritage lent itself to his ring name, ‘The Onion Farmer’. In an era teeming with fighters destined to be honoured in Carmen’s home town, Basilio clawed his way to welterweight and middleweight championships with a relentless, marauding style, designed to break the heart and will of his opponents.

Basilio knocked out Tony DeMarco in 1955 in a gripping encore to their first fight. As was his way, he focussed on a debilitating body attack despite catching hell from DeMarco in the process, finally wearing down and kayoing his man in round twelve. The following year Johnny Saxton succumbed in nine, after another crowd pleasing affair.

1957 saw the first of two blood splattered encounters with Ray Robinson. With Angelo Dundee in his corner, Basilio fought at fever pitch, outworking Sugar Ray over 15 hellacious rounds. Robinson however, as he did so often, gained revenge just six months later in an equally bruising battle, Basilio’s face reduced to a grotesque mask of welts and lumps.

In 1959 Basilio showed his iron constitution once more, engaging the rough house Gene Fullmer in another riveting punch out. Carmen was eventually clubbed to defeat over fourteen rounds, his career all but finished but his tough guy reputation forever cemented.

Matthew Saad Muhammad

The man they nicknamed ‘Miracle’ Matthew, was capable of truly astounding feats within the confines of a prize ring. Originally fighting under the surname of Franklin, this Philly action man competed throughout arguably the toughest era in light heavyweight history.

Perceiving himself to be the victim of an unjust points defeat to Eddie Gregory (Mustafa Muhammad) early in his career, Matthew vowed that he would never again leave a fight in the hands of the judges, adopting instead a ruthless kill or be killed mindset.

In 1977 he warred with Marvin Johnson over twelve pulsating rounds at the Philadelphia Spectrum, knocking Johnson out in the final two minutes of what had been an electrifying encounter. A year later and in another classic fight, he defeated the rugged Alvaro ‘Yaqui’ Lopez in eleven rounds.

Matthew had uncanny resilience, often absorbing terrific beatings before responding with fury, thrilling audiences and bewildering opponents in the process. In the spring of ’79 he took the WBC light heavyweight title with another epic victory over former victim Johnson.

Saad Muhammad would roll on, continuing his heroics in a series of fabulous shoot outs. His 1980 rematch with Lopez was an unfathomable exhibition, featuring one of the sport’s greatest ever rounds (the eighth), numerous knockdowns and a dramatic ending (Lopez was halted in round thirteen after being knocked down for the fourth time in the contest). Dwight Braxton (later Muhammad Qawi) finally relieved him of his title in 1981 in another crunching duel.

Rocky Graziano

This spirited battler is forever linked to a trilogy of wildly exciting brawls with his ring nemesis, Tony Zale. Born Thomas Rocco Barbella in New York’s East Side, Graziano as he became known, was a wild and troublesome street kid, a hoodlum who could not be tamed by stints served in reformatories, prison or the army. It was boxing which finally straightened Graziano out, his gung ho, kick down the door approach to fighting, instantly marking him out as an attraction.

Graziano exploded onto the world scene in 1945 with a spectacular come from behind knockout victory over Freddie ‘Red’ Cochrane. Outboxed early by his veteran opponent and taking a licking, Graziano levelled Cochrane in round nine and finished off his brave opponent in the tenth.

The following year he engaged Zale in the first of their three iconic ring wars. Floored early by a right hand, Rocky stormed back to assume control in a seesaw battle, repaying Zale with a knockdown in the second. Despite absorbing tremendous punishment, Zale came back to stop the protesting Graziano in round six.

The return fight in 1947 resumed right where the previous one had left off. Graziano was down in round three yet fought back with a maniacal zeal, bludgeoning Zale in the sixth and forcing referee Johnny Behr to call a halt to the bout. The rubber match in ’48 was settled in three, Zale reclaiming the middleweight championship with a vicious knockout.

Bobby Chacon

The punishment this little hell raiser from the San Fernando Valley endured whilst underneath ring lights, paled in comparison to the trauma he experienced when away from them. Chacon’s wife took her own life in 1982 after Bobby had ignored her desperate pleas for him to retire, another heartbreaking blow to an already troubled existence.

Chacon fought constantly amidst peril and melodrama, this was a high octane scrapper who compares more closely to the aforementioned Gatti than perhaps any other fighter. Bobby thrilled audiences in 1974 with a stoppage win over cross town rival Danny ‘Little Red’ Lopez before embarking upon a series of monumental fights against loathed adversary Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon in 1975. The Chacon-Limon rivalry was fiercely competitive, one which sits comfortably alongside the Zale-Graziano and Gatti-Ward conflicts.

It had looked like it was the end of a long and arduous road for Chacon after he was battered to defeat by Cornelius Boza-Edwards in 1981, however he rebounded the following year, finally gaining superiority over Limon in their fourth and finest fight.

Punching frenetically, the pair engaged in a bout which simply defied logic, Chacon rallying from two knockdowns to flatten ‘Bazooka’ in the final seconds of round fifteen, clinching him a decision victory. Repeating the trick in 1983, this time over Edwards, he weathered a shocking gash suffered early in the fight before winning over the distance, punctuating his performance with yet another last gasp knockdown.

Rocky Marciano

There will be few who are not acquainted with the ring exploits of the man born Rocco Francis Marchegiano. Like others on this list, Marciano circumvented limitations placed upon him by his physical dimensions with an unbreakable will to win. Gentile outside the ropes, he fought like a savage within them, battering opponents into submission and gaining in strength as his fights wore on; he was an uncompromising, unstoppable force.

In 1952, the Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia was set as the stage for Marciano to seize the heavyweight crown, which he did in dramatic fashion. Dumped onto his backside within the first minute, Marciano fought back ferociously against the wily old champion Jersey Joe Walcott. Struggling to close the gap on the scorecards, Rocky continued to bulldoze his way forward and finally found the opening he’d been looking for in round thirteen, whereupon he decimated Walcott with his famous ‘Suzie Q’.

Marciano would follow this triumph with enduring edge of your seat affairs against the likes of Roland LaStarza, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore, his defining moment coming against the great Charles, known as ‘The Cincinnati Flash’.

Teetering on the brink of defeat due to a laceration which had split his nose to the bone, Marciano had been permitted just three more minutes to try and alter his fate by the ring physician. Fighting desperately and with mere seconds remaining on the clock, he steamrollered Ezzard, salvaging his title along with boxing’s most famous resume with a wrecking ball left hand.

*10 others worthy of mention: Jake LaMotta, Jerry Quarry, Joe Frazier, Evander Holyfield, Tony Zale, Erik Morales, Gene Fullmer, Diego Corrales, Carl Thompson, Stanley Ketchel.