Fight Nights: The Brief Candle of an American Artist

[H2O Man]

33. That's certainly possible!

My grandfather came to the US as a boy, in the 1870s. He loved baseball; one of his brothers, who he was very close to, was a boxer. Uncle Pat was born in New Jersey in the 1890s, and not only fought a long, tough career, but was a sparring partner for heavyweight champions, a trainer, manager, and promoter. His pro career ended in the 1940s. (He also worked on the railroads. He would find a tough, street-fighting kid in upstate NY, teach him to box, and promote all of the kid's early fights. That kid was Carmen Basilio, who went on to win the welterweight and middleweight titles. Carmen remained a family friend; he worked my brother's corner in his pro debut. I was honored to be able to introduce him to my children!)

The list of boxers the brothers knew and associated is vast -- a real "who's who" from that era. As you note, it was a brutal lifestyle. Much worse than today.And, for every one fighter who was successful, there were literally hundreds who absorbed terrible punishment for the money needed to support their families.

There was a good movie a while back, "Cinderella Man." It's based upon the career of James Braddock (also nicknamed, "The Bulldog of Bergen&quot . It shows the terrible conditions that even talented fighters competed under, when he turned pro in the late 1920s. A funny thing: for his first defense of the heavyweight title, he lived part-time at my great uncle's home. Uncle Pat helped train him. (Unfortunately for Braddock, though Uncle Pat had been a perfect sparring partner for those preparing to face the great Jack Dempsey, he wasn't able to be of much help to anyone preparing to fight a prime Joe Louis!)