Tragic Boxing Stories

[zelley]

ALEX SLADE another lost warrior

THE ALEX SLADE Story - another tragic boxing story of a lost warrior.
The teenager recently died following a bout in Queensland, Australia, but
the cause is still under investigation - Was it boxing or some other cause
that caused him to collapse and fall from his stool onto the canvas before being rushed to two hospitals??

[Greatest1942]

George Chuvalo was surrounded by tragedy, losing 3 of his 4 sons to drug overdoses.. His wife also comitted suicide shortly after the 2nd son died..

Its a very good one mate...Also I will like to say that Billy Miske's tale is as moving as it gets, died early and the manner of death was heart ripping to be sure.

Read this

"In a half hour thy were there, and Billy was telling Barton about the debts, the children and Christmas. When he had finished, Billy leaned forward with his big hands clasped between his knees. "George," he said, "you've always been my friend. Do one more thing for me. Don't write anything about me being sick.
Barton said, "Billy, do you realize if you fight you may die in the ring?"
Billy nodded. " George. I might as well die in the ring as sitting in a rocking chair waiting for it."
That ended the talk. Barton agreed to keep the secret.
Billy was far too ill to train for the fight. When newspapermen and boxing fans asked why he wasn't working out as usual at the Rose Room gymnasium in St. Paul, Reddy explained that Miske had a gym rigged up at his summer place on Lake Johanna and would do all his training there before leaving for Omaha to work out in public.
Actually, Billy was spending most of his time in bed, saving his strength. He left for Omaha only a few days before the fight. Oddly, he was still a fine-looking physical specimen; the illness that was destroying him had not caused him to lose weight or become haggard. Possibly the examination of fighters was merely cursory in those days, or it may be that only a test for kidney ailments (which was not given) would have revealed Miske's condition. At any rate, he had no trouble passing whatever examination there was.
The fight had a fiction-story quality. In the opening round of the match sports Writers at the ringside noticed that Brennan appeared much slower than he had been when he made such a good showing against Dempsey, while Miske was fast and smooth. For 12 1/2 minutes Billy was not a dying man, even to himself: he was Billy Miske, "the St. Paul Thunderbolt." It was all there -- aggressiveness, the nimble footwork, the "nitroglycerine" punches.
For the first two rounds the fighting was at close range, with Brennan doing considerable backing away. In the third round Billy hooked Brennan with a left and Brennan down, helpless. The bell saved him as the referee reached the count of five.
Brennan's seconds dragged him back to his corner and worked over him, but when he came out for the next round he was obviously still dazed by Miske's powerful punch in the third. Just as he got to the center of the ring Miske met him with a terrific right to the jaw, and he again crumpled to the canvas. He tried valiantly to get up, but couldn't, and was counted out.
As Billy Miske's arm was raised in the victor's salute he smiled, for the last time, at the crowd. "

Don't no if it is tragic or not but it touched my heart.

[Greatest1942]

Just to continue the story I started in previous post...

He received $2400 for the fight. He took the purse back to St. Paul and began to do the things he most wanted to do before the end came. He bought furniture to fill the rooms that had been empty since he and Mane sold everything except the beds, a kitchen table and a few chairs He went on his last duck hunting trip. Then, as the shop windows began to glow with Christmas red and green and tinsel, he went downtown again.
He bought a piano for Marie; she had a lovely contralto voice and had always wanted a piano of her own. He had a fine time choosing gifts for the children - a bicycle and a red coaster for each of the boys, dolls and a teddy bear for little Donna. There was enough money left for a Christmas check for his parents, and for a Christmas feast, and something Mane could put aside for the need that would come. His shopping finished, Billy went home exhausted and went to bed
The intense suffering had begun, but he was able to conceal it by staying in his room during the worst hours. He managed to smile and make cheerful conversation every time Marie or the children came near Marie still had no inkling that his illness was more than a bother-some passing ailment.
She trimmed the tree alone that Christmas Eve. After midnight, when she finished, Billy came downstairs in his pajamas and bathrobe to, admire it. Standing by his wife's side, he took her hand and looked for a long time.
"It's the prettiest tree we've ever had," he said.
Marie's heart swelled as she looked up at him. "Billy, you're so good to us!"
He grinned. "Merry Christmas, honey," he said, bending over to kiss her. "It is going to be a Merry Christmas, isn't it!"
He was in his place at the head of the table at Christmas dinner, looking the picture of a happy, carefree young father with his family around him In the gaiety and excitement of the children's delight over the tree and the toys, only Marie noticed that Billy ate very little When he caught her watching him he winked as if he were enjoying it like a hungry kid.
"Gee, honey," he said "you're a swell cook!"
The day after Christmas he was in agony. Waiting until Marie was rattling dishes in the kitchen, he got out of bed, stumbled to the telephone and called Jack Reddy. "For God's sake, Jack, come and get me," he whispered. "I can't stand the pain any longer."
Reddy came with his car. Marie terrified, helped her husband into the back seat, and Reddy drove to the hospital. As Mane sat in the car holding Billy in her arms, feeling him tremble with the pain, he told her the truth at last.
Six days later, on the morning of the New Year, Billy Miske died.

[Toney616]

Throughout the history of boxing, there are numerous tragic stories.

Ring deaths: examples include Benny Paret, Davey Moore, Johnny Owen, Jimmy Doyle
and many more

Tragic deaths outside the ring: some examples, Trevor Berbick, Al (Bummy) Davis,
Wallace (Bud) Smith, Zora Folley, Chic Calderwood, Bobby Horn, Marcel Cerdan,
and many more.

Some of the ring tragedies could be considered accidents such as that of the
former featherweight champion Davey Moore while others such as that of Benny Paret
is full of shady or troubling circumstances.

Of the non-ring related deaths, some were accidents such as Rocky Marciano,
Marcel Cerdan and Dave Sands, while some were due to heroics such as the
case of Rudel Stitch, and then there were those by homicide such as the sad case of Billy Papke, or the case of drugs with one such as Billy Bello.

A river of tears, teardrop by lonely teardrop, can never wash away the pain and sorrow of the lost potential or the washed-up lives, but we can remember them and thank
them for their brief contribution to the sport.

Moore died outside of the ring, he was crushed by a car

[McGoorty]

Excellent comments!, thanks

Looking through the history of the middleweight division, highlights many tragic moments
Such as Stanley Ketchell, Harry Greb, Tiger Flowers, Marcel Cerdan, Randy Turpin
and others.

Have'nt you guys heard of "the Maitland Wonder", I mean he's famous, you named every MW except for him, lets bring him back.

[zelley]

Billy bello

Recently, the name BILLY BELLO was mentioned in the TRAGIC BOXING STORIES and FALLEN WARRIORS. I remembered that I once had mentioned Billy, but it was in 2008 on the early posts on this site. Some may remember young Billy had promise and in one of his bouts that could have been a fresh starting point for a race to the welterweight title proved to be his last bout. He showed great promise in that bout with GASPAR ORTEGA but it turned out it would be his last when his bright lights faded to black when drugs scored the last KO.

[zelley]

Have'nt you guys heard of "the Maitland Wonder", I mean he's famous, you named every MW except for him, lets bring him back.

Well let's hear a tragic story about LES DARCY, McGoorty it is in your corner where we should start.

[Capaedia]

I feel I must repost this

The saddest cases of this are Joe Louis and Mike Tyson. Both of these men were forced to go on because they need/needed the money. Louis's case was probably one of the all around saddest stories in boxing. After Marciano knocked him out, and he had nowhere to go in boxing, he was forced to turn to pro wrestling and later as a greeter at Las Vegas. For all the money he made for people, for all the charities he donated to (on a few ocassions even giving his entire purse to military relief funds, yes all of it!), he ended up broke and ashamed.

One of the things that really pisses me off whenever I think of it is how the IRS taxed those purses that he donated to the military. THEY TAXED HIM ON MONEY HE GAVE TO THE GOVERNMENT!

When you think about all that Joe did, and how unfitting his life after boxing was, you're forced as a human being to come to a sad realization. Joe Louis: there can never be enough praise and love attributed to that name.

I also find Sonny Liston's life is pretty much a string of tragedies with a none-too-pleasant end.

Tortured as a kid, persecuted by the police, sent to prison, never truly accepted by the populace or really anyone for that matter.

Mike Tyson is somewhat similar, but at the very least he had and has a massive fanbase, even if he is today broke and hated by many for reasons unrelated to boxing.

[zelley]

Mike tyson

MIKE TYSON - I do not believe he was guilty for the things that sent him to prison in later years, and also believe if Cus had lived on, Tyson would have been more controlled.

[mkennedy25]

Peter McNeely had a pretty tragic life after his fight with Tyson. I think he was paid somewhere around a million dollars for the fight and just lived an out of control lifestyle spiraling him into Crack addiction and finally jail. My friend met him at a bar in Brockton and hung out with him a few times a few years back. I met him myself briefly a few times and watched him spar in this old gym above a library. He said after that fight he just did whatever he wanted and lived like a rock star.