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Live by the Boxing Sword – Die by the Boxing Sword

SwordBy Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett

“Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not by the powers they are graced with.” –Brodi Ashton

The great sports journalist Jimmy Cannon didn’t call boxing, “The red light district of sports” without good reason. Criminals, villains, pimps, hustlers, and madmen have all found a place within its dark corners throughout its long and storied history. For this reason literary types and filmmakers are drawn to its incandescent energy knowing they’ll find some of the best – and worst – human stories there.

There is an undercurrent that runs through almost every boxing narrative you ever came across. Hard scrabble upbringings, poverty, drugs, violence, and sometimes death. And that’s just for starters. Knowing this why do we expect participants in the most brutal of sports to be without fault outside the ropes?

If a young man comes from a broken home, a bad neighborhood, the wrong end of the socio-economic ladder, or often a combination of all three, maybe he’s seen things he shouldn’t have seen. Maybe he’s had bad examples set for him by less than stellar role models, been a victim of abuse, or seen a friend or family member die needlessly at the end of a barrel of a gun.
And how can he not be psychologically scarred by the experience? It is bound to have affected him deeply in some way. So he becomes numb; tries to harden himself against the pain of terrible experiences.

And hard men fight. In and out of the ring. But sometimes the hellfire rage that serves them so well in the squared circle boils over into everyday life and people get hurt. And very often its the people who are closest to the fighter that suffer the most.

Vicki LaMotta, who died ten years ago, at the age of 75, once asked Jake, after taking yet another beating from him, “Why did you do it. What possible reason could you have had for hurting me so badly?”

He said, “I did it because I loved you. I thought I could frighten you into coming back to me. Besides, I get hurt all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.”

LaMotta – a world middleweight champion – made no distinction between himself and his wife. Physical pain was just something he’d learned to deal with as part of his occupation as a professional boxer. For him inflicting and receiving pain was a form of communication – a way to express himself. He failed to see that most normal people have no such point of reference. Let’s not make any excuses for violence outside the ropes – domestic or otherwise. There are none. But boxing is violence sanctioned and sometimes fighters walk a thin line between life in the ring and life outside of it.

When a fighter commits a violent crime his actions are not the result of boxing. Rather they are the result of human fallibility. Insecurities run amok, depression, or a latent criminal tendency. But he is a boxer and by association the sport comes under the microscope of close scrutiny through no fault of its own. But can these conditions be exacerbated by boxing? And are they made worse by changes in some fighter’s brains due to head trauma? Suffice to say more conclusive studies need to be done to determine whether behavioral changes are a direct result of a career in the prize ring or not.

This is a dark subject. If you’re easily offended or of weak constitution look away. This is not for you. However, if your mind is open to looking deeper into the shadowy corners of the sport we all love then read on.

But be warned it gets worse. Much worse.

When the vortex of fear, pain, and rage become too much it has led to actions – and consequences – from which there is no way back for the victim. Here are five boxers who lost control of their emotions outside the ring and got blood on their hands in the worst possible way.

Billy Papke – “The Illinois Thunderbolt”

37-11-6, 30 KO’s, 8 ND

Billy Papke was the kind of fighter who gave no quarter in the ring and expected none in return. He knocked out Stanley Ketchel – the legendary middleweight champion – in eleven rounds to annexe the world title in 1908. It was the second meeting between the pair, Ketchel having ended Papke’s 29 fight unbeaten streak just three months earlier. Papke hit Ketchel with a big right as he extended his arm to shake hands and was allowed to get away with it. Ketchel, unable to recover, was knocked down five times in the 1st round, and eventually battered to defeat in the 12th.

They met for a third time on Thanksgiving Day later that year and Ketchel administered a savage beating, knocking Papke out in the 11th round to regain the title. A fourth meeting in July, 1909 saw Ketchel win a twenty round decision. Ketchel was murdered in October of 1910 – shot in the back by a jealous farmhand – and Papke again claimed the middleweight world title.
After a couple of lackluster defenses he lost the championship to Frank Klaus in Paris in 1913 – suffering two knockdowns, and being disqualified for head butting in the 15th round. He fought 3 more times before hanging up his gloves in 1919. In retirement Papke’s relationship with his estranged wife, Edna, was marred by conflict. On Thanksgiving day, 1936, he left his job as a greeter at a bar in Los Angeles and went to Edna’s apartment with his .38 revolver. Papke killed her and then turned the gun on himself.

Charles “Kid” McCoy – “The Corkscrew Kid”

86- 6-6, 64 KO’s, 6 ND

Variously described as controversial, extraordinary, and a fraudster, McCoy was one of the best and most popular fighters of the 1890’s. He invented the corkscrew punch which twisted at the moment of impact, tearing the flesh of his opponents on contact. The following is a good example of his fraudulent nature. McCoy persuaded welterweight champion Tommy Ryan – who had previously employed him as a sparring partner – that he was dying of consumption and needed cash to pay his medical bills. Ryan didn’t bother to train and was duly knocked out by a perfectly conditioned challenger in 15 rounds in March, 1896. In 1897 McCoy won the middleweight world title by knocking out Dan Creedon. He decided not to defend it and promptly moved up to heavyweight with mixed success. He retired in 1916, at the age of 43.

Married 8 times to six different women, McCoy led a stormy life outside the ring. In 1924 he shot and killed a woman he was living with and was convicted of manslaughter. He also wounded 3 other people in the same incident. Given 24 years he only served 7 before being released. McCoy would later marry again. He committed suicide in 1940.

Randy Turpin – “The Leamington Licker”

66-8-1, 45 KO’s

For 64 days in 1951 Randy Turpin was at the pinnacle of his profession. In July of that year he beat pound for pound king Sugar Ray Robinson to win the undisputed world middleweight championship. Robinson, 128-1-2 at the time, was regarded as the premiere fighter in the sport – his lone defeat against Bronx hard man Jake LaMotta had been avenged five times at this point.

Turpin began boxing as a cook in the Navy. As an amateur he won the national title in 1945 and 1946 before following his two brothers into the pro ranks. His unusual strength and power punching brought him 40 wins in 43 starts – 1 draw – and British and European title honors by the time he challenged Robinson for the world title in July, 1951. Turpin fought like a man possessed and outpointed Robinson over 15 rounds in a massive upset. Two months later Robinson would regain the title in the rematch in New York with a desperate attack, after suffering a severe cut, to stop Turpin in the 10th round.

After Robinson’s retirement Turpin would contest the vacant championship with Carl “Bobo” Olsen losing a 15 round decision. Turpin would retire in 1958. His money long gone Turpin found work in his manager’s scrapyard. Later, he and his wife operated a small transport cafe. Eventually he filed for bankruptcy. In May of 1966, Turpin received a final demand from the tax authorities for settlement. His cafe also faced condemnation to make way for a garage. On May 17th, Turpin took his 17 month old daughter to an attic bedroom, shot her, then shot and killed himself. His daughter survived.

Carlos Monzon – “Escopeta”

87-3-9, 59 KO’s,1 NC

Considered by many to be one of the greatest middleweight champions of all time, Carlos Monzon was a beloved figure in his native Argentina. Monzon began his pro boxing career in 1963. After losing 3 of his first 22 bouts – 1 draw, 1 No Contest – he never lost another fight – in a career total of 100 contests. For thirteen years between 1964 – 1977 Monzon was the best middleweight fighter on the planet. He racked up an unbeaten run of 82 consecutive fights and made 14 successful defenses of the title he won in 1970.

Tall and rangy with a granite chin and heavy hands he stopped 59 of 100 opponents in a thirteen year pro career. In challenging for the world middleweight title Monzon knocked out Italian superstar Nino Benvenuti in the 12th round with a picture perfect right to the head. In the rematch Benvenuti was stopped in the third round. Unfortunately Monzon’s life outside the ring was not so competent. In 1988, Monzon was convicted of murdering his common-law wife by throwing her off a balcony and sentenced to 11 years in prison. In 1995, while returning to prison after a furlough for good behavior, Monzon was killed in a car crash.

Edwin Valero – “El Inca”

27-0, 27 KO’s

In 2001 reports began to emerge from the Southern California boxing gym scene of a mysterious Venezuelan boxer who was dishing out beatings to established pro fighters and champions. Eventually footage surfaced of these sparring sessions. I couldn’t see his face as he wore headgear and big gloves during sparring, as did his opponents. But his skill set was phenomenal. Superb footwork, head movement, and crushing power were all in evidence. In one sparring session I remember seeing him KO a world rated lightweight contender. Boom! One counter shot and he was out on his feet. I saw him hurt Erik Morales too. This kid was for real. His name was Edwin Valero.

But trouble was on the horizon. Valero suffered a head injury in a motorcycle accident in February 2001 – which required surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. Eventually cleared to continue boxing he turned professional in 2002 and put together 12 first round knockout victories before failing a New York State Athletic Commission MRI brain scan in 2004. As a result his U.S. boxing licence was taken away and he could no longer fight in American rings. It looked like his career was over but promoters in Japan expressed an interest in him so he went to continue his boxing career there. Valero was so superior to the opposition he fought in Japan he didn’t need to use the higher level skills he’d displayed in Southern California. He became wild and reckless but the highlight reel KO’s kept coming.

Eventually Valero would return to the U.S. to fight on a HBO televised card in 2009 after being cleared in the State of Texas. By this time he had complied a record of 25-0, 25 KO’s and had won world title belts in the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions.

After two more knockout wins there was talk of possibly matching him with the Filipino fighting icon Manny Pacquiao. They were probably on a collision course. It was a fight that the fans were hoping would get made at some point down the road. And Valero was actively pursuing it by moving up to the junior welterweight division where Pacquiao was the reigning champion.
But it wasn’t to be. Things came to a terrible conclusion in April 2010 when Valero was arrested for killing his wife in a hotel room in the Venezuelan city of Valencia. Just hours later the boxer would be found dead in his jail cell after he hung himself with his own clothing.

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