The night Sam Baroudi died began with anticipation and excitement. Before the curtain opener, many fans in the
mezzazine of the Chicago Stadium were talking about
Ezzard Charles who, after six years as a professional, was
making his first Chicago appearance since winning the golden
gloves. Make no mistake about it. Charles may have been
underrated after he retired, but on February 20, 1948, he
was considered one of the best boxers in the world and the
uncrowned light-heavyweight champion. After all, this was a
man who regularly beat up the cream of three divisions. That
he was facing a relatively unknown middleweight from Akron
was of no concern, especially among those who had seen
Baroudi fight a local favorite, Bob Satterfield, the previous
month.
It was generally accepted that Sam Baroudi had been invited
to the windy city for a December showcase before serving as
fodder for the cannons of Bob Satterfield. In the grand plan
of Chicago boxing, Satterfield--after dispensing with Baroudi--
would go on to meet Ezzard Charles and, hopefully, look good
enough to demand bigger paydays and prettier dance partners.
Sam Baroudi, a veteran of 46 fights, did his part by winning an
easy decision over one Albert Johnson before Christmas, and
was immediately rewarded with a contract to meet Satterfield
on January 24 as part of the Beau Jack-Johnny Bratton card.
The plan unraveled, however, when Baroudi, climbing off the
canvas twice, dropped Satterfield at least six times before put-
ting him away inside of two rounds! Based on that performance,
Baroudi would now face the great Ezzard Charles.
The first nine rounds were hard fought. Although there were
no knockdowns, Baroudi took considerable punishment from
the ever steady, stalking Charles. In the tenth and final round,
Ezzard Charles finally caught up with his lighter opponent.
Absorbing a flurry of punches, the Akron boxer slumped to the
canvas in a sitting position. With his left arm limp across the
bottom rope, Sam Baroudi began to flay his right arm and glove
against the ring floor in meter with the timekeeper as if count-
ing himself out! At the count of ten he fell back and collapsed
into a coma.
There was no "Good Night, Ladies" played on the Stadium pipe
organ. There was only an uneasy quiet that seemed to spread
row-by-row from ringside to the second balcony. Within minutes
Sam Baroudi was carried from the ring to a waiting ambulance
and taken immediately to Cook County Hospital. Ezzard Charles
and his manager, Jake Mintz, soon followed to spend an all
night vigil outside of Baroudi's room. The crowd, stunned and
somber, waited until the ring was cleared of officials and then
filed quietly out of the arena and, like my father and me, went
home to wait for the morning paper to read about what we had
witnessed on the night Sam Baroudi died.
The Night Sam Baroudi Died
Ezzard Charles was so devastated by this fight that he announced his retirement the next day, and he meant it. His backers (Elkus and Dyer) had psychiatrists, clergymen..whoever they could get to convince him to continue. He did but was never the fully aggressive fighter he was before this. He REFUSED to continue a conversation with any mention of Baroudi for the rest of his life.
The night Sam Baroudi Died
Two years after Sam Baroudi died, I was in Chicago to see middleweights Joe Arthur and Billy Brown fight in the outdoor arena behind Marigold Gardens. In the afternoon I took a streetcar to the Midwest Gym on West Madison Street to watch Ezzard Charles prepare for his title defense against Freddie Beshore. When I entered the second floor gym, I saw the champion at the far end of the room, sitting on the edge of a rubdown table and dressed in street clothes. From one of the
men around him, I learned that Ezzard did not feel well and
would not be working out. He struck me as a kind man, but
not very approachable for a 16-year-old farm boy and I kept
my distance. However, as I had just paid 50-cents for a photo-
graph of the champion, one of the Spunt brothers--Danny or
Sammy--took the photo to him and asked him to autograph it
and he did so graciously.
men around him, I learned that Ezzard did not feel well and
would not be working out. He struck me as a kind man, but
not very approachable for a 16-year-old farm boy and I kept
my distance. However, as I had just paid 50-cents for a photo-
graph of the champion, one of the Spunt brothers--Danny or
Sammy--took the photo to him and asked him to autograph it
and he did so graciously.
for some reason I've had it in my head for years that Baroudi himself had once killed a fighter in the ring, but it isn't in his record and I can't find confirmation so I must be wrong.
i know this happened to at least one fighter who both caused a death and was later killed himself. i checked out Jackie Darthard thinking it might have been him, but again can find no reference.
Does anybody know what fighter I'm referring to? i think the Baroudi time frame is about right.
Simon....even if he felt sick that day,Ezzard would have been pleased if you had come over. He was quiet, especially when in training, and a little shy, whiich came off as being aloof, but one on one he was warm and friendly.
i know this happened to at least one fighter who both caused a death and was later killed himself. i checked out Jackie Darthard thinking it might have been him, but again can find no reference.
Does anybody know what fighter I'm referring to? i think the Baroudi time frame is about right.
Simon....even if he felt sick that day,Ezzard would have been pleased if you had come over. He was quiet, especially when in training, and a little shy, whiich came off as being aloof, but one on one he was warm and friendly.
Newton Smith was killed in a fight with Baroudi.Jaclem wrote:for some reason I've had it in my head for years that Baroudi himself had once killed a fighter in the ring, but it isn't in his record and I can't find confirmation so I must be wrong.
i know this happened to at least one fighter who both caused a death and was later killed himself. i checked out Jackie Darthard thinking it might have been him, but again can find no reference.
Does anybody know what fighter I'm referring to? i think the Baroudi time frame is about right.
Simon....even if he felt sick that day,Ezzard would have been pleased if you had come over. He was quiet, especially when in training, and a little shy, whiich came off as being aloof, but one on one he was warm and friendly.
Cheers for the confirmation ,mus tsay though, Williams actually won on disq.not lost,just checked up. Richardson seems to have fought more dangerous fighters than Cooper ,He fought williams,valdes and a ageing Ezzard Charles ,Cooper was always steered away from big punchers although has to be said he did fight Johhanson.
...oops...have to make a correction here on something i wrote about charles. i said his last fight was a disq loss to dick richardson in 1956. he did retire after that one.....really should have earlier....but then came back in 1958 for four fights and continued in 1959 for three...and his last fight was against alvin green, which he lost.
of his three fights in 1959 he won just one....and to those of us who cared so much about the man, that, ironically, was the saddest of the them. he fought a policeman who had had a few fights....of no significance at all....dave ashley...who was just a fat out of shape guy. the oh-so-sad part...the fight took place in a high school gymnasium in a small incorporated village in cincinnati....before a small turn out. here was the only man to ever decision joe louis, go fifteen brutal rounds with marciano, emerge from so many wars as the greatest light heavyweight in perhaps that divisions greatest era, reduced to this pathetic level.
of his three fights in 1959 he won just one....and to those of us who cared so much about the man, that, ironically, was the saddest of the them. he fought a policeman who had had a few fights....of no significance at all....dave ashley...who was just a fat out of shape guy. the oh-so-sad part...the fight took place in a high school gymnasium in a small incorporated village in cincinnati....before a small turn out. here was the only man to ever decision joe louis, go fifteen brutal rounds with marciano, emerge from so many wars as the greatest light heavyweight in perhaps that divisions greatest era, reduced to this pathetic level.
Ezzard Charles last fight is a very very sad ending for a gifted great.Been studying fighters from the fifties lately and so many had sad lives (talking heavyweight contenders). Tommy Jackson,s plight was very sad,in many ways I feel what he achieved with his learning disabilitys is very great ,I know many here consider him a joke but with such a handicap of birth to overcome, I think he did pretty good.Clarence Henry also I believe ended up nearly blind and in bad health ,terrible thing to see onece great warriors in such a pitiful way.