Posted: 24 Mar 2008, 04:15
Sandy Saddler, Boxing Champion, Dies at 75
NEW YORK TIMES By GERALD ESKENAZI September 22, 2001
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A9679C8B63
Sandy Saddler, a former featherweight boxing champion who was best remembered for his four bouts with Willie Pep, died Tuesday at the Schervier Nursing Care Center in the Bronx. He was 75.
He had Alzheimer's disease, his son, Sandy Jr., said.
Although Saddler had 162 fights, his career was defined by his brawls with Pep, whom he first met in 1948 and knocked out to win the featherweight title. Pep won in a rematch, but Saddler, who had fearsome knockout power, captured their last two fights.
It took Saddler 93 fights to get a title shot. He was so feared that he was forced to fight virtually every place but New York, where he was raised. He met opponents in South and Central America, Cuba and Hawaii. Fighters at his weight rarely possessed his punching ability.
Saddler had never before fought at Madison Square Garden when he met Pep there for the 130-pound [sic: 126 pound] featherweight crown in October 1948. At the time, Pep was the favorite and considered among the sport's greatest fighters. But he could not withstand the punching of Saddler, who knocked him out in the fourth round.
Pep regained the title in a 15-round decision at the Garden in February 1949. Saddler took the title back in September 1950 with an eighth-round knockout. In their fourth and last battle, in September 1951, the clever Pep, who was ahead of Saddler on points, was absorbing such a fearful beating that he refused to answer the bell for the 10th round.
Saddler, a native of Boston, was 144-16-2 with 103 knockouts.
He was knocked down only once by a rival featherweight. He was still the featherweight champion when he was forced to retire in 1957 after sustaining an eye injury in a taxi accident. He also had a one-year reign as junior lightweight champion, beating Orlando Zulueta in December 1949 for the crown.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
His later years were marked by serious health problems. In 1989, the police found him wandering one night in Brooklyn, his wallet and his glasses lost. Saddler spent seven weeks in Bellevue Hospital Center where, his son said, he was found to have dementia and memory loss. But his son said it was unclear whether the illness resulted from boxing.
Saddler was bitter in later years when he reflected on the acclaim that followed Pep but had eluded him. He believed racism played a part. ''They talk about him being one of the greatest fighters that ever lived,'' Saddler said, ''but I beat him three times in four meetings.''
After becoming a successful trainer, Saddler once reflected on how the fight game had changed. Boxers were being rushed along.
''I can't see how some kids are given title fights after only 15 or 20 fights,'' he said.
NEW YORK TIMES By GERALD ESKENAZI September 22, 2001
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A9679C8B63
Sandy Saddler, a former featherweight boxing champion who was best remembered for his four bouts with Willie Pep, died Tuesday at the Schervier Nursing Care Center in the Bronx. He was 75.
He had Alzheimer's disease, his son, Sandy Jr., said.
Although Saddler had 162 fights, his career was defined by his brawls with Pep, whom he first met in 1948 and knocked out to win the featherweight title. Pep won in a rematch, but Saddler, who had fearsome knockout power, captured their last two fights.
It took Saddler 93 fights to get a title shot. He was so feared that he was forced to fight virtually every place but New York, where he was raised. He met opponents in South and Central America, Cuba and Hawaii. Fighters at his weight rarely possessed his punching ability.
Saddler had never before fought at Madison Square Garden when he met Pep there for the 130-pound [sic: 126 pound] featherweight crown in October 1948. At the time, Pep was the favorite and considered among the sport's greatest fighters. But he could not withstand the punching of Saddler, who knocked him out in the fourth round.
Pep regained the title in a 15-round decision at the Garden in February 1949. Saddler took the title back in September 1950 with an eighth-round knockout. In their fourth and last battle, in September 1951, the clever Pep, who was ahead of Saddler on points, was absorbing such a fearful beating that he refused to answer the bell for the 10th round.
Saddler, a native of Boston, was 144-16-2 with 103 knockouts.
He was knocked down only once by a rival featherweight. He was still the featherweight champion when he was forced to retire in 1957 after sustaining an eye injury in a taxi accident. He also had a one-year reign as junior lightweight champion, beating Orlando Zulueta in December 1949 for the crown.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
His later years were marked by serious health problems. In 1989, the police found him wandering one night in Brooklyn, his wallet and his glasses lost. Saddler spent seven weeks in Bellevue Hospital Center where, his son said, he was found to have dementia and memory loss. But his son said it was unclear whether the illness resulted from boxing.
Saddler was bitter in later years when he reflected on the acclaim that followed Pep but had eluded him. He believed racism played a part. ''They talk about him being one of the greatest fighters that ever lived,'' Saddler said, ''but I beat him three times in four meetings.''
After becoming a successful trainer, Saddler once reflected on how the fight game had changed. Boxers were being rushed along.
''I can't see how some kids are given title fights after only 15 or 20 fights,'' he said.
