Carmen Basilio Interview: "Ray Robinson Hardest Puncher!"

[DiMOOSE1]

Class act, and witty.

Q: "Carmen, who was the toughest guy that you shared the ring with?"

A: "All of em, I had brave managers. They weren't afraid of anybody."

[LGiHLadd]

do you look back with fondness on your boxing career ?

it was my life i loved it.

that somes up a real boxer right there !

[MrBumboclart]

Some guys are just born TOUGH! LaMotta was, Basilio was, Fullmer was! And you what what? All of them are still alive into their late eighties and with no physical or mental damage! Tough, tough, tough, tough guys!

[emekonen]

@MrBumboclart Yea, this crash dieting thing people do to make wake really punishes the body.

[johnosandra]

since i was 11 ive dreamed of fighting in madison sqaure garden

[G3ner0]

I love carmen there is something about him now that makes him like a teddy bear lol.

Cussing, Old, Tough Teddy Bear.

[MrBumboclart]

naturally tough guy, look at him - still 100% healthy and almost into his 90's, it's the same with guys who had good chins, they never seem to die! haha

[averagejoe511]

Carmen Basilio is soo tough he use to eat onions as a kid instead of apples.

[bozez1]

@averagejoe511 Used too?

[emekonen]

@averagejoe511 Yea no doubt, Church Norris aint got nothing on Basillio

[MrBumboclart]

Tough tough tough guy, I've seen guys take less punches than Basilio, get sick quicker and die sooner. This guy is made out of steel, pure and simple to be so healthy in such an old age after going through what he did, respect due.

[cv003799]

perhaps the toughest son of a gun ever to enter this world

[Rasclot222]

Basilio was a tuff boxer with a good chin. He would trouble any fighter today and beat the hell out of them.

[jkoff76]

Carmen Basilio's jaw is made from granite!!!

[cheetoh32]

HAHAHA, ohhhh man, that sh*t cracks me up... The end is definitely Uncle Carmen! Every time I see him, he still throws a few jabs my way and tells me I had it comin', LOL....

[daufas]

Carmen Basilio is all class

[SweetHeartBoyNr1]

what the name of the song :D

[wcr26]

The class and humility of this man should be a lesson for all of todays 'professionals'. So many of these guys think it's cool to run around talking shite, direspecting everyone etc.

I'd like to see them involved in the type of wars Basilio battled, just once, then see how they run their mouths.

[Boxing426Fan]

ive met carmine before i shuke his had told im a huge fan he said" were ya from kid?" i sayed rochester NY he said "good kid"

[AlamoCityCello]

Class Act!

[abudujana13]

Carmen Basilio a real good fighter!!!

I have so much respect for him!!!

[LUCIFERVAMPIRO]

"I don't have a favourite fighter right now...But I pulled for all of them...To do well"...Carmen Basilio...The epitome of class!!!...

[Tsoto247]

carmen lives down the street from me on boxwood dr

[connymat]

Carmen would have ko paulie within 2-3 round!! I would bet alot of money on it, and i dont have much, ha ha.

[stotabball10]

carmen basilio is my great uncle :)

i love you uncle carmen.

[lizardman77]

Styles make fights and Basilio's style as well as Fullmer's gave Robinson hell, period.

[AIMANALI]

@lizardman77 Basillio and Fullmer gave Robinson trouble NOT there styles. If you say that it was their styles than that means that one can learn THAT STYLE and do the same. now you just know that is not the case. that only an equally great fighter can do what they did. Peace

[Penetzi]

"I had brave managers, they weren't afraid of anybody." hahaha

[redjam40]

Can you imagine if Carman was 30 years old and Sugar RAY Robinson was 30 years old fighting for the belt.

Robinson would have stopped Carmen. Even knocked him out in fact.

He was that good, and everyone knew this from rival trainers to rival boxers.

[yaiqab]

This guy still refuses to give Robinson his credit. If it wasn't for Robinson, no one would care about this guy. A fighter isn't a great fighter because he's tall; he's great because he's great. Robinson used perfect leverage, which is what made his height an asset.

[aschindler22]

just type of guy he is...he came from welter and took robinsons title i heard robinson dint like him either

[dan32113]

@yaiqab You don"t no shit, Carmen Basilio was in The Ring Fight of the Year 4 Years running, 1956 1957 1958 1959. no one has ever done that my boy. ever!

[eluminated]

@yaiqab Jesus christ, give him a break; he's 600 fuckin years old. Basilio was a great fighter and you're talking about him like he was some kinda bum.

[TheTartanSoldier]

@yaiqab No wonder, Robinson demanded ridiculous purses for his fights with him or he wouldn't give Basilio a title shot.

"This fella has had very few paydays during his lifetime. Let's face it...I'm the fella that's making the gate. Don't I have the right, inasmuch as I'm signing away my services to get all that they are worth to me?"

Sounds like someone Basilio would like.

So get your facts straight before insulting such a great warrior.

[duskejw]

A Marciano clone,terrific pound for pound fighter

[1ssBolter]

haha some what

[vanderpant2116]

he is one of those tough italian immigrants who would do anything to earn a buck.

[lumpagogo]

One intersting note is that Carmen fought Italo Scortichini three times and never did enough to win any of them.

[nurvrax]

Still sharp after a monumental career and advanced years. One of the greats.

[xotatumxo]

love this man

[EDDYECOYLE]

carmine was a gladiator. legend.

[ExplosiveThinMan]

Their first fight I thought Robinson edged him but it really couldve gone either way. If they used the same logic they did later with Ali {you have to take it from the champ clearly} then I think Sugar gets it.

Carmen was an IBC fighter {house fighter} and he had the advantage.

In the 12th or 13th round Ray hits Carmen with his A+ lefthook and hurts him bad but doesnt finish him. It was the same punch that KOd Fullmer before.

One of the best punches Ive seen someone stand up to.

[TheMillionManMan]

hahaha thats a tight name

[mrBandG]

what a great man...

[Quicknsick]

Hahahaha "Why'd I hit him low? He had it coming"

[Bronson1886]

What was his mothers maiden name because my late great uncle jim said that carmen was his cousin my great uncles name was James Capo and my Grandma was Caroline capo until she was married and then it was madden and then my mother was born and was named rosemarie madden and then she married and became rosemarie grisanzio and then there is me john grisanzio

[tonyskins19]

is he dead or in a nursing home

[judaschongo]

credit has to be given to Basilio! he's much smaller than Robinson but out muscled and defeated him. In the 2nd fight unbelievable he finished on his feet a testament to his fortitude; his eye had some of the worst swelling I've seen. Basilio has been very critical of labeling Robinson the greatest middleweight of all time; not P4P greatest though.

[JoeWCal66]

Common dude Robinson was an old man when Basilio got him.

[judaschongo]

somewhat true; Robinson was 37 to Basilio's 30 but that was somewhat offset by the fact that Robinson could carry the weight better at 160 and the fact that Carmen was considered a small welterweight.

[ExplosiveThinMan]

At 37 most fighers are well past it. Especially all the fights Robinson had. I think he was close to 200 fights around that time. At least 150.

Thats alot of ring miles to go with being so old. Carmen was good though. He was about as tough as they come.

He had sneaky skills that suprised SRR. Basillio had a short jab and threw short precise punches inside. He had more boxing IQ that given credit for.

[ilovemyjava]

robinson was great. it's ridiculous how people now say a 38 year old with 47 fights is old.

they are softer now that's what they are.

[MartinFoshizzle]

@ilovemyjava Who was a champion afer 38?

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@ilovemyjava Sugar Ray was also old at 38. You shouldn't be boxing after 35,even 30. Boxing is a young mans game. Look what happend to Ali, Louis,Sugar Ray and so many others. Let them have a life after the fightgame, don't let them become vegetables.

[ilovemyjava]

@bcibibcibcpCB i know he was old at 38 and agree with what you said. BUT look at how many fights he had when he was 30. they wanted to tight the best and HAD to fight the best. unlike now, because now they make millions to fight mandatory jokes.boxing was a competitive sport, now it´s a competitive BUSINESS

[mitjandjija]

@bcibibcibcpCB Look at what hapened George Foreman,Archie Moore,Joe Walcott,Bernard Hopkins,Vitali Klitschko.If they were listening you they will retired and not made such great careers after 35.Boxing is not young game anymore.Today fighters are considered to be in their prime in 30s not 20s,expecialy heavyweights.

[bcibibcibcpCB]

And what happend to Louis, Robbinson, Ali, JQuary and his brothers, Patterson, Pep, Tayler, Jimmy Elis, and so on.

You shouldn't be fighting past 35. And forget about it that those old fighters are still as good as in their prime. They just don't have great compitition anymore. Moore was old in the end of the 50's, a weak era, the same counts for Vitali and Walcot. Foreman had hand pick fights. Hopkins at 80 procent was still better then the young fighters he beated.

[mitjandjija]

@bcibibcibcpCB I dont believe you said that 50s is weak era.Joe louis was taken cocain,Quary was done at hi late 20s,Ali and Frazier was done much before 35 because of their brutal fights 71 and 75,Patterson was doing very well in his late years of career.Its not about ages its about punishment fighter had taken during career.Some fighters are finished in their 20s,some 30s and some are doing great in their 40s.They are much important things than fighter age excpecialy in today boxing.

[mitjandjija]

@bcibibcibcpCB And Mike Tyson said in some interview that fighters usualy dont get old they lose hunger,their mind is not in boxing they stop being fighters.It is not phisichaly it is mentaly.I think Tyson knows that thinks litle better than you and I.He was student of maybe greatest teachers of boxing Cus Damato.

[bcibibcibcpCB]

That was a nice quote ofcourse, romantic but ofcourse it doesn't work that way. You simply lose your reflexes and speed because of age and the cumulated effect of punches to the head. Tyson is a good example of that.

By the way, you don't seem to get it why i named those men. They all had serious neurological problems like boxers dementia and they were plants a decade after their career. That's what I'm talking about, what point has it to fight as an old man and get punch drunk syndrome.

[mitjandjija]

@bcibibcibcpCB We lose our reflexes after 40 not 35:

According to the latest research, our brain is fastest at 39 and afterwards declines 'at an accelerating rate.'

When the sheath deteriorates, signals passing along the neurons in the brain slow down. This means reaction times in the body are slower too.

[bcibibcibcpCB]

@mitjandjija Were did you find that research? Because every research I ever seen says the brain alreadty starts to decline (very slowly) at 25.

But it realyt doensn't matter, you can clearly see that athletes sdeclines at 28-30. Especialy in boxing, were the brain has to take so many punches.

Besides that, my point was that the brain can't take a long boxing career.

[tickyul]

@ilovemyjava Yeah, you are right. People like to crow about Ali being the greatest. Sugar Ray Robinson was so much better than Ali, he could dance and box up a storm, then, BAM, put your lights out, hit you like a bag of bricks.

[ilovemyjava]

@tickyul ali was a great heavyweight. but he struggled too much against frazier (who in my opinion would lose to many of the 90s and 2000s heavies) and beat foreman in very "special" circumstances. i mean, foreman in US in normal surroundings and mentally prepared would beat ali. people also talk a lot abou cleveland williams as being the fight ali looked the greatest. if we do a little research we will find williams was suffering from numerous health problems but hey, thats how myths r born.

[bxnyfordham]

@ilovemyjava you honestly believe Frazier would struggle against 90's and 2000's heavyweights? Have you using mind altering drugs?

[ilovemyjava]

@bxnyfordham frazier vs david tua=tua win by ko

 frazier vs holyfield=holyfield wins on points

frazier vs lennox lewis=frazier vs foreman 3

frazier vs klitsckos=frazier vs foreman 4 and 5

frazier vs tyson=tyson by ko (remember frazier vs quarry?... now compare quarry to tyson)

frazier vs ibeabuchi= ike by ko all in their prime against prime frazier.

my opinion.unfortunately we cante see those fights..

[ilovemyjava]

@tickyul ali agreed to fight foreman in an extremely hot place, where ropes were too lose (dundee admited ropes were too long but denied responsability), in a stadium full of people screaming annoying chants against foreman, and he even benefited from a postponement of the fight due to a cut foreman sustained. foreman was big and relied on strenght, so the temperature alone would be enough to give ali an edge.

[tickyul]

@ilovemyjava Well, Ali won the fight, but, it was not like he did not get the shit punched out of himself. I mean, Ali had a granite chin and an iron will to win, so people assume that when Ali got hit and did not fold he was not REALLY taking the full punch, I think we are seeing the truth now, loose ropes or not. Look at Foreman, clear as a bell because LOTS of his fights ended in the first or second round, lots of guys ready to crap their pants before fighting him.

[johnosandra]

@ilovemyjava ruined by money and ruined by non legitimate titles

[emekonen]

@ilovemyjava Bernard Hopkins reminds me of the old school type fighters, even before he was old and still whippin people.

[rddaos]

@ilovemyjava

boxing has evolved since the 50s. the fighters are better. the science of fighting has improved. it used to be possible for 38 year olds to still fight. nowadays thats almost impossible

[iljn1988]

@rddaos, can tell you've never even put on a pair of boxing gloves. "Science of fighting has improved?" Maybe you think Antonio Margarito is a better technician and more skilled boxer than Kid Gavilan, but only you will think that. There are slicksters & crude sluggers in all eras, today is no exception. And boxing training today is largely the same as it was 100 years ago - look at Freddie Roach's regimes. Boxing's thousands of years old, 50 years isn't suddenly going to make a huge difference.

[rddaos]

@iljn1988

yet the science of sports training has taken a quantum leap in the last 50 years. sure computers have been around for thousands of years, yet we've gone from abacus to pocket-sized supercomputer in a just a few years. just as it used to be possible for pot bellied baseball players, and chubby middle-aged "body-builders" to be considered great, it USED to be possible for boxers with ugly underhanded lame boxing styles and slow clubbing punches to be considered great.

[iljn1988]

@rddaos, you're missing the point. Boxing isn't, never has been and never will be a sport which is majorly reliant of technology, primarily due to it not being a sport of figures (ie, times and distances). You say boxing training has moved on 'quantum leaps' - so why does today's best trainer, Freddie Roach, use all the same regimes he learned from the great old timer Eddie Futch, his tutor? As I said, 'ugly' techniques were no more common then than they are now. Look at Froch, Margarito etc.

[rddaos]

@iljn1988

Boxing training 50 years ago = do jumping jacks + drink raw eggs.

[iljn1988]

@rddaos, I think someone's been watching too many Rocky films and Mike Tyson KO reels, before trying to pass themself off as a real boxing fan.

[rddaos]

@iljn1988

being a "fan" is pathetic. who's fanatically obsessed with watching men who couldnt last a quarter round against a brown bear pretend as if the human body was designed for combat? losers, that's who

[BigDaddyHeavyweight]

@iljn1988 correct. too many movies - too little reality.

[skaha77]

@rddaos We didn't eat raw eggs, or do jumping jacks. skip rope 4 rounds, 1 on speed bag to get your wind, 5 rounds heavy bag, 2 on seppd bag, 2 on the medicine ball, one ournd rest.. then spar 3 rounds, rest one spar 2 more.. speed bag, cool down. Tha's an hour ten, try it OH do 150 situps before you start. do 200 pushups when you're done. Also with d bells, 2 x 12 shoulder press and 2 x 10 biceps curls. U guys know so much

[rddaos]

@skaha77

nowadays we know that the body plateaus and therefore more than 40 pushups is a waste of time...

[skaha77]

@rddaos  Are you a fitness expert? Or just another U Tube wizard? HEY, I have trained in both generations. Still workout, just for fun.

[MrRoyalFatness]

@rddaos

I can barely believe what I'm reading. You've got to have some nerve, coming in here and dismissing some of the hardest motherfuckers in boxing with a wave of your hand, confidently (perhaps even arrogantly) stating that their generation of fighters is outdated due to a change in training methods. If that is truly your belief, then I guess Sugar Ray Robinson would have no case fighting in todays division, right?

[rddaos]

@MrRoyalFatness

it's not so much i'm dismissing them... i'm simply pointing out that in the same way a 4 minute mile used to be viewed as an umbreakable boundary, robinson was once viewed as the best example of a boxer

[MrRoyalFatness]

@rddaos

Once? He still is. Anyone with the least knowledge of boxing knows that Sugar Ray Robinson is still the best boxer to ever lace 'em up. Nobody ever did it quite like he did. There is no denial that he was as close as you come to the perfect package. And I'd bet my nuts that he would KO Mayweather in his glory days, for unlike Mayweather, Robinson still had the KO punch regardless of his weight.

[BigDaddyHeavyweight]

@skaha77 well spoken.

[skaha77]

@BigDaddyHeavyweight LOL well someone has to edujamacate these punks

[cuntyballs07]

Basilio was the toughest of the tough men

[ptldjk]

I'll give you that...indeed. Lamotta was pretty tough too.

[jasdiofa]

Hmm.. You can't stereo type bout the fighters the reason why most of them where more dedicated is the fact that it was mostly in the days of the great depression and they needed it a lot more then now. Well most atleast. But dont stereo type plz.

[THEUNDEFEATEDCHAMP]

Hats off to the great Carmen Basilio!!!!!! Roughest toughest man in the division in his day. An alltime great from the golden years.

[deathmetalmilitia]

Basilio was a badass no doubt. Read his book "The Onion Picker" good stuff.

[flashingswords]

Great, thanks for posting. A great fighter from one of boxing's best eras.

[strgyn]

I met him and he socked me right in the nuts after a handshake! Awesome fighter!

[tariqshabazz]

Great to hear about the oldtimers. They had a different kind of toughness. They were authentically tough.

One of my personal favorites was Beau Jack

[itsabird]

definitely.. authentically tough and more skilled at different aspects of the game too. didn't have to rely on raw ability as much.

[tariqshabazz]

Good point. The oldtimers actully learned the hard way how to fight and that was by fighting. So you're right, their skills and technique was more properly developed. They had better trainers too.

[ptldjk]

Beau Jack 's style reminded me of Mike Tyson

[mrphilosophical]

well said, they were made tough by life