Boxer Sonny Banks Is Dead

May 13, 1965 - Lucian (Sonny) Banks, one of the few fighters ever to floor Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay, died this morning of a head injury after having been knocked out (pictured) in a bout at the Philadelphia Arena Monday night.

Banks was knocked out by Leotis Martin in the ninth round of a scheduled 10-rounder. He regained consciousness 20 minutes later and was taken to Presbyterian Hospital.

When he lapsed into unconsciousness again, Dr. Robert Andrew, a neurosurgeon, operated to remove a blood clot on the brain. Banks was in a coma after the surgery until his death at 4:35 a.m. today.

Dr. Andre ruled out Martin’s finishing punch as the direct cause of Banks’ death. The knockout punch hit Banks under the left ear, near the hinge of the jaw. He sank to the floor near his corner, finally striking his head on the floor in front of one of the judges.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission said Banks and Martin had been examined by its medical staff at the weigh-in and that nothing had been detected that would indicated their lives or wellbeing were in danger.

Martin heard the sad news this morning over the radio.

“I was praying for him,” Martin said. “I couldn’t get it out of my mind for three days. But when I heard the news, I said to myself, ‘I’m just glad it wasn’t me.’”

Edna Martin told her husband she wanted him to quit fighting.

“She said she was scared,” he said. “I told her I’m going to think it over for a few weeks.

Martin lives with his wife and 7-month-old son in North Philadelphia. His house is six blocks from the Budd plant, where he makes $100 a week working on a metal press. He didn’t take off to train for the fight.

Walking to work this morning, Martin began to wonder when he would be granted a reprieve for his haunting thoughts.

“It seems like everybody is looking at me, saying, ‘He’s the one that did it.’ You don’t want them looking at you.

“The guys at work were good to me. They told me, ‘Don’t worry.’ They said I shouldn’t give up fighting. It wasn’t my fault.

“I know I wasn’t trying to do it. I know it wasn’t my fault. If I thought it was my fault, I couldn’t fight again.” He said he wouldn’t go back to the gym for at least a month. He has canceled out of a six-rounder on the Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston card May 25.

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