1960s Timeline

Mar. 31, 1962 - Middle-aged Archie Moore knocked out 25-year-old Alejandro Lavorante in 38 seconds of the 10th round last night in Los Angeles, and the exhausted Argentine heavyweight was carried from the ring on a stretcher. Moore gave Lavorante a boxing lesson for nine rounds of the scheduled ten-rounder. The crowd of 12,500 in the Sports Arena was hushed for a few minutes while Lavorante was apparently unconscious on the canvas. Lavorante was carried off but regained his s

Mar. 26, 1962 - Madison Square Garden has been the scene of two fatal fights in its many years as a boxing arena. One of them caused as much of a stir as the finish of Saturday’s Benny (Kid) Paret-Emile Griffith fight, but for different reasons. That was the meeting of Primo Carnera, the giant boxer from Italy, and Ernie Schaaf on Feb. 10, 1933. The other victim in the Garden was Georgie Flores (left), who succumbed after a semi-final bout with Roger Donoghue (right) in 1951.

Mar. 26, 1962 - Welterweight champion Emile Griffith, two long days after his greatest triumph, is living in a nightmare. “They say, ‘How come a sweet little boy like you who designs hats can turn tiger and hurt a man’s brain,’” Griffith said today. “They’re trying to get me to say I wanted to kill Paret. All I wanted was to be champion again. I didn’t want to hurt him.” Griffith was encountered today in a little room on the third floor of the New York State Athletic Commissi

Mar. 25, 1962 - Ruby Goldstein, the referee during Emile Griffith’s brutal championship victory over Benny Paret Saturday night, responded to charges of negligence today. The referee was charged by Manuel Alfaro, Paret’s manager, with acting too slowly in halting the battle that sent Paret to Roosevelt Hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Goldstein, a 56-year-old New Yorker who is considered one of the best in the business, stopped the fight at 2 minutes 9 second

Mar. 25, 1962 - Benny (Kid) Paret remains unconscious and in critical condition at Roosevelt Hospital this evening with brain injuries suffered when he lost the world welterweight title to Emile Griffith Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The 24-year-old Cuban boxer is being given little chance to survive. Paret underwent a three-hour brain operation early this morning to relieve pressure caused by blood clots on both sides of his head. Referee Ruby Goldstein is being c

Mar. 16, 1962 - Floyd Patterson will defend the heavyweight boxing title against Sonny Liston next summer. The two fighters signed a 10-page contract in New York today. It provides that the bout be held between June 18 and Sept. 30. “We’ve already received an offer of a million-dollar guarantee from Seattle,” said Tom Bolan, president of Championship Sports. “The other cities under consideration are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia.” Patterson today

Mar. 1, 1962 - “Turn of the Century Fights,” a group of film clips featuring boxing bouts of the late 1890s and early 1900s, will be televised by “Sunday Sports Spectacular” on CBS on March 11 at 2:30 p.m. Boxers to be seen include James J. Jeffries (left), Jack Johnson (right), Bob Fitzsimmons, Sam Langford, and Jim Corbett. #boxing #boxinglife #1960s #boxingtraining #boxinggloves #boxinghype #boxinggym #boxingnews #boxingfans #boxingfanatik #boxingcoach #boxingclub #boxingn

Feb. 28, 1962 - Cassius Clay of Louisville scored a technical knockout over Don Warner of Philadelphia in the fourth round of a scheduled ten-round bout tonight at Miami Beach Auditorium. “I would have let it go five, as I had predicted,” Clay said, “but he wouldn’t shake my hand. That made me mad.” Warner, 189 pounds, shook Clay, 195, in the third with a right to the chin and ran out of his corner when the bell rang for the fourth round. Unfortunately for Warner, he ran dire

Feb. 27, 1962 - Benny (Kid) Paret (left), the world welterweight champion, and Emile Griffith (right) of New York, former champion, today signed contracts for their third title fight at Madison Square Garden on March 24. Paret, from Cuba, and Griffith signed at the New York State Athletic Commission offices. Paret will receive a guarantee of $50,000 with the option of 40% from the gate and television. Griffith will get a $10,000 guarantee and a 20% option. #boxing #boxinglife

Feb. 18, 1962 - Ten rounds is a long way for a 41-year-old boxer to go against a target that fights back relentlessly. This was painfully obvious, especially to Sugar Ray Robinson, as he was beaten by young Denny Moyer at Madison Square Garden last night. The decision was unanimous. The 22-year-old Moyer thus avenged a setback administered by the former welterweight and middleweight champion at the Garden last Oct. 21. Moyer brought no extraordinary equipment for the task, me

Feb. 11, 1962 - Cassius Marcellus Clay punched with crisp efficiency last night and dispatched Sonny Banks of Detroit in a nationally televised heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden. Just as the undefeated Clay had predicted, the end came in the fourth round of the scheduled 10-round contest. However, just before Referee Ruby Goldstein halted the match after 26 seconds of the fourth, Banks recorded a signal achievement. He sent his 20-year-old rival to the canvas for the

Feb. 9, 1962 - The New York State Athletic Commission stripped Archie Moore of his world light-heavyweight title today for failing to defend it. In his last defense, Moore outpointed Giulio Rinaldi in June 1961. Commission rules call for a titleholder to defend at least once every six months. Moore turned pro in 1936. He won the light-heavyweight title on Dec. 17, 1952, by outpointing Joey Maxim. The Athletic Commission today also directed Harold Johnson of Philadelphia, who

Feb. 7, 1962 - Burglary charges against Johnny Saxton (pictured in 1955 between Tony DeMarco and Carmen Basilio), twice welterweight boxing champion of the world, were dismissed today in Queens County Court after he had been declared “punch-drunk and legally insane” at the time of his arrest. District Attorney Frank D. O’Connor of Queens moved for the dismissal after studying a psychiatrist’s report. Defense counsel had contended that Saxton, 31 years old, had “been left penn

Feb. 6, 1962 - Cassius Clay (pictured with trainer Angelo Dundee), a 20-year-old heavyweight from Louisville, told a gathering of New York ring writers today: “Boxing is not as colorful as it was in the past. We need more guys to liven it up, and I think I can help.” Clay, unbeaten in 10 fights, has a command of words not usually associated with a boxer. He also has confidence. The 1960 Olympic light-heavyweight champion doesn’t believe in starting at the bottom. “I want the

Feb. 5, 1962 - Cassius Clay (right), an undefeated heavyweight from Louisville, has been chosen to fight Sonny Banks (left) of Detroit in a substitute ten-rounder at Madison Square Garden Saturday night. Clay eagerly accepted the bout. “I’ll fight anybody from Floyd Patterson [the world champion] down to Sonny Liston or from Sonny Liston up,” he said today. Liston is regarded as the No. 1 challenger for Patterson’s crown. The 20-year-old Clay has scored seven knockouts in his

Jan. 22, 1962 - Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson (right) stated today that he would meet Sonny Liston (left) in defense of his heavyweight championship. He said he was not permitted to give the date of the proposed bout. Patterson, in an interview with Howard Cosell, said that he thought Liston “morally” deserved a shot at the title. He added: “Sometimes, many of us get off to a bad start. Liston has paid for his crimes. I met him at a boxing writers’ dinner and I think h

Dec. 5, 1961 - In a savage brawl that produced nine knockdowns, Floyd Patterson retained his world heavyweight championship by knocking out Tom McNeeley last night in the fourth round. The number of knockdowns were heavily in Patterson’s favor. He had his 23-year-old rival on the canvas 8 times. He himself was down only once — for a fleeting instant in the fourth. Although Patterson, a resident of Scarsdale, N.Y., completely dominated his Arlington (Mass.) rival, McNeeley sur

Dec. 5, 1961 - In Philadelphia last night, heavyweight Sonny Liston knocked out Albert Westphal in the first round. A right-handed blow caught the 5-foot-7-inch German on the left temple. Down like a sandbag he fell, flat on his face. He lay there — and lay there and lay there. They could have counted 50 over him. When Westphal finally was revived, he was in no shape even to be helped to his corner. They brought the stool to the middle of the ring and he sat there, looking th

Nov. 30, 1961 - Dinner and a showing of the closed-circuit telecast of the Floyd Patterson-Tom McNeeley fight in Toronto and the Sonny Liston-Albert Westphal fight in Philadelphia will be given at New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant Monday night. The charge is $65. The dinner/fight program will be a benefit for the Wiltwyck School for Boys. Patterson (pictured left with Tom McNeeley) is a former Wiltwyck boy. The school is an interracial treatment center for troubled boys, 8 t

Nov. 29, 1961 - Cassius Clay stopped Willi Besmanoff in the seventh round tonight for his 10th consecutive victory since turning professional. After using Besmanoff as a punching bag through the first six rounds, Clay dropped the German-born heavyweight for an eight-count midway in the seventh. Besmanoff arose and took a right to the jaw that dropped him on his back. Referee Don Asbury stopped the fight. The 19-year-old Clay had Besmanoff, 29, bleeding from the mouth in the f