Hayes Edward SANDERS
(Heavyweight)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lugar de Nacimiento: Los Angeles, California, USA.
Fecha de Nacimiento: 30 marzo 1930.
Record Amateur: 48 fights;
43+,
5-
Heavyweigh Olympic Champion (Helsinki, 1952)
Record Profesional: 9 fights; 6+ (3 KO),
2-, 1=
Falleció el 14 de diciembre de 1954 a consecuencia de una lesión cerebral sufrida en su última pelea profesional.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
''Big Ed'' Sanders was a one-time member of the Idaho State College boxing team. In 1952, he represented the United States in the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, winning the gold medal in heavyweight boxing, possibly the first African-American to win gold in that category.
Since receiving that envelope, Russell Sanders has been researching his father's life for a book about the man he never really knew.
Big Ed was a California native, growing up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. He and his brother were competitive siblings.
''When my dad was 12, he and his brother Donald would collect coffee cans and fill them with cement and connect two of them with a steel rebar. Those were their weights,'' Russell said.
Ed grew to be a 6-foot-4, 220-pound athlete. He played defensive end on Compton Community College's football team, and joined the boxing team.
It was in 1950 at the National Junior College Boxing Championships in Ogden, Utah, that Ed attracted the attention of then-Idaho State boxing coach Dubby Holt and then-football coach Babe Caccia.
''He had a good left hand, and for the big man that he was, he was a real orthodox, skilled boxer,'' Holt recalled.
Holt and Caccia recruited Ed to Idaho State to play football, run on the track team and box. ''I remember his first collegiate bout. We boxed Washington State, or it may have been Gonzaga. He knocked out the Pacific Coast champion in his first bout,'' Holt said.
While attending Idaho State, Ed fell in love with Pocatellan Mary LaRue, who was then secretary at Idaho State's athletic department. She would later become his wife.
''My mom says she didn't really like boxing. But she liked watching my dad box. He had a fluidity about him that she loved. But she would cringe when he would hit someone. She felt sorry for the other guys,'' Russell said.
As Mary cringed, many fighters fell before Ed's devastating left-right-left combinations, his powerful jab and his uppercut. Russell described when one of Ed's opponents — himself a 240-pound heavyweight — suffered a left uppercut to the body that lifted his feet off the canvas.
In 1951, Ed was drafted into the U.S. Navy, but continued his boxing career. He toured Europe, winning various tournaments, including a Golden Gloves tournament in Berlin, Germany, enhancing his reputation.
With a broken hand, Ed knocked out Kirby Willis, a fighter who had beaten Ed once before, to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
The Olympics turned out not to be much of a challenge for Ed. He knocked out a Swiss fighter in the first round, defeated two Italians in his second and third fights, and KO'd a South African in the second round of a semi-final bout.
The only thing standing between Ed and the gold was Swedish fighter Ingemar Johansson. But facing Ed was too much for him. Russell has a copy of the film of that bout.
''The guy got freaked out. He was so nervous. He just didn't want to compete,'' Russell said. Describing it as a bout is truly a misnomer. A fearful Johansson did his best to stay as far away from Ed as he could, creating an almost comical scene. Finally in the second round, the referee stopped the fight, disqualifying Johansson in disgust.
''That was my Dad's only regret about the Olympics. He was ecstatic to have won the gold medal, but he really wanted to work for it,'' Russell said.
After winning the gold medal, Sanders served 2 years in the Navy and turned professional in Boston where he was stationed. With an amateur record of 43 wins and 5 losses, he had every reason to expect a successful career.
But Ed's dreams were cut short on Dec.12, 1954 in Boston. He was fighting Willy James in preparation for an upcoming bout with world champion Rocky Marciano.
A blow to Ed's head during the fight with James aggravated an injury Ed had suffered in a sparring match, fracturing a bone in his skull, and causing spinal fluid drainage.
''He had had some problems, but he was hard-headed and wanted to go on with the fight,'' Russell said.
At 24, Big Ed Sanders died of injuries related to the sport that had become his life.
Palmarés Amateur de Ed Sanders:
Fecha | Lugar | Oponente | Resultado | Categoría | Evento |
1949
18 marzo 1949 | Los Ángeles, USA | George BEDELICH (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Tope Universitario |
29 abril 1949 | Pasadena, USA | Frank SUEUGA (USA) | KOT-3 - Oro | +80 kg | Campeonato Junior de la NCAA |
1950
11 abril 1950 | Ogden, USA | Bill EWING (USA) | KOT-1 (0:30) | +80 kg | Campeonato Junior de la NCAA |
12 abril 1950 | Ogden, USA | Charles KALANI (USA) | W-3 - Oro | +80 kg | Campeonato Junior de la NCAA |
1951
12 marzo 1951 | Pocatello, USA | Paxton BEAL (USA) | KOT-2 - Oro | +80 kg | Torneo Intercolegial |
30 marzo 1951 | Sacramento, USA | Hubert CHRISTIANSON (USA) | L-3 | +80 kg | Campeonato Intercolegial de la Costa Oeste |
6 abril 1951 | East Lansing, USA | Jack SCHEBERIES (USA) | L-3 | +80 kg | Campeonato de la NCAA |
1952
23 enero 1952 | San Diego, USA | Harold KILMAN (USA) | KO-1 (1:08) | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de San Diego |
23 enero 1952 | San Diego, USA | Kirby SEALS (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de San Diego |
25 enero 1952 | San Diego, USA | Billy NAPIER (USA) | W-3 unan - Oro | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de San Diego |
7 febrero 1952 | Los Ángeles, USA | Russell LEE (USA) | KOT-3 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de Southland |
9 febrero 1952 | Los Ángeles, USA | Duke JOHNSON (USA) | KOT-1 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de Southland |
9 febrero 1952 | Los Ángeles, USA | George WOODS (USA) | W-3 - Oro | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de Southland |
26 febrero 1952 | Chicago, USA | George HARRISON (USA) | KO-1 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados del Oeste |
26 febrero 1952 | Chicago, USA | Ernie FANN (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados del Oeste |
27 febrero 1952 | Chicago, USA | Oscar PHARO (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados del Oeste |
7 marzo 1952 | Chicago, USA | George BECKTOL (USA) | KO-1 (1:42) | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados del Oeste |
7 marzo 1952 | Chicago, USA | Herb ELLISON (USA) | W-3 - Oro | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados del Oeste |
24 marzo 1952 | Nueva York, USA | Norvel LEE (USA) | L-3 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados Inter-Ciudades |
25 abril 1952 | Dublín, IRL | John LYTTLE (IRL) | W-3 | +81 kg | Irlanda vs. USA |
29 abril 1952 | París, FRA | Bernard NAVARRE (FRA) | KO-2 | +81 kg | Francia vs. USA |
3 mayo 1952 | Berlín Occidental, RFA | Willi WALOSCHEK (RFA) | KO-1 | +81 kg | Alemania Federal vs. USA |
10 mayo 1952 | Roma, USA | Franco CAVICCHI (ITA) | W-3 | +81 kg | Italia vs. USA |
7 junio 1952 | Omaha, USA | Lloyd WILLIS (USA) | L KO-1 | +80 kg | Eliminatoria Pre-Olímpica del Medio Oeste de los Estados Unidos |
17 junio 1952 | Kansas City, USA | Lloyd WILLIS (USA) | KO-1 (1:31) | +80 kg | Eliminatoria Pre-Olímpica de los Estados Unidos |
18 junio 1952 | Kansas City, USA | Bob RANCK (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Eliminatoria Pre-Olímpica de los Estados Unidos |
18 junio 1952 | Kansas City, USA | Jack SCHEBERIES (USA) | KOT-2 (1:20) - 1er lugar | +80 kg | Eliminatoria Pre-Olímpica de los Estados Unidos |
29 julio 1952 | Helsinki, FIN | Hans JOST (SUI) | KO-1 | +81 kg | XXV Juegos Olímpicos |
31 julio 1952 | Helsinki, FIN | Giacomo DI SEGNI (ITA) | KO-3 | +81 kg | XXV Juegos Olímpicos |
1 agosto 1952 | Helsinki, FIN | Andries NIEMAN (RSA) | KO-2 | +81 kg | XXV Juegos Olímpicos |
2 agosto 1952 | Helsinki, FIN | Ingemar JOHANSSON (SUE) | W DQ-2 - Oro | +81 kg | Gana XXV Juegos Olímpicos |
1953
30 enero 1953 | San Diego, USA | Joshua PAIGE (USA) | KO-1 (1:43) -Oro | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de San Diego |
5 febrero 1953 | Los Ángeles, USA | George WOODS (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de Southland |
6 febrero 1953 | Los Ángeles, USA | Fred TAYLOR (USA) | W-3 - Oro | +80 kg | Guantes Dorados de Southland |
24 febrero 1953 | Chicago, USA | Willie CRAWFORD (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Torneo Guantes Dorados del Medio Oeste |
24 febrero 1953 | Chicago, USA | Bob RANCK (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Torneo Guantes Dorados del Medio Oeste |
25 febrero 1953 | Chicago, USA | Bill GRAHAM (USA) | KO-2 | +80 kg | Torneo Guantes Dorados del Medio Oeste |
6 marzo 1953 | Chicago, USA | Bob JEFFERSON (USA) | W-3 | +80 kg | Torneo Guantes Dorados del Medio Oeste |
6 marzo 1953 | Chicago, USA | Charles "Sonny" LISTON (USA) | L-3 - Plata | +80 kg | Torneo Guantes Dorados del Medio Oeste |
Nota: Éste palmarés está incompleto y puede ser inexacto.
Responsable:
[email protected]
(Ultima actualización: Abr-24-2007)
Special thanks to Vladimir Branicki.