Explore Black History

Carmen Basilio

Basilio after defending the world title in 1955
Personal information
Nickname	The Upstate Onion Farmer
Born	(1927-04-02)April 2, 1927 Canastota, New York, U.S.
Died	November 7, 2012(2012-11-07) (aged 85) Rochester, New York, U.S.
Height	5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (169 cm)
Weight	Welterweight Middleweight
Boxing career
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	79
Wins	56
Win by KO	27
Losses	16
Draws	7

Carmen Basilio (born Carmine Basilio, April 2, 1927 – November 7, 2012) was an American professional boxer who was a two-time Undisputed Welterweight Champion and Undisputed Middleweight champion, beating Sugar Ray Robinson for the latter title.^[1][2] Basilio combined technical ability with an aggressive approach; although capable of boxing strategically, he was generally inclined to engage opponents in close-range exchanges.^[3] An iron-chinned pressure fighter, Basilio was a combination puncher who had great stamina and eventually wore many of his opponents down with vicious attacks to the head and body.

In 1957, The Ring magazine named Basilio Fighter of the Year and he won the Hickok Belt, a trophy that was awarded to the top professional athlete of the year. The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1955 and 1957. Basilio also holds the distinction of being in The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year in five consecutive years (1955–59), a feat unmatched by any other boxer.

In 2002, Basilio was voted by The Ring magazine as the 40th greatest fighter of the last 80 years.^[4] He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.^[5]

Basillio was born and raised in Canastota, New York. His parents were Italian immigrants, and he was one of ten children. His family owned an onion farm where he worked during his youth, his family faced economic difficulties as many immigrant families did during the Depression-era and World War II years. This upbringing instilled in Basilio a strong sense of toughness and resilience.^[6][7][8]

After high school, Basilio enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. While stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, he began boxing for the Marines, competing in inter-service bouts. This military experience gave him discipline and introduced him to a structured fighting environment that would set the stage for his professional career. Then after receiving an honorable discharge and heading back home Basilio started his professional boxing career.^[6][9]

Basilio began his professional boxing career by facing Jimmy Evans on November 24, 1948, in Binghamton, New York. He knocked Evans out in the third round, and five days later he beat Bruce Walters in only one round. By the end of 1948, he had completed four bouts.

He started 1949 with two draws, against Johnny Cunningham on January 5 and against Jay Perlin 20 days later. Basilio campaigned exclusively inside the state of New York during his first 24 bouts, going 19-3-2 during that span. His first loss was at the hands of Connie Thies, who beat him in a six-round decision on May 2, 1949. He fought Cunningham three more times during that period. Basilio won by knockout in two rounds on their second meeting, Cunningham won by a decision in eight in their third fight, and Basilio won by a decision in eight in their fourth.

In the middle of that 24-bout span, 1950 rolled over and Basilio met former world champion Lew Jenkins, winning a 10-round decision.

For fight number 25, Basilio decided that it was time to campaign outside of New York state, so he went to New Orleans, where he boxed his next six fights. In his first bout there, he met Gaby Ferland, who held him to a draw. He and Ferland later had a rematch, Basilio winning by a knockout in the first round. He also boxed Guillermo Giminez there twice, first beating him by knockout in eight and then by knockout in nine. In his last fight before returning home, he lost by a decision in 10 to Eddie Giosa.

For his next seven bouts, Basilio only went 3–3–1, but he was able to avenge his loss to Giosa by winning a ten-round decision over him in Syracuse.

In 1952, Basilio went 6–2–1. He beat Jimmy Cousins among others that year, but he lost to Chuck Davey and Billy Graham. The draw he registered that year was against Davey in the first of the two meetings that year.

In 1953. Basilio started winning big fights and rose in the welterweight division rankings. He secured his first world title fight, against Cuba's Kid Gavilán for Gavilán's world welterweight championship.

Before fighting against Gavilan, he beat former world lightweight champion Ike Williams and had two more fights with Graham, avenging his earlier loss to Graham in the second bout between them with a 12-round decision win and drawing in the third. Basilio lost a 15-round decision to Gavilan and went for a fourth meeting with Cunningham, this time winning by a knockout in four. Then he and French fighter Pierre Langois began another rivalry with a 10-round draw in the first bout between the two.

In 1954, Basilio went undefeated in eight bouts, going 7-0-1 with 2 knockouts and defeating Langois in their rematch by decision.

In 1955, Basilio began by beating Peter Müller by decision. After that, Basilio was once again the number one challenger, and on June 10 of that year he received his second world title try, against world welterweight champion Tony DeMarco. Basilio became world champion by knocking out DeMarco in the 12th round.

After winning the title, Basilio had two non-title bouts, including a ten-round decision win over Gil Turner, before he and DeMarco met again, this time with Basilio as the defending world champion. Their second fight had exactly the same result as their first bout: Basilio won by a knockout in 12.

For his next fight, in 1956, Basilio lost the title in Chicago to Johnny Saxton by a decision in 15. Saxton's manager, mafioso Frank "Blinky" Palermo",^[10] was later jailed along with his partner Frankie Carbo for fixing fights. Basilio said of losing his title to the referees' decision: "It was like being robbed in a dark alley."^[11] In an immediate rematch that was fought in Syracuse, Basilio regained the crown with a nine-round knockout, and then, in a rubber match, Basilio kept the belt with a knockout in two.

After that, he went up in weight and challenged ageing 36- year-old world middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson, in what may have been his most famous fight. He won the middleweight championship of the world by beating Robinson in a 15-round split decision on September 23, 1957. The day after, he had to abandon the welterweight belt, in accordance with boxing's then rules. In January 1958, Basilio was awarded the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year for 1957.^[12]

In 1958, he and Robinson met in a rematch on March 25 and Robinson barely regained the title with a controversial 15-round split decision. The judges scored 71 to 64,5 and 72 to 64 Robinson while the referee scores 66 to 69 Basilio. Although Basilio's left eye was totally swollen shut from the 6th round on, many of the ringside press thought Basilio won the fight.^{[citation needed]}

From that moment, and until his retirement in 1961, he fought only sporadically, but three of his last fights were attempts to recover the world middleweight title, losing twice to Gene Fullmer: by a TKO in 14 at San Francisco and by a TKO in 12 in Fullmer's home state of Utah (in Salt Lake City), and also later, when he lost a 10-round decision to defending world champion Paul Pender.

In between those fights, he was able to beat Art Aragon, by knockout in eight and former world welterweight champion Don Jordan by decision in ten. His fight with Pender for the title was also his last fight as a professional boxer.

In 1960, Basilio testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and the Monopoly during its investigation of the International Boxing Club of New York and the influence of organized crime on boxing. Basilio told the Subcommittee about Frankie Carbo and Frank "Blinky" Palmero and Carbo's aide, Gabriel Genovese, a cousin of Mafia Don Vito Genovese who was convicted in 1959 of being an unlicensed boxing manager.^[13][3] He called for a house cleaning of professional boxing. His testimony revealed that his former managers had to pay off organized crime for his title shots and that he essentially had a behind the scenes manager in Genovese.^[14]

Evidence submitted to the subcommittee showed that Basilio's on-the-record managers, John DeJohn and Joseph Netro, paid Carbo frontman Gabriel Genovese $39,334.41 and approximately $25,000, respectively, during the time Basilio fought for and defended his welterweight and middleweight titles.^[15]

Carmen Basilio retired with a ring record of 56 wins, 16 losses and 7 draws, with 27 wins by knockout.

After his retirement, Basilio worked for a time at the Genesee Brewery in Rochester, NY. Later Carmen, a high-school dropout, taught physical education at Le Moyne College in Syracuse for over 20 years.^[16] Basilio, who was also a member of the United States Marine Corps at one point in his life, was able to enjoy his retirement. Carmen was associated with a sausage company, frequently confused with a separate sausage company run by his brother Paul, for which he was a salesman.

During the 1970s, his nephew Billy Backus became world welterweight champion after having a shaky start to his own boxing career, and Basilio declared on the day that Backus became champion that, to him, Billy's winning the title was better than his winning it himself.

In 1990, Ed Brophy decided to build the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, to honor the two world champions who were born there: Basilio and his nephew. Although Backus isn't a member of the Hall of Fame, Basilio is, along with many of the fighters he met inside the ring. There is also a statue in his honor located in the Hall of Fame.

In the late 1990s, Basilio became seriously ill, requiring triple bypass heart surgery. Doctors were able to repair his heart.

Even in his later life Basilio still remained active in the boxing community, he also enjoyed lighter pursuits such as doing crossword puzzles, bowling, and golf. He was also still connected with fans through autograph events, including a tour in England and Wales. He split his time between Rochester, New York, and Deltona, Florida, while frequently returning to Canastota to visit friends and the boxing Hall of Fame.^[17]

Basilio was interviewed for an HBO documentary on Sugar Ray Robinson called "The Bright Lights and Dark Shadows of a Champion". He mentioned that although he respected Robinson's talents in the ring, he did not like him as a person.

In 2010, "Title Town USA, Boxing in Upstate New York" by historian Mark Allen Baker was published by The History Press in 2010 and identifies Canastota as the epicenter of Upstate New York's rich boxing heritage. The book includes chapters on both Carmen Basilio and Billy Backus. The introduction was written by Edward P. Brophy Executive Director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He died aged 85 in 2012, he survived by his wife Josephine Basilio and their four children.^[18][19]

After his death the international boxing Hall of Fame put their flag at half mass in tribute, his childhood home in Canastota has also been designated as a historic site.^[20]

After his passing Edward Brophy, executive director of the Boxing Hall of Fame stated “Carmen put Canastota on the worldwide boxing map and gave the village's residents a sense of pride that couldn't be matched anywhere in the world," "During the 1950s and 1960s Carmen was everyone's hero. They talked about him in the coffee shops, grocery stores, gas stations and barbershops all the time. And they still talk about him today. He was loved, respected and idolized. His career and memories will last forever in the Village of Canastota."^[21]

• 2× Sugar Ray Robinson Award: 1955, 1957
• The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year: 1957
• 5× The Ring magazine Fight of the Year: 1955 vs. Tony DeMarco II, 1956 vs. Johnny Saxton II, 1957 vs. Sugar Ray Robinson I, 1958 vs. Sugar Ray Robinson II, 1959 vs. Gene Fullmer I
• Awarded the Hickok Belt as America's top athlete in 1957
• Inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1977
• Inducted as an inaugural member of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame 1987^[9]
• Inaugural member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990
• Inducted into the Le Moyne athletics Hall of Fame in 1991 (honorary member)^[22]
• Inducted into the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2002^[23]
• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Boxing Honoree (1994)^[24]

• NYSAC welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)
• NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)
• NYSAC middleweight champion (160 lbs)
• NBA (WBA) middleweight champion (160 lbs)

• The Ring welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)
• The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs)

• New York State welterweight champion (147 lbs)

• Undisputed welterweight champion (2×)
• Undisputed middleweight champion

• List of welterweight boxing champions
• List of middleweight boxing champions
• List of left-handed boxers

• Boxing record for Carmen Basilio from BoxRec (registration required)

• Eastside Boxing
• Carmen Basilio's bio at the Internet Movie Database
• Carmen Basilio interviewed by Mike Wallace on The Mike Wallace Interview October 26, 1957
• N.Y. Times Obituary for Carmen Basilio
• Strange Days: The Johnny Saxton Story, The Cruelest Sport
• boxrec.com Archived April 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• boxrec.com Archived April 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• boxrec.com Archived April 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• boxrec.com Archived April 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
• boxrec.com Archived April 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine