1997- Veteran manager and trainer Al Braverman, NY. From complications of diabetes. He was 78 years old.
Trained Carlos Ortiz Managed Carmen Basilio, Chuck Wepner
Also managed or trained:
* Johnny Boudreaux
* Jose Roman
* Jimmy DuPree
* Frankie DePaula
* Bill Bossio
* Azumah Nelson
For the last two decades of his life he was Don King's aide running his New York office.
https://uploadir.com/u/7mb1htxp
1964- Floyd Patterson Pts 12 Eddie Machen, Solna, Sweden.
https://uploadir.com/u/k10fq6qv
1970- Shozo Saijyo W 15 Frankie Crawford, Sendai, Japan. Retains WBA featherweight title.
1975: Alfredo Escalera KO 2 Kuniaki Shibata, Mito, Japan. Wins WBC super featherweight title. https://uploadir.com/u/mpz065vk
1984- Jiro Watanabe W 12 Payao Poontarat, Osaka. Wins WBC super flyweight title.
1986- Elly Pical KO 3 Cesar Polanco, Djakarta. Regains IBF junior bantamweight title. https://uploadir.com/u/qy22om4n
1986- Hilario Zapata W 15 Dodie Penalosa, Manila. Retains WBA flyweight title.
1996- Marcelo Dominguez KO 10 Patrick Aouissi, Hyeres, France. Retains WBC cruiserweight title.
1997- Veteran manager and trainer Al Braverman, 78, dies in Yonkers, NY. From complications of diabetes.
1997- Raul Marquez KO 4 Romallis Ellis, Lake Charles, LA. Retains IBF junior middleweight title. https://uploadir.com/u/m42j2ibn
1997- Khalid Rahilou KO 7 Marty Jakubowski, Casablanca, Morocco. Retains WBA super lightweight title.
2008- Felix Sturm W 12 Randy Griffin, Halle, Germany. Retains WBA Middleweight Title.
1902- Panama Al Brown born Alfonso Teofilo Brown.
Bantamweight boxer from Panama who made history by becoming boxing's first Hispanic world champion. Brown was a native of the city of Colon.
Brown fought during the early 20th century, a period in which boxing records were not well kept. He is said to have fought professionally 164 times. He stood about six feet tall, an extraordinary height for a bantamweight/featherweight. His long arms contributed greatly to his success in the ring.
Brown was born in Panama in 1902. His first real exposure to boxing came when he saw American soldiers boxing when he was
a young adult clerk for the United States Shipping Board at the Panama Canal Zone.
Brown turned pro in 1922 under the guidance of manager Dave Lumiansky. His first fight took place on March 19, 1922, when he beat Jose Moreno by a decision in six at Colon. By his seventh fight, December 13 of that same year, he beat Sailor Patchett by a fifteen round decision, to earn the Isthmus Flyweight title.
On September 22, 1923, he had his first fight abroad, drawing (tying) in four rounds with Johnny Breslin, at New York. He very quickly established a presence upon relocating to New York in 1923.
His rise was rapid; A year after he moved to New York, The Ring magazine rated him the third best flyweight in the world. Two years later he was the magazine's sixth-rated bantamweight.
Brown began campaigning extensively across the United States before he suffered his first loss, at the hands of Jimmy Russo, December 6, 1924, by decision in twelve. He would later avenge that defeat, and he beat Davey Abad and Willie LaMorte before being disqualified in the first round against Frankie Murray, on July 11, 1926. Despite that setback, he kept on campaigning successfully and, on November 10 of that year, he knocked out Antoine Merlo in his Paris debut.
Panama Al Brown enjoyed Paris so much that he decided to stay there for the rest of his life. He became a hugely popular boxer in France, and fought on the European continent 40 times between 1929 and 1934. Over the next three years, he beat several fighters there, including former world champion Eugene Criqui.
During his time in France, Panama Al Brown joined La Revue Nègre of Josephine Baker as a tap-dancer. His lover Jean Cocteau did help him.
An interesting case happened when he fought Gustav Humery, on January 29, 1929. Brown and Humery had previously agreed that they would not salute by touching gloves before the fight, and when the bell rang, Brown struck quick, breaking Humery's jaw with his first punch and sending him to the floor. With the referee's count of ten seconds, the fight lasted a total of fifteen seconds, one of the quickest knockouts in boxing history.
Brown made history on June 18 of the same year by becoming the first Hispanic world champion in history. He beat Gregorio Vidal by a fifteen round decision to win the vacant world's Bantamweight title back at New York, in front of 15,000 fans.
Brown became a national idol in Panama, and an instant celebrity almost everywhere else in Latin America after his win. Suffice to say, magazines such as Ring En Español were talking about his achievement sixty years after Brown made history.
Soon after winning the title, he lost a ten round, non title fight to Battling Battalino, another legendary boxer.
Brown retained his title nine times and had countless other fights before a rematch with Hummey that ended in disaster: On May 17, 1934, Brown was disqualified in round six at Paris for using illegal tactics. A riot was formed and Brown suffered several broken bones and sent into semi-unconsciousness by fans before the police could help him. Twenty minutes later, the locale where the rematch was held had almost been entirely destroyed.
For his next title defense, on November 1 of the same year, he travelled to Tunis, Tunisia, where his opponent, Victor Perez, was counted out in round ten while on the floor, claiming that Panama Al had hit him with an illegal blow.
On June 1, 1935, he lost the title to Baltazar "Sangchili" Berenguer Hervás of Spain, by a fifteen round decision, at Valencia, Spain. They had a rematch on March 4, 1938, with Brown avenging his earlier loss with a fifteen round decision, but by then, Sixto Escobar of Puerto Rico had already taken the world Bantamweight championship. His rematch win over Sangchili in is believed to be his last great night and, bowing to Cocteau's wishes, Brown vowed to retire after one more fight. That came in 1939 against Valentine Angelmann in Paris (Brown stopped him in eight rounds).
With the advent of the World War, Brown moved to the United States, settled in Harlem and tried to find work of the cabaret sort he performed in Paris when not fighting. There was none and before long he was fighting again, but not well.
Panama Al Brown went on fighting until 1942, challenging unsuccessfully for the Panamanian Featherweight title on September 30, 1942, when he drew with Leocadio Torres, but retiring as a winner, defeating Kid Fortune by a decision in ten rounds on December 4 of the same year.
Not long after, he was arrested for using cocaine and deported for a year. He went back to New York afterward and, in his late 40s, was took a lot of beatings while serving as a sparring partner for up-and-comers at a gym in Harlem, making a dollar a round.
Panama Al Brown was 48 years old when he died from tuberculosis in New York City in 1951, without a dollar to his name. He had fainted on 42nd street in New York. The police thought he was drunk and took him to the station. Eventually he was transferred to Sea View Hospital. He died there on April 11, unaware that not long before, one of the newspapers in Paris had begun talks about organizing a fund drive to pay for his trip home.
Forty-one years later, Brown was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
After his death, writer Eduardo Arroyo wrote a biography about Panama Al, titled Panama Al Brown, 1902-1951.
Panama Al Brown's final record is believed to have been 123 wins, 18 defeats and 10 draws, with 55 knockouts, placing him in the exclusive list of boxers who have won 50 or more fights by knockout. He was the recognized bantamweight world champion for six years and over that time made 11 title defenses against the best bantamweights and featherweights of his era.
1929- Jimmy Carruthers (born James William Carruthers in Paddington, New South Wales
Carruthers was an Australian boxer, who became world champion in the bantamweight division.
Carruthers's boxing career started as an Australian representative at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. In his first-round match of the bantamweight competition, he fought Fred Daigle of Canada and won on points. He defeated Arnoldo Parés of Argentina in his second match. However, he had sustained an eye injury during his bout with Parés, and had to withdraw from the quarter-final match with the up coming gold medalist Tibor Csík of Hungary.
Carruthers joined the professional ranks in 1950, and was an immediate success. By then, he was being managed by Dr. Jim McGirr, and trained by "Silent" Bill McConnell.
He won the Australian Bantamweight title in 1951, the British Commonwealth title in 1952, and was regarded by the National Boxing Association as the World Bantamweight Champion. Carruthers became Australia's first universally recognised boxing World Champion. Great Australians of the past--including Young Griffo, Mick King, and Les Darcy--had all won world titles, but they had not received international acceptance at the time of winning their respective crowns. After defending his newly-won title against Vic Toweel in Johannesburg, and then against the American Henry "Pappy" Gault in Sydney, it was found that Carruthers was carrying a 30-foot-long tapeworm.
He was matched for a world title bout against the New Zealand Bantamweight Champion Lyn Philp. For unknown reasons the fight never went ahead.
After a non-title bout in Sydney, and a further title defence against Chamroen Songkitrat in Bangkok, Carruthers retired on 16 May, 1954. Among the fighters he defeated were Vic Toweel (twice); Pappy Gault; Bobby Sinn and Chamroen Songkitrat. He made a brief comeback in Melbourne in the early sixties in a non-title fight.
He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 1995.
He was married to Myra (née Hamilton) until his death and is survived by four children - Boyd, Ginna, Dimiette and Lukas. There are also a number of grandchildren. During the 1950s Jimmy owned the colourful Bells Hotel in Sydney's Woolloomooloo. After that he had a number of businesses, including several vegetarian takeaway and juice bars in Sydney.
He died after a long battle with lung cancer and Parkinson's disease.
1975- Jose Antonio Aguirre (born in Cardenas, Mexico)
Aguirre is a professional boxer in the strawweight (105 lb) division. He is the former WBC strawweight champion.