Bert Sugar: A Friend To The Sweet Science

The boxing historian Bert Sugar passed away this week.  A writer, publisher and sports commentator, Mr. Sugar was a fixture on ESPN, sports television and documentaries.  When I first saw him years ago, I didn’t like him very much.  He seemed more interested in playing the vintage newspaper man character than providing good information.  But I grew to like and respect him as it became clear that he knew a lot more than his younger colleagues.  Even if I didn’t always agree with his analysis, he brought integrity, humor and insight to my favorite sport.  In 2007, I was a guest at The Cotto-Mosley fight at Madison Square Garden.  I sat in the press section with my friend, Richard O’Brien, and seated in front of us was Mr. Sugar.  Mr. Sugar didn’t say much during the fights, but when the main event was over, he turned around and we spoke briefly, even sharing a joke.  I watched him make the social rounds, converse with friends, including Lennox Lewis, whom Bert was lecturing to long enough for me to snap a photo.  However, the moment I remember most is the image I captured here.  During the National Anthem, while the crowd stood at attention, Mr. Sugar didn’t remove his hat.  Instead, in a very personal gesture, he bowed his head, and ever so slightly, lifted his fedora.

Jerry Quarry at Peace

This photo was taken at the memorial service for the heavyweight boxer Jerry Quarry.  I was there as a guest

 of the Quarry family, having become friends with Jerry’s older brother James, who hired me to develop The Jerry Quarry Foundation web site.

When I was growing up, Irish Jerry Quarry was one of my heroes.  He competed in a field of brilliant fighters that included Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Ron Lyle, Jimmy Ellis, George Foreman and others, during one of the sport’s best and most competitive eras.  Among the most popular boxers of the day, Jerry was a smart, classy fighter and a dangerous counter puncher with a granite chin.

For all his talent however, Jerry was also an insecure, erratic, and at times foolhardy competitor, who lacked the training discipline to back up the risks he took in the ring.  A crowd pleaser with a tragic personal life, Jerry never won the world championship, but during his prime, he lost only to the best. When George Foreman returned to boxing and regained a world championship at the age of 45, Jerry attempted his own comeback. His last fight, in 1992, left him impaired with the onset of Alzheimer’s. 

I never got to meet Jerry.  By the time I was involved, he was too ill to carry on a conversation. He died in 1999.  The funeral was a certified celebrity and media event.  I met a number of Jerry’s old foes, who had long since bonded as friends, including Mac Foster and Joey Orbillo, as well as the actor-boxer Mickey Rourke, whom Jerry helped train.

After the service, I stayed behind.  As the guests filed out, I was struck by the tranquility of the scene, and took this photo.  In it, you can see the many flowers as well as stacks of Coca-cola, Jerry’s favorite drink, and the shamrock wreath entitled “Champ”, sent by Muhammad Ali.