Boxing Legend, CARMEN BASILIO, gets in the Interview Ring with RSR.

By Dan Hernandez

“My last fight was this morning; I fought with my wife, and lost!"
Carmen Basilio

So began my interview with Carmen Basilio, former undisputed Welterweight and Middleweight Champion of the World. Carmen, with one of the most colorful nicknames in boxing, “The Upstate Onion Farmer”, having harvested onions and other vegetables as a farmer in his hometown of Canastota, New York. He was energetic, responsive, and deservedly pleased of his life’s achievements.

Carmen Basilio had a career record of 79 fights with 56 wins, 16 losses, and 7 draws. He also had 27 knockouts to his credit. This was at a time when an unbeaten record was nice but not required. The goal was to receive the training available from the school of hard knocks and always do the best that you possibly could. Carmen achieved his two titles with storied battles, defeating Tony DeMarco for the welterweight championship, and all-time, “pound for pound” greatest fighter, “Sugar” Ray Robinson, for his middleweight laurels.

In 1956, Basilio lost his welterweight championship in Chicago to Johnny Saxton by way of a 15 round decision. It has been inferred that Saxton got the decision because of his ties with the Chicago underworld. Paid off judges and other bad influences were blamed. This was never verified; however, Carmen regained his title with a ninth round knockout over Saxton in the re-match and a second round stoppage in in their third and final tiff.

On September 23, 1957, Basilio went up in weight to capture the middleweight title from Robinson. It was a close but decisive victory. To hold the middleweight belt Carmen was forced to relinquish his welterweight championship. Basilio won the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of year for 1957. He was managed at that time by

Robinson and Basilio fought their rematch on March 25, 1958 with Robinson regaining his belt by a unanimous 15 round decision. The fans were clamoring for a third match that never materialized. Robinson requested too much money for a rubber match and it was speculated that the first two fights were so close that he wanted to avoid a third encounter. Carmen also fought and lost two tough fights to Gene Fullmer and once to Paul Pender in an attempt to wrestle the middleweight crown. The Pender contest was his last professional bout.

There was an HBO documentary on Sugar Ray Robinson, entitled “The Dark Side Of A Champion”, where Carmen was interviewed and he mentioned that he respected Robinson’s talents in the ring, but did not like him as a person. He called him a “Son of a bitch” and said he was the most arrogant, unpleasant person that you would ever want to meet. He confirms that sentiment in this interview. Our publisher, “Bad” Brad” Berkwitt, had the pleasure of meeting Basilio at a Charity for the Children of Washington, DC, in 2001. Carmen was 74 years of age at the time and Brad recalls that he was punched on the arm by ‘the onion farmer” in a playful manner and it” hurt like hell.” Being the man that he is, Brad shook it off as if it was nothing. However, I can’t help but wonder if Brad blamed the tears in his eyes on the onions.

At 81, Basilio reflects on his successful 59 year marriage, championships, teaching for 25 years, training his nephew to a world title, and boxing today.


DH: Mr. Basilio, Carmen, How are you doing?

That’s me Carmen. I’m doing fine.

DH: How long has it been since you last fought?

My last fight was with my wife this morning, and I lost! Again. That’s one you can’t win.

DH: Are you still involved with the fight game at all?

Well I watch it. ` I pay attention to it. It was a big part of my life. Naturally, I pay attention to it.

DH: You had many tremendous fights. What is your favorite fight memory?

Winning! Winning championships.

DH: How does it feel to be a champion?

It feels great. It’s a target that you’re aiming for and when you win, it’s great. And you make a lot of friends with it. It made your friends happy.

DH: Did you keep those friends over the years?

Oh yeah, I see them all the time.

DH: Like whom do you see?

Oh all around my home town of Syracuse, throughout New York State. And areas I have lived in. See I was a phys ed teacher at LeMoyne College for 25 years. After I quit fighting I was a phys ed teacher at LeMoyne College in Syracuse and I see a lot of my former students all the time, and they are all doctors and lawyers and all that stuff.


DH: You helped them get there. How do you feel about that?

It feels good, it does. I got along good with the kids.

DH: Do you keep in contact with any of the old fighters?

I see them occasionally; I go to a fight now and then.

DH: I spoke with Gene Fullmer awhile back. Do you remember him?

Yeah, he was a tough one. They didn’t come any tougher than him.

DH: Gene said he felt the same about you.

Yeah, I hit him a few shots and he hit me a few shots. We kicked the shit out of each other.

DH: He had a great deal of respect for you.

I hope so; there couldn’t be ant tougher than him.

DH: How did you feel about Ray Robinson?

Robinson? He was not a nice guy.

DH: What did he do that wasn’t nice?

I don’t know, he had a arrogance about him. It would really turn you off. He was not a friendly guy. He was a great fighter and you can’t take that away from him, but he was not a great person.

DH: Robinson had a sad ending.

Yeah, not a nice guy at all.

DH: How is your nephew, Billy Backus, doing?

He’s doing fine. He’s got a good job and he’s with his wife and kids everyday.
He lives in North Carolina now.

DH: That’s a little away from you.

It’s down south.

DH: Were you a farmer?

I was a farmer. I was born on a farm I was brought up on a farm.

DH: What did you farm?

Onions, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, anything that you can eat, we grew.

DH: Do you miss farming?

No, I don’t miss it. It was a lot of hard work. We lived good but it was slave labor. We never had money.

DH: What do you think about the money available in boxing today?

I hope they can keep it. God bless them, more power to them.

DH: How do you feel about today’s fighters?

They’re ok for today, but if most of them were around in our day, they would be in trouble. They don’t have the experience, they are moved too fast. Today they want to get to the top fast but sometimes that’s not so good because they don’t really get the experience they need. They need to be good finished fighters.

DH: What is your feeling about unbeaten records?

They can stick them up their ass, if they can’t beat anybody.
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DH: Who was your manager when you fought?

I didn’t get along with my first manager I had when I started fighting so we broke off. My managers during my championship years were Johnny De John and Joe Netro. My trainers were Al Silvani and Angelo Dundee.

DH: Were they good managers?

They were all right. They took care of me and I took care of them. I made them look pretty good.

DH: Did you ever become a manager or trainer yourself?

I trained my nephew, Billy Backus, as a fighter. He became welterweight world champion. I used to spar with him and everything, he couldn’t hit me in the ass with a broom. I had too much experience for him and I knew all the dirty tricks.

DH: What are some of the dirty tricks?

Not really dirty, I was making moves at him and making him miss a lot. Then I would counter punch him, outsmarted him. I was teaching him how to do it.


DH: Did he learn?

He learned a lot, yeah. One difference though is that he’s a southpaw and I was right-handed.

DH: Who are your favorite fighters today Carmen?

To tell you the truth, I don’t follow them much right now. But if you mention some names there might be a few fighters that I can remember.

DH: Are you with familiar with Mayweather or De La Hoya?

Do you believe that I’ve never seen Mayweather fight. I have seen De La Hoya fight and he’s all right, he’s a good fighter, but if he was around in our day, he would be in trouble. Mosley is a good fighter. Different times, different age, and experience. They just don’t train and prepare like we used to.

DH: When was your last fight?

With my wife, I lost.

DH: Beside your wife, when was your last professional fight?

That was a 15 round championship fight with Paul Pender in 1961. I was 32 or 33 at the time.

DH: What do you think of 12 round title fights?

They are good fights if the fighter is a good fighter. It’s a safety rule that’s all. It’s to prevent serious injuries. When you get into the later rounds, 12 and up, the less experienced guys get tired and get beat bad. You could get some serious injuries, so it’s good the way it is.

DH: Would you do anything different with your career?

No, I did what I wanted to do. I became champion in two divisions, welterweight and middleweight. I had to struggle awhile to make it and wound up with mononucleosis that held me back a bit, but then I made a comeback. I got over that and got my strength back again. I got stronger and I had no problem.

DH: Did you fight everyone that you wanted to?

I fought everybody that I thought made sense for us all to fight. The fights that the public wanted to see.

DH: Former Light-heavyweight champ, Archie Moore said Charley Burley was one of the best fighters he ever knew. Did you see Burley fight?

No, I never did, but if Moore said it, it must have been so. I knew Archie very well and he was a great fighter and a good guy too.

DH: Did you see Moore’ first fight with Yvonne Durelle?

I did. Archie was around a long time when he fought Durelle, he was already part of the over-the-hill group.

DH: Who was your favorite fighter over the years?

Willie Pep, the featherweight champion of the world. I got to know him and he was a great fighter.

DH: He fought too long didn’t he?

I don’t know that, he was good enough that he got away with it. He never got hurt and did very well.

DH: Have you been married a long time Carmen?

Josie and I were married in 1950.

DH: I’m catching up, I’ve got 43 years married.

You’ve got a long way to go. You gotta pay your penance. You had better.

DH: I have really enjoyed you taking the time to talk to me. Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans?

Keep your hands up high, your ass off the floor, and keep moving.