Caveman Lee

UncleChris · Jan 6, 2011

Many will have seen his crazy 1981 fight with John Lo Cicero, especially the unforgettable fifth round. I thought some of you might like to read this Where Are They Now? article from Boxing News magazine.

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/BN08/detail.asp?id=1082

<H1>Caveman Lee
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Claude Abrams speaks to a man who went from victim to contender to addict

IT WAS a wet, grey, miserable day in Detroit and beside me, as I drove around the block going past the old Kronk Gym, now boarded up, sat Caveman Lee, the former 1980s middleweight contender.

Thats where we all used to park, he said, pointing to a grassy area and remembering the good old days.

As I turn another corner, Lee indicates where he worked his most recent job, in a salvage yard.

Lee doesnt live too far away, in an apartment by himself, though spends most of his time with his fiancée, whom he met and romanced while waiting for a bus. Cavemans face beams as he shows me her photo.

Lee looks well, debonair in fact with a neatly trimmed silver speckled moustache. His skin is smooth and eyes clear, remarkable when you think of what hes been through.

An abused child who went on to challenge Marvin Hagler for the world middleweight title in 1982 but then became a crack cocaine addict and spent three terms in jail for failed bank robberies, Lees endured a life of pain.

And yet, at 52, having found strength in God, Lee declares himself happy with the person he has become.

His daughter, China, lives in the Motor City, and made the Caveman a grandfather.

The years are accelerating, he says. I call it quick to the grave.

In many ways Lee missed out on a proper life, not just because of the years behind bars.

Lees childhood was virtually non-existent. His father, known as Rabbi Lee, wanted young William (Cavemans birth name) to be the fighter his dad couldnt be (because of polio). Caveman had no choice in the matter.

Lee was bullied and beaten, along with his brother. But his father saw in Caveman a talent he wouldnt allow to go to waste.
Their relationship was a fairly common one in so far as the tortured child pined for approval in spite of the victimization.
All I ever wanted was to be like him, said Caveman.

Repeatedly, though, Lee, unable to face his father, ran away from home. At 18, he joined the army for 13 months before eventually going professional after his friend, former heavyweight Jimmy Young, introduced him to Blinkey Palermo. The gangster figure took Lee to Don King, who promoted Cavemans early fights.
But, as Caveman says, I had one foot on the street and one in the ring. [Otherwise] I could have been a champion.

The irony is that while his father wanted him to be a fighter, Lee says, He pushed me on to the streets.

Cavemans return to his native Philadelphia didnt immediately lead to the ring. He ended up with the wrong crowd, drinking booze, smoking dope. And I was the good son! he said.

Lee turned professional in 1976. He had many trainers before Emanuel Steward sent for him in 1978 after learning of how impressively Caveman had been sparring Vito Antuofermo, who the next year would win the world middleweight title.

Anxious to flee Philly, Lee relocated to Detroit, where he soon worked his way up the rankings, the only blip on the way to fighting Hagler being a fourth-round stoppage loss to Frank The Animal Fletcher.

The defeat still rankles. I was better than him, he insists. I should have won.

The year after the Fletcher loss and before boxing Hagler, Lee also took part in an unforgettable bout against John Locicero, regarded as one of the classics and televised throughout the US on ESPN. Lee won in five.

Cavemans punch bailed him out. He was 21-2 (20) going in with Hagler and, at 25, in his physical prime. Lee got the job when friend and stablemate Mickey Goodwin pulled out injured. But Lee was destroyed in 67 seconds.

There followed a positive drugs test for morphine and quinine, but Caveman denies it to this day even though he admitted to me that it was shortly after the Hagler fight that his destructive relationship with freebase cocaine started.

The next year, having blown all the money from the Hagler match, he tried his first bank stick-up and was sent to jail. Lee blames drugs.

I preferred to be there [behind bars] than smoking that stuff, he said.

Caveman boxed again only twice after Hagler, winning once in 13 seconds in 1986 and getting stopped by light-heavyweight Yawe Davis in Italy in 1988.

He was still fighting his drug habit, though. For attempting his final robbery, Lee spent 12 years in the can a long time for someone who said he never felt at ease inside. He was released in July 2006.

The drugs took me somewhere else, he said. I was in denial about it until 1991. I knew I had a problem. I lived a double life.

Lee elected to defend himself in court. He told the judge: Im a menace to society. Put me away for life. But, thank God, the judge decided to give me another chance.
Now Lees trying to make the most of it. Im not a bad person, he said. I just took a wrong turn in life.

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Curtis Lowe · Jan 6, 2011

I remember Caveman Lee. He was a good exciting middleweight. I think he "froze" in the Hagler fight. He was a better fight thsn he showed in that fight. Glsa to hear he has found an inner peace.

Jorodz · Jan 6, 2011

dude! i've long since cited the 5th round of that fight as among my favourite rounds (currently 2nd). glad he's happy but it's a shame that boxing has yet another tragic story

BlueApollo · Jan 7, 2011

Jorodz said: ↑

dude! i've long since cited the 5th round of that fight as among my favourite rounds (currently 2nd). glad he's happy but it's a shame that boxing has yet another tragic story
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Awesome, awesome, awesome round. :thumbsup

turpinr · Jan 8, 2011

the caveman lee fight i remember most is his effort against hagler, when he floated into the ring high on drugs and then floated back out of it after marvin had battered him in one round

Il Duce · Jan 8, 2011

I remember William Lee, doing something that 2 Hall of Fame Greats could not do.

The Caveman had an awesome physique,,,,,,and every pucnh thrown was BOMB!

Would have liked to see him versus Wilbur 'The Vampire' Johnson in Atlantic City.

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Caveman Lee

UncleChris Member Full Member

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