Genuinely saddened by this news. Saoul came up the hard way in an almost "murderer's row" way with his share of losses and then was a very good champion. Could have fought in any era. RIP to a good champion ad a great pro.
That is an old age for a fighter! Take a peak at a good few champs and contender of the past, there lucky to see 50!
I always remember the story of him getting advice from his buddy Larry Holmes - who was really in knee deep with Don King at the time - and Larry told him "If you sign with Don King, Don might have a hundred things on his mind, but Saoul Mamby would be one of them." All very profound and all and obviously things opened up for Saoul, probably for the first time in his career. It has always been noted that he was robbed in his first attempt at the title against Saensak Muangsurin, but admittedly, I never saw the fight. But the second title fight against Sang Hyun Kim was interesting for the back story. Mamby did not care for the edict when he signed on with Don King where he was told, "Meet Carl King, your new manager." The conflict of interest was obvious to everyone, but it was technically legal. it annoyed Mamby so much though, that when he was given a paltry number of tickets to head to Seoul for his title fight with Kim, he didn't even give one to Carl King. Laughed my tail of when I heard that one.
