Bert Sugar dead

RIP Bert

A real character, and when you throw around opinions as freely as Sugar did, there's always going to be a few things everyone strongly disagrees with.

I wasn't a huge fan of his writing, but I loved it whenever he'd make an appearance on documentaries, profiles and the like. Even though he hadn't even been born yet, you could easily imagine that he had been ringside in his hat in the sweltering heat for Dempsey-Willard. His voice always added gravitas, and made everything seem that much more epic and authentic.

 

Bert Sugar will be greatly missed by his peers in the boxing game.

His sense of humor input to the sourings of the boxing game added spice to reading the happenings of a corrupt sport.

My biggest memory of Sugar was right after Evander Holyfield knocked out and shocked Mike Tyson.
"Evander Holyfield is just a greater fighter. He beats Tyson 100 times out of 100!"

Being a Holyfield fan, that quote from Bert Sugar stuck with me. :thumbsup

RIP Bert Sugar!

 

low class but i lol'ed :rofl

 

RIP Bert...a great and colorful storyteller. Real old school kind of guy.

 

RIP to one of the legends of the sport.

 

Colourful character who deserves respect for his boxing knowledge and contribution to the sport.

RIP Bert

 

RIP Bret. Thank you for all your contributions to boxing.

 

never liked the guy to be honest, he was all image and little substance but he put on for boxing and repped it and surely as result brought more fans etc... so I give him his props regardless.

RIP Bert

 

I disagreed on a lot of what he said, but he was a character and a throwback to the old school boxing heads. He knew his history and could tell you stories about tons of fighters.

Of course, his opinion holds the same weight as any of ours, but he still will be missed.

R.I.P

 

RIP, an iconic figure in boxing

 

Rip legend.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...arrest-at-75/2012/03/25/gIQAhINcaS_story.html


MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. — Bert Sugar, an iconic boxing writer and sports historian who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar, died Sunday of cardiac arrest. He was 75.

Jennifer Frawley, Sugar’s daughter, said his wife, Suzanne, was by his side when he died at Northern Westchester Hospital. Sugar also had been battling lung cancer.

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( Louis Lanzano, file / Associated Press ) - In this file photo taken Oct. 28, 2005, boxing historian Bert Sugar is seen at the Friars Club Roast in New York. Sugar, known for his fedora and cigar, has died. Jennifer Frawley, Sugar’s daughter, said cardiac arrest caused his death on Sunday, March 25, 2012. His wife, Suzanne, was by his side when he passed away.

( Louis Lanzano, file / Associated Press ) - In this file photo taken Oct. 28, 2005, boxing historian Bert Sugar is seen at the Friars Club Roast in New York. Sugar, known for his fedora and cigar, has died. Jennifer Frawley, Sugar’s daughter, said cardiac arrest caused his death on Sunday, March 25, 2012. His wife, Suzanne, was by his side when he passed away.

“Just his intelligence and his wit and his sense of humor,” Frawley said when asked what she will remember about her father. “He was always worried about people. He was always helping people.”

Sugar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. According to the hall’s website, Sugar wrote more than 80 books, including “The 100 Greatest Boxers Of All Time.” He also appeared in a handful of films, including “The Great White Hype” starring Samuel Jackson.

“Around ringside, it’s not going to be the same with Bert not there,” said Jack Hirsch, the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Sugar was born in Washington, D.C., in 1937. He graduated from Maryland and went to law school at Michigan. He passed the bar in his hometown and worked in advertising in New York City before he got into writing in the 1970s.

“Bert was obviously a showman in the way he did things outwardly, very flamboyant, but in quiet moments I found him to be an extremely modest individual,” Hirsch said.

Frawley said arrangements for a memorial service are still pending and anyone wishing to honor Sugar should make a donation to the boxing hall.

“He was really a brilliant man,” she said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

Rip Champ ...GOAT of boxing writers.

 

Legendary spokesman for Boxing. More than an Historian, definitely a man who crossed the sands of time to give a more realistical than anybody comparision of today and yesterday's fighters. He was wrong many times of course when he predicted Holmes would KO Spinks but who doesn't. He always gave an explanation, a rational one to the fan. And yeah, great sense of humour even when such serious debates were on national TV such as Mike Tyson's banning after the Holyfield rematch, a charismatic figure and just like Joe Frazier, another huge loss for Boxing this year. But we are not dying, when men such as Sugar and Frazier pass away, boxing lives forever and so Sugar and Smokin'Joe live forever, are eternal. RIP.

 

Fair enough, but his other contributions should be noted.

He took over as editor of Ring Magazine at a point when its credibility was shattered following the US Boxing Championship scandal in the 70's, and during his tenure there was able to preside over its recovery. In addition, he was provide reporters like Nigel Collins with some of their first major assignments. There's a good chance that this wouldn't have taken place had someone else been at the helm.

He was one of the few writers present for Douglas-Tyson, and lobbied hard for Buster when Don King tried to have him stripped of the belts under the pretense of the count having been extended past 10.

Plus he was one of the most vocal exponents of the idea of one champion per division, and one of the most vocal critics of the often mystifying rankings generated by the various sanctioning bodies. He produced more than one article on this topic...And because he was pretty adept at turning a phrase, some of them were pretty amusing.

In the scheme of things, he was just one man with an opinion. But because he was willing to put his opinion, and himself, out there as often and in the manner that he did, I'd say his opinion counted for quite a bit- even if I or anyone else happened to disagree with it.