How good was he? I know he beat Jose Napoles, but also lost to him. He doesn't seem to have a great record, but he was the champ at one point. I'm just curious about how good he was. A short true story about him: One day in the gym, Billy was sparring someone. He hit the sparring partner with an uppercut, and the sparring partner fell to the ground, and his tongue somehow ended up in his throat. The trainers were unable to get it out and revive the man as he was choking to death. Billy managed to rip off his gloves, and get the man's tongue out of his throat before he suffocated to death. This story was told at the hall of fame, and Billy was deeply moved by this, and was nearly in tears.
He really wasn't that good, basically just a tough southpaw journeyman; but he did have an interesting two-fight series with Napoles. Napoles accepted an offer to defend his title in Backus' hometown, and Backus pulled off a colossal upset when he cut up Napoles' face (possibly with head clashes) and won on a 4th round TKO. The fight had been pretty even and exciting up until the sudden stoppage. Most people felt Napoles would get him in a rematch, and he did; although Backus made it interesting for a few rounds before Napoles got into his rhythm and picked him apart. Prior to those fights, Backus had spent years in obscurity, losing almost as often as winning and retiring a few times (similar to Jersey Joe Walcott in his earlier years). He put himself into title contention with a win over Manny Gonzales I believe, which led him to the shot at Napoles. About 10 years after losing the title, Backus emerged from semi-obscurity for another title shot against Pipino Cuevas; but by this time he had long been a shell of himself, and Cuevas busted him up and stopped him after only one round.
I know he's right handed, but fought out of a southpaw stance, and I figured he wasn't much better than a journeyman by looking at his record. Thanks.
I thought his style was a perfect fol for Napoles as he gave Jose trouble. he was a lesser southpaw version of Carmen basilio. Jence i think Bailio beats Napoles.
