If he never went to prison, would Rubin "Hurricane" Carter have become an ATG?

He was a tough guy but not ATG material

 

Carter certainly had the goods and was capable of winning a championship at one point, but his career being derailed was of his own doing. Had he been more focused on boxing than drinking, (and all his other out of the ring activities), he may have actually won a title. As for ATG, I don't think he was programmed for a long career, and his lifestyle as I already mentioned, suggests most likely not.

Carter telling Tom Snyder "there would be no reason for him to jack a bar and grill because he was making $100,000 a year as a fighter", is a laugh because the killings were not financially motivated.

The murders are an entirely different subject and I tried to stay on topic, but that quote of Rubin's I had to respond to.

By the way, I'm from the Paterson area.

 

Short answer: no.

Long answer: nooooooooo.

 

haha

 

I love Rubin Carter dearly, but I'm afraid it was impossible.

He started boxing at 24, and even though he was an explosive puncher, who could even box in a fair way, I don't know exactly why it was, but he just didn't deliver in a jaw-dropping form most of the time. He lost 7 and drew 1 of his last 15 fights, albeit he lost to some big names, but his only two good victories in there were over Harry Scott and Wilbert McClure (who he lost to and drew with respectively in rematches). He was in decline after he fought Giardello plain and simple. And a future with Monzon in it looks poor for Carter, although it would have been intriguing. Maybe Carter could have won the middleweight title from Emile Griffith in 1968 haha. But I actually doubt it. Griffith improved on his losses really well. I think its conceivable that in the late 60s/early 70s Carter could beat some good fighters on the way up (Briscoe, Hayward, Hart), but nothing more.

 

Carter would be little more than a footnote if he hadnt gone to prison and blown his murders up into a cause celebre. He was losing as much as he was winning and was basically an opponent by that point. Forget being great, by the time of his last fight he wasnt even rated in the top ten. In fact hed lost to five of the guys in the top ten. The best shot he had would have been to somehow get an undeserved rematch with Griffith, who was champion at that point, and he would have lost that bout. His victory over Griffith was a fluke in my opinion. Id pick Griffith to beat him 9 times out of 10. Carter used up his one win. What other champions or long string of top, respected contenders does Carter beat to become great?

 

Besides all the other comments he was also a closet alcoholic

 

He's shot his wad, you'd think.

He was a bloody good fighter tho. Watch his fights and he's much more skilful than the average punter thinks. He has a lot more than just power. Robert said he struggled with alcohol and this held him back quite a bit and i'm inclined to agree. It's also a hint that there were quite a few bloody good middleweights around.

 

BOOM! We were posting at the same time as i acknowledged this.

 

For me the Benton fight was a good example of that. He looked superb in that fight IMO

 

Completely agree Rob.

 

He was already on the slide when he got sent to prison.
The era he fought in was loaded with middleweight talent and his blow out of Florentino Fernandes is even more impressive to me than his win over Emile Griffiths.
'The ox' is my favourite left hooker but simply got out-hooked by Carter.
Carter was muscular but not not as big as Dick Tiger, as menacing as Benny Briscoe and wasn't as good a boxer as Joey Giardello.
Still a charismatic and exciting fighter to watch though.

 

I don’t think so. No. He was done before prison but that’s when his “real life” began

 

Nice one.