He still shows up at a lot of boxing events in Montana. I have never met him but I know several people that know him quite well, one of them has known him since the early 70s.
Yes, half. I believe that his father was African American. I know two brothers that box amateur- they are trained by a friend of mine- and they are Native American and Marvin has taken great interest in their efforts. They really look up to him.
Marvin was born on the Flathead Reservation in Montana as a mixed-race (as noted earlier, Native American and African American) kid and thus had a rough upbringing. He was a good athlete and found boxing. He was the first WBC and IBF cruiserweight champion, beating Mate Parlov (in a rematch, the inaugural WBC bout for the vacant cruiser crown ended in a draw) and Roddy MacDonald (IBF) for those honors. He occasionally fought up at heavyweight and in his earlier days at light heavy. He settled in the upper 180s (the cruiser limit was originally 190 pounds). He split two close fights with Matthew Saad Muhammad on he way up (split and majority decisions) and had some nice scalps including Parlov, Bash Ali, Bill Sharkey and Ibar Arrington on his ledger. Boxing allowed him to experience the world: he fought in seven countries and 15 or so different states in the U.S. Camel often wore a feathered headdress into the ring to honor his tribe and was a very proud Montanan. Credit to himself, his family, his tribe, his state and to the game of boxing. Marvin has a nice niche in history and it’s well deserved.
Boxing was a pretty big thing in Montana back then. Roger Rouse was a 1956 Olympian and was a world ranked pro for a number of years. So during the 60s and into the early 70s guys like Bob Foster and Eddie Cotton were fighting in places like Butte, Anaconda and Missoula. I know several people that boxed amateur during those years and they were inspired by the exposure to world class boxing. Kids in a little town like Anaconda could go to the gym for several years and learn from a guy that fought Bob Foster and Dick Tiger.
It is a charming small town, in my opinion, and, if you are an outdoorsman, it is as close to paradise as can be.
I went there on a family history research trip several years ago. Stopped in a place called the Club Moderne. Cool old bar.
There was a recent discussion on him.... https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/was-marvin-camel-a-good-fighter.685051/
Funny thing... I expect to be speaking to him in the next few days. I am trying to advance the prospects of 2 brothers that have a lot of potential. We need to get them to national level tournaments and to get them to better sparring. That requires money and the tribe has run fund raisers for them before. I am exploring $ options and I think that he can help me.
