THE SADDEST SONG OF ALL Boxing the story of hope, vision, expectations, glory and gold, but there is always a dark side of regret, guilt, shame and tragedy. Over the years there have been many tragic stories of which some are discussed in the tragic boxing thread, but then there is that one that appeared in the "True Magazine's" 1963 Boxing Annual. Although the magazine highlight was a recap of action in 1962 it did have some reprints from True Magazine such as: The Bitter End Of The Brownsville Banger. Of course, it was not the real end of former middleweight boxer GEORGIE SMALL who primarily fought in the clubs of New York City. he had class, a good punch and was a contender until he faced LAVERN ROACH back in the early Fifties. Sadly, Lavern died quickly, but Georgie died slowly, a thousand deaths caused by shame, guilt, regret, self-pity and all the negative emotions that would race into the dark chambers of his mind.atsch:vonnecunt:wall When GEORGIE SMALL needed real help, there were no boxing fans, trainers, managers, promoters, and fellow boxers to share the burden of guilt. And other boxers avoided him and even greats like Sugar Ray Robinson would not face him during the Fifties. So, over time Georgie drifted into obscurity and he was left to sit in a dark room remembering the time he killed a friend at "St Nicholas".
brian,I'm curious why you would mention of all people Georgie Small, a local New York fighter who I met as a youngster when Small started out as a boxer. I later saw him fight in the New York area, and I was at St.Nicholas Arena in 1950 when Georgie Small kod ex Marine Laverne Roach who fell unconscious in the last round and tragically died the next day. A younger cousin of Georgie Small who I am now very friendly with, said Small was depressed because of the tragedy. I also saw Laverne Roach as a coming prospect a few times a couple of years before in the NY area. Small;s last fight was a ko loss at MSG to the hard punching Eduardo Lausse. Georgie Small wasn't champion material, but he was a good tough fighter...Small world...
There's quite a bit of hyperbole here. Small got a shot at Kid Gavilan, one of highest profile fighters in the sport at that time, straight off his fatal fight with Roache, and by all accounts he was thoroughly battered.
What GEORGIE SMALL said years later while drifting through life a broken warrior: "I wanted to be a fighter. All my life I wanted to be a fighter. ... And, see what I done? I'm broke and sick. I got my wife broke. I guess the only thing I did in my whole life is get a friend killed.": Of course he was talking about his friend LAVERN ROACH who died in their fight so long ago.
