Clyde turned pro in Orlando at age 40 in 1978 as a heavyweight. He boxed for three years, going 13-0 with 13 KOs, then dropped off the face of the boxing earth. His first win was over Al Migliorato, a Miami heavy who was 33-3-2, which raises one’s eyebrows but probably also some suspicions. The reset of Clyde’s wins were over debutants, 0-2 guys and the likes. I think he beat one 3-0 guy. Migliorato had a similar path: lot of wins over debut guys and 0-1 types. Before Clyde he lost back-to-back fights to someone who was around 6-and-30-something. Nicknamed “The Cattleman,” Clyde fought most of his bouts in Orlando, venturing out rarely to nearby places like Tampa and Lakeland. His record makes one wonder how many of his fights may have been fixes or perhaps very carefully-scouted soft touches who hadn’t really even learned how to box. Maybe he really was a cattle rancher and funded his own career to live out a fantasy (wouldn’t be the first time). Here’s the odd note: I found a mention in one 1980 magazine (not a feature article but one of those live bout accounts where you get a paragraph or three on the main event and then a rundown of the undercard, a happened back in the day) that he had a fight set or at least was working toward one with Leon Spinks in Philadelphia. Obviously that one never came off. So can anyone tell m e about this odd duck?
You got me on this one, Pat. Back then I really kept my ear to the ground on prospects and simply don't remember Fussell. I remember Al Migliorato, but that's it. I wonder if he was managed/promoted by Pete Ashlock. Ashlock was the go-to guy in Orlando at the time and there was always something shady going on with the Pete Ashlock stable.
Pete Ashlock was a pure carny but I think a well-intentioned millionaire developer who was sincere in what he was trying to do. He built his own arena in Orlando and put on weekly boxing and wrestling cards — or maybe he alternated. At some point it may have scaled back to monthly. He had a trainer named Dominic Polo who was from what I gather a top conditioning guy (maybe ahead of the curve at the time) but not a great boxing teacher. I think they did have a couple of boxing trainers involved too. The Ashlock stable, because of Pete’s ability to keep someone in the ring on such a frequent basis, did rise a few guys up the ranks. I think the best of them was Edgar “Mad Dog” Ross, who had I think at one point the longest KO streak in the sport. He was billed as NABF champ and I think did legit win that crown with a 12-round decision over Ralph Paladin, but records on early NABF lineage is spotty — boxrec doesn’t mention that bout as such, but Ralph was the original NABF titlist at junior middle and had a decent record (like 30-5ish) and there’s no record of anyone else holding it during that span in the late 1970s, so I think the sporadic newspaper accounts I’ve seen calling Ross the champ of that organization are probably correct. Anyway, Edgar was up to I think No. 2 in the rankings and angling toward Rocky Mattioli (or maybe it was Maurice Hope … around that time) when he went to Kansas City and got stopped by Tony Chiaverini. Edgar complained of some headache/brain issues soon after and retired. I think he was Pete’s great and most legit hope of creating a champ. I know Maurice “Termite” Watkins fought out of the Ashlock stable for a time, as did Scotty Clark, who got stopped by Pipino Cuevas in two in a title fight. Gene Hatcher may have wandered through Pete’s Orlando operation at some point and some others too. It appears Fussell did fight on some Ashlock cards but also on some others. My money is on him approaching promoters with an ‘I’ll pay my own way and bring/pay my own opponent’ deals to get on cards … or at least did so sometimes. Maybe he sold some tickets in Orlando with his ‘old man on KO streak’ thing too. Boxing is full of characters and this guy fits the mold of being one, albeit as a tiny footnote in the sport’s history.
Maybe if I was alive back then, I would've known em. He wasn't too far off of the little town I live in. This 2015 article on Clyde said that his sergeant got him into boxing while he was in the marines, and that Fussell himself had something like 100 fights, so maybe he had a prevalent amateur career- Or maybe that's total bull****. Either could make sense. [url]https://thepeopleofpolkcity.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/clyde-fussell/[/url] And alongside that, there's an obituary for him from a year ago. Rest in peace, champ. [url]https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/clyde-fussell-obituary?id=52537322[/url]
This Al Migliorato that you mentioned has to have one of the most padded records I've seen. He fought somebody by the name of Ron Casey 4 times, and Casey had a career record of 0-11, with all 11 losses by stoppage. Casey BTW...according to Boxrec...fought Solomon McTier for the "Soul-Brother Heavyweight Championship". Not making this up. Casey was 0-10 heading into that fight. Check out Casey's Boxrec pic... [url]https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/21530[/url] Anyway, Fussell fought Michael Bennett, Joey Little, and Bobby Dade twice apiece. The combined career record of these fighters: 0-13, all losses by stoppage. Fussell also beat somebody called "Sweet Pretty Black", who had a career record of 0-1. Would love to see footage of one of these "fights", just out of curiosity.
I recall Gil Clancy taking over Mike Quarry at some point when Jerry was under him and Gil complaining later that Ashlock stole Mike from under him.
Odd cross-post coincidence with your post mentioning the Soul Brother Championship and @scartissue bringing up the Quarry Brothers. Don King promoted the twin bill of Ali-Jerry Quarry II and Bob Foster-Mike Quarry under the banner: Soul Brothers vs. Quarry Brothers.
Thumbing through an old magazine last night and caught the reference to him planning to fight Leon Spinks and couldn’t remember him as an opponent of Spinks’ and decided to look the guy up. And his resume made me want to learn more. I also, btw, cross-referenced the timeframe and had he fought Leon he would have been catching him probably his first fight back after getting KO’d in one by Gerrie Coetzee. Maybe that was a pipe dream or maybe Fussell’s side had some kind of conversation/negotiation about it with Spinks’ folks, but it never came to pass. Leon instead fought Alfredo Evangelista in early 1980 (KO 5 on CBS iirc) to start off a 3-0-1 year that also included a win over journeyman Kevin Isaac, a draw with Eddie “The Animal” Lopez and a stoppage win over Bernardo Mercado on the Holmes-Ali undercard that earned him a shot (mandatory I believe, as Spinks-Mercado was billed as an eliminator) at Larry Holmes in 1981.
