Friday, March 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Legendary middleweight boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson lost just 18 times in his 201-fight professional career, and only seven of those defeats occurred in world title fights. One of them was registered by Carmen Basilio.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Basilio's victory over the man many experts say was the greatest fighter, pound-for-pound, in boxing history.
To commemorate both that 15-round battle on Sept. 23, 1957, in New York, and Basilio's overall brilliant ring career, the Fiesta hotel-casino will issue a $5 gaming chip Saturday and Sunday during a memorabilia show produced by Las Vegan Don Williams. The chip will feature a youthful Basilio in boxing gloves and trunks.
Ironically, this show also marks the 39th anniversary of Basilio losing the middleweight crown by 15-round decision to Robinson in their rematch in Chicago. The anniversary date of that fight is next Tuesday.
Basilio, who was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1969, is slated to attend the memorabilia show. His autograph fee will be $9 per photo and $20 for gloves or other non-flat materials. Attendance and parking for the show will be free.
"Carmen was not only a great fighter of boxing's golden era, but he was also by many accounts, one of the nicest men outside of the ring," said Gene Trimble, coordinator of the show that also will honor two great Negro League baseball players.
Pitcher Nap Gulley and pitcher/catcher Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe also will have chips issued in their honor on this, the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier of Major League Baseball by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The two Chicago residents, however, will not attend the show because of health concerns, Trimble said.
Times for the show will be 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Basilio will be available to sign autographs 12:30-2:30 p.m. both days, Trimble said.
Basilio, who turns 70 on April 2, fought out of Canastota, N.Y., in both the welterweight (147 pounds) and middleweight (156 pounds) divisions in a career that spanned from 1948-61.
In addition to beating Robinson, Basilio also defeated welterweight contender Billy Graham and welterweight champions Tony DeMarco and Johnny Saxton.
He also lost to Saxton as well as world middleweight champions Gene Fullmer and Paul Pender. Basilio's only two loses by knockout were to Fullmer.
As a professional fighter, Basilio also had 56 wins (27 by knockout), 14 other loses by decision and seven draws.
Gulley, 72, was a teammate of Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays, when both played in the Negro Leagues. Gulley played for the Kansas City Monarchs, Birmingham Black Barons and the Harlem (baseball) Globetrotters.
Radcliffe, 85, earned his nickname by regularly catching the first game of a doubleheader then pitching the second game. While with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in the early 1930s, Radcliffe caught for Hall of Fame hurler Satchel Paige in the first game of a doubleheader then pitched a no-hitter in the second game.
During his 30-year career, Radcliffe, who is being considered for induction into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y., also played for the Homestead Grays and the Detroit Stars.
In June, the Fiesta is scheduled to issue its next $5 gaming chip in the Negro League series. The honoree will be Sam Jethroe, the first black man to win a Major League Rookie of the Year Award (1950). He was a speedy outfielder for the National League's Boston Braves.
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