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Marcel Cerdan (July
22,
1916
–
October 27,
1949)
was an
Algerian-born
French
world
boxing
champion who was considered by many boxing experts and
fans to be
France's
and
Europe's
greatest boxer, and by many more fans to be one of the
best to come from
Africa.
He had a life that was marked by his sporting
achievements, social lifestyle and, ultimately, tragedy.
Marcel Cerdan was born in
Sidi Bel-Abbes,
Algeria.
He began boxing professionally on
November 4,
1934
in Meknes, Morocco, by
beating Marcel Bucchianeri
by a decision in six rounds. He ran a streak of 47 wins in
a row between that first bout and
January 4
1939,
when he lost for the first time, to
Harry Cresner by a
disqualification in five rounds at
London.
Among the fighters he beat during that streak were
Al Baker, and
Aisa Attaf, beaten twice
by knockout. Cerdan campaigned heavily in
Morocco
and Algeria during that part of his career, and began to
campaign also in his parents' home country of
France.
In
1938,
in what could perhaps be considered a territorial oddity,
he beat Omar Kouidri by a
decision in 12 rounds at
Casablanca
to claim the French welterweight title.
After his first loss, Cerdan
put up a string of 5 wins that led him to challenge
Saviello Turiello for
Europe's welterweight title in
Milan, Italy.
He won the European title by a decision in 15 rounds to
continue his ascent towards the championship (back then,
it was considered essential to own at least a Continental
title belt to earn a world title shot; nowadays, it is not
considered as important).
That winning streak eventually
grew to reach 23 wins, but he suffered a defeat to
Victor Buttin by a
disqualification in 8 rounds in
Algiers.
For his next bout he put the
title on the line against Jose
Ferrer (namesake of the
Hollywood star). He knocked out Ferrer in one
round, and won four more bouts in a row before facing
another boxer with a namesake:
James Toney, who shared that name with another
boxer who would become world Middleweight champion five
decades later. Cerdan knocked out Toney in two rounds to
keep this new winning streak alive. The new streak would
reach 37 wins. In between, he joined the
American
allies in
World War II
during
1944,
and he won the Inter-Allied Championship. He also went up
in weight to the Middleweight division, and won the French
title by beating Assane Douf
by a knockout in three rounds. He later claimed the vacant
European title by beating Leon
Foquet by a
knockout
in one round. He retained that title a couple of times
before losing it to Cyrille
Delannoit by a decision in 15 at
Brussels, Belgium.
Soon, he went back to
Belgium
and re-took the title by beating Delannoit, also by
decision.
Finally, after the rematch
with Delannoit, Cerdan was given a world title opportunity
and he travelled to the
United States,
where he beat world Middleweight champion
Tony Zale.
Cerdan became a world champion by knocking Zale out in the
12th round at
New Jersey
on
September 21
1948.
During his short period as a
world champion, Cerdan became a popular figure of the
Paris
scene. Although married with three children, he had an
affair with the famous singer
Edith Piaf,
a legend on her own.
For his first defense, Cerdan
returned to the United States, where he fought
Jake LaMotta
in
Detroit.
Cerdan was knocked down in round one, his shoulder was
dislocated, and he had to surrender after the tenth round.
It would sadly be the last fight of Cerdan's life. A
contract was signed for a rematch and Cerdan went to
training camp for it, but while flying to the United
States to fight the rematch, Cerdan's
Air France
flight, flown on a
SuperConstellation, went down in the
Azores
and everybody aboard died, including the famous violinist
Ginette Neveu.
Days later, LaMotta expressed words of condolences,
praising Cerdan as a great human being. Cerdan was
interred in the Cimetière du Sud,
Perpignan,
Languedoc-Roussillon,
France.
LaMotta later shocked the
sports world by declaring during a hearing with the
FBI,
that in order to get a chance at Cerdan's title, he agreed
to throw his fight against
Billy Fox,
to enable the
Mafia
to make a big monetary hit on the betting lines. Their
fight was one of a handful of fights depicted on LaMotta's
biographical movie
Raging Bull
in
1980.
Cerdan's record was 106 wins
and 4 losses, with 61 wins by knockout.
He is a member, along with
LaMotta and Zale, of the
International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
In
1983,
Cerdan and Piaf had their own lives turned into a big
screen biography. The movie, titled Edith and Marcel
starred Marcel Cerdan Jr. in the role of his father. |
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