RIP Bert Sugar, legendary boxing historian @ 74

[rockdawg21]

Sad, I always liked him.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxin...ies/53776100/1

Boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar dies at 74

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY

Updated 50m ago

Bert Randolph Sugar, the legendary boxing writer and historian, and one of the sport's most iconic characters, died Sunday afternoon in Chappaqua, N.Y., after a long battle with lung cancer.


Todd Plitt, USA TODAY
Boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar at the Quaker Hill bar in Chappaqua, New York in 2009.

Todd Plitt, USA TODAY

Boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar at the Quaker Hill bar in Chappaqua, New York in 2009.

Sugar was 74. He was surrounded by family at Northern Westchester Medical Center in Mount Kisco.

With his fedora and ever-present cigar, Sugar was an icon who loved to talk, and he could talk and write about boxing like few others. Few were better ambassadors of the sport than Sugar.

Sugar wrote more than 80 books, and was present at many of the greatest fights in boxing history, including the Ali-Frazier trilogy. He wrote about those fights in a special Muhammad Ali edition for USA TODAY two years ago.

He was best known as the editor and publisher of Boxing Illustrated and Ring magazine.

Sugar graduated from the University of Maryland and earned a JD and MBA from the University of Michigan in 1961. After passing the bar exam, he worked in the advertising business in New York City for a decade, and was one of the "Mad Men" of the '60s.

Sugar was not very fond of today's style of journalism, and in a 2010 interview with BigThink.com, he said, "Sports writing is almost an extinct species, or soon to be. Point being, they're writing for blogs and they don't have a discipline.

"Once they state a subject, they can go on. There's no space restraint. And they're writing quickly, so there's no time for thought and cerebral thinking on an article, they're just banging away."

One of Sugar's favorite lines was, whenever he was asked to give his prediction of a fight, inevitably picked the underdog, then added, "but then again, I picked the Japanese in World War II."

He said he always wanted to use Randolph as part of his name in honor of his mother.

Information regarding services and a memorial will be released by the family.

[J.B.]

I just found out and I came here to post this. That really sucks.

RIP Bert

[flo]

RIP, Mr. Sugar. I don't know a whole lot about boxing but I knew of Bert Sugar, he was a legend and a class act.

[Bonnie]

For some reason I thought he was older.

[rearnakedchoke]

RIP Bert ...


i still can't believe he thought buster douglas was gonna beat evander ....

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

RIP Bert ...


i still can't believe he thought buster douglas was gonna beat evander ....

He could have...but, I was never that high on Holyfield.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

For some reason I thought he was older.

Bert used to say he was around long enough to cover Kane vs Abel....but he never did say who he actually picked to win that one....

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by flo

RIP, Mr. Sugar. I don't know a whole lot about boxing but I knew of Bert Sugar, he was a legend and a class act.

When people say, "boxing is dead", I usually get defensive and poke holes in their argument like my life depended on it. Even with all the fighters who have passed away, there was always guys like Bert Sugar that I grew up listening to and hearing about. Without a guy like that around, maybe Boxing will actually die...