By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com
When I think of super star singers that have died too young before reaching full stardom, the ones that I instantly think of (and there are more) would be Ritchie Valens (age 17), Buddy Holly (age 22), Selena Quintanilla (age 23), and The Notorious B.I.G. (age 24).
There are similar, tragic stories in the sport of boxing. Here is my personal list of the top five boxers (listed in order by their eras in the ring) who died at a very young age (ie, before twenty-five years of age). Each were great in their respective years in the ring, and arguably could have gone on to greater heights.
The five are Stanley Ketchel (age 24), Les Darcy (age 21), Pancho Villa (age 23), Tyrone Everett (age 24), and Salvador Sanchez (age 23) . I want to mention Benny Parent who would certainly be a top choice by anyone in boxing; but my criteria here is before their 25th birthday – Parent was 25 upon his death.
Stanley Ketchel / Born: September 14, 1886 / Died October 15, 1910 / Nickname: Michigan Assassin. Boxing Record: 51 wins, 4 losses, 4 draws, 1 no contest, 48 by KO / Middleweight Champion.
Ketchel died while training and working at Colonel R.P . Dickerson’s Two Bar Ranch in Conway, Missouri. He was shot in the chest by ranch hand Walter Dipley, who was allegedly jealous of his common-law wife who was attracted to Ketchel.
Boxing Historian Nat Fleischer, The Ring magazine founder and editor is quoted as saying: ”Stanley Ketchel is one of the greatest middleweights of all time, and I considered him to be unbeatable at the height of his career.”
Boxing Historian Al Nelson was extremely high on Ketchel and concurred with Fleischer, and he personally told me this during our visits in 1969, ’70, and ’71. Both Nelson and Fleischer lived in the Ketchel era. In my greatest middleweight ranking, I list Ketchel at #4, right behind Harry Greb, Carlos Monzon, and Tommy Ryan, and just ahead of Marvin Hagler and Mickey Walker . Note: Sugar Ray Robinson is ranked #1 over in my welterweight division.
Les Darcy / Born October 31, 1895 / Died May 24, 1917 / Nickname: The Maitland Wonder / Boxing Record: 52 wins, 4 losses, 32 by KO / Middleweight.
Darcy died after suffering from blood poisoning from an infected tooth, and subsequently developing pneumonia.
Arguably regarded as Australia’s best ever boxer, Darcy’s record is simply remarkable considering he fought professionally for less than seven years before tragically passing away at just 21 years of age .
Darcy won his first sixteen fights before losing to Bob Whitelaw, for the Australian welterweight title in 1913. In their rematch the following year, Darcy beat Whitelaw. In 1914, losing twice to Fritz Holland, Darcy would go on to win the Australian middleweight title over Jeff Smith in 1915.
On February 19, 1916, against Harold Harwick, Darcy won the heavyweight title, and had the distinction of holding both the middleweight and heavyweight Aussie titles simultaneously.
In 1916, Darcy fought and won ten fights, all but two by knockout, which was a banner year in defending his two title belts.
Darcy never fought outside his homeland but boxing historians, myself included, have him rated within the top ten greatest middleweights of all time . He was never knocked out in his 52 bout career.
Pancho Villa / Born: August 1, 1901 / Died: July 14, 1925 / Nickname: Filipino Whirlwind / Boxing Record: 77 wins, 4 losses, 4 draws, 1 loss on foul, 23 no decisions / 22 by KO / Flyweight Champion.
Villa died shortly after his July 4, 1925 bout, when he lost to Jimmy McLarnin in a fight held on the same day that Villa had a tooth extracted by a dentist. A few days after the fight, he had three more teeth extracted after an infection was discovered.
On July 11, 1925, Villa was admitted into the hospital, where it was determined that his condition was serious as the infection had spread to his throat resulting in Ludwig’s Angina. Surgery was performed, but he lapsed into a coma and passed away the next day.
Villa is considered to be one of greatest boxers, along with Flash Elorde and Manny Pacquiao, to come out of the Philippines. He was the first Asian to win the World Flyweight Championship. Amazingly, he was never knocked out in his professional boxing career. Boxing historian Nat Fleischer, The Ring Magazine founder and editor, ranks Villa the #2 greatest flyweight of all time, just behind Jimmy Wilde. My ranking of Villa concurs with Fleischer, with Wilde and Villa being 1-2, and with the trio of Pascual Perez, Miguel Canto, and Frankie Genero rounding out my top five.
Tyrone Everett / Born: April 18, 1953 / Died: May 26, 1977 / Nickname: The Mean Machine / Boxing Record: 36 wins, 1 loss, 20 by KO / Junior Lightweight.
Everett died from a single gunshot to the head by his girlfriend when she found him with a transvestite friend.
Everett was an amazing talent, and I consider him to be one of the top southpaw fighters of all-time.
On November 30, 1976 he engaged in a title fight against WBC Junior Lightweight Champion Alfredo Escalara. The fight went the full 15 rounds with Everett losing by a split decision. The decision was one of worst that I have seen in my over sixty-plus years of involvement in boxing. Veteran HBO judge Harold Lederman listed the verdict as one of the most controversial decisions of all-time. He stated “it may be history’s worst decision.”
As I saw the fight, my scorecard was 145-140, 10 rounds to five, in favor of Everett. He simply was brilliant with his overall boxing skills and he boxed beautifully. I considered round 13 to be a turning point, with Everett comfortably ahead on my scorecard. The two fighters clashed heads with Everett suffering a severe cut on his forehead. With blood gushing down his face, it actually reminded me of another fight that I witnessed several years prior between Mando Ramos, whose face was bloodied, and Sugar Ramos. With blood streaming down his face and Escalera sensing he was behind on points, Escalera surged forward to capture the final two rounds on all of the judge’s scorecards, and mine, as well.
When the decision was announced, most observers, as well as myself, were absolutely stunned, and that just might be the understatement of the century.
His brother Eddie once told me that Tyrone was always thinking that some day he would fight the great Alexis Arguello; unfortunately that would never happen.
Salvador Sanchez / born: January 26, 1959 / Died: August 12, 1982 / Nickname: Chava / Boxing Record: 44 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw, 32 by KO / Featherweight Champion.
Sanchez died while driving his Porsche 928 sports car along the federal highway from Querétaro to San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He crashed into a wall and died instantly.
Sanchez is considered, even at early death, one of the greatest Mexican-born boxers of all time. I personally rank him #5 just behind other Mexican greats Julio Cesar Chavez, Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Vicente Saldivar, and just ahead of Ricardo Lopez, Miguel Canto, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erick Morales, Rafael Herrera, and Baby Arizmendi, who round out the top dozen of simply the greatest champions of Mexico.
Sanchez certainly fought and beat the best of the best at 126 pounds, including Danny Lopez, Ruben Castillo, Pat Ford, Juan LaPorte, Roberto Castanon, Wilfredo Gomez, Pat Cowdell, Rocky Garcia, and Azumah Nelson.
There was one fight that I attended on April 15, 1978 at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium, which I actually thought Sanchez lost. It was against a tough southpaw from Tijuana, Juan Escobar. He dropped Sanchez twice, and had him staggering and ready to go in the 10th and final round. Sanchez amazingly survived, getting a majority draw.