Bert Sugar dies....

I just spoke to him last week to let him know I was coming to NY. I'm leaving tomorrow morning (03/26/12).

Like him or not, another part of boxing history is gone....

 

He died again??

 

I just called his home and left a message on his answering service. I just told him how I just heard the news of his passing and how I'm going to miss him. He was actually a dear friend of mine.

 

Sorry to hear that. He won't be checking those messages. Right now he is sat down in heaven, in total shock, as Saint Peter has just informed him that Vitali beats Louis 10 times out of 10.

I used to like listening to him, then I discovered he was merely telling old stories over and over again.

 

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

Yeah, the same jokes, too! I went to his home last year when I covered the NFL Draft. I took the wife and kids. The kids were digging dirt holes in his front lawn and he did not seem to care. Incidentally, he did not live far from Bill Clinton's home in Chappaqua, NY.

He showed me hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia, including tickets to Joe Louis/Max Schmeling II.

He still had an old school typewriter and did not know how to use a cell phone or computer; his wife Suzanne took care of all of his travel arrangements. We'd talk boxing for hours, along with football. He would have me call him on Saturday mornings to give him college football picks so he could bet them.

Believe it or not, I sent he and his wife a sweet potato pie for thanksgiving '10 (via the mail). He told me to start my own thing. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before I did it.... He finally said, "Stop waiting around and just FUCKING do it, you're too good to wait around!" No bullshit. I started it out of my house on Jan. 12th www.home-slice-pie-factory.com

I owe it to him.

 

Sorry for your loss, Trey.

 

Thanks man.

 

RIP. Wasnt expecting that one.

 

Agree.

RIP

 

:l1:

 

:mj:

There can only be one :nono:

Just call me Von, just call me Von. ::

 

Sugar was a significant figure in boxing throughout decades. Don King referred to him as the only boxing historian. R.I.P.

 

Just saw it on EW.

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2012/03/26/boxing-writer-bert-sugar-dies/

He cracked one of the cruelest jokes I ever heard about Lawrence Welk. He said he called his cigars "Lawrence Welk" and when asked why he said, "Because it's a piece of shit with a band wrapped around it!"

Lawrence Welk being the bandleader and composer.

 

sad news. I wont miss the hat, the cigar or the outlandish all time ranking lists though...

 

RIP. Didn't know boxing worth a damn, but was a character and will be missed.

 

what the hell does that mean? he's been around the game for DECADES.

do message boarders know more than bert because they youtube old fights and spew nonsensical bs on mythical matchups section?

 

It's well documented that Sugar was more gimick than substance.

 

ugh, ok. but it's not like the guy didn't follow the sport. he's probably been to more events than fights you've seen on tv.

 

He knew a hell of a lot about boxing. He was big on horse racing and football, too.

We'd talk for hours about boxing; however, we rarely agreed on anything! He would almost always end our arguments with, "Shut the fuck up you little shit, what do you know?" And I would say, "That Joe Louis wasn't shit!"..... That would get him every time. Or I would hit him with a classical, "I know you're always right, but you're wrong again!" He'd laugh at that one.

By the way, I should have known the end was near. He PAID for our dinner at the Boxing Hall of Fame - Well, most of it anyway; even funnier, he tried to get Graziano to take off the taxes!! I've known him all of these years and he never paid for anything until last June.

 

Probably. Wouldn't argue that. He led a cool life. But in my experience he rarely had anything worthwhile to say. Mostly tall tales and hyperbole. Gimmick and schtick.

 

word.

Besides quantity doesn't mean quality. In this case someone seeing more fights doesn't automatyically translate into them understanding the game better.

 

I'll give him credit for being a good storyteller. There's always a place for that.

 

REED's on that Line of Demarcation for How Bert Sugar Should Be Remembered...Most Boxing Fans YOUNGER than REED Think of Sugar as a CARICATURE, while Most of those OLDER than REED Regard him as a TRUE Boxing Historian...

BOTH Sides of the Argument are Accurate...

Bert Sugar Came from an Era where Boxing Writers REALLY Wore those Fedora Type of Hats & REALLY Smoked Cigars, RINGSIDE, No Less...In that Regard, Dude was GENUINE...REED Doesn't Rock a Fedora, but he Typically Sports a Baseball Styled Cap, to the Side, & is a Noted "Smoker" as Well (Though REED Obviously Can't Light Up his "Stogie" @ Ringside):Lok:...

REED Never Met the Man, but he Could Definitely RELATE to Bert Sugar...Alot of his Stories were Paul BunyanESQUE & Repetitive, but he HAD to have a Grasp on Boxing History to Add his Own Spin to Those Tales...

Bert Sugar was the Quintessential "Boxing Guy" & he will Definitely B MISSED...

R.I.P. Mr. Sugar



REEDray:

 

There's Something to Be Said for BEING AT the Fights Though...There's No Substitute for Actually BEING THERE...Even Watching an Event Live on Television is LESS of an Experience...



REED:Lok:

 

agREED...



REED:cheer:

 

Years Ago, JAKE had the Same Recollection of Sugar...REED was Asking how he was as a Person & JAKE Said Sugar had a Trail of UNPAID TABS All Across the City of New York...



REED:atu:

 

I don't find being thought of as a cheapskate to be an endearing quality. It almost always correlates with being a prick.

 

Joe Gans >>>> Floyd Mayweather :nono:

 

RIP