Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A . C O M 47 In 250 amateur and professional fi ghts, Camel was never knocked out. He may have had his lights turned off and his clock cleaned, and he may have been stopped by offi cials because of ugly cuts, bruises, and bleeding, but he was never knocked unconscious, and he never quit. His encounters were snarly in detail, variously noted for their savagery, artistry, con- troversy, rivalry, or pure spectacle. In 1980, boxing launched the cruiserweight division—a weight bracket from 176 to 190 pounds that was the answer for men too big for the light heavyweight class and not hefty enough to throw leather with the true heavyweights. Camel was the fi rst cruiserweight champ with the World Boxing Council (WBC) in 1980 and the International Boxing Federa- tion (IBF) in 1984. Camel defi ed simple categorization as a fi ghter and as a per- son. For a pugilist, Camel was exquisitely handsome, tall and commanding, with a charming and a warm personality. Mild- mannered, easy-going, possessing a keen sense of humor and wisdom, he was the antithesis of the brash thug or tiresome showboat who provoked fi sticuffs at weigh-ins, talked unedu- cated drivel, or stared down opponents with exaggerated ma- chismo. Camel would personify your average mild-mannered gentleman, which he had been all his life, except for the fury unleashed from a wellspring of unexplored emotions when he laced up his gloves. Camel was a solid defensive boxer who favored strategy over slugging. The fact that he was a lefthander—a fairly rare com- modity in the boxing world and a trait that caused opposing fi ghters to change their styles—hampered his opportunities for big fi ghts. His charging, awkward style—baffl ing to oppo- nents—also made it diffi cult to fi nd matches. At times Camel felt as if he were the perennial underdog, a guy that no one gives a damn about. On occasion, he was pessimistic about his chosen profession—"legalized murder" he called it—and whether or not he should have dedicated his entire existence to something that received so little respect. At other times, he embarked on personal public relations campaigns on behalf of professional boxing. Marvin Camel reached high plateaus in his professional life and made tremendous sacrifi ces in his personal life, which included a divorce from the woman who frequently worked as his trainer. Told that he was risking his sight in one eye by continuing to box, he kept fi ghting until nearly age forty. Excerpted from Warrior in the Ring, copyright 2015 by Brian D'Ambrosio, published by Riverbend Publishing, Helena.

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