My Farewell To George Benton

[The_budweiser]

George Benton, one of the best never to win a world title, especially at a time when world titles meant something, passed away Sept. 19, 2011, at the age of 78. Promoter J Russell Peltz, International Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2004, recalls his days with The Mayor of North Philadelphia.

 

 

Goodbye, Baby Cakes!

 

 

When I was 15 years old, I read in the newspaper that George Benton knew 48 different ways to avoid getting hit with a left jab. I had learned how to box a couple of years earlier and I was trying to figure out all the ways this could be done but I gave up after about a dozen.

At the time in 1962, George was in the middle of one of his many comebacks. This one would lead him back into the Top 10 and onto the doorstep of the title shot he would never get. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride!

My dad took me to Convention Hall that May to see George fight cross-town rival Jesse “Crazy Horse” Smith. We sat ringside and watched George play defense, then pick Smith apart (right) en route to a unanimous decision. Among other monikers, George was known as the Mayor of North Philadelphia and that’s the one I liked best.

“He just sets there and waits for you to do something,” Smith said afterward. “And when you do, you’re sorry you did.”

I was away that summer when George and Joey Giardello packed the 12,000-seat Convention Hall for their all-Philly showdown. I got a copy of the Philadelphia Daily News the day after the fight and I never forgot Jack McKinney’s opening paragraph:

“George Benton, the man, finally caught up with George Benton, the legend, and the two walked out of Convention Hall together last night. After 13 years of frustration and unfulfilled promise, the gifted North Philadelphia middleweight finally tore loose from his personal treadmill to win the biggest fight of his career with a solid decision over veteran contender Joey Giardello.” (Why don’t they make writers like that anymore?)

 

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