Panama Lewis

Carlos "Panama" Lewis is a well-known and highly controversial boxing trainer who achieved his greatest notoriety in the 1980s.

Early career

Lewis was a disciple of legendary trainer Chickie Ferrara. He was Roberto Duran's cornerman when Duran upset Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. Pearlman, Jeff. [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1014414/index.htm Bare Knuckles] . "Sports Illustrated", 1998-10-26.]

During the early 1980s, he was considered one of the best trainers of his time, compared with Emanuel Steward and Lou Duva. The most noted boxer in his stable was light-welterweight champion Aaron Pryor. In 1982, Pryor fought Alexis Arguello and seemed to be taking a brutal beating. Before the fourteenth round, a cornerman held up a plastic water bottle, but HBO cameras caught Lewis yelling, "Not that bottle, the special one I mixed." Pryor rallied with almost maniacal energy and knocked out Arguello. Rumors abounded that the bottle contained illegal stimulants, but Lewis himself said it only contained Perrier and tap water. Although Lewis was never formally sanctioned, the incident sullied his reputation.

Resto-Collins

The most notorious incident in Lewis's career took place on June 16, 1983. A fighter he was training, Luis Resto, was fighting undefeated prospect Billy Collins, Jr. in a bout televised by ABC's Wide World of Sports. The fight was the undercard for a fight between Roberto Duran and Davey Moore.

Resto won in a 10-round unanimous decision over a bloody Collins. After the fight, Resto came to Collins' corner to shake hands with Collins' father and trainer, Billy, Sr. When Billy, Sr. grabbed Resto's hand, he discovered Resto's gloves were thinner than normal. Screaming that he thought the gloves had no padding, Collins, Sr. demanded that the New York State Boxing Commission impound the gloves. An investigation revealed found that each glove was missing an ounce of padding. There was also a 0.75-inch hole in the palm of each glove. Collins suffered a torn iris and permanently blurred vision, ending his boxing career.

After an investigation, the New York State Boxing Commission determined Lewis had tampered with the gloves. On July 1, 1983; it permanently revoked Lewis' state boxing license. Since most state boxing commissions honor sanctions imposed by other states, this action had the effect of banning Lewis from ever having another official role in an American bout. Resto's win was subsequently changed to a no contest. [ [http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=22083&cat=boxer Luis Resto ] ]

In October 1986, Lewis and Resto were both put on trial and found guilty of assault, criminal possession of a weapon (Resto's hands) and conspiracy. Lewis was also found guilty of tampering with a sports contest. Prosecutors charged that since Lewis had deliberately removed the padding from Resto's gloves, the bout with Collins amounted to an illegal assault. Lewis was sentenced to six years in prison, Resto to three years, of which they each served 2.5 years. [Farhood, Steve. [http://www.boxing-monthly.co.uk/content/0003/two.htm Unforgiven] . Boxing Monthly, 2000.]

Collins died nine months later by driving off a cliff; many think he may have committed suicide because he was unable to continue boxing as a result of the actions of Lewis and Resto. [Citation
last = Silver
first = Mike
title = The Ten Dirtiest Fights of All time
journal = The Ring
volume = 76, no. 12
page = 48
date = December 1997]

Years later, Resto admitted that he knew Lewis had not only tampered with the gloves, but had placed plaster underneath his hand wraps, dramatically--and illegally--increasing his punching power. He also said that Lewis had taken the padding out of his gloves on at least two other occasions. [Mladnich, Robert. [http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/5801/resto-comes-clean-knew-gloves-were-loaded/ Resto Comes Clean: He Knew Gloves Were Loaded] . "The Sweet Science", 2008-04-06.]

Lewis maintains his innocence to this day, and many of his defenders allege that someone removed the padding from Resto's gloves "after" the bout. For instance, an official with the New York State Boxing Commission left the gloves in his car after receiving them from the state boxing commission. However, this is belied by pictures of Collins' face after the bout; it was badly swollen, and many felt it was improbable a light puncher like Resto could have inflicted such damage on his own.

Current career

Despite his involvement in one of boxing's worst scandals, Lewis is able to continue to work as a trainer. However, as mentioned above, he is not allowed to work the corner. His stable of fighters includes heavyweight contenders Tony Tucker and Frans Botha. He resurfaced in the news in the United States in 2002, when Mike Tyson brought him in as an advisor for his title fight with Lennox Lewis.

References