Sugar Ramos

Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos (born December 2, 1941, Matanzas, Cuba) is a Cuban boxer, who began his boxing career in his native country.

Exile

He won the Cuban Featherweight championship belt in 1960 and then fled to Mexico City when Fidel Castro came into power.

Famous bouts

In Mexico, Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos built his historical career. On March 21, 1963, Ramos had a bout scheduled at Dodger Stadium. On that day, Ramos severely beat Davey Moore. In the 10th round, Moore was knocked down. His head bounced off the bottom rope, and then hit the canvas. Four days later, Moore died from injuries sustained to his brain stem.

This was similar to Ramos' twelfth professional fight in which Jose Blanco died from injuries sustained in the fight. Ramos was criticized.

Retirement

Ramos lost his title in 1965 and never challenged for his title again. He did continue boxing, however, until 1972.

Records

His record was 55 wins (40 KO's) 8 loses, and 3 Draws.

*He was elected into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992 as both "Ultiminio Ramos" and "Sugar Ramos"--apparently as two different boxers.

Cultural references

Bob Dylan wrote a song about the event where Davey Moore succumbed to death while posing the question of public responsibility. It is titled "Who Killed Davey Moore?" and was also sung by Pete Seeger.
Phil Ochs wrote a song titled "Davey Moore" [http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/davey-moore.html] which told the story of Davey Moore's death and placed the guilt on the managers and the boxing "money men" as well as boxing fans. A tribute to Davey Moore is also made by the New Zealander and French writer and singer Graeme Allwright [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Allwright wikipedia] via his song Qui a tué Davy Moore (see [http://www.mga.asso.fr/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Graeme_Allwright] site)

References

[http://www.ibhof.com/ramos.htm IBHOF Bio]