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I don't believe Ed was being groomed for Marciano at the stage of his career when he met Boston's Willie James. Ed was a much better amateur than he was a professional. Prior to the Olympics he suffered a devastating knockout defeat to Lloyd Willis in the Mid-West Olympic Boxing Trials. He avenged the defeat with a knockout over Willis two weeks later to earn a berth on the US Olympic team. He was nothing less than sensational in the 1952 Olympics, destroying everyone he met leading up to the final against Johannson. After the Olympics he reaimed an amateur for another year and was soundly beaten by Charle (Sonny) Liston in the finals of the Chicago Golden Gloves in February 1952. 13 months later he turned professional. I always wondered if the beatings he took in the first Willis fight and the Liston fight didn't ultimately lead to his demise.
Here is my research of Sanders from a few years back.
EDWARD SANDERS
HEAVYWEIGHT
BORN: March 24, 1930, Los Angeles, CA
DIED: December 14, 1954, Boston, MA from a blood clot on the brain
sustained in his last professional fight.
Height: 6-4
Weight: 220
Amateur Record: 43-4-0 (Idaho State Boxing Team; US Navy Boxing Team)
Professional Record: 6-2-1 (3)
Amateur Highlights
1950 NCAA Championship (Idaho State)
1951 NCAA Championship (Idaho State)
1952 NCAA Championship (Compton Junior College)
1952 Gold Medal: Heavyweight Boxing
1952
May -- Johnny Little (Ire) Dublin W 3 (Ireland vs US)
Jun 7 Lloyd Willis Omaha KO by 1
(Mid-West Regional Olympic Boxing Trials)
Lloyd ended Ed's long winning streak with a devastating knockout
victory. Lloyd was a soldier stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas.
"Willis dazed Sanders with a series of solid right hand smashes
in the first minute of the fight, then chased him around the ring
...with both fists flying. Sanders absorbed enough punishment for
ten men before he crumpled to the deck. He tried to get up but
pitched head-long into the ropes and was counted out." (1)
Jun 21 Lloyd Willis Kansas City KO 2
(Final Olympic Boxing Trials)
" Willis stood up to Sanders at the start and it was obvious he
came prepared to to knock out Big Ed as he had done two weeks before
in the Mid-West Regional Trials. Willis landed several good blows
in the early fighting but he slowed up as Sanders began to find the
range with jolting lefts and rights which he fired to both head and
body. Sanders buckled Willis' knees with a right cross to the jaw
near the end of the first round and then moved in relentlessly.
The action was still rugged in the second frame but it was Sanders
who was doing the damage and he finally dropped Willis with a terrific
left hook. Willis staggered to his feet but was in no condition to do
battle with Sanders who knocked him colder than a February morn with
a vicious right-uppercut to the chin." (1)
1952 Olympic Games - Helsinki (July 28 - August 2)
First Round Hans Jost (SUI) KO 1
Quarter-Final Round Giacomo Di Segni (ITA) KO 3
Semi-Final Round Andries C. Nieman (SAF) KO 2
Final Round Ingemar Johansson (SWE) W DQ 2
"Navy sailor Ed Sanders... operated like a lesser Joe Louis. Big and strong,
he demonstrated power that was more than slightly frigtening to his
opposition. In the final against Sweden's Ingemar Johansson .....Ingemar
wanted no part of him. He ran, literally ran, from big Ed, and the referee
disqualified Johansson for not fighting." (2)
1953
Feb -- Charles (Sonny) Liston Chicago L 3 (3)
(Golden Gloves)
After winning the gold medal, Sanders served 2 years in the Navy and turned
professional in Boston where he was stationed.
Professional Record
1954
Mar 8 Sonny Nichols Boston KO 1 (debut)
Apr 1 Billy Booker Boston KO 1
Apr 10 Henry Anderson Boston KO 2
Apr 24 Willie Wilson Boston L 5
May 23 Battling Jack Flood Boston W Dsq 4
Aug 12 Willie Wilson Boston W 8
Oct 5 Bert Whitehurst Boston D 10
Oct 26 Bert Whitehurst Boston W 10
Dec 11 Willie James Boston KO by 11 (Died from injuries)
(New England Heavyweight Title)
(1) Spike Webb, Boxing Coach, US Naval Academy - The Ring - Oct 52 p38, 50
(2) Jess Abramson - The Ring - Nov 52 p8,9,41
(3) Sonny Liston - The Champ Nobody Wanted
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jofre
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