Another tragic ring death that once more shows boxing's ugly side. A young, handsome ex-marine, Roach was a talented prospect who like far too many lost his life as a result of inadequate medical screening, poor officiating, and greedy handlers.
Leaving the service at the end of World War Two, Roach, a Texan, relocated to New York City where he captured the city's Golden Gloves welterweight crown in 1945.
Shortly thereafter, Laverne turned pro and earned
The Ring's 1947 "Rookie of the Year" award as a middleweight. Possessing considerable ring skills and a world of potential, the February 1948 issue of
The Ring assessed Roach in the following manner.
"Roach has patterned his style pretty much after...Gene Tunney. There is nothing fancy or flashy in Laverne's modus operandi, but the youngster is cool, knows how to box, and wastes few punches."
Coming into 1948, Roach had an impressive record of 22-1 with his only loss the result six round decision with tough Artie Towne in Laverne's sixth fight as a pro. His record included wins over name fighters like Herbie Kronowitz and Billy Arnold.
Roach opened 1948 with a unanimous win over Tony Janiro in January and a month later stopped Al Thornton in seven. Sadly, set off events that would lead to Roach's downfall and ultimately cost him his life.
His handlers, blinded by greed, pushed for a match against world-class European star Marcel Cerdan, who later that year would take the word middleweight crown from Tony Zale.
Laverne was only a few months past his twenty-third birthday, and despite all of his potential, he had no business in the ring against Cerdan at this point in his career.
In a gross mismatch, Cerdan decked Roach three times in the second round. At that point the contest should have been halted. In a rare off-night, referee Art Donovan let the massacre continue until round eight after Roach was floored four more times.
Reporting on the match in its May 1948 issue
The Ring noted,
"It was a probale mismatch that shouldn't have been made." Taking Roach's handlers to task, Jersey Jones, who wrote the piece, concluded, that
"...they just about wrecked a fine young prospect."
Jones was totally on the mark in his assessment. Roach went on to lose on points to Charlie Zivic and then dropped a unanimous ten rounder to the unheralded Johnny Hansbury. Laverne hung up his boxing gloves at the end of 1948 and sold insurance for a living.
Sadly, he was persuaded to make a comeback in 1950, and his matches were fast-tracked with him fighting four bouts in less than two months.
On his twenty-fifth birthday, Laverne met tough Georgie Small at New York's St. Nicholas Arena on February 22, 1950. The website below details the contest. Roach was kayoed in the tenth and died the following day from a sub-dural brain hemmorage.
Boxing: Damaged Goods
As the above article indicates, Laverne entered the Small fight as "damaged goods", no doubt suffering permanent brain injury from his match with Cerdan two years earlier.
Boxing history records this sordid affair as just another "accidental death" in the ring. But given the failure to do prefight medical screening, the incompetent performance of Arthur Donovan, and the greed-driven handlers who managed Roach, words like "man slaughter" or even "murder" might be more accurate.
On a rather morbid note, Laverne's last match hold the dubious distinction of being the first televised "boxing fatality."
Following his death, his widow established a scholarship award in Laverne's name at his alma mater, Plainview High School in Texas.
A few words about the attached rating. I had searched the forum and saw references to an exisiting rating for Roach but couldn't find it in the default pool or in FighterList.
The rating reflect's Laverne's abilities prior to the Cerdan match. I'm considering matching him against Laszlo Papp in my
Lost Years sim. If I do, I'll most likely adjust his career to "post-prime" and set his conditioning to 11 ("Physical and Mental Problems"). Then again, I might just fight him in his prime as if these terrible events had never taken place.