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Put in a
prison cell but one time he coulda been the champion of the world......
from
"Hurricane" by Dylan/Levy
(lyrics
and audio clips)
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Carter's
boxing record
This
ESPN site is
good on his boxing career,
weak on the facts of the Lafayette Grill murders. Includes video clips.
Ring
Magazine
article about Carter two months before the murders, declares his career
on the skids
More
things the Hurricane
movie got wrong
Carter
blames the police
when he's caught drinking
in an illegal nightclub
days before a 1965 bout
Carter's
rankings -- Ring Magazine. In 1966, the year of the murders,
he was not the number one contender for the middleweight crown, as he
claims.
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CARTER'S
BOXING CAREER
"Whether Carter
ever would have been a world champion will never be known, though he
was past his prime when he was convicted in 1967. He had only one title
fight -- and he lost it, a 15-round decision to middleweight champ Joey
Giardello in 1964. Before that bout, Carter had won 20 of his first
24 fights, including 13 by knockout. Afterward, he won only seven of
his last 15 bouts." (Ron Flatter, ESPN)
Paul Mulshine on
Carter's Boxing Career
"The
movie is allegedly "based on a true story," but there
is only one scene in it that is an accurate depiction of a true moment
in history. It is the scene in which the up-and-coming young boxer knocks
out the great Emile Griffith in 2:13 of the first round of a 1963 fight.
That really happened, exactly as shown on-screen, which makes it unique
in a movie full of distortions and outright lies."
"The stunning upset in the Griffith fight was the highlight of
a life that would soon go downhill fast. But for a few months after
that fight, Carter truly looked like a fighter who—in the immortal
words of Bob Dylan—"could have been the champion of the world."
Actually, the only way that really could have happened was if a truck
ran over all of the middleweights who actually knew how to box."
"Carter was in the ring what he was in real life, brutal and thuggish.
With his shaved head, goatee, and evil stare, he hoped to win the fight
psychologically before the physical action even began. This worked with
some of the young fighters he met on the way up, but when he got a title
shot it was against Joey Giardello, a tough Italian from South Philly
who had never ducked a fight in his life. It didn't work. Giardello
easily solved Carter's lunging style and then gave him a boxing lesson."
The
Giardello/Carter Match
"In the film,
(Joey) Giardello is depicted as an incompetent fighter who is pummeled
by Carter in the racially charged atmosphere of the match. Carter is
shown being victimized by racist judges who astonish a booing crowd
by handing the decision to Giardello.
"An incredulous
Giardello, whose real name is Carmine Tilelli, watched the film with
a Philadelphia Daily News reporter last month and decided that
the film had permanently damaged his reputation as a fearless, tough
street-fighter. In the actual fight, Carter was unable to brawl his
way underneath Giardello's left jab, and lost a unanimous decision.
"This is a
joke," Giardello told the Daily News as he watched his creampuff
film character being battered across the ring. "He never hit me
that much in 15 rounds."
"People who
saw the fight agree, including reporters from the New York Post,
the Daily News and other publications. The referee who scored
the fight in Giardello's favor has called the film "ludicrous."
"
Shepard
Metro-Express,
2000
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