Hall of Fame
Carmen Basilio (Honorary) – Class of 1991
The measure of greatness…
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World middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson, right, gets through the guard of challenger Carmen Basilio and drives a right to the midsection in fifth round of middleweight title fight at Yankee Stadium in New York, in this Sept. 23, 1957 file photo. Basilio won the title with a 15-round decision over Robinson.
The confines of a boxing ring are the starkest boundaries in sport. Taut canvas and rope define an arena where a man must take the measure of a single opponent, aided only by instinct, wit, and guile. Weeks, months, years of toil culminate in a single bout. And success is ultimately determined by a man’s vision, not of his foe, but of himself.
No athlete has defined his true measure through sport more clearly than Carmen Basilio. In thering, he personified the capacity to succeed by simply refusing to accept defeat, culminating in the Middleweight Championship of the World and the Hickok Belt signifying selection as the Professional Athlete of the Year in 1957. He is the most renowned athlete to spring from Central New York. His exploits brought Canastota into the national consciousness, and made Syracuse the site of world-class matches. And upon retirement from the ring he chose to remain close to his home.
That decision coincided with a special need at Le Moyne College, and a relationship that, for 20 years, brought this special man into the lives of countless students.
Le Moyne was no school for aspiring world champions. But it had a new gym, and hundreds of students with little exposure to the discipline of athletic conditioning. As a physical education instructor, Carmen drew students to classes with the magnet of a worldwide reputation, and earned their respect as a hard taskmaster who could be counted on to insist they constantly demand more of themselves.
For his dedication to his students at Le Moyne, and because, in the ring he defined the true measure of greatness,
Carmen Basilio is inducted as an honorary member of the
Le Moyne College Athletic Hall of Fame
February 2, 1991
