Rubin Carter - Boxing Career

Boxing Career

Upon his release from prison in September 1961, Carter became a professional boxer . At 5 ft 8 in (1.7 m), Carter was shorter than the average middleweight, but he fought all of his professional career at 155–160 lb (70–72.6 kg). His aggressive style and punching power (resulting in many early-round knockouts) drew attention, establishing him as a crowd favorite and earning him the nickname "Hurricane." After he had beaten a number of middleweight contenders such as Florentuno Fernandez, Holley Mims, Gomeo Brennan, and George Benton, the boxing world took notice. The Ring first listed him as one of its "Top 10" middleweight contenders in July 1963.

He fought six times in 1963, winning four bouts and losing two. He remained ranked in the lower part of the top 10 until December 20, when he surprised the boxing world by flooring past and future world champion Emile Griffith twice in the first round and scoring a technical knockout.

That win resulted in The Ring's ranking Carter as the #3 contender for Joey Giardello's world middleweight title. Carter won two more fights (one a decision over future heavyweight champion Jimmy Ellis) in 1964, before meeting Giardello in Philadelphia for a 15-round championship match on December 14. Carter fought well in the early rounds, landing a few solid rights to the head and staggering Giardello in the fourth, but failed to follow them up and Giardello took control of the fight in the fifth round. The judges awarded Giardello a unanimous decision. Carter felt in retrospect that he lost by not bringing the fight to the champion.

After that fight, Carter's standing as a contender — as reflected by his ranking in The Ring — began to decline. He fought nine times in 1965, but lost three of four fights against top contenders (Luis Manuel Rodríguez, Dick Tiger, and Harry Scott). Tiger, in particular, had no problem with Carter, flooring him three times in their match. "It was", Carter said, "the worst beating that I took in my life — inside or outside the ring." During his visit to London (to fight Scott) Carter was involved in an incident in which a shot was fired in his hotel room.

Carter's career record in boxing was 27 wins, 12 losses and one draw in 40 fights, with 19 total knockouts (8 KOs and 11 TKOs).

He received an honorary championship title belt from the World Boxing Council in 1993 (as did Joey Giardello at the same banquet) and was later inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.