Editing Carmen Basilio (section)

==Boxing career==

===Journeyman===
Basilio began his [[professional boxing]] career by facing Jimmy Evans on November 24, 1948, in [[Binghamton, New York]]. He knocked Evans out in the third round, and five days later he beat Bruce Walters in only one round. By the end of 1948, he had completed four bouts.

He started 1949 with two draws, against Johnny Cunningham on January 5 and against Jay Perlin 20 days later. Basilio campaigned exclusively inside the state of [[New York (state)|New York]] during his first 24 bouts, going 19-3-2 during that span.  His first loss was at the hands of Connie Thies, who beat him in a six-round decision on May 2, 1949. He fought Cunningham three more times during that period. Basilio won by knockout in two rounds on their second meeting, Cunningham won by a decision in eight in their third fight, and Basilio won by a decision in eight in their fourth.

In the middle of that 24-bout span, 1950 rolled over and Basilio met former world champion [[Lew Jenkins]], winning a 10-round decision.

For fight number 25, Basilio decided that it was time to campaign outside of New York state, so he went to [[New Orleans]], where he boxed his next six fights. In his first bout there, he met Gaby Ferland, who held him to a draw. He and Ferland later had a rematch, Basilio winning by a [[knockout]] in the first round. He also boxed Guillermo Giminez there twice, first beating him by knockout in eight and then by knockout in nine. In his last fight before returning home, he lost by a decision in 10 to Eddie Giosa.

For his next seven bouts, Basilio only went 3–3–1, but he was able to avenge his loss to Giosa by winning a ten-round decision over him in [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]].

In 1952, Basilio went 6–2–1. He beat Jimmy Cousins among others that year, but he lost to [[Chuck Davey]] and [[Billy Graham (American boxer)|Billy Graham]]. The draw he registered that year was against Davey in the first of the two meetings that year.

===Rise in the ranks===
In 1953. Basilio started winning big fights and rose in the welterweight division rankings. He secured his first world title fight, against [[Cuba]]'s [[Kid Gavilán]] for Gavilán's world welterweight championship.

Before fighting against Gavilan, he beat former world lightweight champion [[Ike Williams (boxer)|Ike Williams]] and had two more fights with Graham, avenging his earlier loss to Graham in the second bout between them with a 12-round decision win and drawing in the third. Basilio lost a 15-round decision to Gavilan and went for a fourth meeting with Cunningham, this time winning by a knockout in four. Then he and French fighter Pierre Langois began another rivalry with a 10-round draw in the first bout between the two.

In 1954, Basilio went undefeated in eight bouts, going 7-0-1 with 2 knockouts and defeating Langois in their rematch by decision.

===World Champion===
In 1955, Basilio began by beating Peter Müller by decision. After that, Basilio was once again the number one challenger, and on June 10 of that year he received his second world title try, against world welterweight champion [[Tony DeMarco]]. Basilio became world champion by knocking out DeMarco in the 12th round.

After winning the title, Basilio had two non-title bouts, including a ten-round decision win over [[Gil Turner]], before he and DeMarco met again, this time with Basilio as the defending world champion. Their second fight had exactly the same result as their first bout: Basilio won by a knockout in 12.

For his next fight, in 1956, Basilio lost the title in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] to [[Johnny Saxton]] by a decision in 15. Saxton's manager, [[Made man|mafioso]] [[Frank Palermo|Frank "Blinky" Palermo"]],<ref>{{cite web|title=BLINKY PALERMO, MOBSTER WHO RAN BOXING DIES!|url=http://ringtalk.com/blinky-palermo-mobster-who-ran-boxing-dies|publisher=Ring Talk|access-date=September 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225041904/http://ringtalk.com/blinky-palermo-mobster-who-ran-boxing-dies|archive-date=February 25, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> was later jailed along with his partner [[Frankie Carbo]] for fixing fights. Basilio said of losing his title to the referees' decision: "It was like being robbed in a dark alley."<ref>{{cite web|last=Acevedo|first=Carlos|title=STRANGE DAYS: The Johnny Saxton Story|url=http://thecruelestsport.com/2009/10/27/strange-days-the-johnny-saxton-story/|publisher=The Cruelest Sport|access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref>  In an immediate rematch that was fought in Syracuse, Basilio regained the crown with a nine-round knockout, and then, in a rubber match, Basilio kept the belt with a knockout in two.

After that, he went up in weight and challenged ageing 36- year-old world middleweight champion [[Sugar Ray Robinson]], in what may have been his most famous fight. He won the middleweight championship of the world by beating Robinson in a 15-round split decision on September&nbsp;23, 1957. The day after, he had to abandon the welterweight belt, in accordance with boxing's then rules. In 1957 Basilio won the [[Hickok Belt]] as top professional athlete of the year.

===Decline===
[[File:Carmen Basilio 1958.jpg|thumb|Basilio against Robinson in 1958]]
[[File:Carmen Basilio 1960.jpg|thumb|Basilio testifies to U.S. Senate about mafia in 1960]]
In 1958, he and Robinson met in a rematch on March 25 and Robinson barely regained the title with a controversial 15-round split decision. The judges scored 71 to 64,5  and 72 to 64 Robinson while the referee scores 66 to 69 Basilio. Although Basilio's left eye was totally swollen shut from the 6th round on, many of the ringside press thought Basilio won the fight.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

From that moment, and until his retirement in 1961, he fought only sporadically, but three of his last fights were attempts to recover the world middleweight title, losing twice to [[Gene Fullmer]]: by a TKO in 14 at [[San Francisco]] and by a TKO in 12 in Fullmer's home state of [[Utah]] (in [[Salt Lake City]]), and also later, when he lost a 10-round decision to defending world champion [[Paul Pender]].

In between those fights, he was able to beat [[Art Aragon]], by knockout in eight and former world welterweight champion [[Don Jordan]] by decision in ten. His fight with Pender for the title was also his last fight as a professional boxer.

===Senate Testimony===
In 1960, Basilio testified before the [[United States Senate]] Subcommittee on Antitrust and the Monopoly during its investigation of the  [[International Boxing Club of New York]] and the influence of [[organized crime]] on boxing. Basilio told the Subcommittee about [[Frankie Carbo]] and Frank "Blinky" Palmero and Carbo's aide, Gabriel Genovese, a cousin of Mafia Don [[Vito Genovese]] who was convicted in 1959 of being an unlicensed boxing manager.<ref>{{cite news |title=CARBO AIDE GUILTY IN BOXING FRAUDS; Gabriel Genovese, Cousin of Mafia Chief, Convicted as Unlicensed Manager |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/06/04/archives/carbo-aide-guilty-in-boxing-frauds-gabriel-genovese-cousin-of-mafia.html |access-date=May 25, 2023 |work=New York Times |date=June 4, 1959}}</ref> He called for a house cleaning of professional boxing. His testimony revealed that his former managers had to pay off organized crime for his title shots and that he essentially had a behind the scenes manager in Genovese.<ref>{{cite book |title=Professional Boxing: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-sixth Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 238 |date=1960 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=471–484 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WEMLo3-MC1gC&q=basilio |access-date=May 25, 2023}}</ref>

Evidence submitted to the subcommittee showed that Basilio's on-the-record managers, John DeJohn and Joseph Netro, paid Carbo frontman Gabriel Genovese $39,334.41 and approximately $25,000, respectively, during the time Basilio fought for and defended his welterweight and middleweight titles.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-Managers of Basilio Tell of Payments; DeJohn and Netro Say Title Fights Came Only Then |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/dlc_capra_ver01/data/sn83045462/00280608099/1960120801/0738.pdf |access-date=May 25, 2023 |publisher=Washington Evening Star |date=December 3, 1960}}</ref>

===Record===

Carmen Basilio retired with a ring record of 56 wins, 16 losses and 7 draws, with 27 wins by knockout.