Bert Sugar

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Bert Sugar
BrizelSugar.JPG
Bert Sugar (right) with former world middleweight champion Emile Griffith in January 2010
Born Herbert Randolph Sugar
June 7, 1937*
Washington, D.C.
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Mount Kisco, New York
Cause of death Cardiac arrest
Residence New York City, New York
Nationality American
Education JD, MBA
Alma mater University of Maryland,
University of Michigan
JD, MBA
Occupation Boxing writer,
sports historian
Years active 1968 – 2012
Home town New York City, New York
Spouse(s) Suzanne Sugar
Children Jennifer Frawley,
J.B. Sugar
Awards International Boxing Hall of Fame, Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Bert Randolph Sugar (June 7, 1937 – March 25, 2012) was a boxing writer and sports historian recognizable by his trademark fedora and cigar.[1][2]

Biography

Education

Born in Washington, D.C., Sugar graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1953, where he was a reporter and columnist for the school's newspaper. His entry in the high school yearbook for that year predicts he "will become a radio announcer or sports writer." Sugar graduated from the University of Maryland. He earned a JD and MBA from the University of Michigan in 1961. After passing the bar exam, he worked in the advertising business in New York City for ten years.[3] During his time in the advertising business, he worked at several different agencies, including J Walter Thompson, PKL and McCann Erickson.

Career

Sugar bought Boxing Illustrated magazine in 1969 and was editor until 1973.[4] From 1979–1983 he was editor and publisher of The Ring. In 1988 he once again began editing Boxing Illustrated. In 1998 he founded Bert Sugar's Fight Game.

Sugar authored over 80 books, mostly on boxing history. Various boxing books that Sugar has written include Great Fights, Bert Sugar on Boxing, 100 Years of Boxing, Sting like a Bee (with José Torres), The Ageless Warrior (Preface, with Mike Fitzgerald) and Boxing's Greatest Fighters. Sugar was called "The Greatest Boxing Writer of the 20th Century" by the International Veterans Boxing Association.[5]

In May 2009 he and Running Press published Bert Sugar's Baseball Hall of Fame: A Living History of America's Greatest Game.[6]

Sugar also co-wrote a book about Harry Houdini titled Houdini, His Life and Art with James Randi.

Other media

Sugar appeared in several films playing himself, including Night and the City, The Great White Hype and Rocky Balboa. Interviews with Sugar feature in Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. Along with Lou Albano, he helped write The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling.[7] He wrote a regular sports column for Smoke Magazine, a quarterly cigar lifestyle magazine. Sugar was described by Bob Costas as being "Runyonesque" (in reference to Damon Runyon); and as "one of the foremost historians alive," by the Boston Globe.

Honors

Sugar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in January 2005. In May 2010, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2011, he was featured on The Pentagon Channel's Armed Forces Boxing Championships. Sugar had been scheduled to broadcast the 2012 matches, but his health prevented him from doing so.

Death

Sugar died from cardiac arrest on March 25, 2012. His family was at his bedside at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. Prior to his death, Sugar had been battling lung cancer.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ James B. Roberts, Alexander G. Skutt. The boxing register: International Boxing Hall of Fame official record book. 2006, page 751
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links


  • Several sources cite Bert Sugar's birth year as 1936, rather than 1937; however, there is no consensus on the matter.

1. http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7736006/acclaimed-boxing-writer-bert-sugar-dies-cardiac-arrest-75

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/25/bert-sugar-boxing-writer-dies-heart-attack_n_1378668.html

3. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/sports/bert-sugar-boxing-writer-and-commentator-is-dead-at-74.html

4. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/9167619/Bert-Sugar-Like-the-boxers-he-wrote-about-and-befriended-Bert-was-one-of-the-greats.html

5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/bert-sugar-boxing-writer-and-historian-known-for-blustery-style-dies-at-75/2012/03/26/gIQAtUhvcS_story.html

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