Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter dies

By Boxing News - 04/21/2014 - Comments

By Thomas Greengrass: At the age of 78, famous American middleweight and civil rights activist Rubin ‘hurricane’ Carter has died. He had been battling the effects of prostate cancer for a period of years. In his career in the ring, Carter fought once for the world WBA and WBC middleweight titles losing a unanimous decision to Joey Giardello in Philadelphia, 1964. He was a one time, number three ranked middleweight by ring magazine.

The African-American Carter is most famous for being wrongfully convicted of the murder of three white people in New Jersey, 1966. In 1974, two witnesses retracted their statements and Carter was briefly set free in 1976 before being convicted again later that year when one of the prosecution witnesses retracted his withdrawal. The ‘hurricane’ was finally set free for good in 1985, when federal courts overturned his convictions.

During his incarceration he became a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, drawing support from the great Mohammed Ali and others. The alleged motivations behind his imprisonment where famously documented in Bob Dylan’s song Hurricane as well as books, documentaries and films.

Following his 1985 release Carter moved to Toronto, Canada and spent most of his remaining years campaigning for those who are wrongfully convicted. This year in February he wrote in the New York Daily News “I lived in hell for the first 49 years and I have been in heaven for the past 28. To live in a world where truth matters and justice, however late, really matters”.

I would personally like to pay my tributes to a truly great person who happened to be part of the boxing family.



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