Marvin Camel vs. Bill Sharkey: “1st Ever Cruiserweight Bout”
This is an excerpt from “Warrior in the Ring: The life of Marvin Camel, Native American world champion boxer” by Brian D’Ambrosio. You can buy the full version of the book here.
On June 5, 1979, “Indian” Marvin Camel faced New York ex-con Bill Sharkey in the “1st Ever Cruiser weight Bout” in Missoula, Montana. In order to compete for the World Boxing Council (WBC) title, the winner needed to first acquire the subtitle North American Boxing Federation (NABF) championship.
Camel—a mixed blood from the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana—defied all obstacles of race, poverty, and geographical isolation to earn number one ranking in the newly minted cruiserweight division.
Reared in a family of 14 children in a three-room house, Camel first boxed because he had to: his father pushed him into the ring when he was 12. Later, he boxed because he loved it: inside the ring was the only place Camel felt in control of his life and his destiny.
Born to an African-American father and a Salish Indian mother, Camel’s path to two world championships ran through a gauntlet of cultural and physical barriers. He survived with his lightning-fast fists and his fierce inner fire to achieve, to succeed, to be somebody. He wanted to set an example for all Native Americans, and ultimately, he did.
A fierce young warrior, he had more than 250 amateur bouts to his credit and worked nights and weekends fixing and delivering gaming machines.
“It means quite a bit to me to be rated number one in the cruiser division,” said Camel, who owned a 32-2-1 record in his previous fights, all at light heavyweight. “I think I have a real good chance to fight for the world title, and even win it in the cruiserweight.”
Bill Sharkey (the WBC’s number two cruiserweight) made a late debut in pro boxing in 1975, applying his familiarity at street fighting to make money. “Ever since I was a youth I was involved in a lot of street brawls and got into trouble with fighting,” said Sharkey. “But there were no dividends and no rewards. I was getting nowhere. But I never lost a street fight and I had plenty of them.”
One day, when he was 19, Sharkey came home and saw police cars swarming the block in front of his house. His father and mother had been murdered. Two years later, in 1970, Sharkey and another man drove to a home in Queens and allegedly shot and killed a man. Charged with murder, a jury convicted him in 1971 of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years but was released in 1974. He later swore up and down they’d nabbed the wrong man. While in prison, Sharkey had “FuckYou” tattooed on the inside of his bottom lip.
“There was a time when I used to believe I was put on earth to straighten people out,” Sharkey said, in a 1977 interview with the New York Daily News.
The 30-year-old Sharkey had compiled an 18-3-1 record against heavyweight opponents while weighing only a bit over one hundred ninety pounds. He said the cruiserweight division was “a new breath of air.”
In early 1979, Sharkey was defeated on CBS television by South African barroom brawler Kallie Knoetze, then the World Boxing Association’s No. 1 ranked heavyweight. He pocketed $10,000.
“I had been fighting heavyweights all along,” said Sharkey. “But, after the Kallie Knoetze fight, it hit me. Up until then I was giving up height and weight to just about everybody. But when you get up to the world class fighters, you just can’t give up that much height and weight. I’ve fought guys who weigh 220, 230, I even fought a guy who weighed 250 once. I won – I hit him with a body punch early and stopped him. But he wasn’t a world class fighter. When the cruiserweight division was created, Sharkey said it “was the greatest thing I ever heard. I’m a natural 187-pounder. That’s what I weigh today. I used to have to eat four meals a day to keep my weight up.”
The two combatants met face-to-face for the first time on Sunday afternoon before the fight at a simulated weigh-in, at the Southgate Mall. Wearing shoes and trunks, Sharkey weighed 188, while Camel, stunning in buckskins, beads, and flowing Indian headdress, also tipped the scales at 188. The popular local fighter signed autographs and spoke confidently.
Was Camel concerned by Sharkey’s high volume of thirteen knockouts in twenty two fights? “No, I don’t really think so,” said Camel.
“As I see him today,” said Camel, age 28, “he doesn’t look any different from an average fighter. After seeing him, it made me feel a little better. The way he looked in the paper, he looked awful muscular and powerful. It makes the adrenaline flow a little easier to see him.”
Sharkey said he never watched Camel fight.
“From all I’ve heard,” said Sharkey, “he’s a classic fighter, who moves and punches well. And that’s what I’ve trained for.”
Either way, fighting a lefthander didn’t matter much to Sharkey. “I don’t have any problem with that,” he said. “I’ve fought heavyweight southpaws before. They still only have two hands.”
Tuesday night, June 5, 1979, approximately 3,000 people crowded the Adams Field House in Missoula. With typical Camel work ethic, he spent the previous day in Butte fixing pinball machines.
It was a boxer vs. fighter duel, and the contrast would be accentuated as the bout progressed. Camel had Sharkey dazed several times. There were no knockdowns and it lasted the full twelve. Camel dominated, frustrating Sharkey with a sharp right jab. He kept Sharkey at distance and staggered him repeatedly with circling left hooks and uppercuts. Following the fifth, Sharkey started to grumble about the altitude and atmosphere, carping, “I can’t breathe this mountain air.”
“Marvin really outboxed Sharkey that night,” says Beau Williford, Sharkey’s trainer. “Sharkey didn’t cut off the ring and Marvin wouldn’t allow it. It was a very entertaining fight.”
Lean and efficient, Camel took a unanimous decision.
After heading to McAllen, Texas to demolish former Mexico City police officer David Cabrera in a WBC eliminator, he traveled to Yugoslavia to face hometown hero Mate Parlov in the first ever WBC Cruiserweight title fight in December, 1979.
That bout ended in a controversial draw – much of the hometown Yugoslavian press believed that the American had earned a victory. Several months later, Camel and Parlov rematched in Las Vegas and Camel won a unanimous 15-round decision.
Marvin Camel had staked his claim to boxing history.
Brian D’Ambrosio is the author of “Warrior in the Ring, The Life of Marvin Camel, Native American World Champion.”
All photos were provided by the author.
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