Fifty years since first feats of Cassius Clay
If you were to construct a list of the all-time great heavyweights Tunney Hunsaker would not feature too highly on any list. However this boxing also-ran’s place in the annals of pugilistic history is assured as he is the man who was brave enough to welcome a certain Cassius Clay to the world of professional boxing.
It is now 50 years to the day that “The Greatest” made his paid fight debut which came in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky against the West Virginia police chief Hunsacker.
Fresh from his Olympic gold medal in Rome at light-heavyweight, Clay stepped in against journeyman Hunsaker who took him the full six rounds. The unsuspecting policeman described Clay as “fast as lightning… I tried just about every trick I knew to throw him off balance but he was just too good.”
After the fight Hunsaker remarked to his friend that he felt Clay had the potential to become heavyweight world champion, and he was right. Just four short years later and Clay had beaten Sonny Liston to take the title and promptly changed his name to Muhammad X before settling on Muhammad Ali.
Way before he became The Greatest though he was just another prospect, back from the Olympics with dreams of grandeur and success. For Hunsaker it was just another fight and he said like any fighter you go into the ring expecting to win.
Had Hunsacker won it who knows what would have had happened? There would be no trash-talking that’s for sure, perhaps Floyd Mayweather would be a bashful young man your grandmother would love and David Haye would act in a courteous and extremely complementary manner to all those looking to challenge him.
Victory was never on the cards for the underdog, but by no means did Hunsaker disgrace himself. Later on in his autobiography Ali went on to say that Hunsaker delivered him one of the hardest body blows of his career.
All in all it was a gritty affair but fairly lopsided, Clay giving glimpses of what would go on to become his trademark slick hand speed and stunning footwork. By the end of the fight both of Hunsacker's eyes were closed and the decision would be beyond no doubt. However like many young boxers who are wet behind the ears journeyman Hunsaker schooled him in the dark side with sneaky tactics, elbows, headbutts, clinching and other veteran tactics that only come through experience, an education every young boxer needs to undertake.
Following this fight Hunsaker went on to fight in about another half a dozen bouts while continuing with his day job. Sadly in his last pro bout against Joe Shelton he suffered a brain haemorrhage and slipped in to a coma for nine days. He recovered but never boxed again and later fought a long battle against Alzheimer’s disease before dying in April 2003.
As for that young up and comer he fought that day, he went on to do alright.
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