Bert “The Hat” Sugar
THREE DECADES OF “DRINKING & GOOD TIMES”
San Francisco, CA– He was one of those guys that you either thought he should of died a long time ago, or that Bert “The Hat” Sugar was immortal. There are plenty of memories that come to mind when I ponder the times Bert and I spent together, especially the late 80s and early 90s. Being a heavy drinker, Bert may have been the most productive alcoholic I’ve ever met in my life.
“THE HAT” WAS THE FACE OF THE BOXING MEDIA!
The most prolific and proficient boxing writer in history, and that includes ex-Ring Magazine head Nat Fleisher, Sugar himself would spend some time at the helm of the rag that was once the true, “Bible of Boxing,” this in the decade of the 1980s.
MY TV BROADCAST PARTNER FOR A FEW YEARS!
In the decade of the 1990′s, Sugar and I worked for TV producer and promoter in the late Lou Falcigno. Once a month, we would meet in Las Vegas at the then “connected” Riviera Hotel and do a TV broadcast for Falcigno’s “Sports Bar Network.” Bert was the third wheel on the broadcast team with Arnie Rosenthal doing the “blow by blow,” while I had the color commentary and Bert offered his expert analysis.
ALWAYS “PARTY TIME” WHEN BERT WAS IN DA’ HOUSE
Afterwards we had parties, either at the Riviera bar or in Falcigno’s suite. Regardless of where it was, Bert got “damp” while my “buzz” choice at the time was inhaling cannabis vapors. We would always split up after the broadcasts, only to hook up later at the Riviera cocktail lounge.
“THE HAT” ONLY GOT MAD ONE TIME!
While working the Riviera, we were celebrating a birthday of either Falcigno or his 35 year younger blond girlfriend. To call her a snooty bitch would not be inappropriate, as the bimbo took full advantage of having Lou as her “sugar daddy.” One night we were cutting a cake for some reason in Falcigno’s suite when Sugar, sitting on the couch, was being teased by Lou’s girly friend.
THE ONLY TIME “THE HAT” WAS NOT IN PLACE!
When Bert told her to go taking a flying leap, she took offense and positioned herself behind Sugar before taking off his hat and flinging it across the room like a Frisbee. I had never seen Sugar lose his cool before or after, and he went through the first three letters of the alphabet, “A, B & C,” while describing the female who fit all three letters!
THE MORRISON-RUDDOCK CARD
In 1995, we met up in Kansas City to do the International broadcast for the Tommy “The Duke” Morrison fight with Donovan “Razor” Ruddock. During the preliminaries, an hour or so prior to the main event, Sugar left me alone in the broadcast booth to spend “ten minutes” offering some commentary for the Domestic PPV TV feed. When he returned an hour or so later, the main event fighters were walking to the ring. My only hope that nobody in our vicinity would strike a match as Bert’s breathe was as flammable as lighter fluid!
BACK TO THE DAYS AT RING MAGAZINE
Sugar was notorious known as “slow payer” when he was the head guy at Ring Magazine. In fact there are a few guys that never got paid as the always-scrapped for cash publication had an excuse for every day of the week. But Jack Fiske, the 40+ year columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Jack didn’t take kindly to his not being compensated. Like Sugar, an International Boxing Hall of Fame writer, Fiske one day walked into Sugar’s office and began removing artwork from the wall in lieu of cash payment. Bert didn’t have the coinage he owed the great man born Jacob Finkelstein, thus he didn’t really oppose Fiske’s removing the paintings and pictures.
THE PHONE GAME WITH BERT SUGAR
I used to regularly call him until about five years ago, and it was always an telephonic adventure. Sometimes he would answer the phone in what he called his “Transvestite” voice, other times it was “hello” or “yeah.”
THAT LAST DRINK AT THE MGM GRAND
We were sitting in a roped off area of a bar at the MGM Grand when Bert uttered these prophetic words as he knew I was distraught over the fact Bob Arum’s company Top Rank, his nose-candy hungry stepson and VP Todd du Beof, matchmaker Bruce Trampler, all Top Rank executives, skated when Attorney General John Ashcroft dismantled a Federal Grand Jury that had “sealed indictments” on “Operation Matchbox,” an undercover sting that provided ample evidence that Top Rank executives had indeed “fixed” fights and then gloated over them afterwards.
THREE YEARS OF WORK DOWN THE DRAIN!
During one of our last one on you conversations, Bert “The Hat” Sugar explained this to me at a fight in Las Vegas that, “You can’t clean up boxing, Pedro. Either accept it for the piece of s*it that it is, or walk away.”
SUGAR LIVED A GOOD LIFE!
Having authored some 80 books or so, Sugar was always the man with the quote, be it eloquent, or bombastic, that people remember. I’ll always remember him for what he was to me, “honest, prophetic,” and most of the time, “hammered.” Rest in peace Bert, you were a good man to me! Bert passed away on Sunday from Cardiac Arrest, all the while suffering from Lung Cancer. He was 76.
Pedro Fernandez