SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SCRIBE FOR THREE DECADES
Schenectady, NY-The death this past weekend of former Sports Illustrated writer Pat Putnam was a body blow to both the journalistic side of boxing, as well as the game itself. When I broke into the fight game in the 1980s, Pat Putman was already a living legend.” I can recall Putman, Ed Schuyler, Jr., Michael Katz, and a crew of hangers on, would hold court at the famed Irish Pub after Atlantic City bouts. In Las Vegas, particularly at Caesars Palace, the same group would preside after a big fight at the hotel lobby bar.
CROSS BETWEEN JAMES DEAN & CLARK KENT, Slicked back hair, glasses, and a seemingly always present cigarette, I remember one night just Pat and myself having a long discussion as Sugar Ray Leonard was in training for a bout in the late 1980s. Like most icons, Putnam was all about style and class. Ive read that Pat was an ordinary guy, and that may be true, but that did not transcend to his body of work, as there was nothing ordinary about the writing of Double P, as I used to call him.
PUTTING THE FACE ON THE PAT PUTNAM BYLINE!
Having read Putnam in Sports Illustrated for years, I first saw him in person on October 3, 1980, at the press conference held the day after the Larry Holmes vs. Muhammad Ali bout. You might remember, the night prior, Ali, then 38, and void of any real skill, had been punished and stopped after ten by Larry Holmes. It was my first press conference, and when Ali addressed Pat Putnam I was able tie a face to the writings in Sports Illustrated.
CHARLES JAY COAXED PUTNAM TO MAKE COMEBACK
Having been ill for a while, I told the 75-year old icon, that for many years the fight game had missed his byline while he was working for the now defunct promotional concern America Presents. Recently the byline of the man that broke the story of Cassius Clay joining the Nation of Islam and changing his name to Muhammad Ali, was being featured at www.TheSweetScience.com. Knowing website administrator Charles Jay as I do, you can surely expect his website to feature a significant tribute to mark the passing of this journalistic icon.
Pedro Fernandez
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