In Their Words is a weekly feature appearing Sundays in The Blade's sports section. Blade sports writer Donald Emmons talked with Toledo native Carmen Williamson, a local amateur boxing legend who hung up the boxing gloves after more than 260 amateur bouts. He went on to become a prominent figure in the amateur boxing world as an official who has represented the United States during Olympic and World Championship competitions.
Carmen Williamson grew up in Toledo as a scrawny, little kid.
Williamson barely weighed 100 pounds even by the time he was in high school. He was a target of regular harassment by school bullies when he was in grade school.
Quick on his feet, he routinely ran home from Gunkel school to avoid being picked on by the likes of T-Bone, the school's boy bully, and Khaki, the school's girl bully.
Eventually, Williamson grew tired of running and decided to take up boxing. It was a decision that changed his world.
Williamson didn't just learn how to defend himself, he went on to become one of the nation's top amateur fighters during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The 112-pound flyweight won five consecutive Ohio Amateur Athletic Association state championships from 1949 to 1953. His best chance at representing the United States in the Olympics came in 1952 when he advanced all the way to the Olympic trials semifinals, which he lost by decision to New York's Jack Spurgeon.
Before Williamson hung up his boxing gloves he produced a career record of 250-14.
After stepping in the ring for nearly 300 amateur fights, Williamson opted not to pursue a professional boxing career. Instead, he remained involved with boxing by serving as a referee and judge.
Williamson has spent the past three decades serving as a member of the Amateur International Boxing Association, which is a group of U.S. amateur boxing judges and referees who represent the United States at international events and competitions. He's one of the founding members of the group that travels around the world promoting the sport of boxing. He's traveled to Russia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and several countries in Africa as a U.S. boxing representative.
Williamson's history as a U.S. boxing official includes being replaced at the last minute for a scheduled trip to Poland in 1980 with members of the U.S. amateur boxing team. The group was among the 87 passengers killed in a plane crash near Warsaw.
His work as a boxing official led to him working at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and 1996 Atlanta Games. During the L.A. Games he became the first African-American to work as a boxing judge and referee for an Olympic competition.
He is father to five grown daughters; Carol Ann Reeves, Carmenita Ross, Charlene Higginbothman, Carlotta Brown and Celia Williamson.
The 81-year-old local boxing legend, who worked as a supervisor at Rossford Ordinance before retiring several years ago, still remains active in boxing. He referees at local Golden Gloves competitions and said he isn't planning on retiring from his involvement with the sport anytime soon.
"The fact of the matter is, because of my size, I had to learn how to box. I used to get beat up at lunchtime and when I was going home from school until I finally went to the Frederick Douglass Community Center and learned how to box. I started to learn how to keep T-Bone from running me home."
"I LOST MY first six fights [in amateur competition] and never lost any more for the next three years. I was the Ohio flyweight champion for five years in a row.
"I was eventually encouraged by Art Morris of the Toledo Boxing Commission to look into working as a boxing official. At the time, all the boxing officials were white and mostly from the South.
"You were supposed to take all these tests and all that to become an official. I never even knew what I got on my test. I think it was all just a show.
"WHAT MADE ME so good as a boxer were my tenacity and my integrity on being in the best condition I could be in. I never tired. That's one of the secrets of amateur boxing or any sport. If you tire, you lose. My record speaks for itself.
"In order to win you have to have an excellent conditioning of the body and you have to have the mental capacity [to attack] like a bulldog. But if you lose, the better man won."
"I ACHIEVED THE TOP as an official and I was successful as a boxer, so my ability as a boxer was just as satisfying as my ability as an official. I excelled at both. The record reflects that."
"I was scheduled to go [to Poland] right up until the day they left. The chief of the boxing officials for the USA made the decision on who would go on what trips. He called me at the last minute and he told me he was taking me off that trip.
"My wife would tell you I was ready to go because everything that I needed to take with me was all packed. The newspaper [The Blade] called and asked if I was on the plane that crashed and my wife said, 'No, he's gone shopping.'•" That's how I found out what happened."
"BEFORE THE '84 [L.A. Summer] Olympics, I said to myself, 'Now I get to see how I stack up as a boxing official against the rest of the world.' You wouldn't believe how sorry those officials were. I said, 'If these officials are the best in the world, I have no problem.'
"I get up at 5 every morning and I'm still doing my road work. I'm still just as active as I was when I was 13. I recently went to the doctor and my blood pressure was 112 over 70 and my heart rate was 64. The doctor told me that's like an old turtle's heart that beats every once in a while.
"I'VE BEEN EXERCISING all my life. I did start smoking at 19, but I had a boxing match and after the fight I couldn't breathe. I've never smoked another cigarette since then. I quit smoking and quit drinking."
"Traveling around the world has given me a chance to see the world and a chance to live with the people.
"I've been to Victoria Falls [in Africa] and Niagara Falls doesn't even compare. Victoria Falls is so great the planes fly through the spray and you can hear the rush of the water five miles away. I enjoyed it so I put my foot in the water."
"I NEVER TURNED professional because I had a good job working for Rossford Ordinance and I had a family and I was making pretty good money at the time. I weighed only 112 pounds and that was not the weight you could make money. The little men had no drawing power."
Contact Donald Emmons at:
demmons@theblade.com
or 419-724-6302.
First Published March 4, 2007, 1:29 p.m.
