Robert John Carmody ( born Robert John Carmody , September 4, 1938 , Brooklyn - October 27, 1967 , Saigon ) - an American boxer of the flyweight category, played for the US team in the first half of the 1960s. Bronze medalist of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, winner of the Pan American Games bronze medal, multiple winner of various army championships. He died at the peak of his career during the Vietnam War .
 Robert Carmody | ||||||||||||||
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| general information | ||||||||||||||
| Full name | Robert John Carmody | |||||||||||||
| Nickname | Butterball | |||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  USA | |||||||||||||
| Date of Birth | September 4, 1938 | |||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Brooklyn new york | |||||||||||||
| Date of death | October 27, 1967 (aged 29) | |||||||||||||
| Place of death | Saigon , Vietnam | |||||||||||||
| Weight category | lightest (51 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Rack | left-handed | |||||||||||||
| Growth | 158 cm | |||||||||||||
State awards
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Medals
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Biography
Robert Carmody was born on September 4, 1938 in Brooklyn , New York , grew up in a low-income family, often fought with other children. In 1957 he went to serve in the army, after some time, together with a heavy friend, he joined the army boxing team. A year later, as part of the 11th Airborne Division, he was sent to serve in Germany, where he continued to actively engage in boxing. In 1961, at flyweight he won the title of champion of the American army championship, which he subsequently held for four years, in addition, in 1962 he won the champion title according to the version of the International Army Sports Council and in 1963 won bronze at the Pan American Games.
Thanks to a series of successful performances, he was invited to the training camp of the national team and, having defeated his rival Melvin Miller, passed the selection for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo . In the camp, Carmody made friends with the future great champion Joe Fraser , in particular, after an unsuccessful fight, he dissuaded him from ending his boxing career. Later, Fraser noted the following: “I had difficult times, one solid black streak, but this guy helped me get out of this difficult situation. I love him like a brother. " At the Olympics, Carmody seriously injured his left hand during the quarterfinal fight against the German Otto Babiasha , so in the semifinals he boxed with the Italian Fernando Atzori not at full strength and lost on points by a separate decision of the judges.
After the Olympics, Bob Carmody returned to service in Germany, got married and had two children. At the same time, he did not leave boxing, worked as a coach, until 1967 he advised various army boxing teams, after which he was called up for the Vietnam War . Friends tried to dissuade him from going to the front, because their team devoted all the time to boxing and did not have sufficient military training, but the athlete was adamant, considering participation in the war his duty. On October 27, a few weeks after arriving at the hot spot, a detachment of sergeant Carmody of six patrolled the area near Saigon and was ambushed by the Viet Cong. During the eleven-hour battle, five soldiers died, including Carmody. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals [1] .
Notes
- ↑ Mark Chalifoux. Carmody an honorable fighter in every sense . ESPN.com (May 26, 2006). Date of treatment March 19, 2013. Archived on April 8, 2013.
Links
- Robert Carmody - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com