A Tragic Day Befalls U.S. Amateur Boxing

Near the entrance to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s training center in Colorado Springs is a bronze sculpture of a fallen boxer, struggling to rise.

The inscription reads:

“Down, but not out;

“Lost, but not forgotten.”

It’s a tribute to those who perished in amateur boxing’s greatest tragedy, the crash near Warsaw of a Polish airliner 19 years ago. It claimed the lives of all 87 passengers, 14 of them members of a U.S. boxing delegation.

Five of the dead were Californians, including Paul Palomino, 18, of Westminster, younger brother of one-time world welterweight champion Carlos Palomino.

The other boxers: David Rodriguez of Pomona, Richard “Chuckie” Robinson of Santa Monica, Byron Lindsay of San Ysidro, Walter Harris of San Francisco, Lonnie Youngs of Philadelphia, Jerome Stewart of the U.S. Army and Lemuel Steeples of St. Louis.

Also killed were coaches Thomas “Sarge” Johnson and Yrenio Robles, and two other coaches, two referees, a team doctor and nurse.

Two survived unwittingly. Pennsylvanian Jimmy Clark missed his connecting flight in New York. And the airline ticket of boxer Dennis Armstrong of Tacoma, Wash., was lost in the mail, and officials dropped him from the travel list, rather than buy him a last-minute ticket.

Also on this date: In 1962, heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson made a bad career move. He signed to fight Sonny Liston, who knocked him out in two minutes. . . . On the same day, Rudy LaRusso, before 3,871 at the Sports Arena, scored 50 points and Hot Rod Hundley had 15 assists as the Lakers beat St. Louis, 125-115. . . . In 1976, baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn notified all 24 major league teams they could begin bidding for Dodger pitcher Andy Messersmith, made a free agent in court. . . . In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain, then with the Philadelphia Warriors, completed a streak of playing every minute of 47 consecutive games. . . . In 1976, Bill Shoemaker won his 7,000th race aboard Royal Derby II, at Santa Anita. . . . In 1974, UCLA beat Dayton in triple overtime in a West Regional semifinal NCAA basketball game at Arizona, 111-100. . . . In 1956, Carmen Basilio won the world welterweight boxing title with a unanimous decision over Johnny Saxton in Chicago.