Bob Stallings is the kind of name that should still echo in boxing circles \u2014 but too often, it doesn\u2019t. He came of age in a golden era of heavyweights, sharing the ring with some of the division\u2019s best fighters. But time has a way of dulling even the sharpest legacies. The nights he fought now remembered only in grainy black-and-white photos or faded newspaper clippings.<\/p>\n
That changes for Stallings, at least for one day. On Sunday, April 19, he will be inducted with 10 other fighters into the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Russo\u2019s on the Bay in Howard Beach. Long Island fighters Larry Stanton and Alicia Napoleon-Espinosa are also being inducted Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am just glad they remembered me,\u201d said Stallings, who is 85 and now lives in South Carolina. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to go into the Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 5-9, Stallings was an undersized heavyweight capable of beating the top fighters in the world. Stallings had a record of 32-31 while fighting professionally from 1964-1980. He distinguished himself by beating notable contenders Earnie Shavers, Chuck Wepner and Mac Foster.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who fought Bob Stallings was in for a tough night,\u201d said Jose Corpas, a boxing historian and member of the Hall of Fame\u2019s voting panel. \u201cThe 1970s are considered the greatest era in heavyweight history. The top 10 ran 20 deep back then.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the early 1960s, Stallings moved from South Carolina to Freeport,\u00a0Long Island. He began training at the Physical Arts Gym in Hempstead, with the intent of being a pro wrestler. One day, he was offered a boxing match, took it, and stayed with the sport. Doug Duffy, a pro light heavyweight from Levittown, trained alongside Stallings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all just kids having a great time,\u201d Duffy said. \u201cI boxed with Stallings all the time. We were 18, 19 years old. He was a very good fighter. He was old school. He\u2019d fight anyone, anywhere. Stallings never ducked anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The politics of boxing hurt Stallings more than any opponent. The early rhythm of his career took on a win-one, lose-one pattern. In September of 1965, he lost to Buster Mathis but came back a month later and beat Wepner. After that, he won four straight,\u00a0then lost six straight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey called me for a fight and I just showed up,\u201d Stallings said. \u201cI just wanted to fight the best.”<\/p>\n
By the close of 1972, Stallings began to hit his stride. He beat Billy Daniels and was hired by George Foreman to help prepare him for his challenge of Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title. Foreman paid him $100 a round for sparring.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a hard hitter, he always tried to hurt you,\u201d Stallings said of his sparring sessions with Foreman. \u201cHe picked me because me and Frazier were about the same size. Frazier was made for Foreman. If he fought Frazier three times a year, he\u2019d beat Frazier three times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stallings peaked over the next two years. In April of 1973, he lost a decision to Ron Lyle but then won five straight, beating the likes of Foster and Bobby Mashburn and closing out the streak by flooring the power-hitting Earnie Shavers en route to a decision win at the Felt Forum.<\/p>\n
The Shavers fight would the high-water mark for Stallings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he hit me with that right hand uppercut, oh Lord,\u201d Stallings said. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget that \u2026 Earnie Shavers was a good hitter. But I could take the punch. I had to beat him. I was a little nervous, but after I beat him, I should have gotten the title shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stallings expected a top-10 ranking would follow and perhaps, a title shot. But the phone never rang. Stallings said\u00a0his managers lacked the connections to move him correctly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, a lot of guys I fought, they got a title shot and I never got one,\u201d Stallings said. \u201cI didn\u2019t understand that. But boxing was so different back then. Fighters just fought, you didn\u2019t think much about the business of boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stallings grew indifferent to fighting and stayed out of the ring for nearly two years. Then he began to take fights just for the money. He conceded that he was discouraged.<\/p>\n
Still, he had an immediate impact on those around him. Sitting ringside for the Shavers fight was his younger brother, Willie, and nephews, Eddie and Johnny Davis. All three would enjoy success in ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Uncle Bob fought Ernie Shavers, that was the first professional fight I had ever attended,\u201d Johnny Davis said. \u201cWhen he hit Shavers with that overhand right, I thought everyone in the Felt Forum had passed out. That\u2019s how quiet it got.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnny and Eddie Davis became light heavyweight contenders and both challenged Michael Spinks for the world title. Willie Stallings won the New York Golden Gloves and had a brief career as a pro. Johnny Davis said they all sparred together at the gym in Freeport.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was one of the hardest hitting guys I ever boxed,\u201d \u00a0Davis added. \u201cGod, he could hit. He set us on this journey. We grew up in the Carolinas. We knew nothing about boxing. Bob had come to New York and started boxing. Eventually we all followed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stallings had eight common opponents with Muhammad Ali \u2014\u00a0Shavers, Lyle, Wepner, Foster, Daniels, Mathis, Al Lewis and Alfredo Evangelista \u2014 and beat five of them. He clearly earned this recognition from the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be remembered,\u201d Stallings said. \u201cMaybe I can make a comeback. What do you think? Is it time for a comeback?\u201d<\/p>\n
Comeback or not, he\u2019ll hear the roar of the crowd one more time on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bob Stallings is the kind of name that should still echo in boxing circles \u2014 but too often,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4629,14190,9,11,10,49,51,50,79608],"class_list":["post-200600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-boxing","tag-li-athletes","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-spnostalgia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}