Manuel Velazquez (December 6, 1904 – January 1994) was an American anti-

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

activist who kept meticulous files on boxing-related deaths.

Early life

Manuel Velazquez was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. When Velazquez was about 10 years old he and his family moved to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. At 15 he dropped out of school and began work at a railroad roundhouse in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

. At 19 he joined the

Illinois National Guard The Illinois National Guard comprises both Army National Guard and Air National Guard components of Illinois. As of 2013, the Illinois National Guard has approximately 13,200 members. The National Guard is the only United States military force e ...

, Company F, 131st Infantry. He served from 1924-1925, then moved back to Tampa and worked on a trolley car.

Association with boxing

In Tampa, Velazquez befriended middleweight boxer Manuel Quintero and consequently spent significant time in the gym. In 1927 Velazquez moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and worked on a trolley on

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown. Sixth Avenue begins four blocks b ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and then as a conductor on the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

system. During his time in New York he befriended boxer and fellow Floridian Pete Nebo. Nebo retired at 27 and moved to

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, where he was arrested in 1938 for assaulting a man who called him "punchy." The court determined that Nebo was mentally incompetent due to boxing injuries, and on September 1 he was involuntarily committed to

Florida State Hospital Florida State Hospital (FSH) is a hospital and psychiatric hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida. Established in 1876, it was Florida's only state mental institution until 1947. It currently has a capacity of 1,042 patients. The hospital's current ...

at Chattahoochie. Velazquez subsequently began collecting data on boxing injuries, and as a result of what he learned he began to oppose the sport.

Later life

In 1938 he had to quit his subway job due to

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. The disease forced him to use a cane starting in 1939. Still, he continued to work, finding employment in the Federal civil service in 1940. This job took him around the country, including stops in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

and

Fort Benjamin Harrison Fort Benjamin Harrison was a U.S. Army post located in suburban Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis, between 1906 and 1991. It is named for the 23rd United States president, Benjamin Harrison. History In 190 ...

. After his retirement in 1959, Velazquez lived in government-subsidized housing in Tampa. Later he moved to

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and finally to

Greenville, Illinois : Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, east of St. Louis. The population as of the 2020 census was 7,083, up from 7,000 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Bond County. Greenville is part of the St. Louis ...

where he died at the age of 89.

Legacy

Shortly before his death, Velazquez sent his files to Robert W. Smith, who, along with Andrew Guterman, had written an article called "Neurological Sequalae of Boxing," published in the journal

Sports Medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

987 Year 987 ( CMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * February 7 – Bardas Phokas (the Younger) and Bardas Skleros, two members of the military elite, begin a wi ...

194-210). The collection passed to Joseph R. Svinth in the mid-1990s. Svinth maintains an ongoing project called "Death Under the Spotlight: The Manuel Velazquez Boxing Fatality Collection," which documents "Western" boxing deaths since 1741.

Footnotes

External links

Death Under the Spotlight: The Manuel Velazquez Boxing Fatality Collection

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Leavander Johnson Leavander Johnson (December 24, 1969 – September 22, 2005) was an American lightweight boxer from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who once held the International Boxing Federation version of the world title. He won the title on June 17, 2005, against ...

on ESPN Deportes (in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Velazquez, Manuel American activists Boxing people 1904 births 1994 deaths People from Greenville, Illinois People from Tampa, Florida