Art Aragon passes away at age 80

Art Aragon, boxing's original "Golden Boy," who never won a world title but whose brashness, good looks and celebrity lifestyle made him one of the sport's biggest drawing cards of the 1940s and 1950s, has died at age 80.

Aragon, who suffered a stroke March 15, died Tuesday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center after being removed from life support, his son, Brad, said Wednesday.

"He loved the show," his son said. "He loved the sport and he always had. He attended fights up until the end."

Although top-ranked as a welterweight and lightweight, Aragon lost his only world title fight to lightweight champion James Carter in 1951. Aragon, who struggled to make his weight class throughout his career, said afterward he was weak from having to lose seven pounds in the days before the fight.

"I was the only fighter they ever carried into the ring, I was so weak," he said in 2006 when he was inducted into the California Boxing Association Hall of Fame.

Aragon had 116 fights with a 90-20-6 record, including 61 wins by knockout. He fought such stars of the era as Tommy Campbell, Jesse Flores and Carmen Basilio, who knocked him down after eight brutal rounds in 1958.