Bert Sugar, one of the most popular, respected, and well-known boxing writers in history, died on Sunday of cardiac arrest. He was 74 years old. Sugar had also been suffering from lung cancer.
Sugar will no doubt be remembered fondly by various generations of boxing fans. Everywhere boxing was, it seemed Bert Sugar was there to talk about it -- the history, the current game. He stayed in touch, which many don't do, and he had a sense of humor and seemed to truly love the boxing game. He'll be missed.
Sugar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, wrote over 80 books, and was editor of both Boxing Illustrated and The RING. He appeared in numerous films.
More from Michael Woods at ESPN NY, on a conversation he had with Sugar in December:
"I had everything but terminal acne. You live like hell for all those years, it's going to be hell at the end. It was the end of November. ... My wife is going to correct me; she says it was October. The days start fading into one when you're housebound. I've learned that getting older means you get aches in places you never knew you had. I had radiation, chemotherapy, chemo-sabe. The cancer is in remission. It's over, I've won. I'm back, by unpopular demand. I'm coming along."
He was Bert Randolph Sugar, all the way until the end. Rest in peace, Bert.