Along with Sugar Ray Robinson, Keene Simmons trained out of Harlem?s Salem-Crescent Gym and Athletic Club?
?Whenever he hit you, wherever he hit you, he hurt you.??Keene Simmons on Rocky Marciano
Along with Sugar Ray Robinson, Keene Simmons trained out of Harlem?s Salem-Crescent Gym and Athletic Club, located in the basement?now a kitchen?of Salem Methodist Church, beating George Broderick on February 19, 1940, thus winning the New York Golden Gloves heavyweight championship. (Film footage exists of Robinson winning the lightweight title the same evening, destroying Andy Nonella in ?the best showing of the night,? according to The New York Times.)
A Bayonne bruiser, Simmons first fought as a pro on June 27, 1942, outpointed by Billy Duncan at Fort Meade, Maryland. At stake, the Army?s 3rd Corps Area heavyweight title (representing Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia).
Keene didn?t return to the ring until May 9, 1949, when he outpointed Antonio Carmona at Newark?s Laurel Garden (the New Yorker?s last bout). He?d fight until 1955, winding up with a record of nine wins, four by knockout, 22 losses, four by knockout, and one draw.
A palooka?s record, but that doesn?t mean that Simmons wasn?t tough or that he didn?t take on the names. He twice fought Roland LaStarza, losing by unanimous decision at New York?s Long Beach Stadium on August 25, 1950, and at the Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence on March 12, 1951; Cesar Brion beat him by unanimous decision at the Coliseum in Baltimore on October 30, 1950, and outpointed him at Long Beach Stadium on July 6, 1951 (bad luck for the Argentine?in both instances, he next fought, and lost to, Joe Louis); Charley Norkus outpointed him at Madison Square Garden that November 9; Nino Valdes beat him by unanimous decision at Sunnyside Garden in Queens on February 7, 1952; Cleveland Williams outpointed him at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa on September 2, 1953 (the last win for ?Big Cat,? who scored 27 victories in a row, 23 by KO or TKO, before suffering his first loss, unexpectedly outpointed by unimpressive Sylvester Jones at New York?s Polo Grounds 22 days later); and Tommy Jackson stopped him by sixth-round TKO at the Arcadia Ballroom in Providence on November 15, 1954.
Another opponent worth mentioning is Sonny Parisi, a Brooklyn character if ever there was one. He and Simmons fought three times, Sonny knocking him out in the fifth at Ridgewood Grove in Brooklyn on November 19, 1949, Keene winning on points at New York?s St. Nicholas Arena on April 7, 1950, and Sonny winning by split decision at Eastern Parkway Arena in Brooklyn 10 days later.
Parisi was at Norby Walters? Supper Club (right next to the Copacabana on East 60th) on the evening of March 22, 1968, when he managed to get himself shot to death at the age of 38, along with another ?legitimate businessman,? Oresto Joseph Bruni. Despite Norby?s outraged ?I don?t even know what the word Mafia is. I?ve never met anybody like that,? brother Walter readily admits that the Five Families ?were well represented? at the club and that Parisi and Bruni worked for Carmine Lombardozzi, ?The Italian Meyer Lansky,? a top man with the Gambino Crime Family. According to Walter, Lombardozzi was present at the time of the shooting, Norby getting him out of there and over to the Copa.
Keene last won on May 10, 1954, when he handed Billy Burke his first loss, kayoing him in the third at the Arcadia Ballroom (his first win since January 12, 1951, when he knocked out George Kaplan in the second at the Garden). He last fought on May 16, 1955, losing on points to Bob Albright at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
Although Simmons once said that he?d rather fight Rocky Marciano six times than LaStarza once, taking on ?The Brockton Blockbuster? that one time was more than enough. They met at the Rhode Island Auditorium on January 29, 1951, Rocky winning by eighth-round TKO. But, as Marciano biographer Russell Sullivan writes, Rocky ?was in trouble early.? A.J. Liebling agrees, noting that Keene had ?given Marciano a pretty good fight.?
?He fools you,? said Simmons. ?When you look at him from outside the ring he seems easy to hit but if you?re in the ring with him you find this isn?t the case. His head is bobbing and he?s crouched low, so low in fact that you can?t get a clear shot at him.? Not to mention that he was on you like a stage-door Johnny on a chorus girl. ?I had a bad weakness I kept hid throughout my career,? said Joe Louis. ?I didn?t like to be crowded, and Marciano always crowded his opponents. That?s why I say I could never have beaten him.?
In preparation for his September 23, 1952, championship bout with Jersey Joe Walcott at Philly?s Municipal Stadium, Rocky employed Keene as a sparring partner. Like Walcott cared. ?Marciano is an amateur,? said the Champ with an uncharacteristic lack of gentlemanly restraint. ?He wouldn?t have qualified for Joe Louis?s bum of the month tour. I guess he can punch, but he?s got two left feet. He can?t box a little bit. I?ve never seen anybody easier to hit. If I can?t beat this bum, take my name off the record books.? Clearly on a vitri-roll, Jersey Joe further expressed his disdain for those who had the ill judgment to compare Marciano with Jack Dempsey. ?How silly can they get?? he sniffed. ?He shouldn?t be spoken of in the same breath with Dempsey.?
Simmons disagreed. ?There?ve been some changes in him,? he said. ?A slugger like Rock doesn?t turn into a boxer but he no longer tries to murder you with one punch the way he used to. He now throws combination of punches. They?re much shorter but just as powerful.?
Keene was ?every bit as big and rugged as Walcott, and much younger,? writes Liebling. ?His imitation of Walcott was good?he would throw quick sneak punches, some of them right-hand leads, and slide away. When he didn?t slide away, he clinched. He even did the kind of jig-step shuffle Walcott uses to disconcert his opponents? (though Liebling didn?t see why it should).
As it turned out, Walcott wound up ?not imitating Keene Simmons? imitation of him,? Liebling writes. ?Instead he was walking forward, hitting at Marciano and moving him back.? Indeed, handing him his first knockdown. No matter, not with that Suzy Q in the 13th, Jersey Joe flowing ?down like flour out of a chute,? and Rocky becoming Heavyweight Champion of the World.
