RUDELL STITCH
Born: January 26, 1933 Louisville, KY KY
Died: June 5, 1960 Louisville, KY KY
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 142-150 pounds

TB KO WD WF D LD LK ND NC
34 13 14 0 0 7 0 0 0

First Rated: November 1958
Last Rated: February 1961
Months Rated: 15
Best Rating: 2

Professional Record: 34-6-0 (19)

Some said he was too nice to be a boxer that he lacked a fighter's
instinct to put away his opponent. Yet when he drowned in the Ohio River
in 1960 at age 27 while trying to save a friend he was the No. 2-ranked
welterweight in the world. His record was 27-7-0.

Two years earlier while fishing in roughly the same place along the river
bank Stitch had been successful in saving a friend's life. Stitch sometimes
showed the same compassion in the ring such as when he accidentally butted
heads with Gaspar Ortega and caused blood to gush from a cut near Ortega's eye.

The referee told Stitch to resume fighting but the Louisvillian walked toward
Ortega touched gloves and said "I'm sorry," then stepped back and waited until
Ortega's head cleared. Ortega later rallied and won leaving boxing fans appalled at Stitch's strategy. However the media embraced Stitch.

In time the National Boxing Association created the Rudell Stitch Sportsmanship Award.

1956
May  3 Willie Frazier			Louisville, KY               W  4
Oct 20 Primus Williams			Louisville, KY             TKO  1
Dec  4 Primus Williams			Louisville, KY               W  6
1957
Feb 20 Art Glass 			Louisville, KY               L  4
Apr 26 Snyder Garland 			Dayton, OH                  KO  3
May  3 Frankie Betts 			Louisville, KY             TKO  4
May 25 Art Glass 			Louisville, KY               L  6
Oct 16 Kid Chocolate 			Louisville, KY             TKO  4
Oct 25 Henry White 			Dayton, OH                   W  6
1958
Mar  3 Pedro Bradley 			St. Louis, MO                L  8
Apr  2 Billy Gillespie 			Louisville, KY             TKO  5
May  2 Elmer Shippe 			Louisville, KY             TKO  3
May 28 Charley Cotton 			Louisville, KY              KO 10
Jun 25 Duke Harris 			Louisville, KY               W 10
Jul  5 Kid Fichique 			Havana, Cuba                 W 10
Jul 23 Johnny Neal 			Louisville, KY              KO  3
Aug 27 Isaac Logart 			Louisville, KY               W 10
Sep 17 Luther Rawlings 			Louisville, KY             TKO  4
Oct  6 Isaac Logart 			New York, NY                 L 10
Nov 26 Yama Bahama 			Louisville, KY               W 10
Dec 29 Chico Vejar 			Louisville, KY               W 10
1959
Feb  6 Gasper Ortega 			New York, NY                 L 10
Mar 25 Guy Sumlin 			Louisville, KY              KO  3
Apr  7 Jimmy Beecham 			Miami Beach, FL              W 10
May  8 Gasper Ortega 			Syracuse, NY                 W 10
Jul  1 Rudy Sawyer 			Louisville, KY             TKO  1
Aug 26 Luis Roriquez 			Louisville, KY               L 10
Oct  7 Ralph Dupas 			Louisville, KY               W 10
Nov 23 Holly Mims 			New Orleans, LA              W 10
1960
Feb 17 Charley (Tombstone) Smith 	Louisville, KY             TKO  4
Mar 30 Randy Sandy 			Louisville, KY               W 10
Apr 16 Willie Moran 			Owensboro KY               TKO  6
May  2 Ralph Dupas 			Sydney, Australia            L 12
May 24 Stan Harrington 			Honolulu, HI                 W 10
Jun  5 Stitch drowned while attempting to rescue a man from the Ohio River.