Thursday boxing tribute to BJ Circulation retiree Doyle Baird

There will be a well-deserved tribute to retired BJ Circulation truck driver Doyle Baird on Thursday, June 26, when the Blue Steel Boxing Academy puts on a fight card at Lock 3 (7-9 p.m.).

There are many independent observers who say that Doyle beat world middleweight champ Nino Benvenuti, a native of Trieste, Italy, in a Rubber Bowl 10-rounder in 1968. The judge appointed by Benvenuti’s camp forced it to be called a draw.

Doyle said: “I won 6 rounds.” Boxing experts said Doyle won the fight. Doyle added: “I didn’t make 15 cents, but I got what I wanted, at least a draw.” Benvenuti was guaranteed $20,000 plus expenses for the Rubber Bowl fight.

Benvenuti went down in the 9^th round, but the referee ruled it a slip and not a knockdown. 

Doyle’s advisor, Don Elbaum, called it “The Super Bowl of Akron’s boxing history”

In a 1970 rematch, Doyle was knocked to the canvas twice and lost on a 10^th-round TKO in Bari, Puglia, Italy.

Doyle’s boxing record: 34 (21 knockouts)-7 (4 knockouts) and the Benvenuti draw, which jumped Doyle to No. 8 in the Ring Magazine rankings.

Boxing writer Jim Amato penned:

“The Rubber City of Akron has probably never produced anything more resilient than a boxer named Doyle Baird. Rugged and balding, he was often compared to Carmen Basilio in looks and his swarming style. After a fine amateur career he turned professional in 1966 under the wing of Don Elbaum. After defeating Ted Wright two years later he had amassed a 23-2 record. On October 14, 1968, Doyle fought middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti to a draw in a non-title bout at the Akron Rubber Bowl.”

Said Doyle: “I can punch pretty good if I can catch them.”

By that time, the most Baird made was $750 for a 10-round decision over Ted Wright.

In later years, Benvenuti was a successful businessman who helped Mother Teresa with her causes in India.

Benvenuti became world champ in 1967. His hometown was the Adriatic seaport of Trieste, Italy.

Tennessee native Doyle was inducted into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. He got into trouble with the law for brawling on the streets of south Akron – "I’ve been to prison,” Doyle admits – before taking his talents into the boxing ring.

As an amateur Baird won the Ohio middleweight championship in 1966 and was national AAU runnerup the same year. He turned professional and fought 32 fighters in six years - winning 11 by decision, 16 by knockout, had one draw and four defeats.

However, in that relatively short professional career Baird fought four world champions in non-title fights - including middleweights Don Fulmer, Emile Griffith and Nino Benvenuti and light heavyweight Bincente Rondon. 

He won a split decision over Fulmer and fought Benvenuti to a draw. 

In 1968 Baird decisioned Ernie Burford of Cleveland to capture the Ohio middleweight title.

Doyle was ranked among the world's top 10 middleweights for five years by Ring Magazine. 

He began his pro career in 1972 with a technical knockout loss to Jean-Claude Bouttier in Lyon, Rhone, France.

In 1971 Doyle lost a world light-heavyweight title fight to champ Vicente Rondon.

In recent years, Doyle has worked with young boxers – for no pay, because he loves the Sweet Science so much.

There’s fascinating video, “Grit & Determination – The Doyle Baird Story,” that runs nearly a half-hour. To see it, go to  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BhXqoRmrFGc&app=desktop