Sonny Banks

American boxer

Sonny Banks
Born	June 29, 1940 Birmingham, Mississippi, US
Died	May 13, 1965(1965-05-13) (aged 24)
Statistics
Stance	Orthodox

Boxing record
Total fights	25
Wins	18
Wins by KO	14
Losses	7

Lucien "Sonny" Banks (June 29, 1940 – May 13, 1965) was a mid-20th Century American boxer who is primarily remembered for being the first boxer to ever knock down Cassius Clay (later "Muhammad Ali") in a professional match. In the early 1960s Banks was regarded in the sport as rising prospect known for a lightning fast left hook, but his career was cut short when he died from injuries sustained in the ring in 1965.

Early life

Banks was from Lee County in north east Mississippi. He was born in the farming community at Birmingham Ridge, about halfway between Tupelo and Saltillo.^[1]

Boxing career

He fought Clay on 10 February 1962 in New York, and knocked him down for a count, although he went on to lose the match.^[2]

Death

Banks died on 13 May 1965 at the age of 24 from a head injury sustained three days earlier in a 9-round bout against Leotis Martin. His body was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Wayne, Michigan.^[3]

Professional boxing record

18 Wins (14 knockouts, 4 decisions), 7 Losses (5 knockouts, 2 decisions)^[4]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	18–7	Leotis Martin	KO	9	1965-05-10	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Banks died three days later from injuries sustained during the fight.
Loss	18–6	Cleveland Williams	KO	6	1964-07-21	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Win	18–5	Don Warner	KO	1	1964-05-18	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Win	17–5	Lee Batts	KO	2	1964-03-16	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Batts knocked out at 1:08 of the second round.
Loss	16–5	Lee Batts	SD	10	1963-11-29	Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S.
Win	16–4	David E. Bailey	SD	10	1963-10-18	Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	15–4	Jim Jones	UD	8	1963-07-06	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
Win	14–4	Freddie Mack	SD	10	1963-06-05	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	13–4	Leroy Roker	TKO	6	1963-03-15	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:40 of the sixth round.
Win	12–4	Lou Bailey	KO	1	1963-02-09	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	11–4	Gene Jackson	KO	3	1962-07-28	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Jackson knocked out at 2:02 of the third round.
Loss	10–4	Young Jack Johnson	KO	5	1962-05-26	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Loss	10–3	Cassius Clay	TKO	4	1962-02-10	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:26 of the fourth round.
Win	10–2	Clay Thomas	KO	2	1962-01-27	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	9–2	Tunney Hunsaker	KO	2	1961-10-16	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	8–2	Willie Coleman	TKO	5	1961-08-07	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Michigan Heavyweight Title.
Win	7–2	Joe Shelton	KO	2	1961-06-06	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	6–2	Herman Wilson	KO	1	1961-04-25	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Loss	5–2	Chuck Garrett	PTS	5	1961-02-06	Marigold Gardens, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Loss	5–1	Joe Shelton	KO	3	1960-10-11	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	5–0	Rufus Handsome	KO	1	1960-09-23	Detroit Olympia, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	4–0	Chico Gardner	KO	4	1960-08-31	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Win	3–0	Ted Davis	KO	1	1960-08-18	Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Win	2–0	Lloyd Washington	KO	1	1960-07-12	Peace Bridge Arena, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
Win	1–0	Ernie Berthet Jr.	PTS	4	1960-05-19	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

References

^ Source: Rick Cleveland column.
^ "Poet and Pedagogue," A.J. Liebling, New Yorker (Feb 1962). https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/03/03/poet-and-pedagogue
^ Entry for Banks' grave in Findagrave (2019). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111532160/sonny-lucian-banks
^ Boxing record for Sonny Banks. BoxRec.com.