Fight fans may have read back in 2015, how some very precious world championship belts were stolen from The Hall of Fame in Canastota. Four belts belonging to the great Carmen Basilio were stolen, as were two belts belonging to the also great Tony Zale. Now, almost a decade on, the thieves who did the act have been caught. That’s the good news.
However, the bad news, as reported by RingTV.com, is the fact that the belts are believed to have been melted down by the perpetrators, this so as to be able to move the metal in discs or bars. If this is indeed the case, the belts have gone forever. The nine thieves that have been apprehended have been named (they won’t be here), while a few more people are said to be under investigation.
The gang of thieves, who had been operating for 20 years, didn’t just steal the world title belts that two all-time greats bled for, they also stole valuable artwork and a number of championship rings belonging to the legendary Yogi Berra. According to the piece over at Ring, the rings belonging to baseball great Berra would fetch well over $1,000,000 on the open market. Can a price be put on the belts Zale and Basilio won?
Haley Zale, a relative of “The Man of Steele,” released a short statement regarding how the “Bring Back The Belts” campaign is now over.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that the Bring Back The Belts ‘campaign’ is now over,” Zale wrote on social media. “Closure is just a word. The feeling runs deeper. The belts are gone. But the dirtbags are finally stopped!”
It is of course a real shame that the six world championship belts no longer exist, melted down in the search of dollars as they very likely were. Some things are more precious, way more meaningful than money, the glorious belts these two boxing legends won in glorious ring encounters now lost examples of this. Just ask a hardcore boxing fan, and they will tell you so.
