Tunney Hunsaker, 75; Ali’s First KO
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Tunney Hunsaker, who lost to Muhammad Ali in the boxing great’s first professional fight, died Monday at Fayetteville, W.Va. He was 75.
Hunsaker was Fayetteville’s police chief when he fought then-Cassius Clay at Louisville’s Freedom Hall on October 29, 1960. Hunsaker was a journeyman heavyweight who had fought more than 30 bouts. Clay was 18.
“He sure was a brassy young boy when I fought him,” Hunsaker said in a 1992 interview. “He drove to the Louisville fairgrounds in a brand-new pink Cadillac.
By the end of the sixth and final round, both of Hunsaker’s eyes were swollen shut. Clay won by unanimous decision.
In Hunsaker’s final fight in April 1961 in Beckley, Joe “Shotgun” Sheldon of Cleveland landed a 10th-round punch that sent Hunsaker into a coma for nine days and required two operations on his brain.
Hunsaker and Mr. Ali stayed in contact throughout the years and Mr. Ali attended Hunsaker’s police retirement party in Fayetteville.
