Ringside Report Looks Back at Boxer Harlan Marbley

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

They often say, do they not, that if you can remember the sixties, you were never there. Held up as a time of great febrile social movement, it is a period of history that people can often fetishise. But it did see the emergence of so many great boxers and fighters who have left future fighters with a compelling issue – how can you match their influence and match their achievements?

It would be easy to say that you cannot. But amid great social change and communal upheaval we often look to our sporting heroes to provide consistency and hope. Without the great riches available to boxers now, boxers emerging from the sixties often appear humbler and therefore a great deal more admirable than the current crop. Not for them are the bribes to be handed down by the allegedly corrupt organizations, like IBA, for winning medals at an Olympics. The medal was always its own reward.

And so, Maryland native, Harlan Marbley, having won a bronze at the Pan American games in Winnipeg in 1967, went to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and returned with the light flyweight bronze for his country. In the same year he became the National AAU light flyweight champion too.

His upbringing would qualify under the heading, tough. It is reported that he struggled financially in his early years. And whilst the story is one of great achievement by his later years, he apparently returned through tragic circumstances to even greater challenge.

Now, I often look back at the Olympics of a more innocent decade and wonder how they would be conducted now if Munich had not happened. The massive undertaking they have become and the security nightmare they must be, seems to have narrowed some of the pool of countries willing to take them on. We now have several joint approaches with more than one country thinking of sharing the financial burden, whilst the bigger and more established nations seem to like going solo. In the soccer world, this joint approach has really taken on for European and World Championships – how long before the Olympics takes the same step?

However, for any amateur athlete the Olympics is quite simply the pinnacle of their journey. And here it saw Marbley get a bye in his round of 32 in Mexico City. He then beat Fuat Temel of Turkey 5-0 on points in the round of 16, meaning he was a quarter finalist. He then dispatched Nigeria’s Gabriel Ogun by the same margin as he had done in the quarter final – 5-0. His semifinal was against Francisco Rodriguez of Venezuela. Rodriguez was to go on and win the gold medal, but his story is a fascinating one after he beat Marbley on points – 4-1. Rodriguez was to go to Munich in 1972 to defend his title but was knocked out in his first fight. He was given the honor of carrying the flag for his country in the Opening Ceremony. After that experience he signed a contract to become a professional. Legend has it that he then took his mother to a professional fight, one of the boxers had his gumshield knocked out, it landed in his mother’s lap, and she begged him to give up the game. He never fought as a professional!

But Marbley’s route to that Olympics involved a lot of fighting for his country in the square circle. In 1966, he beat England’s Terry Wenton in an international meet, after having beaten West Germany’s Lothar Kannewurf in the same month. In 1967, Marbley then beat Tito Ramirez in the USA v Mexico meet held in the Stardust Hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

As well as making his way towards the Olympics, Marbley was after domestic honor as he pursued the National AAU Championship. In 1967 he got past Angel Vega in the quarter final but could not get past Roland Miller in the semi-final. Miller was to prove his stumbling block when Marbley tried to get to the final of the Pan American trails, beating Marbley for the second time that ear on points. Marbely did, however, get to the Pan American games and guess who beat him in the semi-finals? A certain Francisco Rodriguez! Marbely had won his first two fights – the preliminary against Roberto Maynard and the quarter final against Servilio de Oliviera – so would have been gutted to lose the semi, but little did he realize it was not the only time that the Venezuelan would halt his progress in an international competition.

And so, 1968, an Olympic year and the National AAU championships. This year nobody could stop him as he beat Elijah Cooper, Steve Homan, Mike Neely, and finally Bob Nesenso to win.
Next? The Olympic qualifiers.

In Lucas County Recreation Center, Maumee, Marbley dispatched Dennis Mince in the quarter final then Pat Neely in the semi-final before facing William Hawthorne in the final. Now, his semi-final with Neely was watched by 1,500 spectators – they paid $5 for the privilege! 156 days after beating him in the final Marbley was back to box off against Hawthorne in Albuquerque, in New Mexico. Marbley won on points, Old Mexico here he went!

And by the time that he got to the Olympics, this boxing man was an amateur with an alleged 189-5 record but was also a security guard at the DC police department. By the time that 1968 closed, this National Champion, Pan American and Olympic medallist, faced true tragedy.

Now I have one source for this so am repeating this with some trepidation but if true, this is shocking. In 1979 Marbley’s wife, a janitress at the Washington Navy Yard was found dead five days after an acquaintance had shot her several times and then locked her in a room at the Yard. Marbley was left to bring up their two young sons. He worked in the kitchen at a VA Hospital near Washington. In 1988, his 18-year-old son Riveyone was gunned down and killed around from their home.

It is truly a sad tale. But we should always remember that, in amongst the tragedy, in a couple of years in the sixties Harlan Marbley really was somebody. And that is very much worth remembering. Marbley passed away on May 13, 2008 at the age of 64.

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