[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 42 (Thursday, April 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2342-S2343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF CHARLIE MOHR

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
the memory of Charles ``Charlie'' Joseph Mohr, the University of 
Wisconsin's last 165-pound collegiate boxing champion. In April 1960, 
Charlie was badly beaten in a NCAA championship bout against San Jose 
State's Stuart Bartell. Minutes later he began convulsing in the locker 
room and lost consciousness. A week afterward, Charlie died without 
regaining consciousness.
  Charlie grew up in Merrick, NY, and learned to box in nearby Long 
Beach. At age 18, he reached the semifinals of the prestigious New York 
City Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament. In 1955, Charlie wrote a 
letter to Wisconsin's boxing Coach John Walsh asking about the 
possibility of receiving a scholarship. Coach Walsh eagerly obliged.
  At the university, he excelled in all aspects of campus life. He was 
a good student who helped other's study for their exams. Charlie was 
very involved with the local parish St. Paul's Church and even thought 
about becoming a priest.
  However, it was in the ring where he gained his notoriety. In his 
freshman

[[Page S2343]]

year, he won two university tournaments despite not being able to 
compete on the varsity team. The next year he won seven of his nine 
fights. As a junior, he captured the NCAA's 165-pound championship 
after defeating Jesse Klinkenberg.
  The cause of Charlie's death is still in question. Doctors dispute 
whether the brain hemorrhaging that led to his untimely passing was 
caused by a blow at the hands of Bartell or an aneurysm. No one can 
dispute the profound impact his death had on the University and the 
intercollegiate sport. A couple of weeks after Charlie's death the 
faculty decided to disband the school's boxing program. Soon after, the 
NCAA followed suit, abolishing boxing as a sanctioned sport.
  On January 19, 1999, I proposed S. 143, the Professional Boxing 
Safety Act Amendments of 1999 in order to try to protect fighters from 
lasting and debilitating head injuries in the ring. The bill passed, as 
an amendment to S. 305, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, on July 27 
of last year. The bill will require fighters to undergo a computer 
axial tomography (CAT) scan before a fighter can renew their 
professional license. Hopefully, the lesson taught to us by Charlie 
Mohr will not be forgotten.

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