[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 102 (Friday, July 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING THE MEMORY OF CHARLES R.``DICK'' SADLER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 10, 2003

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory of 
Dick Sadler, a longtime resident of Hayward, California. On July 11, 
2003, Mr. Sadler's family and friends will gather to celebrate his life 
and his many contributions, most notably in the world of boxing.
  Dick Sadler rode out of his hometown of Columbus, Ohio on a freight 
train in 1934 with just 18 cents in his pocket, seeking greener 
pastures in the West. He survived the Great Depression by dancing and 
playing the piano at nightspots up and down the West Coast. His days 
free, he began studying the ancient art of boxing at city gymnasiums. 
From the beginning, Sadler developed into one of the greatest boxing 
manager-trainers in the history of the sport. He took George Foreman 
from a raw amateur to the heavyweight championship of the world; he 
trained Archie Moore during the last 10 years of Moore's illustrious 
career; he managed and trained Sonny Liston, Charlie Shipes and Freddie 
Little, among others. He served as advisor to heavyweight champions 
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
  But Sadler was more proud of his accomplishments outside of boxing. 
He and his fighters spent numerous hours raising money for boys' and 
girls' clubs, YMCAs, Special Olympics and other worthwhile causes. He 
worked tirelessly to establish a pension fund for former boxers--a 
mission that regretfully never came to fruition.
  Sadler coached championship prizefighters all over the world. He 
rubbed elbows with famous politicians and movie stars, and dined with 
royalty in Europe and Japan. According to all who knew him, Sadler 
looked most at home in a boxing gym. A boxing gym located on the second 
floor of a building with creaky stairs leading up to it. A boxing gym 
where kids with dreams are punching speed bags, jumping rope, tossing 
medicine balls, and pounding heavy bags. In the middle of the room is a 
ring and there is Dick Sadler, his elbows resting on the apron and his 
jockey cap high on his head. He is staring up between the bottom two 
ropes at a couple of aspiring champions, occasionally calling out 
instructions.
  That's the Dick Sadler his friends will remember. I join them in 
applauding his life, so richly lived. He not only contributed to the 
success of champions whose names we all recognize but he contributed to 
his community and those who were not champions but in need of a helping 
hand.

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