Trevor Delaney
Sports Editor
Through grainy black and white footage, the sturdy figure of a boxer dominating the ring with just his mere presence comes into view. The man of the hour was Idaho State University alum Ed Sanders, who on that fateful August night in 1952 would make history as the first African-American to bring home the Olympic gold medal in boxing as a heavyweight. At a time a decade before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was made a federal law, trailblazers like Sanders helped pave the way for generations to come. Sanders passed away at a tragically young age of 24, being inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame at his alma mater in Pocatello just five years later.
Before coming to what was then Idaho State College in Pocatello on an athletic scholarship, Sanders grew up in the city of Compton, California. Born in 1930, he grew up in a world where racial segregation and discrimination, both overt and covert, ran rampant throughout many communities. When many public gyms were still segregated or barred African-Americans altogether, Sanders lifted homemade cement weights at his home in Compton.
Playing football and basketball throughout high school, Sanders’ athletic abilities continued to grow when he went on to start his college boxing career at Compton Community College at the young age of just eighteen. As a college heavyweight for Compton, he won the National Junior College Boxing Championship two years in a row. The second year he fought in the championship, Sanders’ skills in the ring won him the admiration of Idaho State College’s boxing coach Milton “Dubby” Holt (the namesake of ISU’s Holt Arena). After this crucial meeting for the young boxer, Sanders made the decision to come to Idaho State. Playing on the football team as well as participating in the decathlon in track, Sanders’ real skills always came out in the boxing ring. Setting the record for undefeated heavyweight fights during his time boxing for Idaho State, Sanders unmatched proficiency made him shine.
As the Korean War began to wage hotter, Sanders received word that he would be drafted into the U.S. Army. As a former Navy man himself, Coach Holt urged Sanders to enlist in the Navy, rather than be drafted to the frontlines in the army. Once again taking his coach’s advice, Sanders enlisted in the Navy. Joining the U.S. Navy Boxing Team the same year, Sanders made headlines nationwide when he won both the Los Angeles and the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournaments before taking the win at the 1951 Berlin Golden Gloves. Light on his feet with substantial power behind his punches, there was truly no match for Sanders. With a series of qualifying bouts the next year in his pocket, Sanders had his sights set for the 1952 Olympic Games.
At the final boxing match of the 1952 Summer Olympics, Sanders’ massive frame stood at six foot four, towering over his opponent in the fight, “the Pride of Sweden”, Ingemar Johansson, by a whopping four inches. There is no wonder why the world knew him as “Big Ed”; his left hook was his autograph. Taking over the ring, Sanders kept Johannson on the run. The Swedish heavyweight would go on to be disqualified because of a failure to fight. The Sport’s Editor for the Los Angeles Times, the legendary Pal Zimmerman, remarked that Johannson’s defeat was “the greatest retreat since the allies swept through Germany”. Interviewing Big Ed the night of the Olympic fight, Zimmerman noted that Sanders was reading the bible and praying in the locker room before the fight. Zimmerman reported that Sanders was disappointed that he “never had a chance to hit [Johannson]”, he himself described Sanders as a “giant”.
If anyone thought this victory was a fluke, Sanders went on to fight at the amateur and then professional level. He won six of his eight fights his first year as a pro, and was by all accounts expected to go far in the world of professional boxing. Sander’s life was cut short when he fought his longtime sparring partner Willie James at the 1954 New England Heavyweight Championships at the young age of just 24. He was taken from the ring that night on a stretcher and tragically passed away after surgery. Five years later in 1959, Sanders would be posthumously entered into the Idaho State College Hall of Fame for his time boxing and playing football as a Bengal. When such an impactful life as Big Ed’s is taken too soon, the entire world mourns the loss of their light. Today, athletes can admire Sanders’ photo in the ISU Hall of Fame and aspire to do something as great as he did in his short time here.
