Robert Brizel Editorial: Accused Cheater Panama Lewis Died in 2020, Not To Be Forgotten
EditBy Robert Brizel, Brick Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
*Photo Credit: Mundo Deportivo
Noted trainer Carlos ‘Panama’ Lewis died quietly at age 74 in September 2020 during the COVID-19 Novel coronavirus pandemic, cause unknown. Gone, notoriously not forgotten by some in the boxing establishment, Lewis was rumored to spike the late world junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor’s water bottle with stimulants to enable Pryor to gain adrenaline, which enabled him to stop the late Alexis Arguello in their first of their two televised mega bouts. The fact he is dead is not to be overlooked by those in the boxing community with a memory of Lewis in the corner of Luis Resto versus Billy Collins Jr.
Lewis went to prison with his cheating cohort protégé, boxer Luis Resto in the 1983 glove and plaster scandal which ended the career of the late 14-0 Irish boxer, Billy Collins Jr., ruining the marriage of Collins, his faculties, and ultimately led to Collins dying in a one-car crash a year later as a shell of his once magnificent self, tragically or intentionally.
Over the years, this reporter wrote several freelance editorials criticizing Lewis for the destruction, embarrassment and shame, he brought on the late former world heavyweight champion, New York State Boxing Commissioner Floyd Patterson, and the New York State Boxing Commission. Boxing writer Michael Manley and James Slater (Boxing247) wrote about Lewis passing briefly, after former Mike Tyson trainer Aaron Snowell broke the news quietly on social media. Manley wrote Lewis had been relegated to Satan’s fiery home. Hell, of course, like heaven, is not real, though Manley wished it. Remember, this reporter was not the originator of the inference. Manley wrote it.
The late Panama Lewis knew of me by name, and he did not like me, due to my occasional editorials from time to time over the years, which would not allow his deed to be forgotten into wind, and go off into the sunset of boxing obscurity. Lewis hoped to be vindicated as reinstated as a hero. It is one thing to cheat by using steroids, human growth hormones, weight reducing drugs, legal drugs, and illegal drugs, some of which actually have the intent of medicinal purpose. It is very different to tamper with gloves and hand wraps.
Lewis was sentenced to six years in the cheating scandal, and served four years for what he did at Madison Square Garden in the Colliins-Resto 10 round bout televised on ABC’s Wide World of Sports on June 16, 1983, which Resto won by 10 round decision, later changed to a ‘No-Contest’. Trainer Lewis had cut holes in each of the boxing gloves of his boxer Lewis Resto, 0.75 inch holes which allowed him to remove an ounce of padding from each glove. The late Billy Collins Jr. suffered a torn iris and permanently blurred vision in his eyes, ending his promising boxing career. Later, it was also discovered Lewis had wrapped Resto’s hands with modern medical plaster and used it as a layer in Resto’s hand wraps. This served as insurance for Lewis to be sure to win the bout, on which money was bet on underdog Resto which Lewis was involving with, the motivating force.
In 1986, Lewis and Resto were both put on trial and found guilty of assault, criminal possession of a weapon (Resto’s hands) and conspiracy. Prosecutors charged that Resto had to have known the gloves were illegal, and therefore the bout amounted to an illegal 10-round assault. Prosecutors also argued that the plot was centered on a large amount of money bet on Resto by a third party, who had met with Lewis prior to the fight. Resto got three years in prison and served two and a half years. After 15 years of trying to regain his boxing license, Resto, who was never allowed to obtain a boxing license anywhere or fight again, was finally allowed as a trainer to work as a cornerman by New York State.
Lewis never admitted wrongdoing for what he did by tampering with Resto’s gloves to ruin Collins’ career, and ultimately his life. Lewis never admitted any or all of his other boxing cheating escapades, which cast a dark cloud over boxing. Lewis lived his life in denial, even after trial. My view is this was even worse than the permanently injured boxer whose career, livelihood, personal life, and life were taken. In life, you are supposed to be honest and you know the risks. Trainer Lewis was dishonest and had an evil ego, which in his mind justified cheating in boxing for materialistic gain. This is why this reporter persists in remembering Lewis’s actions and his intent, which brought disgrace to professional boxing and sports, never be forgotten in the court of sports and boxing history by historians.
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