On This Day In Boxing History!

1951:Marvin Camel Was Born!

Marvin Camel (born December 24, 1951, Ronan, Montana) is a retired American professional boxer whose career broke historic ground in world boxing. A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, Camel is widely recognized as the first cruiserweight world champion in boxing history and the first Native American to win a major world boxing title.

Camel was born the seventh of fourteen children and raised on allotment land near the Kicking Horse and Ninepipe Reservoirs on the Flathead Indian Reservation. His father, an African-American U.S. Navy veteran and former boxer, met Camel’s mother—who was from the Pend d’Oreilles tribe—at a USO dance during World War II. The family lived in extreme poverty in a home built by Camel’s father that lacked running water and modern amenities. As children, Camel and his siblings helped clear nearly 80 acres of land by chopping trees.

Growing up of mixed heritage, Camel and his siblings frequently faced discrimination and bullying, which often led to fights. Camel later cited these experiences as a central motivation for learning to defend himself. Despite the hardships, all eleven surviving siblings graduated from high school. His father’s strict discipline, which Camel later described without bitterness, played a key role in shaping his resilience and work ethic.

A gifted all-around athlete, Camel starred at Ronan High School in multiple sports. He scored 34 points in a single varsity basketball game, set a school record in track, and was an all-conference football player on both offense and defense. Known for extraordinary endurance, he once ran 16 miles from Evaro Hill to Missoula in football cleats purely as a personal challenge.

Camel had his first organized boxing match at age 11, weighing 105 pounds, and lost a three-round decision. Despite the setback, he remained committed to the sport. In fifth grade, when asked to write about his future, Camel simply wrote: “I want to be champ of the world.”

Camel went on to compile an extensive amateur career of approximately 250 bouts. His most notable amateur victory came in 1971, when he defeated Sugar Ray Seales, who would win an Olympic gold medal the following year. The win established Camel’s credibility on the national level and helped propel him toward the professional ranks.

Camel turned professional in 1973, competing primarily in the light heavyweight and emerging cruiserweight divisions. To support himself during the early years of his career, he worked a variety of jobs, including as a pinball machine mechanic and vending route operator, even setting up a makeshift gym inside his repair shop.

As boxing introduced the cruiserweight division—originally intended for fighters between 176 and 190 pounds—Camel emerged as its defining figure. A southpaw with a lean, “coltish” build, he was known more for durability, defense, and conditioning than raw punching power. His training was famously austere, often involving long-distance runs on the back roads of Montana. Before major fights in Las Vegas, he sometimes slept in beat-up cars rather than hotels to maintain focus.

In 1980, Camel challenged Mate Parlov for the inaugural WBC cruiserweight championship in Split, Yugoslavia. The bout ended in a controversial draw, with many observers and U.S. commentators believing Camel had done enough to win. The rematch took place later that year in Las Vegas, where Camel won a majority decision to become the first WBC cruiserweight champion, making history as both the division’s inaugural titleholder and the first Native American world champion in boxing.

Camel later fought under promoter Don King, during which one televised bout became memorable when Camel’s mother let out a traditional war whoop from ringside, prompting King to exclaim on air, “He’s a real Indian!” Camel sometimes entered the ring wearing a traditional Native American headdress in honor of his heritage.

In 1983, Camel reclaimed world championship status by defeating Roddy MacDonald to become the first IBF cruiserweight champion, making him a two-time world champion in the division. That same year, he fought in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where a hostile crowd threw beer bottles into the ring following a disputed moment in the fight.

Throughout his career, Camel fought in 13 U.S. states and seven countries across three continents, facing notable opponents such as Carlos De Leon, Lee Roy Murphy, and Hall of Famer Matthew Saad Muhammad. Known as a “bleeder,” he frequently suffered facial cuts and later required optical surgery due to accumulated trauma. Despite needing glasses from childhood, he joked that as long as opponents were not “fuzzy,” he could see well enough to fight.

Camel’s professional career spanned into the late 1980s, concluding with a record of 45 wins (21 by knockout), 13 losses, and 4 draws.

During the early 1980s, amid personal turmoil and a failing marriage, Camel’s world title belts and ceremonial eagle-feather war bonnet were stolen from his gym. The war bonnet was later found buried in the woods, reduced to beads by decay. The WBC belt remained missing for more than 30 years.

After retiring, Camel worked a nine-to-five job at an electrical company for 17 years. He often expressed bitterness over boxing’s financial realities, noting that despite his achievements, he earned relatively little during his career. He also endured deep personal loss, including the suicides of two siblings, which he connected to broader issues of generational trauma and youth suicide on Native American reservations.

In 1999, Sports Illustrated ranked Camel as the 18th greatest athlete in Montana history. Hall of Famer Earnie Brown later advocated for Camel’s induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, citing his historic achievements and victory over Matthew Saad Muhammad.

In 2020, Camel’s long-lost WBC championship belt was miraculously recovered when a car containing it was discovered en route to a scrapyard in Missoula. The belt was refurbished with Native American beadwork by Camel’s brother. Upon its return, Camel—then living in Florida and battling Parkinson’s disease—was overcome with emotion, saying, “They took my life away.”

In 2024, at age 72, Marvin Camel was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, cementing his legacy as a pioneer of the cruiserweight division and one of the most significant Native American athletes in boxing history.

Today, Camel has spoken of plans to establish a rent-free gym and tax-free foundation on the reservation, aimed at combating youth suicide through mentorship, counseling, and sport—hoping that his life story can inspire future generations to persevere against adversity.

Marvin Camel

Born: December 24th, 1951

Birth Place: Ronan, Montana

Residence: Missoula, Montana

Pro-Debut: June 25th, 1973

Career: 1973-1990

Division: Cruiserweight

Stance: Southpaw

Height: 6′ 2″  

Reach: 79″   

Bouts: 62

Rounds: 477

Ko’s: 33.87%

Record: 45-13-4, 21Ko’s

Inaugural WBC Cruiserweight Champion

1980 Mar 31 – 1980 Nov 25

Inaugural IBF Cruiserweight Champion

1983 Dec 13 – 1984 Oct 6

December 24th

1903: Philadelphia Jack O’Brien W6 Jim Feffords

1904: Harlem Tommy Murphy W6 Danny Dougherty

Harry Decker D6 Bert Keyes

1907: Jack Blackburn W10 Mike Donovan

Reddy Moore TKO3 Hugh McCann

1908: Young Pierce W6 Phil McGovern

1909: Tommy O'Toole W6 Charlie Griffin

1934: Freddie Miller W10 Panama Al Brown

1951: Marvin Camel was born in Ronan, Montana

1957: After beating gang leader George McLaughlin Boston light heavyweight Tommy “Irish” Sullivan was murdered by the Charlestown Mob and Patriarca crime family when he was called to the side of a car that was idling in the street near his East Fifth Street home and was shot five times.

1979: Julio Diaz was born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, Mexico

1983: Soon Chun Kwon KO5 Rene Busayong

2003: InYoung Lee SD10 Misa Morimoto

2009: Chayaphon Moonsri W12 Jayson Rotoni

2016: Andrii Rudenko W10 Jason Bergman

2021: Maxim Vlasov W10 Felix Valera