Ed Sanders

Hayes Edward "Big Ed" Sanders (March 24, 1930 – December 12, 1954) was an American heavyweight boxer who won an Olympic gold medal in 1952. Personal life Sanders was the oldest male child of the family. His older sister, Winifred, died in a Scarlet Fever epidemic, in 1939. As a child, Sanders was very large for his age and physically strong. At age 12, he was recollected to be the size of a normal 18 year old. Sanders and his younger brother, Donald, collected coffee cans, filled them with cement and connected two of them with a steel bar to make a weight set for exercising. As "Big Ed" grew bigger, faster and stronger, Sanders excelled in football and track and field at Jordan High School. Outside of the ring, Sanders was known as affable, gentlemanly and highly intelligent. On 11 December 1954, he faced Willie James for the New England heavyweight title. James knocked out Sanders in the 11th round and Sanders had to be carried from the ring. He never regained consciousness and died 18 hours later.