Gene Tunney

popular name: Angelo Jacopucci

date_of_death: July 22, 1978

age: 29

cause_of_death: Right frontoparietal subdural hematoma and diffuse cerebral edema

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Angelo Jacopucci was a middleweight Italian boxing champion who was affectionately called by his fellow citizens "brigetto" to underline his slender physical structure and agility. Upon winning the continental middleweight title, he lost it in the first defense. Subsequently he challenged the then title-holder Englishman Alan Minter in an attempt to recover the title. During the final two rounds of the 12 round match, Jacopucci suffered fatal blows to the head and died two days later from the damage. He was laid to rest at Cimitero di Tarquinia in Tarquinia, Italy.

popular name: Johnny Kilbane

date_of_death: May 31, 1957

age: 68

cause_of_death: Cancer

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Johnny Kilbane was a successful featherweight boxer in the early part of the 20th century. He held the World Featherweight title from 1912 to 1923, the longest period in the division's history, having defended the title against four contenders during the reign. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Kilbane as the No. 2 ranked featherweight of all-time, while The Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer placed him at No. 5. With a record of 110 wins (24 by knockout), 17 losses, 15 draws and 1 no contest he was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1960 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. Upon his death, he was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

popular name: Al Campanis

date_of_death: June 21, 1998

age: 81

cause_of_death: Heart disease and complications from diabetes

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Al Campanis was a baseball player, farm team scout and finally an executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He’d been a Montreal Royal shortstop in 1946 playing alongside Jackie Robinson at second base, barnstormed off-season with a racially integrated squad, a Brooklyn Dodger scout who unearthed Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax, and who reached the apex of his profession as General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and took them to four pennants and one World Series title. Campanis baseball career came to a complete stop after an interview with Ted Koppel. Campanis, who had played alongside Robinson and was known for being close to him, was being interviewed about the subject. Nightline anchorman Ted Koppel asked him why, at the time, there had been few black managers and no black general managers or owners in Major League Baseball. Campanis's reply was: "I truly believe that they may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager." Later in the interview, to defend his views when pressed by Koppel, Campanis asked: "Why are black men or black people not good swimmers? Because they don't have the buoyancy." Koppel says he gave Campanis several opportunities to clarify ("Do you really believe that?") or back down from his remarks. Instead, Campanis doubled down on his views, suggesting that African Americans "certainly are short" on individuals with strong decision-making capabilities, asking Koppel: "How many quarterbacks do you have? How many pitchers do you have that are black?" Koppel also pointed out that much of what Campanis was saying "sounds a lot like the garbage we heard 40 years ago." Campanis was fired less than 48 hours later.