On October 28, 1949, 75 years ago, the boxer Marcel Cerdan, considered the second best French athlete of the 20th century by L’Equipeonly surpassed by Michel Platini. Cerdan, born in Algeria, raised in Casablanca and buried in Perpignan, was world middleweight champion, after defeating the American Tony Zale in Jersey City on September 21, 1948. Nicknamed the moroccan bomberthen he was beaten by Jake LaMotta (the boxer played by Robert De Niro in Wild Bull), in Detroit, on June 16, 1949. Cerdan injured his left shoulder in the first round and quit in the tenth. The rematch was scheduled for December 2, but he no longer played it. He was 33 years old when he headed to Orly airport. Their trip to New York, seventeen hours in total, had to refuel in the Azores, but the Air France flight with its final destination at LaGuardia Airport ended abruptly in the heights of São Miguel, one of the islands of the archipelago. There were no survivors among the 37 passengers and 11 crew. Among those who lost their lives was also the prodigy violinist Ginette Neveu. Also traveling were five young Basque shepherds who were heading to Texas to take charge of a ranch. The last photograph of Cerdan alive was taken at the foot of the plane, chatting with Ginette Neveu, who had a Stradivarius in her hands. The boxer’s body was identified by the two wristwatches he usually wore, one with French time and the other with United States time.
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