With his cruiserweight championship fight against Carlos De Leon in 1980 playing on the big screen behind him, Marvin Camel autographs photographs of himself during his boxing days that he later gave away in between bouts. KURT WILSON/Missoulian
We’ve got an awesome Sunday newspaper coming your way, with stories that will surprise you, tug at your heart and get you thinking.
Here’s a preview of a few:
Marvin Camel was, and will always be, a world boxing champion, the first and only one to ever come out of the state of Montana.
He was, in fact, the first cruiserweight champion on the world.
Curiously, he never received much fanfare on the Flathead Indian Reservation, where he grew up and learned to box.
On Sunday, reporter Vince Devlin and photographer Kurt Wilson tell Camel’s bittersweet story.
“Anybody can do what I’ve done,” Camel says, “but in reality, nobody has. I often ask myself, ‘Why me? Why was I chosen to be the first cruiserweight champion of the world?’ I come from a town of 1,500 people, Ronan, Montana, and I’ve won two world titles. There are towns, there are states, there are countries with millions of people that have never won a world championship.”
Their report anchors our Sunday Territory section. You’ll want to take a look.
Also coming Sunday: a visit to Missoula’s new “fit strip.” Downtown Missoula is redefining itself, and on one street that means a collection of fitness clubs and businesses. Business reporter Betsy Cohen and photographer Linda Thompson have our A1 lead package.
We’ll also have complete coverage of the Cat-Griz basketball games in Bozeman; sportswriters Bill Speltz and Bob Meseroll are there to bring you the report. Keila Szpaller has a report on Missoula’s biggest tax scofflaws. Kim Briggeman has the latest on the controversy surrounding the Western Montana Fair. And reporter Tristan Scott and photographer Tom Bauer will introduce readers to a little Haitian boy who has found a new family, and life, in Lolo.
I could go on … you’d best just grab a Sunday Missoulian and see for yourself!
Sherry Devlin
Sherry, great lineup of stories. I can’t wait for Sunday’s edition. I grew up in Ronan with Marvin and have great memories of Marvin, his family, his friends. He is a friend, a Montana man and I look forward to this story, the Haitian boy now part of the Lolo family, the Cat-Griz news and all the other stories. Downtown Missoula is important to me. Betsy and Linda have a very intriguing and timely topic, too. I love their work and am anxious to see this one in print.