Excerpt from The Sweet Sucker Punch – “A Tribute to Georgie Benton (1933 – 2011)”: It was a balmy spring day in Philly and I was feeling pretty battle ready, so I decided to cruise North Philly and visit ‘Smoking’ Joe Frazier’s Cloverlay Gym on Broad St. I needed unfamiliar sparring to keep my guns sharp. It was about 1pm, a slow time at the gym. There were only a few boxers and a couple of trainers milling around. I remember it well, that nostril-attacking odor of sweaty gloves and pungent hand-wraps when opening the door.
But this smell was spiked with the hint of a familiar, exotically aroma. It was Georgie Benton’s cologne wafting the stale air as he strutted around the floor in his tailor-made outfit and big-brimmed hat angled on his head. Then I heard that unmistakably raspy voice: “Aayy Baby Cakes, ‘what’s happ’nin?”
