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'He knew he had to get out of that prison'

Listen to the full interview above via the podcast  On Easter Sunday, the life of one of bo...



'He knew he had to get out...
Golf

'He knew he had to get out of that prison'

Listen to the full interview above via the podcast 

On Easter Sunday, the life of one of boxing's most fascinating figures came to an end at the age of 76.

Rubin 'The Hurricane' Carter's career record might read 27 wins and 12 losses but his career would be defined by events away from the ring.

The former Middleweight was convicted of murder in the 1960s but after spending almost 20 years in prison, that conviction was eventually overturned.

Tonight we were joined by the co-author of his autobiography Ken Klonsky who said that any bitterness on Carter's behalf had been washed away to an extent.

He describes Carter as a "cantankerous yet very sweet" person who had the inner strength to fight for justice.

"When he was in prison at a very low moment and looking at the 36-foot high wall that surrounded the yard at Trenton State prison, all of a sudden he could see through this wall. Now, most people would say he was deluded but he said he saw through that wall and he knew he had to get out of that prison. But he also knew that using the law itself was not the way out. The way out was to find what the spiritual core of living is about and so what he did was educate himself," said Klonsky who cited some of the books that inspired The Hurricane and the lengths he went to write his first autobiography The Sixteenth Round which helped him in his fight for a retrial.

Klonsky also explained why Carter concluded that the courtroom was a place for storytelling rather than the truth and discussed his final years which involved advocacy. 

And Klonsky explained why Carter felt that "prison was the best thing that happened to him".

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