Page 27 - MSN_366_AugustSeptember

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2020 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS SPOTLiGHTS PAGE 27

when an employee noticed the belts in the
back and rescued them. He contacted Ken,
a boxing coach in Ronan, who drove to
Missoula to retrieve them.
When Marvin learned the belts had been
found, he was overcome with emotion.
“It took two great events for me to receive
the belts. First was winning the belt at Caesar’s
Palace in Las Vegas. Second was when they
were found in the Mission Mountains.”
Ken has refurbished the leather, adding
Native American beads. Marvin hopes to
attend the Arlee Pow-Wow this summer,
where he will be reunited with his trea-
sured belts.
“The people made Marvin Camel,” he
said. “The people who bought tickets and
came to my fights and cheered.”
He added, “I feel like there’s one more
highlight for me. I don’t know what, but I feel
something more is ahead for Marvin Camel.”
That something might be a movie about
his career. He’s signed a contract with a
Helena filmmaker.
When he asked Norma to find the
man’s phone number, they shared another
teasing exchange.
“Hang on,” he said to me, a smile in
his voice. “Norma’s trying to get up off the
Born in Ronan and raised on the Flathead Reservation, Marvin Camel faced early obstacles from being couch. She weighs three hundred pounds.”
half black and half Native American. He earned a place in history as the first cruiserweight (200 pounds) In the background, Norma yelped in protest.
to win two world titles—for the World Boxing Council in 1980 and for the International Boxing Federation
in 1983. Courtesy photo. His quick comeback: “I’m about to have
my last fight.”
down Marvin but wasn’t able to. He threw More years passed. The vehicle wound It’s a sure bet the team of Marvin and
the belts in the rear of his car and forgot up in a Missoula junkyard. In February, Norma Camel will go the distance. MSN
about them. 2020, it was moments from being crushed

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