After his Honorable Discharge from the Marine Corps, this son of an onion farmer turned pro in 1948. For the first four years, most of his fights were in central or western New York. A series of three consecutive tough contests, a draw and a loss to Chuck Davey and a loss to Billy Graham, catapulted him to prominence, where he stayed for the remainder of his career.

In 1953, he decisioned former lightweight king Ike Williams and later beat Graham for the New York State welterweight title. He then defended the title with draw, again against Graham. Basilio's fist world title bout, against Kid Gavilan was a grueling contest. He dropped Gavilan in the second round. The Kid barely beat the count and recovered to win a 15-round decision.

Undeterred, Basilio continued his quest for a world championship. He went 9-0-2 in his next 11 bouts. In that string, he won rematches with the two opponents he drew with. His dream of winning a world title was realized on June 10, 1955. Before a hometown crowd in nearby Syracuse he went toe-to-toe in a bloody affair with welterweight champ Tony DeMarco. The champ had the best in the early going but Basilio came on strong, dropped DeMarco twice in the 10th round pressed the issue until the referee stepped in and halted the bout in the 12th.

Basilio beat DeMarco in his first defense, but lost a 15-round decision to Johnny Saxton in his next fight. But he regained the title from Saxton in a rematch (KO 9) and stopped him in two rounds in the first defense of his second reign. As 1957 moved on, Basilio set his sights on the middleweight crown and its owner, Sugar Ray Robinson. That bout took place Sept. 23, at Yankee Stadium. Giving away advantages in height and reach, he sustained heavy punishment and a badly cut left eye, and won the title in one of the most action-packed bouts of the decade.

But in the rematch on March 25, the following year, Robinson regained the title in an equally taxing bout. He peppered Basilio's face, which this time succumbed to Robinson's repeated jabs and right crosses. Basilio fought most of the bout with his left eye totally shut. With this dogged pursuit of victory under such conditions he garnered even more respect.

After two wins, he twice unsuccessfully challenged champion Gene Fullmer, who had dethroned Robinson. He was stopped via 14th-round kayo Aug. 28, 1959 and via 12th-round kayo June 29, 1960. He won two more decisions before losing a 15-round decision to middleweight champion Paul Pender on April 22, 1961. Although he left the ring vanquished, it's only fitting that Basilio's last fight was for a world title.

In 1974, Basilio's nephew, Billy Backus, became the second Canastotian to win a world title, when he wrested the welterweight belt from the legendary Jose Napoles. The gregarious Carmen, as well as fellow Hall-of-Famer, Willie Pep, is a frequent visitor to the Hall.

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