Sonny Veith

From The Great Outdoor Fight

1988 Champion. Seymour "Sonny" Veith was born and raised in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The only Jewish kid on his school boxing team, Sonny made a name for himself in his teenage years. He began serious competitive boxing in 1983, at the age of 18, performing at higher levels than expected.

1983 was also the first year Veith participated in the Great Outdoor Fight, clearing the field in qualifying rounds in short order. He did moderately well, making it to Day 3 (331st Man Standing). He took an abdominal wound without realizing it, and bled out to the point of passing out while still fighting. It was considered a respectable loss and Veith made a number of friends.

Working as a bartender at a local New Brunswick watering hole popular with Rutgers students, Veith learned that one of the students was Fauntleroy Brown, son of the legendary 1966 Champion Stanley "Grip" Brown. Fauntleroy Brown was soft and unaccustomed to either labor or hardship, and Veith learned to dislike the somewhat arrogant student. In early 1984, on the heels of qualifying for both the United States Olympic Boxing team and the Regional Qualifiers for the Great Outdoor Fight, he confronted Brown, claiming that he was a bastard -- that there was no way "Grip" Brown was really his father.

What Veith didn't realize was that Fauntleroy Brown had been taunted with his famous father's exploits all his life. Veith was shocked, as he flew out to Bakersfield, to discover that Brown had used his status as Blood of Champion to qualify for the fight without going through Qualifying Rounds. He taunted Brown on the plane, then resolved to ignore him on the field.

Unfortunately, that proved to be impossible. Brown was engaged by Fast Eddie Brandt in the early minutes of Day One, and Brown snapped, plunging his hand in Brandt's rib cage and pulling out his heart. Veith saw the sudden, brutal attack. He watched Brown throw up in horror and disgust, and he watched as Brown went into a Dutch fugue.

Brown's singleminded feud lasted all three days of the Fight, and in the end Brown maimed or killed 586 men and ultimately became champion -- not that Brown's insanity allowed him to enjoy his winnings. Veith was one of Brown's early victims, suffering multiple broken bones, including compound fracture, and the indignity of having one of his ears torn off and thrust down his throat. Paramedics were able to keep him from suffocating after he was pulled off the Acres. Needless to say, Veith was in no condition to compete in the 1984 Olympics, and he was forced to give up his spot.

Veith spent 1985 and 1986 in extensive physical therapy. He swore he would return to the Fight. He didn't simply want to prove he could return. He felt responsible for Brown's fugue, and guilty that so many men died or were maimed, but he survived.

In 1987, Veith returned to boxing. He began a string of unbroken wins that pushed him up the rankings. Unfortunately, one fight happened the week before his qualifyers for the 1987 Great Outdoor Fight, and Veith was unable to qualify. In 1988, he once again earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. His coaches begged him not to return to the Fight, but he did -- qualifying easily this time.

From all accounts, Veith's gamesmanship and tactics were brilliant in the '88 Fight. He brought down twenty four men on the first day, including returning Champion Bryce Marshall. However, he managed to avoid permanently injuring anyone. He was determined to win the fight without maiming or killing anyone, in honor of the victims of the Brown Dutch fugue. On day two, he gave his followers -- two hundred strong -- his turkey dinner, choosing instead to focus on eliminating as many of the opposing factions' soldiers as he could. On day three, he used his fresh followers as a wedge, slashing through the ranks, ending the day with nineteen strong, all members of his own army. Declaring a five minute rest for position, he refused to let anyone turn on their fellows before everyone was ready, and then began fighting in a free-for-all.

Unfortunately, Veith had been (correctly) identified as the most dangerous remaining threat. Hammered at all sides and exhausted, Veith found himself running ragged. With Three Men Left, Veith accidentally crushed the side of Pretty Boy Eli Malloy's face. Malloy didn't go down, and when Veith hesitated 1979 Champion Dane Bullard attacked the weakened Malloy savagely, tearing his kidneys out and boxing Malloy's ears with them.

Horrified and enraged at Bullard's unnecessary brutality, Veith went berserk, tearing into Bullard with ferocity. He shattered Bullard's body and left him a bloody pulp -- only to realize at the end that his hopes of winning the Fight without causing serious injury or death had fallen with Bullard. Haunted, Veith accepted his trophy as Last Man Standing, but retired from the Fight. Since then, he has not been back to even observe.

Later that year, Veith took a bronze medal in the Seoul, South Korea Summer Olympic Games, making him the only man to win the Fight and an Olympic Medal in the same year (and only the third Olympic medal winner to win the Fight.)

Veith became a management consultant and real estate investor in the 90's. He also lends his name and image to the Sonny Veith Home Fight Workout.

[edit] Record

• 1983 - eliminated Day 3. 331st man standing.
• 1984 - eliminated Day 1, 2,937th man standing.
• 1988 - Champion, last man standing.