 He did get an interim belt while Sandy Saddler was in the army, but never had the privilege of fighting for the championship.Despite this, Bassett faced a number of the top small fighters of his era, including Mario Pacheco, Miguel Acevedo, Redtop Davis, Jimmy Carter, Frankie Sodano, Federico Plummer, Ray Famechon, Lulu Perez, and others.Bassett's retirement due to a detached retina came after his last fight, a tenth round TKO of undefeated (16-0) Seraphin Ferrer.