By Paul Strauss: Okay, let’s test your knowledge of fighters. You need to come up with ten names…..five are oldsters, three are current, and two are……well you’ll find out. Below are clues and hints to help you along the way. Some are tricky and will take all of your skill and imagination. Get all ten and you peeked at the answers. Seven to nine – you qualify as an Old Fart. Three to six and you’re either a promoter, or need to get a life. Zero to two and you’re probably some kind of palooka, who submits a lot of comments to ESB. (Answers below)
1.) This fellow was so gaunt and pale, he looked like he just climbed out of a hospital bed. He was already fighting at age sixteen, and claimed (exaggerated) that he had more than 800 fights in his life time. He worked in the coal mines, and was a valuable asset, because of his unusually small stature which enabled him to get into tight spaces. His first fights were at the mine spits (sic) and also the fairgrounds. He thought hand wraps cramped his fist, so he never used them, but he never hurt his hands, even though he was one of the most feared punchers his boxing. Ring magazine described him as a masterful boxer, a bewildering target, with hands down, feinting and weaving to get his opponent off balance or out of position, and then he would land his right hand. The magazine said, “…he hit so hard that his punches were magical”. He was credited with 99 knockouts. One of his nicknames was “Ghost with a hammer in his hand”. One more clue……..he was the very first world champion in this weight division.
2.) This hero’s life started in New York City, but soon moved to a Jewish Ghetto in the Windy City. At age 13 or 14 (depending on your source). his father was shot and killed in a store robbery. The traumatic event caused his mother to have a nervous breakdown, so this youngster and his siblings were without parents. As a result, the younger three were sent to live in orphanages, or with other family members. Our hero and two of his brothers were left to fend for themselves. As a result, our hero grew bitter, and rejected his jewish faith, turning instead to crime in the streets. One of his delinquent buddies was Jack Ruby (yes, that Jack Ruby). Eventually, our hero became a money runner, or bag man (child), and it was said he even worked for Alphonse Capone. Our hero had one goal at this time, and it was to some day reunite his family. However, he needed more money than he was making in the streets, so he came up with the idea that boxing might be the answer.
This was in spite of the advice his dead father once gave him that boxing should be left to the atheists and criminals, further explaining to his son that they were better than that; they were scholars. Disregarding his father’s counsel, our hero started fighting in the amateurs under an alias, so his also disapproving mother wouldn’t know. Our hero won many trophies, medals and awards, and pawned them for whatever money he could get. Eventually his mother recovered from her breakdown, and our hero turned pro. He realized his goal of reuniting their family, and then set a new goal……to win a world championship, which he did, not once but twice.
He was only knocked down once in his career, and avenged the loss (dec) to the fighter that did it. In his last fight, he was pummeled so badly that those at ringside were teary eyed, because he refused to quit, and wouldn’t let his corner throw in the towel either, scolding them with a warning that he would never speak to them again if they did. He never went down in the fight, going the distance. He retired after that beating and opened a restaurant. But, WWII started, and even though he was past draft age, he obtained a waiver, and was inducted into the United States Marines. The Marines wanted him to be an instructor, but he asked for and got combat. He was sent to Guadalcanal, where he was wounded while performing heroic deeds, so heroic that he was awarded the Silver Star. A movie called Monkey on My Back was later made about his life
3.) This little man was said to have an irregular heart beat that gave him tremendous stamina and endurance. He claimed it took him two hours to warm up for a fifteen round fight!. He was relentless in his attack, simply overwhelming most opponents. However, his boxing career almost ended before it started, because he was KO’d in his very first fight. Then he lost two of his next three, so three of his first four fights ended in the lost column. He stuck with it though, and about three years later, he was ripping off a record setting string of knockouts, which earned him his first title shot. He made good, and again (going up two) and again (down one) becoming the only man to accomplish what feat? A feat that holds to this day. He had at least five nicknames, none of which I will state, because they reveal too much. But, I will tell you this…..his
mother wanted him to be a minister, and that’s what he ended up being. By the way, this fellow, and our hero (#2) are somehow connected?
4.) Now this is a tricky one, one that will take all of your skill and imagination to guess. Actually, this one involves several people fighting under the same name, but they all came from the same background, and had the same qualities…..good natured, big, defender of the little guys, a gentle soul, someone who didn’t like to fight, yet held the sport’s top prize…….the heavyweight championship. The name these guys fought under exemplified “…the sports hero in an age when uprightness of character was supposed to matter most”. At least twelve movies were made about this fighter. However, it’s sometimes used in a derogatory way. I gave you a hint above.
5.) This fighter is in his prime, and one of the most exciting fighters around at this time. He too had a tough start in life, being abandoned by his parents at an early age. By the age of nine, he was completely on his own. He would take whatever work was available, most of the time doing a man’s job. By the time he was 16, he had started his amateur career in boxing. He just missed being qualifying for the 2000 Olympics. By age 20, he turned professional, but was still fighting in the streets as well as in the ring. This fighter has a murderous punch, especially the right hand,
and fans have seen him put to sleep more than one fighter who had never been stopped before. He broke one fighter’s jaw, but still ended up losing the decision. This fighter has had problems making weight, and therefore had a big fight at a “catch weight”. Although he was knocked down, he managed to knock down his undefeated opponent twice, coming away with the decision. He’s been KO’d once. Who is this fighter. Hint……if you were talking to him, you would need help.
6.) This fighter’s final bout just occurred, garnering a record number of viewers. Over recent years this fighter captured numerous amateur and professional titles, at the same time starting and maintaining several successful business ventures. Before beginning a career in boxing, this fighter was a good all around athlete, playing basketball, volleyball and swimming. During the first three years as a boxer, this fighter also worked in a law office, but, by age 21, resigned that position and turned full-time to boxing. Once challenged to fight an exhibition by a loud mouth radio announcer, this fighter obliged, and proceeded to break the announcer’s nose. Amassing a record of W54 (KO 16)+ L1 + D1, this fighter’s only loss was to a figher from Phoenix nicknamed The Terminator. This fighter has been an inspiration to many, and now is looking forward to a job as a commentator. One last hint……many fans consider this fighter a sex symbol
7.) This fighter comes from a fighting family, and he has been fighting since a young age. He always had a knack of making good fighters look bad. But, he’s been criticized too, for possibly side-stepping worthy opponents. He’s orthodox, but unorthodox, meaning he does things almost no other fighter can do. He moves a lot, but doesn’t run. He’s known to train at odd times. His first title fight occurred when he was only 21, and a 6-1 underdog. He won and kept on winning. He was involved in one of the more recent ring melees, which resulted in suspension for two. He’s held multiple titles and sometimes talks of branching out into another sport. One last clue……..he and Larry Merchant haven’t always agreed.
8.) Let’s look at another delinquent who made good fighting under an alias. Boxing experts never considered this guy a skilled fighter, but he was one of the most popular, even though he was suspended twice. In fact, he was so popular a movie was made about his life, and if you’re really alert, you will see a very young Steve McQueen in one of the early scenes. Sugar Ray Robinson said this guy hit him the hardest he’d ever been hit. He once beat a top level fighter so badly, that he hastened the end of the fighter’s career. In fact, this fighter was so good that he had not too long before fought to a split decision with Sugar Ray Robinson. In the movie, one of his first coaches tells him “….most of my (his) other fighters are more skilled than you, but you could still probably lick them all. His father fought under the name “Fighting Nick Bob”
9.) Here we have another triple title holder, and another one of those feared punchers. In fact, this guy is credited with perfecting a particular punch. He is also credited with being the sport’s first to accomplish what feat? Originally, this fellow worked hard at a tedious and hot job. I won’t name it, or give you his nicknames, because it would make this too easy. But, you might remember seeing pictures in Boxing Pictorial History of Boxing of this fellow wearing an apron. In a rematch against a fighter to whom he lost a title, he inflicted such a merciless beating that his opponent’s nose and cheek bones were broken. His Ohio opponent also sustained numerous cuts, but he managed to hang on, and eventually wore down and defeated our much lighter man.
10.) This is another one of those tricky ones. Use your imagination and pay close attention. When he was a kid, he started a gang called the Warriors. He and his brother grew up in an orphanage, and went to parochial school, where the nuns always whacked him. His motto became…..Do it to them before they do it to you”. This fighter grew up to deck Two Ton Tony Galento with a two punch combination. He rubbed elbows with Abe Simon and Tami Muriello, and Mike O’Dowd was even around. His older brother Charlie, the smarter of the two, was a bookkeeper for some less than Friendly people. This fighter never captured the championship, but always felt he could have got close if he wasn’t forced to take the short money. This fighter fell in love with a Saintly young, innocent blond, who had been away to school. He once told her he didn’t like the country, because the crickets made him nervous.
What colorful lives our pugilistic friends led and continue to lead. No wonder we love boxing. There are some great stories, and my information has been gathered over many years through attending bouts, reading biographies, newspapers, boxing magazines, boxing encyclopedia, watching movies, etc.
A drum roll please…. . Here are your answers:
1) Jimmy Wilde……Mighty Atom 2.) Barney Ross 3.) Henry Armstrong ….Hammerin Hank, Homicide Hank, Perpetual Motion and so on. He is the only man to ever hold three titles simultaneously. 4.) Joe Palooka (ok, so I tricked you) 5.) Edison Miranda……He was knocked down by Alan Green, but ended up knocking Green down twice to win a decision. And, you all know what Kelly Pavlik did to him. 6.) Regina Halmich (come on, we can’t be chauvinists….see current issue of Ring Magazine ) She did actually pull a Billy Jean King, and fought a man in the ring. Apparently, it was a loud mouth radio announcer, who challenged her, and when she was done with him, he had a broken nose. 7.) Floyd Mayweather, Jr……fans say he is the best P4P, and critics say he’s ducking Cotto, Williams and Margarito. 8.) Rocky Graziano……great movie Somebody Up There Likes Me starring Paul Newman 9.) Bob Fitzsimmons……Ruby Red, The Freckled Wonder is credited with perfecting the “solar plexus punch”. 10.) Terry Malloy (Great movie based on a true story about corruption in the dockworkers union., starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb (Johnny Friendly), and numerous former boxers…. On The Water Front).
I hope this proves to be entertaining and informative for you.