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Boxing In The 1950s
During the 1950s, a couple of relatively new developments changed the world: World War II had only been over for five years when the 1950s began, and television was beginning to make a major impact internationally. In boxing, changes connected to these developments could be seen too, as boxers who fought at the 1940s conflict returned to their homes and many of them were back in the ring. Television producers were in love with sports, which provided the viewer with an opportunity to observe sporting events live, and boxing was not the exception to the rule; many television networks began to feature fights live during the weekends, and the '' Gillette Friday Night Fights'' proved to be one of the most popular boxing television series in American history. The dawn of the jet airplane era in 1958 also helped boxing expand worldwide: with airplanes flying faster and more frequently between cities far away from each other, more and more world title fights began to be fought outside th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boxing In The 1940s
Boxing in the 1940s in many ways reflected worldwide events that affected other endeavors as well. World War II raged early in the decade, and just like baseballers, many popular boxers went overseas to fight for their countries, Joe Louis, Billy Conn, Beau Jack, and Bob Montgomery among them. Louis was used to entice Americans to join the war against Germany, a couple of propaganda movies starring Louis and many propaganda posters being produced. The posters in particular are collectors' items today. Louis' great rival, Max Schmeling, a lifelong opponent of the Nazi regime, was forced by Adolf Hitler to join the German military after his loss to Louis at their 1938 rematch. Because of the war many world championship divisions were frozen. Sometimes, a title bout was held five years after the last title bout in that division had been held. Television was in its infancy in the 1940s, but nonetheless, viewers were treated to many 10-round, non-title fights, and many crown cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses, a record for all weight classes. Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any boxer in history. Louis's cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first person of African-American descent to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor's exemption in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Allen (boxer)
Terry Allen (8 June 1924 – 8 April 1987) was an English flyweight boxer. During his career, he became British, Commonwealth, European and World flyweight champion. Family Born in Islington, London, Allen's father was a professional boxer. His mother died when he was two, and he was raised by his grandmother. Six of his cousins were also professional boxers. Amateur career He started boxing when he was nine and won a schoolboy championship. During his amateur career, he won 102 out of 107 contests. Professional career Managed by Johnny Sharpe, Allen had his first professional fight in September 1942, at the age of eighteen. He beat Jim Thomas on points over six rounds at Caledonian Road Baths, Islington. He then proceeded to win his first thirty-two fights. In 1942, during the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland La Starza
Roland La Starza (May 12, 1927 – September 30, 2009) was an American boxer and actor. Life and career Originally from the Van Nest section of the Bronx, La Starza fought 66 professional bouts from July 7, 1947 to May 8, 1961. He won 57 of the fights, 27 by knockout. In a March 24, 1950 fight that went against him on a split decision, La Starza may have come closer than any other boxer to defeating Rocky Marciano. The scoring for the bout was 5–4, 4–5, and 5–5, but La Starza lost on a supplemental point system used by New York and Massachusetts at that time. Both boxers were undefeated at the time of the fight, with La Starza's record at 37–0. La Starza went on record in the '' New York Herald Tribune'', March 25, 1950, as saying, "The fact is his manager Al Weill was matchmaker for the Garden. I would say that had a lot to do with the decision." He maintained that belief for over 50 years after the bout. La Starza later won a heavyweight title eliminator against Rex L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Mills
Frederick Percival Mills (26 June 1919 – 25 July 1965) was an English boxer, and the world light heavyweight champion from 1948 to 1950. Mills was tall and did not have a sophisticated boxing style; he relied on two-fisted aggression, relentless pressure, and the ability to take punishment to carry him through, and in more cases than not these attributes were sufficient. Mills excelled first as a middleweight, and most successfully as a light-heavyweight boxer, but also fought as a heavyweight. He was described as Britain's biggest boxing idol in the post-war period and remained a popular media personality after his retirement from the ring. Once he had retired from boxing, Mills moved into boxing management and promotion, and pursued a career in entertainment, working in radio, television (notably as co-presenter of the early BBC TV music show, ''Six-Five Special'' between 1957 and 1958), and on the stage, as well as playing roles in a number of films between 1952 and 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joey Maxim
Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli (March 28, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional boxer. He was a World Light Heavyweight Champion. He took the ring-name Joey Maxim from the Maxim gun, the world's first self-acting machine gun, based on his ability to rapidly throw a large number of left jabs. Early life Maxim was born and raised in Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Career Early career Maxim learned to box at a very young age. Following a successful amateur career, during which he won the Golden Gloves, he turned professional in 1940. Maxim boxed fairly regularly at exhibitions during the war years while serving as a military police officer at Miami Beach, Florida. Maxim becomes world champion It is somewhat surprising that Maxim had to wait so long for a world title shot, he was 28 and had already fought 87 times as a professional, considering his undoubted ability. His chance came on January 24, 1950, against British boxer Freddie Mills, who w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charley Riley
Charley Riley (April 22, 1922 - May 22, 1994) is an inductee of the Boxing Hall of Fame. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was sometimes known as ''Chillin' Charley''. Career Charley Riley was a top featherweight boxing contender in the 1940s and 1950s. He achieved nationwide recognition in the United States with a trio of exciting fights with ex-NBA featherweight champ Phil Terranova. He lost via a one-punch body-shot knockout on February 22, 1946, but on April 30, 1947, evened the score with a 7th-round TKO of Terranova. On September 3, 1947, he scored a first-round TKO of Terranova. Reports were that the referee stopped this fight on the advice of the ring doctor because Terranova was bleeding profusely. Riley fought Willie Pep for the featherweight championship in St Louis January 16, 1950 and was knocked out by Pep by a body punch in the fifth round. He accepted a non-title bout with reigning featherweight champion Sandy Saddler November 1, 1950 and lost a decision. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Pep
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and screenwriter * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and director of the Growing Power urban farming program * Willie Allen (racing driver) (born 1980), American racing driver * Willie Anderson (other) * Willie Apiata (born 1972), New Zealand Army soldier, only recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand * Willie (footballer) (born 1993), Brazilian footballer Willie Hortencio Barbosa * Willy Böckl (1893–1975), Austrian world champion figure skater * Willy Bocklant (1941–1985), Belgian road racing cyclist * Willy Bogner, Sr. (1909–1977), German Nordic skier * Willy Bogner, Jr. (born 1942), German fashion designer and alpine skier * Willie Bosket (born 1962), American convicted murderer whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "our thing" or "this thing of ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia (or ''Cosa nostra'') groups from Sicily operating in the United States, as the organization initially emerged as an offshoot of the Sicilian Mafia (known also as ''Cosa nostra'' by its members) formed by Italian immigrants in the United States. However, the organization gradually evolved into a separate entity partially independent of the original Mafia in Sicily, and it eventually encompassed or absorbed other Italian immigrant and Italian-American gangsters and It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frankie Carbo
Paul John "Frankie" Carbo (born Paolo Giovanni Carbo, ; August 10, 1904Bureau of Narcotics, Sam Giancana, The United States Treasury Department. ''Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime''. 2007(pg. 85)/ref> – November 9, 1976) was an Italian-American New York City Mafia soldier in the Lucchese crime family who operated as a gunman with Murder, Inc. before transitioning into one of the most powerful promoters in professional boxing. Early years Carbo was born in Agrigento, Sicily, on August 10, 1904. Carbo was sent to the New York State Reformatory for juvenile delinquents at age eleven. Over the next ten years, Carbo would be in and out of prison on charges including assault and grand larceny. During this period, Carbo was arrested for the murder of a taxi driver who refused to pay protection money. Pleading not guilty, Carbo claimed self-defense. He eventually agreed to a plea bargain of manslaughter in exchange for a reduced sentence of two to four years in pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Fox (boxer)
William McKinley Fox (February 1, 1926 – January 1986), better known as "Blackjack" Billy Fox, was an American light heavyweight boxer who is best known for having won a controversial fight against future middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. Early life William McKinley Fox was born in Tatums, Oklahoma on February 1, 1926, to Melvin Calvin Fox (died 1984) and Beulah Carter (died 1933). After his mother died when he was a child, he was raised by his stepmother, Viola Harris Fox. Fox enlisted for service in World War II in 1944, when he was 18. At the time, he was resident in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Boxing career Billy Fox, known as "Blackjack", started off his career by winning 37 consecutive fights, all by knockout, before he was knocked out by Gus Lesnevich in ten rounds for the world light heavyweight title-Fox had the champion hurt in round three. He would rack up 7 more wins, including a win in a bout thrown by Jake LaMotta.Jeff Merton, ESPN.com. Page 2 "Reel Lif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
