Aaron "Little Tiger" Wade (March 17, 1916 – February 15, 1985) was an American

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

boxer who fought from 1935 to 1950. Wade was a member of the famed Black Murderers' Row.

Early life

Born in Trenton Tennessee, Wade became the first African American golden gloves champion in Peoria, Illinois and reportedly had 600 or more amateur fights. Aaron's older brother Bruce "Big Tiger" Wade was also a professional boxer, albeit a less successful one than his younger brother. Aaron stood a hair above 5 feet 5 inches and began his career at 140 lbs as a welterweight before moving up and fighting at middleweight and light heavyweight.

Career

Known for his power, Wade had a knockout ratio of 50% over a span of 64 victories. His fights with other members of the black murderers' row are 3 losses to Charley Burley, 1 win over Herbert Lewis "Cocoa Kid" Hardwick, 2 losses and 1 draw to Jack Chase, and a win over

Bert Lytell Bertram Mortimer Lytell (February 24, 1885 – September 28, 1954) was an American actor in theater and film during the silent film era and early talkies. He starred in romantic, melodrama, and adventure films. Background Born in New York ...

. Other notable fights of Wade's career include a win over

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional Boxing, boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (1952 – 1962). He had one of the longest profe ...

, a win against Sam Baroudi, 3 wins against Oakland Billy Smith, a loss to

Ceferino Garcia Ceferino Montano Garcia (August 26, 1906 – January 1, 1981) was a champion boxer born in Naval, Biliran, Philippines. He holds the most victories ever achieved by a Filipino boxer and is also the only boxer from the Philippines to become worl ...

, and a loss in his final career fight after a 2-year layoff against the great

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...

. Like all the black murderer's row fighters, Wade never got a shot at the world title. Aaron Wade finished his career with a record of 64(32 KOs)-16-6. Wade was a sparring partner of Sugar Ray Robinson's in 1948. According to a Boston Post article, Wade got into a fight with Sugar Ray over Wade's payment. Wade had knocked down Sugar Ray outside a gym and left him with separation of his ribs and swelling described as "the size of a pullet egg" around his heart. Robinson had to cancel his scheduled fight and was out for the next two months. Author Springs Toledo uncovered evidence that Wade took a dive in the bout against

. According to Wade's son, Robinson was unaware of the fix with the promoters being the culprits, paying Wade a few hundred dollars to go down in three rounds and lose the fight. According to the Savannah Evening Press Wade "began hitting the canvas for apparently no reason at all."

Later years

After his career ended, Wade descended into alcoholism but later overcame it and devoted his life to helping the less fortunate in the Fillmore section of San Francisco as a Christian minister. Wade died of a heart attack on February 15, 1985. He was 68 years old.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Aaron 1916 births 1985 deaths Middleweight boxers Place of birth missing American male boxers 20th-century American sportsmen