Calvin Coolidge Lytle (January 24, 1924 – January 26, 1990), better known by his professional names Bert Lytell and Chocolate Kid, was an American

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and middleweight contender in the 1940s and early 1950s. Recognized as a member of the famous

Murderers' Row Murderers' Row were the baseball teams of the New York Yankees in the late 1920s, widely considered some of the best teams in history. The nickname is particularly used for the first six hitters in the 1927 team lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koen ...

, the 5'8" Lytell fought (and often won) against other top black middleweights of his time, including

Charley Burley Charley Burley (September 6, 1917 – October 16, 1992) was an American boxer who fought as a welterweight and middleweight from 1936 to 1950. Archie Moore, the light-heavyweight champion who was defeated by Burley in a 1944 middleweight bout, wa ...

, Herbert "Cocoa Kid" Lewis Hardwick,

Holman Williams Holman Williams (January 30, 1915 in Pensacola, Florida – July 15, 1967) was a world welterweight and middleweight boxing contender. Williams is a member of the infamous Murderers' Row, a group of highly skilled black fighters who were never ab ...

, and Charley Doc Williams, as well as other notable fighters including

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 ...

and Sam Baroudi. Like many of his contemporaries, Bert Lytell was denied a chance to fight for a world title largely due to his race. Lytell was born in

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a city and the county seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria, Texas metropolitan area, Victoria Metropolitan Statis ...

. He enlisted in the Naval reserves in 1942 in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, and was discharged in 1944. He resided in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for most of his career, later moving to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

to be closer to his family, including brother Loyal Lytle. During his career, he was known as The Beast of Stillman's Gym. He was one of the members of the famous Black Murderers' Row, a group of world-class African American welterweights and middleweights who were avoided by most top white fighters of their era and never got the chance to fight for a world title, despite being well-regarded by the boxing community. The "Chocolate Kid" died on January 26, 1990, 2 days after his 66th birthday.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lytell, Bert 1924 births Boxers from Texas 1990 deaths American male boxers Middleweight boxers United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy reservists 20th-century American sportsmen