William McKinley Fox (February 1, 1926 – January 1986), better known as "Blackjack" Billy Fox, was an American
light heavyweight
Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight.
The light heavyweight class has ...
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
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1944, when he was 18. At the time, he was resident in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.
Boxing career
Billy Fox, known as "Blackjack", started off his career by winning 36 consecutive fights and holds the best knockout ratio in boxing history going 36 wins with 36 knockouts 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 Life: 'Raging Bull'"
Accessed 7 January 2008. That fight was fixed by the notorious
Frank "Blinky" Palermo, a member of the
, who owned Fox under the table. Fox then lost two fights in a row against Red Willis Applegate and
Gus Lesnevich, to whom he lost in the first round by a knockout in 1:58 seconds, in a rematch that was also for the world light heavyweight title.
Fox would fight 12 more fights, and amass a record of 49 wins (48 by knockout), 9 losses, and 1 draw. His knockout streak of 42 fights is the second longest in boxing history.
Personal life and death
Fox married Clara Rosemary Allen in
Dauphin, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 1947. They met at the USO-Variety Club canteen whilst Fox was a soldier and Allen was a hostess.
In 1956, Fox was tracked down by ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' journalists, at which point he was described as "living on the edges, desolate, vagrant, despairing". By July 1960, Fox was residing at a mental institution in
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, and was said to be "seriously ill".
He died in New York City in January 1986, at the age of 59.
Popular culture
Billy Fox was portrayed in
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's ''
Raging Bull
''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto (in his final film role). The film ...
'' by
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Billy
1926 births
1986 deaths
American male boxers
Boxers from Oklahoma
Light-heavyweight boxers
Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma
20th-century American sportsmen