Sammy Mandell (a.k.a. Samuel Mandella; February 5, 1904 – November 7, 1967) was an American Undisputed World lightweight boxing champion from 1926-1930. Born in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, and named Salvatore Mandala, he was known as the "Rockford Sheik" due to his

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...

like good looks and as the "Rockford Flash" due to his fast hands and foot speed. His father was an Albanian and his mother

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. Statistical boxing website

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

ranks Mandell as the 13th greatest lightweight boxer to have ever lived. He was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

in 1998.

Amateur career

Mandell developed his fighting skills at the Camp Grant barracks in

. He was too young and underweight to join the army, weighing 105 lbs. Despite this, his persistence in hanging around the wrestling and boxing training areas saw him gain permission to join in with the military personnel. The camp boxing instructor at the time was Fred Dyer, "The Singing Boxer," who recalled in a 1926 interview how Mandell beat every soldier in the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

class and was able to best men 10 lbs heavier than him. Dyer also stated that he advised Mandell to turn professional.

Pro career

On July 17, 1925, future champion Mandell fought Solly Seeman in East Chicago, Indiana. Seeman knocked down Mandell in the first round, and in the opinion of many ringside had the edge throughout the bout. Trained by the legendary Jack Blackburn, Mandell was an outstanding, clever fighter who carried a solid punch, fast hands and superb defensive skills. He won the championship when he outpointed Rocky Kansas on July 3, 1926. He successfully defended his crown against four contenders, including against hall of famers and future champions Tony Canzoneri and Jimmy McLarnin. In a startling upset, Mandell lost the crown when he was KOed by Al Singer in the first round.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from

, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted to the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions to the win/loss/draw column.

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* NYSAC

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

champion (135 lbs) * NBA (WBA) lightweight champion (135 lbs)