Boxing in the 1940s

Last updated

1930s .Boxing in the 1940s. 1950s

Boxing in the 1940s in many ways reflected worldwide events that affected other endeavors as well. [1]

Contents

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. [2]

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. [3]

Television was in its infancy in the 1940s, but nonetheless, viewers were treated to many 10-round, non-title fights, and many crown challengers became household names under the absence of so many world champions. [4] [5] [6]

The 1940s did have some historic world title fights and rivalries. Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta began their series of famous bouts towards the middle of the decade, Jack and Montgomery fought four times, and Rocky Graziano and Tony Zale starred in what boxing critics have often called one of the fiercest rivalries in boxing history.

The heavyweight division was dominated by Louis, the only man in history to be world champion throughout every year of a decade. He became world champion in 1937 and kept the title until 1949.

LaMotta lost a highly controversial fight to Billy Fox in 1947. LaMotta later testified he threw the fight to earn a title shot at world middleweight champion Marcel Cerdan,

1941

a

1942

1943

1944

1945

(note on boxing in 1945: because of the events of World War II during this year, there were only two world championship boxing bouts in 1945).

1946

1947

1948

1949

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Pep</span> American boxer (1922–2006)

Guglielmo Papaleo was an American professional boxer, better known as Willie Pep, who held the World Featherweight championship twice between the years of 1942 and 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Antonio Barrera</span> Mexican boxer

Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes between 1995 and 2007, from super bantamweight to super featherweight.

Paul Anthony "Paulie" Ayala is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2004. He was a multiple-division World champion who held the WBA bantamweight title, the IBO super bantamweight title, and The Ring Magazine super bantamweight title. In 1999 he was voted "Fighter of the Year" by The Ring magazine for his first bout against Johnny Tapia, which also won "Fight of the Year" honors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boxing in the 1980s</span> Overview of boxing in the 1980s

Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.

During the 1970s, boxing was characterized by dominating champions and history-making rivalries. The decade had many superstars, who also had fierce rivals. Alexis Argüello, for example, who won the world Featherweight and Jr. Lightweight titles in the '70s, had to overcome Alfredo Escalera twice before the decade was over.

During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who would, in his own words shock the world, declare himself against war, and change his name to Muhammad Ali.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boxing in the 1930s</span>

The sport of boxing in the 1930s was affected by one of the biggest economic struggles in the history of the United States: the depression era. Because of the suffering American economy, many boxers were offered lower amounts of money causing them to only box for passion. When the decade began, the world Heavyweight title belonged to no one. The sport of boxing suffered because of the lack of money to pay the boxers.

Boxing in the 1920s was an exceptionally popular international sport. Many fights during this era, some 20 years away or so from the television era, were social events with many thousands in attendance, both men and women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fighting Harada</span> Japanese boxer

Masahiko Harada, better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 to 1963 and the WBA, WBC, and The Ring undisputed bantamweight titles from 1965 and 1968. He is currently the president of the Japanese boxing association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petey Scalzo</span> American boxer

Petey Scalzo (1917-1993) was an American boxer from Hell's Kitchen, New York. He was declared the National Boxing Association Featherweight Championship of the World on May 1, 1940, two weeks prior to winning a sixth-round technical knockout over Frankie Covelli on May 15, 1940. The NBA had withdrawn the world featherweight championship from Joey Archibald the previous month for his refusal to fight leading contenders, including Scalzo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Archibald</span> American boxer

Joey Archibald was a National Boxing Association (NBA) world featherweight boxing champion in April 1939. He was managed by Al Weill, and his trainer was Charlie Goldman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Salica</span> American boxer

Louis ("Lou") Salica was an American boxer, who captured the National Boxing Association World Bantamweight Title twice in his career, in 1935 and 1940. His managers were Hymie Kaplan and Willie Ketchum. Some sources list a different birth date for Salica, July 26, 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sal Bartolo</span> American boxer (1917–2002)

Salvatore Interbartolo, better known as Sal Bartolo was an American boxer and WBA featherweight champion from March 1944 through May 1946. At the time, Bartolo's title was sanctioned by the National Boxing Association (NBA).

Boxing in the 2010s includes notable events about boxing which occurred between 2010 and 2019. The decade saw high intensity action in the welterweight division. The match between veterans Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao broke PPV records. The broadcast of the fight in the Philippines was watched by nearly half the country's households. Mayweather retired at a record 50-0-0 while Pacquiao became the first eight division champion. The middleweight division saw immense action in the later years of the decade. After a draw in 2017, Canelo Alvarez ended Gennady Golovkin's long reign in 2018. The heavyweight division was dominated by Klitschko brothers before Wladimir's loss to Tyson Fury in 2015. Other talents that emerged were Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksander Usyk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tami Mauriello</span> American boxer (1923–1999)

Stefano "Tami" Mauriello was an American professional boxer and actor of Italian descent who was world ranked in two divisions during the 1940s. He thrice challenged for world titles, fighting Gus Lesnevich (twice) and Joe Louis for the world's Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight titles, respectively. Mauriello's nickname was "The Bronx Barkeep".

Jorge Luján is a Panamanian who was a professional boxer and fought many top-flight boxers and several champions during the 1970s and 1980s. Luján is the former Lineal and WBA Bantamweight world champion. He was managed by Aurelio Cortez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Forbes (boxer)</span> American boxer (1879–1946)

Harry Forbes was an American boxer who took the World Bantamweight Title on November 11, 1901, when he defeated Danny Dougherty in a second-round knockout in Saint Louis, Missouri. He lost the title three years later, on August 13, 1903, to Frankie Neil in a second-round knockout at the Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco, California.

Boxing in the 2020s is a list of notable fights and events in boxing during the decade from the year 2020 to 2029.

References

  1. Robert L. Harris; Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (August 13, 2013). The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939. p. 136. ISBN   9780231510875 . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  2. Robert Sickels (January 5, 2003). The 1940s. p. 126. ISBN   9780313312991 . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  3. Edmund Lindop (September 2009). America in the 1940s. p. 118. ISBN   9780761329459 . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  4. Walter M. Cummins; George G. Gordon (2006). Programming Our Lives: Television and American Identity. p. 148. ISBN   9780275990206 . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  5. Dan Streible (April 11, 2008). Fight Pictures: A History of Boxing and Early Cinema. p. 288. ISBN   9780520940581 . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  6. David H. T. Scott (January 2008). The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing. p. 22. ISBN   978-0803213869 . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  7. Goldstein, Richard (February 12, 2000). "Beau Jack, 78, Lightweight Boxing Champion in the 1940s". NYTimes.com. Retrieved March 31, 2016.