Henry Jackson Jr. was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong.
Tony Canzoneri was an American professional boxer. A three-division world champion, he held a total of five world titles. Canzoneri is a member of the exclusive group of boxing world champions who have won titles in three or more divisions. Canzoneri fought for championships between bantamweight and light welterweight.
Jorge Adolfo Páez is a Mexican actor, circus performer and former professional boxer. In boxing he held the WBO and IBF featherweight titles. Paez's nickname of "El Maromero" is in honor of the somersault acts he performs at the circus. It was in the circus that he learned acrobatic moves he would later use in the boxing ring. Páez is also the father of Azriel Páez, Jorge Páez Jr., and Airam Páez.
Gerardo González, better known in the boxing world as Kid Gavilan, was a Cuban boxer. Gavilán was the former undisputed welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954 having simultaneously held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring welterweight titles. The Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year in 1953. Gavilán was voted by The Ring magazine as the 26th greatest fighter of the last 80 years. Gavilán was a 1966 inductee to The Ring magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.
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 heavy weight title belonged to no one. The sport of boxing suffered because of the lack of money to pay the boxers.
Joe Gans was an American professional boxer. Gans was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all-time by boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder, Nat Fleischer. Known as the "Old Master", he became the first African-American world boxing champion of the 20th century, reigning continuously as world lightweight champion from 1902 to 1908, defending the title 15 times versus 13 boxers. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
Benny Leonard was an American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ranked 8th on The Ring magazine's list of the "80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years" and placed 7th in ESPN's "50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time". In 2005, the International Boxing Research Organization ranked Leonard as the #1 lightweight, and #8 best pound-for-pound fighter of all time. Statistical website BoxRec rates Leonard as the 2nd best lightweight ever, while The Ring magazine founder Nat Fleischer placed him at #2. Boxing historian Bert Sugar placed him 6th in his Top 100 Fighters catalogue.
Salvatore Lazzara, better known by his boxing alias Joe Dundee, was an American boxer. He was the brother of Middleweight Champion Vince Dundee. During his career, he was recognized as the World Welterweight Champion from 1927-9. Dundee's managers included Max Waxman, and Charles Johnston, and his trainer was Heinie Blaustein. He was the older brother of former middleweight world champion of boxing, Vince Dundee.
Pinky Mitchell was an American boxer who became the first champion in the light welterweight division by receiving the most votes by ballot on November 15, 1922. He held the title until 1926.
James Bryan Herring, also known as Red Herring, was an American boxer, who claimed the world light welterweight championship in 1925.
John J. Jadick, better known as Johnny Jadick was an American light welterweight boxer and the NBA light welterweight world champion in 1932. In September of 1932, the NBA decided not to recognize junior divisions. Jadick continued to reign as the world light welterweight champion until February of 1933 when he was defeated by Battling Shaw for the championship which had been continually recognized by the Louisiana State boxing commission. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though not an exceptionally strong puncher, he had great speed, and an effective left jab. He was managed by Tommy White, and trained by Joe Ferguson.
Matthew Wells was a British professional boxer in the lightweight and welterweight divisions. In 1911, he held the Lightweight Championship of Great Britain, and in 1914 he claimed the Welterweight Championship of Britain and the Welterweight Championship of the World.
William Amos Smith(Aka "Mysterious Billy" Smith) was a Canadian born two-time world welterweight boxing champion of the world: first at age 21 in 1892, then again in 1898 at the age of 27. He became famous world-wide for his boxing success and also became infamous for his associations and involvement with criminal activities in Portland, Oregon, in the early 1900s. He was later described as the "Dirtiest fighter of all Time". Smith died at the age of 66 on October 15, 1937, and was buried at Multnomah Park Cemetery in Portland Oregon.
Lee "Aberdeen Assassin" McAllister is a Scottish professional boxer nicknamed the "Aberdeen Assassin". McAllister held the Commonwealth lightweight and light-welterweight titles, the IBO International light-welterweight title, and challenged once each for the European and British titles. He captured the junior-middleweight WBU World Championship on 5 October 2019 against Richmond Djarbeng by 2nd-round TKO. Lee is also a very successful promoter; Assassins Promotions boxing, which holds events in his hometown of Aberdeen, where he also runs and operates a very prestigious boxing gym called Assassin's Health & Fitness. On 22 July 2018 he fought his most high-profile fight whenever he moved up 5 weight classes and challenged British WBU #1 contender Danny Williams, who beat Mike Tyson, in eerily similar fashion; McAllister dominated Williams and KO'd him in round 10 to become the WBU Heavyweight champion of the world.
Keith Fitzgerald Thurman is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 2015 to 2019, and the WBC title from 2017 to 2018. As of July 2022, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active welterweight by BoxRec.
Harry Mason was a British boxer who was a British and European (EBU) champion in the lightweight division and British champion in the welterweight division.
Mike "Twin" Sullivan was an American boxer credited with taking the Welterweight Championship of the World on April 23, 1907 when he soundly defeated William "Honey" Mellody in Los Angeles in a twenty-round bout. He vacated the title in the late fall of 1908, when he could not make weight.
Tommy Freeman was an American professional boxer who competed in the 1920s and 1930s. He won the welterweight world championship on September 5, 1930, when he defeated reigning champion Young Jack Thompson. He lost the title to Thompson the following year, on April 14, 1931. Remarkably, the majority of his recorded wins were by knockout, and his losses were few, at under ten percent of his total fights.
Eddie Connolly was a Canadian-born boxer who took the World Welterweight Championship in a twenty-five round points decision on June 5, 1900, against reigning champion Matty Matthews at the Seaside Athletic Club in Brooklyn, New York. Earlier in his career, he took both the Canadian Featherweight Title, and the British Empire World Lightweight Title. He was exceptional to have fought for titles in three weight divisions, and to have fought in both lightweight and welterweight divisions for World Championships. His primary and best known manager was Billy Roche, who also managed champion "Mysterious" Billy Smith. He was also managed by Abe Pollack and by Eddie Kelly during his fights in England.
Harry Stone, born Harry Seifstein and nicknamed Hop Harry Stone, was an American boxer who competed primarily in Australia. Stone's nickname of "Hop Harry" originated from a fight against Tommy Uren in which he employed a hopping motion that resembled the movement of a kangaroo. He would become known for using this technique in his subsequent fights, as a trademark and in a small part to entertain his audience. He had an effective left jab which became another signature trait.
