Boxing History

The "Basque Woodchopper" began fighting professionally in Spanish rings in 1923 and quickly mauled his way into the first division of European heavies with wins over Pail Journee, Marcel Niles,…

By Angelo Prospero Jr. The most revered of all the lightweight champions was Benny Leonard, born Benjamin Leiner, and known as "The Ghetto Jewel." He held the lightweight championship majestically…

TALES ABOUT LIGHTWEIGHTS Part Two -- Eye-Talians and Eye-Poppers By Angelo Prospero Jr. Frankie Ryff and Orlando Zulueta put on a furious fight that won "Fight of the Year" honors…

By Angelo Prospero Jr. Wallace "Bud" Smith was one of a handful of lightweights who died tragically. Others were Bummy Davis, Orlando Zueleta and Teo Cruz. Smith died in a…

By Michael J. Brodhead After the great days of the Comstock discoveries and before the early twentieth-century mineral strikes in the Tonopah-Goldfield area, Nevada experienced several years of severe economic…

By George D. Blair THE MAN FROM MINNESOTA It is doubtful if any community of comparable area and population anywhere in the world the size of St. Paul in the…

By Robert Carson He used to attend all the fights in and around the Kansas City area. A familiar figure with two cauliflower ears, and a nose bent from the…

By George D. Blair The former champ lunged at his young opponent. He threw a looping right which once had been straight as an arrow and just as true as…

By Murray Gaby (Note: This is part one of a two-part story that was originally published in 1980) Take a look at the boxing gyms in this country and you…

By Murray Gaby (Note: This is part two of a two-part story that was originally published in 1980) Heir apparent to Stillman's a as the world's most famous gym is…