■NWWWWOMMAA00/// NVV1,WWww■m^4440e, alri=77;11r= OM! OEM Old ' blork •10001111.1.6.m.m..4.61.11411 AO.%I %ZifiiImui"l=ttn International Boxing Research Organization BOX 84, GUILFORD, N.Y. 13780 Newsletter #9 November, 1983 WELCOME IBRO welcomes new members Dr. Giuseppe Ballarati, "K.O." Becky O'Neill and Jerome Shochet. Their addresses and description of their boxing interests appear elsewhere in this newsletter. THANKS Thanks to Dave Bloch, Luckett Davis, Laurence Fielding, Herb Goldman, Bruce Harris, Henry Hascup, John Robertson, Johnny Shevalla, Bob Soderman, Julius Weiner and Bob Yalen for material contributed to this newsletter. There was a wealth of material contributed for this issue but unfortunately space considerations caused some to be omitted. Apologies especially to Bob Soderman who contributed an extensive set of corrections for the years 1920 - 24 based on newspaper reports. Hopefully, a special edition of the newsletter can be distributed during the next month to include this information. COMMISSION REPORTS As mentioned in the last newsletter, a request has been made to various state boxing commissions for copies of their official results. A selection of those received is included with this newsletter. Please I et me know your thoughts on having these included with the newsletter. SAMMY BAKER Late additions to the record appearing in this newsletter: (from Luckett Davis) Add: 7/16/24 Bil Williams, Mineola W K OT 1 7/19/24 Sammy Stearns, Mineola W KO 3 7/30/24 Joe Daly, Mineola W KO 1 4/22/25 Pete Hartley, Mineola W PTS 8 10/3/25 Frisco McGale, New York W PTS 10 Change: 7/ /24 Marty Summers to 8/ /24 4//25 Eddie Shevlin to 5//25 and add * indicating newspaper decision / /25 Jack Rappaport - add * indicating newspaper decision / /26 Paul Gulotta - change chronological sequence to between 8/4/26 and 9/8/26 LOUIS "KID" KAPLAN Credit for the record of Louis "Kid" Kaplan appearing in this newsletter was inadvertently omitted. It appears courtesy of Bob Yalen. THE EARLY CAREER OF JOE LOUIS - by Bob Soderman Fought his first two pro bouts at Bacon's Arena, 49th Street and Wabash Avenue, on Chicago's South Side, for Promoter George Trafton. Never appeared in a preliminary event; all of his early (and all subsequent) matches were main events. His first two bouts were scheduled for six rounds, with next three being scheduled for eight rounds. First scheduled ten rounder was at Detroit, vs. Alex Borchuk, in his sixth pro fight. In his first 22 matches, scored total of 43 knockdowns. Two foes, Jack Kranz and Hans Birkie, could boast of not having been floored by Louis. Scored most knockdowns, six, in scheduled si,:n round exhibition, vs. Gene Stanton, on May 7, 1935. at Kalamazoo, Michigan. Outweighed his opponent in 18 of 22 bouts; with only Jack O' Dowd, Stanley Poreda, Biff Bennett and Gene Stanton being heavier than Louis. Only four men lasted the distance, in the early bouts: Jack Kranz (8 rounds), Adolph Wiater (10 rounds), Patsy Perroni (10 rounds) and Natie Brown (10 rounds). Received $50.00 for first fight and went on to earn total of $39,614 for his first 22 bouts. In his 23rd bout, vs. Primo Carnera, at New York, on June 25, 1935, Louis' purse was $60,433; one - and - a-half times his earnings for all of his previous matches. Had trouble with several foes; not all of his wins were easy. In second fight, against Willie Davies, Louis forced on defensive in first round when Davies opened up with whirlwind attack. Cut eye in third, plus single knockdown suffered by Davies halts bout. Fourth fight saw hard - punching Jack Kranz rock Louis with hard rights in first round, with only Joe's superior speed and skill enabling him to pile up points and win eight round decision. Was almost knocked out by rugged Alex Borchuk, at Detroit. In second round Alex exploded on Joe's jaw, breaking one of his molars. Under excruciating pain from his broken tooth, Louis was well behind in the fight until he found the range in the fourth and put Borchuk away. In Joe's next fight, Adolph Wiater survived a first round trip to the canvas and from then on gave Louis a terrific battle; scoring with savage body punches and jarring rights to the head. At the end of eight rounds the fight was even, and only Joe's strong showing in the ninth and tenth got him the nod. His eighth fight proved no picnic either. Artie Sykes landed a pair of rights to Louis' left eye in the first round, which forced him to blink throughout the fight and reduced his vision. Sykes scored with more solid rights in the fourth that had Louis worried. At the end of the sixth a few ringsiders had Sykes slightly in front; but Joe stepped up his pace in the seventh and had Sykes groggy at the bell. In the eighth, Joe wasted no time, stunning Artie and forcing him to the ropes. Then, Joe stepped back for an instant, got the range and shot a right cross to the jaw, and that was all for Sykes. Louis learned from every fight. Against a wild-swinging Buck Everett, in his fifth match.., Joe was smart and stepped inside and landed a short right, to drop his man. Against Sykes, when he has Artie covering up on the ropes, he doesn't become excited and waste punches. He steps back, cooly, and gets the range. Champion Max Baer is at ringside in Chicago, on November 30, 1934, when Louis meets his first top-rated opponent, Charley Massera. Baer had to be impressed as Joe shook off some . good Massera rights in round two and destroyed Charley in the third. On December 14, 1934, Lee Ramage gave Louis his stiffest test yet. A picture boxer with a beautiful left hand, Lee is also tricky and very clever. Wisely, old Jack Blackburn, Joe's trainer and teacher, schools him on how to slip a left lead and hook with his left hand at the same time. (continued) 2 THE EARLY CAREER OF JOE LOUIS (continued) The fight attracts 14,988 excited fans, the largest attendance for a Louis fight thus far; who account for a gross gate of $29,986 (equivalent in 1983 dollars to roughly $90,000). For seven rounds Louis tries to connect with a telling punch. He isn't too successful because Ramage is always going away. Lee is scoring points and giving Joe lots of pointers. The eighth round sees Ramage dance out, as fresh and elusive as ever. After about a minute, Louis cuts off the ring and backs Ramage into the ropes. A pair of left hooks land crushingly to the chin and the elusive Ramage is no longer elusive. Down he goes. But he's back up at nine, snarling defiance. Joe moves in like a panther and lands left and right. Lee hits the deck for another nine count. He's game, he's wobbling, but he beckons Louis to come on. A terrific right to the jaw and Lee is down a third time. He looks to his corner. Get up they say, and Lee does. Louis hooks a left, followed by a right to the chin and Ramage's corner throws in the towel, as he goes down once more. The February, 1935 issue of Ring Magazine lists Joe Louis in their top ten ratings for the first time; he's rated ninth, with Max Baer, the champion, on top. Of the other ten names on this list, Louis would meet and defeat seven of them (Baer, Carnera, Schmeling, Levinsky, Perroni, Natie Brown and had just beaten Ramage). The other three, whom Louis would never face were: Steve Hamas, Art Lasky and England's Jack Peterson. Louis racked up six more victories, into April, 1935, after kayoing Ramage in Chicago. He decisioned a cagey Patsy Perroni, scoring three knockdowns; he stopped Hans Birkie in ten, but not before Hans landed a looping left hook early and gave Joe a mouse under the eye; he slaughtered Ramage in two, in a Los Angeles rematch; he annihilated Reds Barry in three heats in San Francisco; he had to go the limit against Natie Brown in Detroit, but took every round in giving Brown a shellacking and he knocked out Roy Lazer in Chicago, in three rounds, packing the Stadium with 17,826 fans and earning his largest purse to date - $12,000. Champion Max Baer had been at ringside for four of these Louis early 1935 triumphs: vs. Perroni, Ramage 6 2 , Barry and Lazer. By now, Baer had signed to defend his title against Braddock and Louis was to meet Carnera, both in June, 1935. The speculation was that Baer would defend his title in September against Louis, if Joe beat Carnera. There was absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind about Baer beating Braddock. As part of the agreement with Promoter Mike Jacobs, who had signed Louis to fight Carnera, Joe could only engage in exhibitions prior to meeting Primo. Within a span of fifteen days, Louis scored four exhibition knockouts in four different cities. On April 22, 1935, Louis took a little over a minute to flatten Biff Bennett, at Dayton, Ohio. On April 25, at Flint, Michigan, Joe toyed with Roscoe Toles for five rounds and then polished him off with a sudden attack in the sixth and last round. On May 3, at Peoria, old foe Willie Davies only lasted two rounds.