POINT OF FACT
? Has any fighter fought in all eight weight divisions?
•Yes, Georges Carpentier. He started his career as an amateur flyweight in 1906 and by 1911 had worked his way up to the welterweight championship of Europe. For two years (1920-22) he was world light-heavyweight champion.
? What was the greatest weight difference between fighters in a championship fight?
•On March 1, 1934 Tommy Loughran, the former light-heavyweight champion, fought Primo Camera for the heavyweight championship. Loughran weighed 184 pounds and Camera 270, a difference of 86 pounds. Camera retained his title by a decision in 15 rounds.
? When was the first championship fight broadcast?
•On July 2, 1921 the heavyweight title fight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier at Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City was broadcast by New York Station WEAF. The announcer was Major Andrew White. The first fight of any kind to be broadcast over the radio was a preliminary between Packcy O'Gatty and Frankie Burns on the same card. The first championship fight to be televised was the Willie Pep-Chalky Wright featherweight bout at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 29, 1944.
? What fighter participated in the most title bouts?
•George Dixon fought in 33 championship lights. He won the bantamweight title in 1890, challenged for it twice and defended it twice. He also won the featherweight title two times (1891 and 1898). He defended it 25 times and challenged for it once (1901) in a boxing career that extended from 1886 to 1906.
? Henry Armstrong was the only fighter ever to hold three championships simultaneously. What were they?
•Armstrong won the featherweight title on Oct. 29, 1937, when he knocked out Petey Sarron in the sixth round. He became welterweight champion on May 31, 1938, when he defeated Barney Ross in 15 rounds, and in his next fight, on Aug. 17, won the lightweight title by decisioning Lou Ambers in 15 rounds. He also challenged for the middleweight championship but was held to a draw-by Ceferino Garcia on March 1, 1940. Armstrong relinquished his featherweight title in December 1938, when he couldn't make the weight. He lost his lightweight title to Ambers on Aug. 22, 1939, and his welterweight title to Fritzie Zivic on Oct. 4, 1940. Both lights were 15-round decisions. Between 1937 and 1940 Armstrong won 46 straight bouts, and in his pro career (1931-45) he knocked out 97 of his 177 opponents.
? Has any fighter, besides Armstrong, ever held three championships?
•Only Bob Fitzsimmons. He became middle-weight champion in 1891 when he knocked out Jack Dempsey (The Nonpareil). Six years later, while still claiming the middleweight title, Fitzsimmons became heavyweight champion when he knocked out Jim Corbett. Shortly after that fight Fitzsimmons relinquished the middleweight title. Two years later, in his only defense of the heavyweight championship, Fitzsimmons was knocked out by Jim Jeffries. In 1903 Fitzsimmons won the light-heavyweight championship, and he lost it in 1905, when Philadelphia Jack O'Brien knocked him out in the 13th round.
? Who were 1) The Cinderella Man? 2) The Orchid Man? 3) The Michigan Assassin? 4) The Boston Tar Baby? 5) The Fargo Express? 6) The Toy Bulldog?
•1) Jim Braddock, who won the heavyweight championship from Max Baer in 1935 and lost it to Joe Louis in 1937. 2) Georges Carpentier. 3) Stanley Ketchel, who was twice middleweight champion between 1908 and 1910. 4) Sam Langford, who fought 245 fights, in the welterweight through heavyweight divisions (1902-1924), and lost only 22 times. 5) Billy Petrolle, who fought for the lightweight title in 1932 and had 157 fights between 1924 and 1934. 6) Mickey Walker, who was both welterweight champion (1922-1926) and middleweight champion (1926-1931).
? What fighter had the most consecutive wins?
•Willie Pep won his first professional fight on July 3, 1940 and won 61 more before he lost to Sammy Angott on March 19, 1943. He won 72 more fights and had one draw before he was defeated again, on Oct. 29, 1948. In that bout he lost his featherweight championship to Sandy Saddler. In all, Pep lost only nine of his 229 fights and three of those losses were knockouts by Saddler.
? Joe Louis held the heavyweight championship 11 years 8 months (June 22, 1937-March 1, 1949). Has any fighter held a championship for a longer period of time?
•No. Johnny Kilbane, who held the featherweight championship for 11 years 3½ months (Feb. 22, 1912-June 2, 1923), came closest. Archie Moore, the present light-heavyweight champion, has a chance to break Louis' longevity record. He gained his title Dec. 17, 1952, when he beat Joey Maxim in 15 rounds.
? Randy Turpin held the middleweight championship exactly two months and two days (July 10-Sept. 12, 1951). Was that the shortest reign for a titleholder?
•No. Emile (Spider) Pladner was flyweight champion one month and 16 days in 1929, and Dave Sullivan was the featherweight champion the same length of time in 1898. In 1921 Pete Herman held the bantamweight title one month and 29 days.
? What fighter scored the most knockouts in his career?
•Archie Moore has knocked out 133 of his 215 opponents since he became a professional in 1936. Young Stribling, who fought at every weight from bantam to heavyweight between 1921 and 1933, scored 126 knockouts in 286 fights; George (K.O.) Chaney, once a featherweight title contender, had 102 knockouts in 181 fights (1910-25); and Sandy Saddler, two times the featherweight champion, also scored 102 knockouts in 162 fights between 1944 and 1956.
ILLUSTRATION
