When Abe Simon stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 1942, it would be his last fight. He had been recently married, and promised his wife that he would stop fighting. One year earlier he had fought Joe Louis the first time, and endured a tremendous beating for thirteen rounds. Fighting since 1935, ranked 6th by Ring Magazine, a shot at the title was something a fighter cannot pass up. Many fight historians consider Louis the hardest hitting heavyweight of all time. Because of the publicity Simon gained from these Louis fights, he was offered a lucrative cross country boxing tour, which he declined. It was also Louis's last title defense for four years, until fighting Billy Conn in June of 1946. After the Simon fight he joined the U.S. Army, where he would fight 96 exhibition bouts at bases throughout the country. Shown above, Simon got knocked out in the sixth round.
I really enjoy your boxing history. So few of us remember when boxing was a big topic of conversation in America, at least until Alan Ameche crossed the goal line at Yankee Stadium in '58.
ReplyDeletethe heavyweight championship has fallen off the radar; i had to do a google search to see who the current champion is.
ReplyDeleteprivate message to Delight S; if you send comment (which i will not print) with your email address, i will connect you with a cousin.
ReplyDeleteThere is a great point, Anon 7:00.
ReplyDeleteBaseball and boxing enjoyed so much more of a prominent standing in the 1940s as compared to today.
The nationally-televised 1958 Baltimore Colts vs New York Giants NFL Championship Game indeed changed the sporting landscape in America forever.
That '58 Colts-Giants game is still the only NFL championship contest to be settled in overtime.
I think it is interesting that Simon, a prominent professional boxer, ended up in the Armed Forces.
ReplyDeleteAs is the case with pretty much all other Major and minor league baseball players as well as National Football Leaguers of that time period.
I enjoyed the Abe Simon story very much, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
RO
anon 3:37, sorry for the misunderstanding. louis went into the army, where he entertained the troops with boxing exhibitions. I don't believe Simon would have passed the physical; he was literally a giant who had to have all his clothing, shoes and even boxing gloves specially made.
ReplyDeleteI did read that too fast, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSo, if Simon passed on the lucrative boxing tour where did he go next - straight into the tie business?
Or do we have to wait...
I do not believe Simon was in the armed forces. As they say, size matters.
ReplyDelete-- the cousin
hi "cousin", i never heard from delight s again, however, i will be using some more simon photo's in the near future, hope all's well
ReplyDelete