Ted "Kid" Lewis
Ted "Kid" Lewis | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Real name | Gershon Mendeloff |
Nickname(s) | The Aldgate Sphinx |
Weight(s) |
Light Heavyweight Middleweight Welterweight |
Height | 5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m) |
Reach | 69 in (175 cm) |
Nationality | English |
Born |
Varies depending on source, either 28 October 1893[1] or 24 October 1894[2][3] Parish of St George in the East, London |
Died | 20 October 1970 75) | (aged
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 300 |
Wins | 193 |
Wins by KO | 80 |
Losses | 32 |
Draws | 14 |
No contests | 0 |
Ted "Kid" Lewis (born Gershon Mendeloff; 28 October 1893 – 1970) was an English professional boxer who twice won the World Welterweight Championship (147 lb).[4] Lewis is often grouped alongside the all-time greats, with ESPN ranking him 41st on their list of the 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time and boxing historian Bert Sugar placing him 46th in his Top 100 Fighters catalogue.[5][6] Statistical boxing website BoxRec ranks Lewis as the 17th best welterweight of all-time and the 7th best UK boxer ever.[7] He is a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame
Boxing career
Career beginnings
Lewis was born in a gas-lit tenement in the Aldgate Pump section of London’s East End as Gershon Mendeloff. One of his brothers became a boxer under the name of Lou (Kid) Lewis. It was as a member of London’s Judean Athletic Club that Mendeloff assumed the name "Kid" Lewis ("Ted" was added later, in America). At 14 he fought for sixpence and a cup of tea. He later won the Club’s Flyweight title and took home a cup of imitation silver.
He became a professional boxer in 1909. On 6 October 1913, Lewis won the British Featherweight Championship with a 17th-round knockout of Alec Lambert at London’s National Sporting Club. A year later, on 2 February 1914, at London’s Premierland (in Whitechapel), he won the European Featherweight title from the French boxer Paul Til via a 12th round foul. Still in 1914, campaigning as a lightweight and welterweight, Lewis left London and toured Australia. In 1915 Lewis traveled to the United States, fighting Phil Bloom in New York’s Madison Square Garden. He won a decision.
Rivalry with Jack Britton
In Boston’s Armory, on 31 August of that same year, he fought the man known as the "Boxing Marvel," Jack Britton, for the Welterweight title. Lewis won in a twelve-round decision, becoming World Welterweight Champion and beginning an historic rivalry. From 1915 to 1921 Lewis and Britton fought 20 times, a total of 224 rounds. On 24 April 1916, in New Orleans, Lewis lost the title to Britton. He reclaimed it on 25 June 1917, at Westwood Field, Dayton, Ohio. He lost the title for the last time on 17 March 1919, in Canton, Ohio, when Britton knocked him out in the 9th round — the only knockout of the series. The roundup of his matches with Britton: Lewis won 3, lost 4, and had 1 draw. There were 12 no decisions. After his last loss to Britton, Lewis returned to England.
Lewis vs. Carpentier
On 9 June 1920, at London’s Olympia Exhibition Centre, he beat Johnny Basham to win the British and European Welterweight titles. He relinquished these in December of that year due to difficulty in making the weight. His drive to fight Georges Carpentier, World and European Light Heavyweight Champion, came to fruition on 11 May 1922, in the Olympia. Lewis, fighting at 150 pounds to Carpentier’s 175, spent most of the first round giving the heavier man a drubbing. Then referee Joe Palmer put a hand on Lewis’s shoulder to warn him against holding. Carpentier took advantage of this distraction and sneaked in a vicious right. The Kid went crashing to the canvas and was counted out. The Olympia crowd erupted furiously, crying, "foul," but to no avail. The Kid remained nonplussed. "I felt cheated, but I didn’t bear any grudge," he would later say.
Later career
On 6 June 1922, at Holland Park Rink, London, Lewis knocked out Frankie Burns to win the British Middleweight title. On 11 November the same year, also at Holland Park Rink, he beat Roland Todd to win the European Middleweight title. He did not hold either title long, losing both at the Royal Albert Hall on 15 February 1923 after a gruelling rematch with Todd.
Lewis won his last two titles, the British and European Welterweight crowns, on 3 July 1924 — again at London’s Royal Albert Hall — by defeating Johnny Brown. Two years later, on 26 November 1924, at Waverley Market Hall in Edinburgh, he lost these championships to the much younger Scotsman, Tommy Milligan. He continued boxing until 1929, adding 20 more fights. His final record was: 299 bouts, 233 won, 41 lost, 25 draws, 65 no decisions, 80 knockouts. Lewis started his career as an evasive boxer, with a long left. During the six years he spent in America he changed his style, becoming a swarming, combination boxer-fighter.
Notable bouts
Result | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes[8] |
Win | Johnny Basham | TKO | 3 (10) | 1929-12-13 | Pitfield Street Baths, Hoxton, London | |
Loss | Maxie Rosenbloom | DQ | 6 (15) | 1928-07-31 | Queensboro Stadium, Queens, New York | |
Loss | Tommy Milligan | PTS | 20 | 1924-11-26 | Industrial Hall, Edinburgh | |
Loss | Roland Todd | PTS | 20 | 1923-02-15 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London | |
Win | Roland Todd | PTS | 20 | 1922-11-20 | Holland Park Rink, Kensington, London | |
Loss | Georges Carpentier | KO | 1 (20) | 1922-05-11 | Olympia, Kensington, London | For World Light Heavyweight Title. |
Win | Johnny Basham | RTD | 12 (20) | 1921-10-14 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London | |
Loss | Jack Britton | UD | 15 | 1921-02-07 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | For World Welterweight Title. |
Win | Johnny Basham | KO | 19 (20) | 1920-11-19 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London | |
Loss | Mike O'Dowd | NWS | 12 | 1920-09-23 | Westside Ballpark, Jersey City, New Jersey | |
Win | Johnny Basham | RTD | 9 (20) | 1920-06-09 | Olympia, Kensington, London | |
Win | Jerry Shea | KO | 1 (20) | 1920-02-28 | Mountain Ash Pavilion, Mountain Ash | |
Win | Frank Moody | KO | 1 (15) | 1920-01-13 | Free Trade Hall, Manchester, Lancashire | |
Win | Matt Wells | RTD | 12 (20) | 1919-12-26 | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London | |
Loss | Mike O'Dowd | NWS | 10 | 1919-09-01 | Syracuse Arena, Syracuse, New York | For World Middleweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Jack Britton | NWS | 8 | 1919-07-28 | Armory A.A., Jersey City, New Jersey | For World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Jack Britton | KO | 9 (12) | 1919-03-17 | Canton Auditorium, Canton, Ohio | Lost World Welterweight Title. |
Draw | Benny Leonard | NWS | 8 | 1918-09-23 | Weidenmeyer's Park, Newark, New Jersey | Newspaper Decision |
Draw | Jack Britton | NWS | 6 | 1918-06-20 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Draw | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1918-05-02 | Town Hall, Scranton, Pennsylvania | Retained World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1918-03-06 | Armory Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia | Retained World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Mike O'Dowd | PTS | 12 | 1917-08-28 | Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts | |
Win | Mike O'Dowd | NWS | 10 | 1917-08-17 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Win | Jack Britton | PTS | 20 | 1917-06-25 | Westwood Field, Dayton, Ohio | Won World Welterweight Title. |
Win | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1917-05-24 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Win | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1917-06-06 | Saint Louis Coliseum, Saint Louis, Missouri | Newspaper Decision |
Win | Mike O'Dowd | NWS | 10 | 1917-05-24 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Win | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1917-05-19 | Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario | Newspaper Decision |
Win | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1917-03-26 | Queen City A.C., Cincinnati, Ohio | Newspaper Decision |
Draw | Jack Britton | PTS | 12 | 1916-11-14 | Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts | |
Loss | Jack Britton | PTS | 12 | 1916-10-17 | Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts | |
Loss | Mike Gibbons | NWS | 10 | 1916-05-18 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Jack Britton | PTS | 20 | 1916-04-24 | Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana | Lost World Welterweight Title. |
Loss | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1916-02-15 | Broadway Arena, Brooklyn, New York | Retained World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1916-01-20 | Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York | Retained World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Win | Willie Ritchie | NWS | 10 | 1915-12-28 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | Retained World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision |
Win | Jack Britton | PTS | 12 | 1915-09-28 | Arena (Atlas A.A.), Boston, Massachusetts | Retained World Welterweight Title. |
Win | Jack Britton | PTS | 12 | 1915-08-31 | Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts | Won World Welterweight Title. |
Draw | Charley White | NWS | 10 | 1915-07-21 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Loss | Jack Britton | NWS | 10 | 1915-03-26 | 135th Street A.C., New York, New York | Newspaper Decision |
Life after boxing
He would later act as a bodyguard and local election candidate for Oswald Mosley's New Party. However, Lewis fell out with Mosley when his subsequent political movement, the British Union of Fascists became openly anti-Semitic.[9]
He died in 1970.
See also
- List of lineal boxing world champions
- List of welterweight boxing champions
- List of select Jewish boxers
References
- ↑ "Ted Kid Lewis". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ Ted "Kid" Lewis (Gershon Mendeloff) Archived 7 January 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Ted "Kid" Lewis". IBHOF. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ↑ "The Lineal Welterweight Champs". Cyber Boxing Zone.
- ↑ "50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ↑ Bert Randolph Sugar (2005). Boxing's Greatest Fighters. Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-59228-632-4.
- ↑ "All-time World Welterweights". from BoxRec.com. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
- ↑ Ted Kid Lewis' Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-18.
- ↑ Charlie Pottins (2007). "BOOK REVIEW The Man Who Might Have Been". Jewish Socialist.
Further reading
- Bert Randolph Sugar, The 100 Greatest Boxers of all Time, 1984, A Rutledge Book published by Bonanza, Crown Publishers, pp. 88–89.
- Nat Fleischer and Sam Andre, updated by Dan Rafael, An Illustrated History of Boxing, 2001 Edition, Citadel Press, pp. 262, 264, 265.
- Morton Lewis, Ted "Kid" Lewis, His Life and Times, 1990, Robson Books, LTD, Great Britain.
External links
- Professional boxing record for Ted "Kid" Lewis from BoxRec
- Cyber Boxing Zone - Ted "Kid" Lewis
- IBHOF Bio - Ted Kid Lewis
Achievements | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Jack Britton |
World Welterweight Champion 31 August 1915 – 24 April 1916 |
Succeeded by Jack Britton |
World Welterweight Champion 25 June 1917 – 17 March 1919 |