v John H Stracey 6 December 1975 WBC Welterweight: Napoles was making his fourteenth defence of the title. It was 1975. It was a bullring in Mexico City and Stracey was the underdog. British Boxing Heroes: John H Stracey
Stracey lost the title to the so-called safe American challenger: Carlos Palomino. ibid.
v John H Stracey 6 December 1975 Welterweight Mexico City [r1] ... From Bethnal Green comes to the ring in Mexico City knowing all the odds are stacked against him. The fight held at nearly seven and a half thousand feet above sea level: that must affect stamina ... All three officials from this fight will be Mexican [preamble] ... And a left hook puts him on the floor ... Napoles is after him and can hardly miss him ... So Napoles has made the best possible start ... [r2] ... Stracey’s face reddened, but he’s made a good recovery ... Napoles is still strong, and a hurtful puncher. Quick hooks. Stracey covering up ... The second wasn’t as bad as the first ... [r3] ... Napoles now had got trouble around the eyes ... And Stracey is jabbing well and confident ... Stracey is getting just that little bit confident ... And he’s got him! ... Compulsory eight count, and Napoles is up ... Suddenly from becoming Napoles’ fight, it has become Stracey’s fight ... A cushion came into the ring in protest ... [r4] ... That left jab is absolutely beating the head off Napoles. Stracey bleeding from the nose, face marked, but not as bad as Napoles ... Seventeen years a professional. Seventeen world title fights behind him. And still very dangerous. It’s five years since any Welterweight in the world has beaten Napoles ... [r5] ... Stracey coming forward, taking the initiative ... And Stracey is being a bit rough in these clinches ... What looks like a good right hand, and Stracey can take it. Stracey pumping out punches ... [r6] ... When you look at Napoles he really has got trouble: left eye is shut, and that looks a bad cut over the right eye ... Good jabs from Stracey ... And Napoles seems desperately tired ... He’s got his man reeling all over the place, and Napoles can’t do anything about it ... That’s too much for Napoles, and Stracey has won ... And a famous reign is coming to an end here ... And Stracey at twenty-five achieving his life’s ambition. UK TV commentary Harry Carpenter
[8.7] TED KID LEWIS 299-233(80)-41-25 [Light-Heavyweight & Middleweight & Welterweight & Lightweight & Featherweight] Boxing Insider online - Boxing.com online -
Perhaps second only to Jimmy Wilde, Ted Kid Lewis (192-32-14 79 KOs) would be the greatest boxer that Great Britain would ever produce. Noted heavyweight champion and boxing historian Mike Tyson would exclaim, ‘Lewis would win bouts in all eight boxing divisions of his time.’ In total, Lewis would win nine titles ranging from the featherweight to middleweight division. Despite never exceeding the current super-middleweight division Lewis would fight and defeat natural heavyweights. Ted Kid Lewis was born as Gershon Mendeloff in London’s East End to parents of Jewish heritage. The Judean Athletic Club would be the place where Lewis at the age of 14 would start to box. Lewis would win the sixpence and a cup of tea. However, he left with five pence as he gave back a penny for the cup of tea. The teenage Lewis would appear on the weekly Sunday show at the club and capture their flyweight title. Lewis would have an inauspicious start as he lost his professional debut to Johnny Sharpe in 1909 …
In 1915, Lewis would face his biggest rival in his career Jack Briton for the world welterweight title. These two adversaries would meet for a total of 20 times in become of the biggest epic rivalries in the sport’s history. Briton an Irish-American detested Lewis due to his English Citizenry and perceived history of unsportsmanlike conduct. Lewis would suffer six disqualification losses in 238 official decisions. After their first match was declared a no-decision, Lewis would win the welterweight title in Boston on August 31, 1915. Lewis won despite coming in under the lightweight limit. Lewis would evolve into more of a boxer puncher when he fought in the in United States. This played to a new audience that preferred slugfests over a pitchers’ duel. Lewis would play musical chairs with Britton as he would both lose and recapture the welterweight title in the next two years. In 1918, Lewis would meet Benny Leonard who is widely considered along with Joe Gans and Robert Duran as one of the top three lightweights of all time. The 8-round contest held in Newark, New Jersey would be ruled a draw. In St Patrick’s Day 1919 Lewis would again lose the welterweight title to Britton. Despite being a no-decision the rules stipulated a knockout would be the only way Lewis would lose the title. Boxing Insider online article
There have been many great Jewish fighters from the United States, particularly in the early to mid years of the twentieth century. Not so many came from the shores of the United Kingdom, but the men that did can lay claim to being not only the finest boxers their country had produced, but valid argument can be held regarding their position amongst the world’s elite.
The first real Jewish champion from the British Isles was a man by the name of Daniel Mendoza. Though he fought in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, his exploits rectified the general impression of debility many felt about the virtues of Jewish men. Though only a middleweight he won the English heavyweight crown and was also bestowed with the World Heavyweight Championship weighing a mere one hundred and sixty pounds. His methods were revolutionary for the time, even writing a book on how the modern man should adopt his scientific approach to contests within the squared circle. The Art of Boxing was incorporated into the regimen of many of the fighters who followed. His techniques and teachings included utilizing a high guard, sidestepping and hitting with a straight left. He advocated guile and speed of foot movement to counter larger, heavier hitting foes. Like the thousands of pugilists who followed, retirement brought a tapestry of vocations he embarked upon yet eventually, like a well-worn novel, the conclusion to his life had the exact same ending as many other boxers, penniless and bereft. His is another tale yet his exploits in his prime were a beacon for the men of Jewish faith who would shine later.
Fast forward some fifty-seven years later and a child entered the world, who would go on to become one of the United Kingdom’s greatest ever exponents in the history of boxing, not only for his achievements but also for the extraordinary longevity that he operated for. Gershon Mendeloff was born on the 28th of October 1893 in the dirt poor Aldgate Pump suburb of London’s East End. One of eight siblings to Russian parents who escaped the persecution of their homeland, Gershon’s early childhood was impoverished. Such was the struggle his family encountered in his early years that some days all he had to survive on was a mug of water and a slice of bread covered thinly in sugar. Having older brothers toughened up Gershon sufficiently enough that he started hanging with a local gang of Jewish boys who had clubbed together to fight back against the numerous coteries of gentiles who would beat up on Jewish boys purely because they were perceived as being different. The continual skirmishing imbued a tough and defiant streak in Gershon and these persistent altercations soon educated young Mendeloff in the invaluable smarts of street fighting. The sagacity of appreciating his situation in these mass fistic conflagrations enabled him to evade the attentions of the local constabulary for quite some time till eventually he was ‘collared’ by one of the boys in blue. Fortunately for Gershon, instead of a visit in front of the beak, the policeman insisted his panache in the cobbled exchanges would be much better served in a boxing club. A course had been set for a true boxing legend.
The Judean Athletic Club shaped the fledgling career of Gershon. Prize-fighting in the East End of London was big news from the latter half of the nineteenth century up until the outbreak of the Second World War and Aldgate Pump and its surrounding suburbs provided a veritable nursery of willing talent. Gershon decided early in his training that he couldn’t use his real name if and when the time came for him to make his debut as his strict parents wouldn’t countenance such a vocation. It is suggested he took the surname of the current World Welterweight of the time, Harry Lewis and added the Kid as there were many famous fighters of that era operating under that moniker. Ted came later for the benefit of the American audiences he entertained. It should also be pointed out his elder brother was a boxer fighting under the name of Lon Kid Lewis so its feasible he followed his sibling’s lead. At least he could direct the wrath of mum and dad onto Lon if his secret was uncovered! His professional debut was on 13 September 1909 when he attended the Judean Club one Sunday afternoon purely as a spectator. One of the nominated boxers was a no-show so Lewis as he shall be now known jumped at the chance and went the full six rounds but lost quite convincingly to Johnny Sharp. He wasn’t yet quite sixteen but strict regulations had not been put in place at that time to prevent minors taking to the ring. Whilst the novice hadn’t got the decision he did receive a hot cup of tea and the princely sum of a sixpence for his exertions. From little acorns do mighty oaks grow and his defeat didn’t chastise Lewis’ appetite for the fray, it galvanized him. Less than a week later, his arm was raised for the first of many occasions when he defeated Joe Lipman in another six-rounder. His father caught wind of his new career. He began a lengthy apprenticeship, mostly fighting at the Judean Club, then when his experience increased he got opportunities at Premierland which was the venue to be seen at in the East End. His path wasn’t all plain sailing as he suffered several reverses along his early contests. His style would never be described as orthodox, his early childhood spent running over London’s cobbled streets barefoot or with badly fitting shoes had left him flat-footed allied with a condition known as ‘hammer toes’. Having the toes bent for a considerable amount of time causes the muscle to shorten resulting in Lewis having this deformity. The disability of his feet caused him to adjust his ring nous as he couldn’t fight on his toes so he countered this with lightning quick fists, holding them low to his waist as he stalked his prey.
As mentioned earlier his path to the top was a long and winding road and when he was put up in class he came unstuck against experienced pros with good resumes. Fred Halsband and Young Joe Brooks both beat Lewis on points in consecutive bouts in August of 1912. Lewis would not be deterred from his ultimate goal of claiming a world strap, realizing he had to learn valuable lessons from his reverses. He avenged Halsband with a ten-round decision and finally on the 6th of October 1913, Kid Lewis claimed his first title with a stoppage in the seventeenth round of Alec Lambert for the vacant British and European featherweight title relinquished by the great Jim Driscoll. He was struggling to make the featherweight limit yet his incentive to claim this first title enabled him to overcome his burgeoning physique. There were still some detractors of Lewis’ technique, many arguing he had immense power but his deficiency in the adroitness of ring craft and his recklessness for engaging would be his undoing. This seeming weakness had a flip side – crowds loved his all or nothing application. That it took him well in excess of one hundred and twenty bouts to realize his first title is testament to his character and fortitude and the man was still two weeks shy of his twentieth birthday! He defended his European strap against the Frenchman, Paul Til at Premierland, one of London’s iconic stadiums. The partisan crowd and the British practice of the time, which had the referee refereeing from the ring apron as opposed to in the ring with the fighters disoriented Til and he was disqualified in the twelfth.