Boxing was a ***ish Sport

[Mr. Ryan]

***s were a huge force in the sport of boxing in the early part of the 20th century. Boxing in general was divided into 3 ethnic groups in New York City in those days. The ***s, Irish, and Guineas ran the sport in those days. Benny Leonard and Barney Ross were probably the best in that era as far as ***ish fighters. We look nowadays and say "How could ***ish people fight when they are so prosperous nowadays", but back then they were just another immigrant group making the best of things. It wasn't until after WWII when a lot of ***s who were in the military received benefits for college that got them the opportunities to better themselves. As a result of their new disposition in life, boxing was essentially abandoned as a craft.

My mans Dmitriy Salita and Yuri Foreman are ***ish boxers today that carry on the same kind of styles that you might have seen at Gramercy in those days. As Salita told me once, "the most dominant group in boxing were the ***s, in the 1920's and the 1930's. So I hope to follow in their footsteps and be a world champion."

[CletusVanDamme]

Bump for Sin City.........

[Rafael Benitez]

Ted Kid Lewis was also a renowned Jeiwsh fighter and youngest Brit champ of all time, but I still don't like the tag of '***ish Sport'. Boxing is for everyone. Now that we have the likes of Ali, Saad Muhammad, Tyson, Hopkins and Prince Naseem does that mean it is becoming a ****** sport? Can't even beging to imagine how many fighters I've seen making a crucifix with their hands before fights.

I did not mention Amir Khan, because he is crap but he did win a silver in Athens.

[BOLLOCKS]

Thats cool I heard my great great grandpa was a ***.

[Equilibrium]

And the point of this thread is...?

[hayZ]

******s rule boxing now. many of the heavys now are ****** and amir khan etc etc mundine etc there r loads

[Rafael Benitez]

******s rule boxing now. many of the heavys now are ****** and amir khan etc etc mundine etc there r loads

Amir Khan is ****. I don't think you read my post above. It isn't what you say it is. It has always been popular with ethnics and other ********** in the west.

[Rafael Benitez]

Thats cool I heard my great great grandpa was a ***.

Did he wear the same clothes as his mates so nobody could tell who owed who money?

[mspiegelo]

cool thread. i'm ***ish and an amateur boxer, so I was looking for a good nickname for myself that would give props to my heritage. I scoured the internet for some nicknames from the era of ***ish boxing only to find some ridiculous ones that aren't really usable for me.

My strategy: Check the names of the best ***ish fighters, adopt their nicknames... What I found was disappointing though

1. Benny Leonard - 'The ****** Wizard'
2. Barney Ross - 'The Pride of the ******'
3. Abe Atell - "The Little Hebrew"

I've toyed with the idea of the first two (little hebrew is a lil too derogatory, plus I'm 6'3''), but it sounds like I'm frontin'. I mean, I grew up in a suburb, granted it was on the border of North Philly, but not exactly the heart of the Philly ******. then again, the ***s have as much right as anyone to talk about ******s... I remember being around my grandfather, a holocaust survivor, and saying the term "******" to imply something was busted and he turned to me solemnly and said in a stern voice, "What do you know about the ******?"

That was a powerful statement coming from a man who had been ripped from his homeland in Czechoslovakia by the ****s, and sent to the ***ish ******s with his family when he was just a small boy. then he had to watch both of his parents get sent straight to the gas chambers to be murdered, before he was forced to work in horrible conditions in concentration camps, including auschwitz, for the next couple of years until liberation came... He was 13 years old, yet only weighed 37 lbs when he finally got out of Germany.

To the guy talking about how all ***s are well off, you might be interested in knowing that he came to America as an immigrant with literally only 3 dollars in his pocket, yet worked very hard to become successful. He started driving a meat truck, before joining the American army to fight in Korea, where he won several medals including a purple heart. 30 years later, he had worked his way up the ladder of society to owning 12 restaurants. he did all this with only a 4th grade education...

anyway, looks like i got a little carried away there, but it is a powerful story worth sharing. getting back to the nicknames, there was also Max Baer, who was half ***ish, who went by "Madcap" Maxie sometimes, so I could go by "Madcap" Mikey Spiegel...

I don't know. I probably will just go the PBF route and wait for a nickname until after my first tournie- like a right of passage. PBF won the tournie going through unscathed (when all the other competitors had faces full of cuts and bruises) and was nicknamed pretty boy thereafter. Hopefully my nickname won't be Mike "knocked the **** out" Spiegel, lol.

[danny stash]

great post first of all and I love the history.

HOWEVER:

If the blacks were allowed to fight the top contenders it may have been a different story as so many did not get equal opportunities in the era referenced.