Who was this hard hitting ***ish Heavyweight?

[Holtol]

I remember when I was younger reading an artical in "Ring Magazine" about a ***ish heavyweight or possibly light heavy from the 1950s. In the Artical it sounded like he was one of the hardest punchers ever. Does anyone have an idea who this boxer was? His body looked similar in proportion to Joe Louis or Max Bear with big shoulders.

[CarlosG815]

I remember when I was younger reading an artical in "Ring Magazine" about a ***ish heavyweight or possibly light heavy from the 1950s. In the Artical it sounded like he was one of the hardest punchers ever. Does anyone have an idea who this boxer was? His body looked similar in proportion to Joe Louis or Max Bear with big shoulders.

Art Levine?

[Holtol]

Art Levine?

Not to sure I can't remember the name, Im going to look in storage and see if I still have the magazine. I think he was a heavyweight he looked big.

[Joeyzagz]

Abe Simon?

[Holtol]

I found the artical I found it interesting when I was younger so I will post it here. I don't know why I thought he was ***ish makes no mention of him being ***ish.

Ray Actis, The Light Heavy who hit harder then Joe Louis.

By Pete Ehrmann.

Part 1

Since he was twice whacked into unconsciousness by Joe Louis, the first time in one of the most famous fights in heavyweight title history,it was natural for most people to assume that famous light heavyweight champion Billy Conn never got hit harder by anybody in his career. But every time the matter was brought up. "THe Pittsburgh Kid" would unhesitatingly set the record straight by mentioning what Ray Actis did to him three years before "The Brown Bomer" even laid a glove on him. "That Actis hit me harder that night out in San Francisco than Louis did when I fought him for the championship," Conn said many times.

Just how hard could San Francisco native Actis hit? Fifteen years ago, legendary local boxing writer Eddie Muller reported a discussion with Joe Herman, the grand old man of pugdom in the City by the Bay. Herman had been a boxer, manager, trainer, and gym owner in his 82 years, and knew the sport better than most. "I've seen 'em all in my time," he told Muller, "but Actis, in my book, hit harder than any fighter that climbed into the ring. I'm not kidding when I say I scared every time I saw him fight. I actually thought he was capable of killing an opponent with on punch."

Luckily, that unhappy prospect never came to pass. But the impressions of the people who watched him, and those who were punched by him, notwithstanding, Actis himself says it was actually because he never hit anybody as hard as he could.

"no, I never hit that hard," says the 85 year old Actis, who was THE RING'S fifth ranked light heavyweight in 1936 and 37 " I didn't hit with all my might. I just had a short left hook, and it was really only a chop, a stinger."

It sounds like what somebody wielding a fly swatter would say, too, but the flies would probably describe the impact differently. So would the 18 guys flattened by Actis in his firs 19 bouts. It was 1932, the shank of the Great Depression, And Actis, Whose parents came to America from Italy four years before he was born in 1911, had become a boxer because it paid better than the $1.50 he earned caddying at the Bay Area golf courses to help his struggling family.

"You're really built for boxing," somebody told him, appraising his sculpted physique, the most striking feature of which was a pair of shoulders that looked as wide as the Golden Gate Brige. An early press clipping said of Actis,"... his broad shoulders and muscular back development have endowed him with terrific punching power.

[Great John L]

Before the article was posted I thought it might be Joe Choynski. He KO'ed Jack Johnson in 3 rounds.

[Holtol]

Before the article was posted I thought it might be Joe Choynski. He KO'ed Jack Johnson in 3 rounds.

I remembered things wrong so you could not have known who it was. I thought he fought in the 50s and was ***ish. He fought in the 30s and was not ***ish.

It helped me find my Magazines anyway.

Joe Choynski sounds like a hard puncher.

[Holtol]

Part 2


Ray Atcis, THe Light Heavy Who Hit Harder Than Joe Louis.

By Pete Ehrmann


His broad shoulders and muscular back development have endowed him with terrific punching power. In his actions, when throwing a left hook or right cross, he brings the full swing his body into play. Quite often, he purposely misses an opponent with a swinging right to place himself in position to throw a left hook. With this stance, which gives him the appearance of a southpaw, actis actually brings his full weight of 162 pounds into the drive."

It happend so naturally and effortlessly, adds Actis, that"a lot of times I never knew I threw it, and I'd see a guy on the floor and ask myself, What the hell did he go down from?"

Usually, his hands answered that question for him. " I hurt 'em a lot; after every fight I had to have my gloves cut off because my hands were swollen up like balloons," says Actis. "My knuckles would be pushed back so far that I'd have to work 'em back where they belonged, and then would have to lay off for four, five months. " If it wasn't for bad hands, I would't have been afraid to punch hard."

They called him "The Excelsior Assassin" because he came from San Francisco's Excelsior district, and after the bodies started flying in the ring, another nickname was added: " THe Italian Stanley Ketchel."

Frisco sports editor Tom Laird wrote that "so far as punching power is concerned, Actis hits exactly as Ketchel did. Pound-for-pound, Actis puches as hard as any thighter in the game, not excepting The Prince Of Punch, Max Baer."

" That's one man's opinion," says Actis modestly, but his comparison to one of boxing's most famous and ferocious champions was taken seriously by people who, just 25 years after Ketchel's death, were in a position to make that case. The press even went so far as to print side-by-side comparisons of Actis ring record in 1935, when he was 27-1-3 (23), and that of Ketchel in his firs 40 bouts, 27-5-2 (24) with 4 no-decisions.

[Holtol]

Part 3

Ray Actis, The Light Heavy who Hit Harder Than Joe Louis.


By Pete Ehrmann


If nothing else, it made a good copy. In Actis scrapbook, there's a newspaper photo of him gazing at a picture of " The Michigan Assassin" and, according to the caption, "wondering if he will go down in fistic history alongside the famous pugilist of a bygon day." Before he knocked out Chuck Hefner (unkayoed in 76 previous bouts) in 1935, the papers breathlessly reported that Actis would wear into the ring the sam boxing tights worn by Ketchel when the middleweight champion knocked out Leo Kelly in 1908 in San Francisco. According to the story, the tights were given to him by "an old pal of Ketchel's who hopes that the Excelsior district middleweight will carry through with them just as did the great Ketchel of the 20 round days."
"That's bull," confesses Actis. "They were made by some woman."

For all the havoc his left hook was creating, Actis was actually a big underdog in his breakthrough fight 61 years ago. His opponent at Frisco's famous Dreamland arena was Johnny Miler, who, since representing the USA in the 1932 Olympics, had earned his own reputation as one of the hardest punching light heavyweights. As an amateur, Miler had knocked down Joe Louis seven times over the course of one decision victory. In 33 pro bouts, he had never been kayoed, and no less than heavyweight campion Max Baer declared of the Des Moines native, "Johnny Miler is a great fighter." Baer and Miler sparred frequently. "Miler used to give Baer hell every day in the gym," says Actis, who saw them work out.

Actis proved himself an ambidextrous puncher that night out of necessity. He broke his left hand in the second round, and knocked Miler out with his right in the sixth.

Afterward, one reporter wrote, "Acis would knock out a heavyweight, if he got a good shot at the heavyweight's jaw." A natural 163 pounder, Actis became a light heavyweight only because few middleweights wanted anything to do with him. In the gym, he had to wear specially made 22-ounce gloves in order to lure sparring partners into the ring. Former welterweight and middleweight champion Lou Brouillard came to San Francisco with manager Johnny Buckley to look into the possibility of an Actis fight, but left in a hurry after Actis and his manager, Lew Powell, started agreeing to the exorbitant weight and purse demands.

"I have only the greatest admiration for Mr. Buckley," snickered local columnist Prescott Sullivan. " If I had a fighter like Brouillard in my care, I wouldn't want him to be anything but friendly with a guy like Actis either."

They called Milford "Swede" Berglund "The San Diego Iron Man" because in about 150 bouts, he had never touched the canvas with anything but his feet. Berglund had beaten former 160 pound champions Ben Jeby and Babe Risko, and for two rounds it looked like he would add Actis to the list when they met at Dreamland.

"Then," reported Eddie Muller, "out of clear sky in the third, Actis hooked with his terrific left that landed flush on the Swede's chin and brought the howling crowd to its feet. The fight ended after two minutes and 54 seconds of the third round. The Swede's seconds were forced to work on him for fully five minutes before bringing him around."