Professional boxer Emile Griffith was born February 3, 1938 on the island of St. Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands. He moved to New York before he became a teenager. Griffith was 14 years old and working at a hat factory, when he asked his boss if he could … Read MoreEmile Alphonse Griffith (1938-2013)
Rubin Carter was an American middleweight boxer, who is best known not because of his sports career but because of his murder conviction in 1967 and exoneration in 1985. Carter, born in Clifton, New Jersey on May 6, 1937, the fourth of seven children. Shortly … Read MoreRubin “The Hurricane” Carter (1937-2014)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Afro-Italian boxing champion Leone Jacovacci (a.k.a. John Douglas Walker and Jack Walker) was born in 1902 in the village of Pombo in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), the son of Umberto Jacovacci, a contracted Italian agronomist, and … Read MoreLeone Jacovacci (1902–1983)
“Fair Use Image” Sidney Walker, world champion boxer in world light heavyweight class, was born in Augusta, Georgia on April 1, 1921. He was raised by his grandmother, Evie Mixom, on her small farm near Augusta. Walker quit school by the second grade to assist … Read MoreSidney/Beau Jack Walker (1921-2000)
Laila Ali, the daughter of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, and Jacqui Frazier, the daughter of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, became the first woman in history to headline a pay-per-view event when they fought on June 7, 2001. It was also the first time … Read MoreLaila Ali (1977- )
Canada Lee (the adopted name of Lionel Cornelius Canegata) was a noted 20th Century jockey, boxer, and actor. Born on May 3, 1907 in New York City’s San Juan Hill district, he attended Public School 5 in Harlem. Canegata began his musical education at the … Read MoreCanada Lee (1907-1952)
George Dixon, also known as “Little Chocolate,” was born on July 29, 1870 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Standing only 5’ 3 ½” and weighing no more than 118 pounds over the bulk of his career, “Little Chocolate” was described as long armed and skinny legged, … Read MoreGeorge “Little Chocolate” Dixon (1870-1909)
Muhammad Ali, arguably the most famous professional boxer in the 20th Century and the only fighter to win the heavyweight championship three times, was born Cassius Clay in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, to Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr. and Odessa Grady Clay. At the age of 12 Clay began training … Read MoreMuhammad Ali (1942-2016)
Leslie “Wildcat” Carter was born on December 12, 1909 and migrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his family as a very small boy. At fourteen, he and an older sister moved to Everett, Washington. One year later, at fifteen, he began his professional boxing career … Read MoreLeslie “Wildcat” Carter (1909-1985)
Born John Linwood Fox on April 2, 1907 in Indianapolis, Indiana (some say Minnesota), Fox earned the moniker “Tiger Jack” early in his career and boxed under the name Tiger Jack Fox. He claimed that he got his start in boxing when he was picked … Read MoreTiger Jack Fox (1907-1954)
