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The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia -- Title Claimant

Beau Jack
(Sidney Walker)

BORN  

April 1 1921; Augusta, Georgia

DIED..

February 9 2000; Augusta, Georgia
HEIGHT 5-6

WEIGHT

126-147 lbs

MANAGERS..

Joe Caron, Bowman Milligan, Chick Wergeles

 

Beau Jack fought in a swarming style in which he used his great upper body strength and volume of punches to wear down an opponent (it usually worked for him); Jack learned to fight in "Battle Royales" which consisted of a group of blacks pitted against each other in the ring to see who would be the last man standing; Jack later got a job shining shoes at the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters; While working there he impressed golfer Bobby Jones with his fighting ability and Jones paid for his way north for formal boxing training; Jack settled briefly in Holyoke, Massachusetts, honing his skills on their competitive club circuit until he caught the eye of New York fight promoters

In New York, he quickly became one of the most popular fighters to ever fight in the big city; In all, Jack would fight as a headliner a record 21 times, usually selling out in the process; Jack won his first version of the New York Lightweight Championship of the World in 1942 with a win over Tippy Larkin; He then lost, regained, and finally lost the title for good to rival Bob Montgomery, with whom he wound up splitting four fights; Jack's style did not suit him well for longevity, though, and he began to slide after his fights with Montgomery; He attempted without success to win the title from Ike Williams, but was brutally stopped in six rounds; Williams, in his prime, was just too much for the faded Jack and wound up winning 3 out of 4 of their meetings, with one draw; Jack drifted on as a journeyman after the loss to Williams, serving as an opponent for rising contenders like Kid Gavilan, Gil Turner and Del Flanagan; In retirement, Jack returned to shining shoes

Jack was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991

1939
Apr 12 Battling Henry             Aiken, SC                          KO  5

1940
Feb  8 Battling Burns             Aiken, SC                           W  4
Feb 15 Alvin Stevens              Aiken, SC                          KO  3
Mar 21 Silent Stafford            Aiken, SC                           W  6
Mar 27 Joe James                  Aiken, SC                          KO  2
May 20 Frankie Allen              Holyoke, Ma                         D  4
May 27 Billy Bannick              Holyoke, Ma                        KO  3
Jun 17 Jackie Parker              Holyoke, Ma                         L  4
Jul 14 Joe Polowitzer             New Haven, Ct                       L  6
Jul 21 Joe Polowitzer             New Haven, Ct                       W  6
Aug 19 Jackie Parker              Holyoke, Ma                         L  4
Aug 26 Carlo Daponde              Holyoke, Ma                         W  4
Sep  2 Jackie Small               Holyoke, Ma                        KO  4
Sep 16 Ollie Barbour              Holyoke, Ma                        KO  3
Sep 30 Tony Dupre                 Holyoke, Ma                        TK  2
Oct 14 Abe Cohen                  Holyoke, Ma                        KO  3
Oct 21 Ritchie Jones              Holyoke, Ma                        KO  3
Nov 14 Joey Stack                 Holyoke, Ma                         W  6
Dec  2 Jimmy Fox                  Holyoke, Ma                         W  6
Dec 16 "Young" Johnny Buff        Holyoke, Ma                        KO  1
Dec 30 Mel Neary                  Holyoke, Ma                        KO  5

1941
Jan 27 "Mexican" Joey Silva       Holyoke, Ma                         L  6
Feb 10 "Mexican" Joe Rivers       Holyoke, Ma                        TK  4
Feb 24 Lenny Isrow                Holyoke, Ma                        TK  3
Mar 10 Nicky Jerome               Holyoke, Ma                        KO  3
Mar 24 "Mexican" Joey Silva       Holyoke, Ma                         W  6
Apr  7 Tony Iacovacci             Holyoke, Ma                        KO  6
Apr 21 Bob Reilly                 Holyoke, Ma                        TK  7
Apr 28 Harry Gentile              Holyoke, Ma                        TK  1
May  5 Chester Rico               Holyoke, Ma                         D  8
May 19 Georgie Salamone           Holyoke, Ma                        KO  8
Jun  2 Tommy Spiegel              Holyoke, Ma                         W  8
Jun 16 Georgie Zengaras           Holyoke, Ma                         W  8
Aug  5 Minnie DeMore              Brooklyn, NY                       TK  3
Aug 14 Al Roth                    Brooklyn, NY                       TK  6
Aug 26 Guillermo Puentes          New York, NY                        W  6
Sep 19 Al Reid                    New York, NY                       KO  7
Oct 14 Tommy Spiegel              Brooklyn, NY                        W  8
Oct 31 Guillermo Puentes          New York, NY                        W  8
Dec  1 "Mexican" Joe Rivers       Brooklyn, NY                       KO  3
Dec  8 Freddie Archer             New York, NY                        L  8
Dec 29 Freddie Archer             New York, NY                        L  8

1942
Jan  5 Carmelo Fenoy              Holyoke, Ma                         W 10
May 22 Bobby "Poison" Ivy         New York, NY                        W  8
Jun 23 Guillermo Puentes          New York, NY                       KO  1
Jul  3 Bobby McIntyre             Fort Hamilton, NY                  TK  6
Jul  7 Cosby Linson               New York, NY                       TK  8
Aug  1 Ruby Garcia                Elizabeth, NJ                      KO  6
Aug 18 Carmine Fatta              New York, NY                       KO  1
Aug 28 Billy Murray               New York, NY                        W 10
Sep 22 Joe Torres                 Washington, DC                     KO  4
Oct  2 Chester Rico               New York, NY                        W  8
Oct 12 Terry Young                New York, NY                        W 10
Nov 13 Allie Stolz                New York, NY                       TK  7
Dec 18 Tippy Larkin               New York, NY                       KO  3
          -Lightweight Championship of the World
           (as recognized by New York state)

1943
Feb  5 Fritzie Zivic              New York, NY                        W 10
Mar  5 Fritzie Zivic              New York, NY                        W 12
Apr  2 Henry Armstrong            New York, NY                        W 10
May 21 Bob Montgomery             New York, NY                        L 15
          -Lightweight Championship of the World
           (as recognized by New York state)
Jun 21 Maxie Starr                Washington, DC                     KO  6
Jul 19 Johnny Hutchinson          Philadelphia                       TK  6
Oct  4 Bobby Ruffin               New York, NY                        L 10
Nov 19 Bob Montgomery             New York, NY                        W 15
          -Lightweight Championship of the World
           (as recognized by New York state)

1944
Jan  7 Lulu Constantino           New York, NY                        W 10
Jan 28 Sammy Angott               New York, NY                        D 10
Feb 15 Maxie Berger               Cleveland, Oh                       W 10
Mar  3 Bob Montgomery             New York, NY                        L 15
          -Lightweight Championship of the World
           (as recognized by New York state)
Mar 17 Al "Bummy" Davis           New York, NY                        W 10
Mar 31 Juan Zurita                New York, NY                        W 10
Aug  4 Bob Montgomery             New York, NY                        W 10

1945
Dec 14 Willie Joyce               New York, NY                        W 10

1946
Jan  4 Morris Reif                New York, NY                       KO  4
Feb  8 Johnny Greco               New York, NY                        D 10
May 31 Johnny Greco               New York, NY                        W 10
Jul  8 Sammy Angott               Washington, DC                     TK  7
Aug 19 Danny Kapilow              Washington, DC                      W 10
Oct 22 Buster Tyler               Elizabeth, NJ                       L 10

1947
Feb 21 Tony Janiro                New York, NY                       LT  4
Nov  3 Humberto Zavala            St. Louis, Mo                      KO  4
Dec 16 Frankie Vigeant            Hartford, Ct                        W 10
Dec 29 Billy Kearns               Providence, RI                      W 10

1948
Jan  5 Jimmy Collins              New Haven, Ct                      KO  2
Jan 23 Johnny Bratton             Chicago, Il                        TK  8
Feb 20 Terry Young                New York, NY                        L 10
Apr  9 Johnny Greco               Montreal, Que, Canada               W 10
May 24 Tony Janiro                Washington, DC                      W 10
Jul 12 Ike Williams               Philadelphia, Pa                   LT  6
          -Lightweight Championship of the World
Oct 28 Eric Boon                  Washington, DC                     TK  3
Nov 23 Chuck Taylor               Philadelphia, Pa                   TK  3
Dec 17 Leroy Willis               Detroit, Mi                         W 10

1949
Jan 17 Jackie Weber               Boston, Ma                          W 10
Mar 28 Johnny Greco               Montreal, Que, Canada               L 10
Jul 13 Eddie Giosa                Washington, DC                      W 10
Aug 31 Johnny Gonsalves           Oakland, Ca                         W 10
Sep  6 Tote Martinez              Los Angeles, Ca                     W 10
Sep 30 Livio Minelli              Chicago, Il                         W 10
Oct 14 Kid Gavilan                Chicago, Il                         L 10
Dec 16 Tuzo "Kid" Portuguez       New York, NY                        L 10

1950
Apr  3 Joey Carkido               Hartford, Ct                        L 10
Apr 14 Lew Jenkins                Washington, DC                     TK  5
          -Some sources report "TK 6"
May  8 Jackie Weber               Providence, RI                     KO  7
May 22 Johnny Potenti             Boston, Ma                          W 10
Jun 28 Ronnie Harper              Indianapolis, In                   KO  5
Jul  8 Al "Sonny Boy" West        West Springfield, Ma               EX  3
          -Some sources report "ND 3"
Jul 17 Bobby Timpson              Atlanta, Ga                        TK  6
Oct  4 Phil Kim                   Honolulu, Oahu, Hi                  W 10
Nov 14 Frankie Fernandez          Honolulu, Oahu, Hi                  L 10

1951
Jan  1 Fitzie Pruden              Milwaukee, Wi                       L 10
Jan 18 Del Flanagan               Minneapolis, Mn                     L 10
Jan 31 Emil Barao                 Oakland, Ca                         W 10
Mar  5 Ike Williams               Providence, RI                      L 10
Mar 30 Leroy Willis               New Orleans, La                     W 10
Apr 16 Gil Turner                 Philadelphia, Pa                    L 10
May 21 Gil Turner                 Philadelphia, Pa                   LT  8

1955
Jan 20 Eddie Green                Columbia, SC                        W 10
Apr  9 Ike Williams               Augusta, Ga                         D 10
Jul  4 Willie Johnson             Daytona Beach, Fl                   W 10
Aug 12 Ike Williams               Augusta, Ga                        LT  9


*** Some Data Was Provided By Barry Deskins ***
 

Record courtesy of Tracy Callis, Historian, International Boxing Research Organization
 

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