1. Abraham Simon was an American professional heavyweight boxer.
17 Facts About Abe Simon
1. 2.
Abe Simon fought Joe Louis for the world heavyweight title twice.
3.
Abe Simon was managed for most of his career by Jimmy Johnston, and trained by Freddie Brown.
4.
Abe Simon was born to Jewish parents Max and Rose in the Richmond Hill neighborhood in New York City on May 30,1913, and attended John Adams High School.
5.
Abe Simon was a star lineman on his high school football team and was an interscholastic shot-put champion before taking up boxing.
6.
Abe Simon was down twice in the match, and Reddish was given eight of the ten rounds.
7.
Behind in points in the first five rounds, Abe Simon unleashed a tremendous right to the mouth of Walcott 2:32 into the sixth causing the knockout, and Walcott barely moved as he was counted out by the referee.
8.
Abe Simon performed better fighting in close, and was unaffected by a few punches to the jaw.
9.
Abe Simon had a heavily publicized win over Finland's Gunnar Barlund on October 7,1940, in a ten-round points decision at New York's St Nicholas Arena.
10.
Abe Simon was assisted in training for that match by the first African-American World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Johnson.
11.
Abe Simon even managed to stagger Louis briefly in the seventh.
12.
Abe Simon lost to Louis again in his second and final attempt at the heavyweight title, at the coveted venue of Madison Square Garden on March 27,1942, in a sixth-round technical knockout.
13.
Abe Simon was down at the bell in both the second and fifth rounds.
14.
Louis was fighting for the Army for the first time, and though he was fitter than in his first match with Abe Simon, he was hoping for a quick knockout to avoid injury as he received no purse for the fight.
15.
Between 1940 and 1962, Abe Simon acted in small roles in several TV series and had parts in four movies.
16.
Abe Simon began working as a detective at Roosevelt Raceway in 1957, and after suffering from arthritis, switched to Public Relations around 1966.
17.
Abe Simon died on October 24,1969, at Meadowbrook Hospital in East Meadow, Long Island, leaving a wife, Rita, whom he had married in 1942, and two children, Alfred and Kathleen.