1. Abie Bain was a rated Jewish Middleweight boxer from Newark, New Jersey.
26 Facts About Abie Bain
1. 2.
In May 1930, Bain was still ranked seventh in the world among Middleweights by Ring Magazine and stayed in the top ten from May to October of that year.
3.
Actor Anthony Quinn patterned the raspy voice and mannerisms of his character Mountain Rivera in Columbia Pictures' 1962 movie Requiem for a Heavyweight on Abie Bain who worked on the production as an adviser.
4.
Abie Bain reputedly started boxing at age 12 as a flyweight and worked his way up.
5.
Abie Bain fought extensively in Newark from 1923 to 1925, garnering an impressive fight record, but gaining little national exposure while fighting few ranked opponents.
6.
Abie Bain fought highly ranked middleweight contender "KO" Phil Kaplan, losing to him in a fifth-round knockout on February 27,1928, in Philadelphia.
7.
Abie Bain met rated black Middleweight Jack McVey on several occasions.
8.
Abie Bain beat McVey, the "Pride of Harlem" due to a disqualification by McVey in the fifth round in Laurel Garden, in Newark, New Jersey, on July 12,1926, though Abie Bain was losing the bout prior to the call.
9.
On March 24,1930, Abie Bain drew with Middleweight McVey, in ten rounds at Laurel Garden in Newark.
10.
Abie Bain had previously defeated McVey on December 17,1928, in Newark in ten rounds.
11.
On March 28,1930, Abie Bain defeated Brooklyn based Middleweight boxer Pal Silvers in ten rounds in one of his first fights in Madison Square Garden.
12.
In one of his most significant fights, on October 22,1930, Abie Bain faced Light Heavyweight Champion Maxie Rosenbloom in Madison Square Garden as a legitimate contender for the World Light Heavyweight Championship.
13.
Abie Bain was again an unsuccessful contender for the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World against Dave Maier on January 15,1932, in Chicago Stadium, when he was TKO'd in the first round.
14.
Abie Bain had won his first fight in the elimination tournament against Harry Fuller on December 18,1931.
15.
Abie Bain even fought a few competitive heavyweights in his career, though perhaps it was ill-advised.
16.
Abie Bain fought future World Heavyweight contender Tony Galento, in Dreamland Park on September 30,1931, losing in a fourth-round TKO.
17.
Abie Bain fought ex-Middleweight champion Al McCoy for the Montreal Athletic Commission World Light Heavyweight title in Montreal on October 24,1935.
18.
Fully retiring from boxing around 1939, Abie Bain pursued his career in Hollywood full-time.
19.
Abie Bain found work in Warner Brother's 1937 boxing film Kid Galahad as an adviser, along with dozens of other boxing greats including Joe Glick, Willie and Phil Bloom, Jack Perry, and Bain's old nemesis Maxie Rosenbloom.
20.
Abie Bain was next cast in MGM's successful 1938 boxing movie, The Crowd Roars.
22.
Abie Bain appeared as an extra in Warner Brother's 1940 Leather Pushers and probably contributed to the authenticity of the boxing scenes in the movie.
23.
In Columbia Pictures' 1962 Requiem for a Heavyweight, Anthony Quinn told the press that he modeled his character Mountain Rivera on Abie Bain using the same rough voice and mannerisms.
24.
Abie Bain retired to Florida in 1984 and died in Ormond Beach on April 9,1993.
25.
Abie Bain's daughter Babette Bain was an actress and singer best known for the role of young Miriam in Cecil B DeMille's 1956, The Ten Commandments when she was 9.5 years old.
26.
Abie Bain was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame on October 17,1976.