1. Battling Levinsky was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1966, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1982, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000.
21 Facts About Battling Levinsky
1. 2.
Battling Levinsky was born in 1890 in Philadelphia, the third son of seven children of Samuel and Lena Lebrowitz, Russian Jews who had emigrated from London.
3.
Battling Levinsky's father was a tailor, and Barney shined shoes and sold newspapers after school to help his six siblings.
4.
Battling Levinsky began his boxing career under the name Barney Williams.
5.
Battling Levinsky fought his first recorded match in 1910 at Philadelphia's Diamond Lew Bailey's Broadway Athletic Club, with a first-round knockout of his opponent, Mat Ryan, who outweighed him by over sixty pounds.
6.
Battling Levinsky received little attention until he took on "Dumb" Dan Morgan as his manager in 1913, who changed Barney's name along with his boxing fortunes.
7.
Battling Levinsky was known for possessing incredible defensive skills, not frequently winning by knockout, but often leaving the ring at the end of a fight without having received a truly damaging blow.
8.
Battling Levinsky did not officially become "Battling Levinsky" until 1913.
9.
Between 1914 and 1918, Battling Levinsky fought 127 times, averaging an impressive 37 fights a year, even for his era.
10.
Battling Levinsky had around a three-inch advantage in height, a few extra inches in reach, and as much as a ten-pound weight advantage.
11.
Fatigued by the fifth, Battling Levinsky carried the match after the sixth, landing blows to the face, jaw and body of Dillon, who landed only a few blows that usually lacked steam.
12.
Battling Levinsky met future champion Jack Dempsey on November 6,1918, and lost in Philadelphia from a third-round knockout administered by a left to the jaw.
13.
Battling Levinsky was not bothered by Levinsky's frequently used left jabs, and set a very fast pace for Levinsky who at twenty-seven was a critical five years older.
14.
Battling Levinsky received his largest purse of $25,000 for the fight.
15.
Battling Levinsky met Jim Flynn, the only man to ever knock out Jack Dempsey, and heavyweight "Porky" Flynn a total of nine times.
16.
Battling Levinsky fought the 1923 World Middleweight Champion Harry Greb at least three times between 1918 and 1919, successfully defending his Light Heavyweight title in each meeting.
17.
Battling Levinsky loved to fight, although his claim to having fought close to 500 bouts has not been fully substantiated.
18.
Battling Levinsky fought around forty-two times in his comeback, losing only twelve matches.
19.
Battling Levinsky's grandchildren are Stanley Solodky, Barry Solodky, and Susan Oldham.
20.
Battling Levinsky invested much of his total boxing winnings of $250,000 in real estate, but lost most of it in the Depression of the early 1930s.
21.
Battling Levinsky was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1966, and is in both the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame and Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Israel.