Benny Valgar, frequently spelled "Valger", was a French boxer.
17 Facts About Benny Valgar
1.
2.
Benny Valgar made it to the semi-final bout of the NYSAC World Lightweight Boxing Championship against Jimmy Goodrich, whom he lost to in a close bout on June 15,1925.
3.
Benjamin "Benny" Valgar was born in Paris on September 24,1898, to Jewish parents who had emigrated to France from Russia around 1894.
4.
Benny Valgar was one of five children of Etta and Menachem Valger.
5.
Benny Valgar lost only seven of his first sixty-five recorded fights with BoxRec between July 1916 and September 1919, beating Eddie Wallace in 1918 and 1919 in Philadelphia and Montreal.
6.
Benny Valgar fought 1925 World Lightweight Champion Rocky Kansas to a draw on November 9,1918, in Philadelphia.
7.
At the peak of his career on February 25,1920, Benny Valgar met Johnny Kilbane, reigning World Featherweight Champion at the Newark Athletic Club in Newark, New Jersey for an eight-round bout.
8.
Benny Valgar won the fight on a close points decision by the referees according to the New York Times.
9.
Valgar contended for the Lightweight Championship of the World in an elimination tournament by the New York State Athletic Commission after Benny Leonard gave up his lightweight crown.
10.
Benny Valgar defeated Alex Hart, Basil Galiano, and Solly Seeman, in February, March and May 1925, finally losing to Jimmy Goodrich in twelve rounds in the semi-final bout of the tournament on June 15,1925, in Queensboro Stadium in New York.
11.
Benny Valgar's making it to the semi-final bout was exceptional considering eighteen of the top lightweights in the world were invited to the tournament with only the world's top two lightweights, Sid Terris and Johnny Dundee declining.
12.
Benny Valgar fought and defeated top contender Charley White, as well as King Tut and Joe Tiplitz.
13.
Benny Valgar beat Frankie Britt, Hilario Martinez, Jimmy Fruzetti and Billy DeFoe by decision, although these boxers never became champions.
14.
Benny Valgar continued to box top talent, but his speed diminished and he lost more frequently.
15.
Benny Valgar continued boxing, mostly in the New York area, until his retirement from the ring in 1932.
16.
Benny Valgar remained active in boxing veterans' organizations after his retirement to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
17.
Benny Valgar's wife Rose, whom he had married in 1919 opened a dress shop in the Brownsville section of the borough.