1. Lew Jenkins was an American boxer and NYSAC and The Ring lightweight champion from 1940 to 1941.
35 Facts About Lew Jenkins
1. 2.
Lew Jenkins was born in Milburn, Texas and was raised during the Great Depression.
3.
Lew Jenkins began fighting in carnivals and later continued his boxing in the US Coast Guard.
4.
Lew Jenkins was an exceptionally powerful puncher and 51 of his 73 wins were by knockout.
5.
Lew Jenkins's managers included Benny Woodhall, Frank Bachman, Hymie Kaplan, and Willie Ketchum and his trainer was Charley Rose.
6.
Lew Jenkins's punching power was legendary, and so was his drinking, carousing, and penchant for high-speed motorcycles.
7.
Lew Jenkins was admitted to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1977, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1983 and in 1999, the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
8.
Verlin E Jenkins was born on December 4,1916, in Milburn, Texas, to Artie James and Minnie Lee, formerly Minnie Lee White.
9.
Lew Jenkins was the third of four children and had two older and one younger sisters.
10.
Lew Jenkins started professional boxing around 1935 in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, but by 1938 was boxing regularly in Dallas.
11.
On November 21,1939, Lew Jenkins scored a seventh-round technical knockout against Mike Belloise, a former World Featherweight Champion, before a crowd of 12,000 at the Bronx's New York Coliseum.
12.
On January 24,1940, Lew Jenkins convincingly defeated Cuban boxer Chino Alvarez in a knockout only around fifteen seconds into the first round at the Sportatorium in Dallas.
13.
Lew Jenkins landed only two or three punches and the rowdy Dallas crowd booed when the ten count was completed, with several climbing into the ring.
14.
Lew Jenkins sudden rise to prominence as a serious World Lightweight contender was not unprecedented, as he had been fighting professionally at least five years, but the quality of his opposition had increased dramatically in the last two years as many newspapers noted.
15.
Lew Jenkins defeated Lou Ambers in New York City on May 10,1940, to become World Lightweight Champion.
16.
Ambers was down for a count of five in the first, briefly down again from a left in the second, and was down in the third before the referee stopped the bout when Lew Jenkins landed a final solid right to Ambers' jaw.
17.
Lew Jenkins drank recklessly, sometimes before bouts, and crashed several motorcycles and cars.
18.
On March 8,1940, Lew Jenkins scored a first-round knockout of Tippy Larkin in a non-title bout at New York's Madison Square Garden before a crowd of 11,542.
19.
Lew Jenkins threw both fists without a stop, finally connecting with a series of solid lefts and rights and Larkin dropped in his corner.
20.
Lew Jenkins had scored five straight knockouts in his most recent New York fights.
21.
On September 16,1940, Lew Jenkins managed to win a decision against Bob Montgomery in a non-title, ten-round decision, before a crowd of 12,900 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
22.
Lew Jenkins was down in the third round for a count of nine.
23.
On November 22,1940, Lew Jenkins successfully defended his World Lightweight Title against Pete Lello in a second-round knockout at New York's Madison Square Garden before a largely hostile audience of around 11,000.
24.
Lew Jenkins knocked Lello down four times in the second, usually with strong blows to the jaw and at least twice for counts of nine.
25.
Lew Jenkins said after the bout that he had little memory of the bout after his first knockdown in the second.
26.
On December 19,1941, Lew Jenkins lost his World Lightweight Title against Sammy Angott before a crowd of 11,343 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
27.
On September 30,1949, Lew Jenkins defeated Eddie Giosa in a ten-round unanimous decision at the Arena in Philadelphia.
28.
Lew Jenkins had Giosa down for a count of eight in the second from a left hook, then put him to the mat again with a right to the head.
29.
Lew Jenkins had Giosa down again in the tenth with a left hook to the head for a count of eight, though the fight continued and was determined by a points decision.
30.
Lew Jenkins had formerly lost to Giosa on May 2,1949, in a fairly close split decision at the same location.
31.
Lew Jenkins served in the Coast Guard in World War II, where he participated in troop deployment, and found himself in the thick of battle during the Allied invasions of North Africa and the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France.
32.
Lew Jenkins re-enlisted in the infantry at the outbreak of America's involvement in the Korean War around 1950 and was awarded the Silver Star for saving several men from enemy fire.
33.
Lew Jenkins attempted a comeback after World War II, but was unable to regain his status as a top lightweight and welterweight.
34.
In 2003, Lew Jenkins made the Ring Magazine's list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.
35.
Lew Jenkins died October 30,1981, at the Oakland Naval Regional Medical Center after a long illness.