Marcellin "Marcel" Cerdan was a French professional boxer and world middleweight champion who was considered by many boxing experts and fans to be France's greatest boxer, and beyond to be one of the best to have learned his craft in Africa.
18 Facts About Marcel Cerdan
2.
Marcel Cerdan's life was marked by his sporting achievements, social lifestyle and ultimately, tragedy, being killed in an airplane crash.
3.
Marcellin Cerdan was born at 9:00pm on 22 July 1916 in the "Little Paris" neighbourhood of Sidi Bel Abbes in Algeria.
4.
Marcel Cerdan was the fourth son of Antonio Cerdan, a day labourer, and Asuncion Cascales, pied-noirs of Spanish origin.
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Marcel Cerdan then ran a streak of 47 wins in a row between that first bout and 4 January 1939, when he lost for the first time, to Harry Craster by a disqualification in five rounds in London.
6.
Marcel Cerdan won the European title by a decision in 15 rounds to continue his ascent towards the championship.
7.
Marcel Cerdan's winning streak eventually reached 23 bouts before he suffered a defeat to Victor Buttin by disqualification for a second time, in eight rounds in Algiers in 1942.
8.
Marcel Cerdan knocked out Ferrer in one round, and won four more bouts in a row before facing another boxer with a namesake: James Toney, who shared that name with another boxer who would become world Middleweight champion five decades later.
9.
Marcel Cerdan knocked out Toney in two rounds to keep this new winning streak alive.
10.
Marcel Cerdan went up in weight to the Middleweight division, and won the French title by beating Assane Douf by a knockout in three rounds.
11.
Marcel Cerdan later claimed the vacant European title by beating Leon Foquet by a knockout in one round.
12.
Marcel Cerdan retained that title a couple of times before losing it to rugged Belgian Cyrille Delannoit by a decision in 15 at Brussels, Belgium.
13.
Finally, after the rematch with Delannoit, Marcel Cerdan was given a world title opportunity and he travelled to the United States, where he beat World Middleweight champion Tony Zale.
14.
Marcel Cerdan became a world champion by knocking Zale out in the 12th round in Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey on 21 September 1948.
15.
Marcel Cerdan was knocked down in round one, his shoulder was dislocated, and he had to give up after the tenth round.
16.
Marcel Cerdan's record was 110 wins and 4 losses, with 65 wins by knockout.
17.
Marcel Cerdan is a member, along with LaMotta and Zale, of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
18.
Marcel Cerdan is portrayed by actor Jean-Pierre Martins in the 2007 Piaf biopic La Mome.