Benny Bass's Name

[Alex Skutt]

Does anyone know Benny Bass's birth name?

Alex Skutt . . . working on the 4th ed. of The Boxing Register

[Boxer561]

Your post got my curiosity going & I did a little research. According to the social security records, what we have "known" as Benny's birth date may be incorrect. SS lists a Benny Bass, born 12/15/1903 (not 1904), died 6/1975 (same month & year) and lived in Philly (Bustleton) at time of death. It also gives his SS# and that it was issued in Kentucky. This would have made Benny age 7 in 1910. In looking through the 1910 censuses that are available on-line (free ones only!), I did find a Benjamin Freid, age 7, Russian Hebrew, living in Schuylkill County which is fairly close to Philly, so this may be a possibility. His parents' names were Jacob & Jenny and he had a brother named Charles. Hope some of this is helpful to you. Can't wait for your next addition to come out!

Keep punching, your chin down & your ass off the canvas!

Tony Triem
Boxing Historian
Las Vegas, NV

[Boxer561]

After thinking this over, I just spoke with Hank Kaplan about Benny's name. According to him - Benjamin Bass IS his real name. He did also use the nicknames of Benny or Bengi (sp?). He also said that the 1903 birth year is more than likely correct instead of the 1904 that his record shows. During that era, a lot of fighters changed their birth year to be able to fight and bring home the money. This was a great question - it created a lot of curiosity about something I had never given any thought to. Hope this helps.

Keep punching, your chin down & your ass off the canvas!

Tony Triem
Boxing Historian
Las Vegas, NV