BoxRec

I was looking thru Charlie Wepner's (father of Chuck) record and spotted Ray Impelletiere as one of his opponents. The name rang a bell, and though I'd heard of him I didn't know too much.
So I linked to his record and I was amazed at how few fights he had, BUT more surprised to see that he was in with some serious fighters after only a few bouts. The likes of Tommy Loughran, Walter Neusel etc. - I think he took on Loughran in his fifth fight.

Clearly Ray was "promoted and pushed" because of his enormous height...but I just wondered if he had been a half-decent amateur, had any boxing experience prior to turning pro, and how he got into the game. Also...was he any use, or just another very big, tall guy who may have been painted as the "next Carnera"

J.

I believe he did have some amateur experience, if limited. His boxrec record is definetely incomplete. As for his abilities, I don't really know. Going by the newspaper reports, he seemed to be able to at least win rounds vs top flight competition (and he only lost to top 20 comp), so he couldn't have been a complete stiff. But he was definetely far from being a real contender.

dempseyfire wrote:I believe he did have some amateur experience, if limited. His boxrec record is definetely incomplete. As for his abilities, I don't really know. Going by the newspaper reports, he seemed to be able to at least win rounds vs top flight competition (and he only lost to top 20 comp), so he couldn't have been a complete stiff. But he was definetely far from being a real contender.

I guess that appearing to face Loughran in his fourth or fifth fight might suggest that some of his earlier fights may not be listed on the records....like you say, he appears to have had some ability withoit being a major contender.

J