Newsletter Vol 4 No 6
Posted: 18 Mar 2009, 12:32
The Boxing Biographies Newsletter
Volume 4- No 6 17th march , 2009
www.boxingbiographies.com
If you wish to receive future newsletters ( which includes the images ) please email the message “NEWS LETTER”
[email protected]
The newsletter is also available as a word doc on request
As always the full versions of these articles are on the website
Name: Pete Rademacher
Career Record: click
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Grandview, Washington, USA
Born: 1928-08-20
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6′ 1½″
Reach: 196
Trainer: George Chemeres
Officiating Record: Judge
Officiating Record: Referee
After winning the gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in the Light Heavyweight division, Rademacher started saying that he would be able to become world Heavyweight champion in his first professional fight. He made his belief public and was able to lure world Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson into defending his crown against the debutant Rademacher. Rademacher quickly became a mainstream celebrity, being the subject of television talk show talk, and of much gossip around boxing magazines, fans and critics. It was the first time that a fighter making his professional debut challenges for a world crown, and it remains the first time a debutant fights for the world Heavyweight title.
Rademacher dropped Patterson in round two, but Patterson recovered and defeated him by a knockout in six. Rademacher later on went on to fight people like future Muhammad Ali challenger Zora Folley, Brian London, George Chuvalo, Lamar Parks and the former world Light Heavyweight champion, Archie Moore. He lost to Moore, Folley and London but beat Chuvalo and Parks. He had mixed success during the rest of his career, winning about 66 percent of his bouts, but he was never able to achieve the boxing goals he had set for himself, and eventually he retired with a record of 15 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, with 8 wins by knockout.
After retirement, he went into business, and once, after a fight by Patterson in Rademacher’s hometown, Patterson and Rademacher had lunch and Patterson asked about a job on the place Rademacher worked at. After Rademacher gave Patterson a spot on the company’s training roster, Patterson quit, because he did not want to relocate his family to Boston, a requisite during the company training period.
Rademacher was named, in 1989, President of a division in the company he worked for. In 1996, he and his two daughters helped carry the Olympic torch around the streets of Cleveland, Ohio.
Name: Marcel Thil
Career Record: click
Nationality: French
Birthplace: Saint-Dizier, France
Hometown:
Born: 1904-05-25
Died: 1968-08-14
Age at Death: 64
Height: 5′ 8″
Reach: 174
Division: Middleweight
Manager: Lew Burston
Marcel Thil ( May 25, 1904 – August 14, 1968) was a French world champion boxer.Born in Saint-Dizier, Haute-Marne in the Champagne-Ardenne Region of France, Marcel Thil started boxing at a very young age and turned professional at the age of sixteen. For a number of years he was a journeyman boxer but as he matured to full adult strength, with training he developed power in both hands that saw him begin to win regularly by knockout.
In 1928, Thil won the French middleweight boxing championship and the following year captured the European title. After losing his European championship he came back to capture the International Boxing Union (IBU) world middleweight championship through a controversial eleventh round disqualification in a June 11, 1932 fight held in Paris, France. He became a major celebrity and as a good friend of celebrated actor Jean Gabin, he was the toast of Paris during the next four and a half years when he successfully defended his Middleweight title on nine occasions. In addition, Thil moved up a weight class to win the European light-heavyweight title.
On September 23, 1937 in New York City Marcel Thil lost a non-title fight to Fred Apostoli when the fight had to be stopped after he suffered a severe gash over one eye. At thirty-three years of age, Thil chose to retire. In his career, he had fought 148 times, winning 113 of them with 54 via knockout. He lost 22 fights and fought to a draw on 13 occasions.
Thil remained active in boxing circles as an advisor and cornerman and was named honorary president of the Dieppe Boxing Club. He made a living with a company in Reims until eventually retiring to a home in Cannes on the French Riviera where in 1968 he died after being seriously injured in an automobile accident. He is buried there in the Grand Jas Cemetery.
Marcel Thil was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame at Canastota, New York in the United States. In France, a street was named in his honor in his birthplace of Saint-Dizier and in the city of Reims, both a street and a sports stadium carry his name.
Salt Lake tribune 21 January 1937
THIL WINS WHEN YANK HITS FOUL
Lou Brouillard Disqualified
in Fourth of Title Fight
PARIS, Jan. 20 UP)
Louis Brouillard's bid for the world's middleweight boxing championship failed tonight when the Worcester, Mass., veteran was disqualified in the fourth round of his scheduled 15 round bout with Marcel Thil of France, generally recognized as king of the division.
Warned in Third
Brouillard, former holder of the welterweight crown and one-time claimant of a share in the middleweight title, was warned twice in, the third round for hitting low. In the fourth he floored the Frenchman, with another low punch and the referee immediately awarded the fight to Thil. The champion had a slight advantage in the weights, tipping the scales at 158 ¾ pounds, as against 154 ½ by Brouillard. The 40,000. spectators, many of whom were from, other European countries, booed the decision, while some tried to mob the ring. They were held in check by policemen, however. Brouillard at first refused to leave the ring. He backed the referee into a corner and argued against the decision, but finally, after challenging Thil for a return bout, he retired. There was plenty of action before the fight ended. In the first Brouillard drove Thil against the ropes, where he peppered the Frenchman with rights and lefts.
Thil Takes Offensive
Thil bounced back in the second round and took the play away from, the American. He chased Brouillard around the ring, jolting him with savage left hooks. For the most part, the challenger was on the defensive, trying desperately to ward off Thil's two-fisted attack. Before Brouillard received his two warnings in the third, Thil again drove the American to the ropes. The fourth round was only a minute old when Brouillard let loose another low blow, sending Thil to the mat. The referee then stepped in and ended the fight, While Thil's seconds rushed in and carried the champion from the ring.
Daily Capital News
Jefferson City 3 March 1936
Middleweight Champ Marcel Thil, Soon
to Quit Ring Career
Famous French Boxer Recognized
by International
Boxing Union
PARIS, March 2 — (AP) —
Square-headed Marcel Thil, International Boxing Union middleweight champion, has reached the "I expect to retire soon stage of' his career. Four years ago Thil battered Gorilla Jones into such a state of bewilderment that the Akron, fighter's seconds threw in the towel and the I. B. U. crown with it.
Thil's hairy chest and hairless pate combined with his peculiar method of hammering his opponents with a husky forearm, made him the most popular French boxer since Jack Dempsey put a period to George (Gorgeous Georges) Carpentier's heavyweight career.
Opposed by Carpentier
Carpentier, now a barman, was the man who first put a spike in Marcel's popularity. He announced after the Canadian-American, Lou Brouilard, lost to Thil in January on what the referee called a foul, that, for him, Brouillard was world champion.Carpentier defended his statement against a volley of attacks from outraged Thil fans. Marcel himself announced he might retire next winter.
Thil's proud boast is that he . never has dodged a fight. His cauliflower ears, flattened nose and scarred face bear mute witness to the ability of his opponents.
"I'm a Frenchman," he said, "and I fight for my own people. I have been accused of cowardice for not going to America, but since I’ve been champion in France the middleweight title in America has been admittedly in the hands of inferior fighters.
"When they came here I fought them. I found American fighters superior to English middleweights. Brouillard was one of the toughest men I ever fought."
Began Career in 1925
Thil is 32 and has fought 96 times since he began his ring career in 1925. He's married and has one son, Davy. When he retires, Thil said, he'll buy a grocery store or a tree nursery and settle down.
"I have enough glory, enough money, to do it now," he said, all depends upon how I feel.
End
Jefferson City Post – Tribune
23 September 1937
EXPECT 40,000
TO SEE FISTIC SHOW
IN N. Y.
$300,000 Gate Apticipated;
All Four Champs Look
Good With Exception of
Marcel Thil of France
.NEW YORK, Sept. 23-(AP)
Eight of the grandest little fighting men on earth will dance and fiddle for the czar and his court under the dazzling arc lights of the Polo Grounds tonight They'll play fiddles with lefts rights and uppercuts on Promoter Mike Jacobs' "Carnival of Champions" and, if the press agents are not kidding, a crowd of 40,000 or upwards will pay more than $300,000 to watch four titleholders fight to keep their crowns. This is the all-star lineup, all matches 15 rounds to a decision
if not satisfaction:
Thil Meets Apostoli
Marcel Thil, the bald-headed man .from France who holds the European but not the world' middleweight championship, vs Fred Apostoli, an ex-San Francisco bellhop with a good wallop and not much, style.
Barney Ross, smarting king of the welterweights from Chicago vs. Garcia, the dangerous little Filipino with the celebrated "bolo punch."
Lou Ambers, lightweight champion from Herkimer, N. Y., who fights hard only when his crown is at stake, vs. Pedro Montanez,.a real punching whirlwind from Puerto Rico, who is no slouch.
Sixto Escobar, king of the bantamweights and also from Puerto Rico, vs. Baltimore's Harry Jeffra who has been accusing his rival of ducking him for two years.
Jacobs Will Win
The two sure-fire winners are Promoter Jacobs and Uncle Sam who hope for a gross gate of $400,000. As for the rest, it's pretty much of a toss-up fight for fight Broadway's smart: money, which often finds its final resting place in some "sucker's" hip pocket, is riding with Ross, Apostoli, Ambers and Escobar.
All four fighters who throw their titles on the block Tonight look good with the possible exception of Frenchman Thil. And he’s a puzzle to the befuddled experts. Not only is this his first and probably last appearance over here but He’s what is known as a bum gymnasium fighter. But so was Tommy Farr when he worked out for Joe Louis.
Fair,' crisp weather was the predicted for the night.
End
Volume 4- No 6 17th march , 2009
www.boxingbiographies.com
If you wish to receive future newsletters ( which includes the images ) please email the message “NEWS LETTER”
[email protected]
The newsletter is also available as a word doc on request
As always the full versions of these articles are on the website
Name: Pete Rademacher
Career Record: click
Nationality: US American
Hometown: Grandview, Washington, USA
Born: 1928-08-20
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 6′ 1½″
Reach: 196
Trainer: George Chemeres
Officiating Record: Judge
Officiating Record: Referee
After winning the gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in the Light Heavyweight division, Rademacher started saying that he would be able to become world Heavyweight champion in his first professional fight. He made his belief public and was able to lure world Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson into defending his crown against the debutant Rademacher. Rademacher quickly became a mainstream celebrity, being the subject of television talk show talk, and of much gossip around boxing magazines, fans and critics. It was the first time that a fighter making his professional debut challenges for a world crown, and it remains the first time a debutant fights for the world Heavyweight title.
Rademacher dropped Patterson in round two, but Patterson recovered and defeated him by a knockout in six. Rademacher later on went on to fight people like future Muhammad Ali challenger Zora Folley, Brian London, George Chuvalo, Lamar Parks and the former world Light Heavyweight champion, Archie Moore. He lost to Moore, Folley and London but beat Chuvalo and Parks. He had mixed success during the rest of his career, winning about 66 percent of his bouts, but he was never able to achieve the boxing goals he had set for himself, and eventually he retired with a record of 15 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, with 8 wins by knockout.
After retirement, he went into business, and once, after a fight by Patterson in Rademacher’s hometown, Patterson and Rademacher had lunch and Patterson asked about a job on the place Rademacher worked at. After Rademacher gave Patterson a spot on the company’s training roster, Patterson quit, because he did not want to relocate his family to Boston, a requisite during the company training period.
Rademacher was named, in 1989, President of a division in the company he worked for. In 1996, he and his two daughters helped carry the Olympic torch around the streets of Cleveland, Ohio.
Name: Marcel Thil
Career Record: click
Nationality: French
Birthplace: Saint-Dizier, France
Hometown:
Born: 1904-05-25
Died: 1968-08-14
Age at Death: 64
Height: 5′ 8″
Reach: 174
Division: Middleweight
Manager: Lew Burston
Marcel Thil ( May 25, 1904 – August 14, 1968) was a French world champion boxer.Born in Saint-Dizier, Haute-Marne in the Champagne-Ardenne Region of France, Marcel Thil started boxing at a very young age and turned professional at the age of sixteen. For a number of years he was a journeyman boxer but as he matured to full adult strength, with training he developed power in both hands that saw him begin to win regularly by knockout.
In 1928, Thil won the French middleweight boxing championship and the following year captured the European title. After losing his European championship he came back to capture the International Boxing Union (IBU) world middleweight championship through a controversial eleventh round disqualification in a June 11, 1932 fight held in Paris, France. He became a major celebrity and as a good friend of celebrated actor Jean Gabin, he was the toast of Paris during the next four and a half years when he successfully defended his Middleweight title on nine occasions. In addition, Thil moved up a weight class to win the European light-heavyweight title.
On September 23, 1937 in New York City Marcel Thil lost a non-title fight to Fred Apostoli when the fight had to be stopped after he suffered a severe gash over one eye. At thirty-three years of age, Thil chose to retire. In his career, he had fought 148 times, winning 113 of them with 54 via knockout. He lost 22 fights and fought to a draw on 13 occasions.
Thil remained active in boxing circles as an advisor and cornerman and was named honorary president of the Dieppe Boxing Club. He made a living with a company in Reims until eventually retiring to a home in Cannes on the French Riviera where in 1968 he died after being seriously injured in an automobile accident. He is buried there in the Grand Jas Cemetery.
Marcel Thil was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame at Canastota, New York in the United States. In France, a street was named in his honor in his birthplace of Saint-Dizier and in the city of Reims, both a street and a sports stadium carry his name.
Salt Lake tribune 21 January 1937
THIL WINS WHEN YANK HITS FOUL
Lou Brouillard Disqualified
in Fourth of Title Fight
PARIS, Jan. 20 UP)
Louis Brouillard's bid for the world's middleweight boxing championship failed tonight when the Worcester, Mass., veteran was disqualified in the fourth round of his scheduled 15 round bout with Marcel Thil of France, generally recognized as king of the division.
Warned in Third
Brouillard, former holder of the welterweight crown and one-time claimant of a share in the middleweight title, was warned twice in, the third round for hitting low. In the fourth he floored the Frenchman, with another low punch and the referee immediately awarded the fight to Thil. The champion had a slight advantage in the weights, tipping the scales at 158 ¾ pounds, as against 154 ½ by Brouillard. The 40,000. spectators, many of whom were from, other European countries, booed the decision, while some tried to mob the ring. They were held in check by policemen, however. Brouillard at first refused to leave the ring. He backed the referee into a corner and argued against the decision, but finally, after challenging Thil for a return bout, he retired. There was plenty of action before the fight ended. In the first Brouillard drove Thil against the ropes, where he peppered the Frenchman with rights and lefts.
Thil Takes Offensive
Thil bounced back in the second round and took the play away from, the American. He chased Brouillard around the ring, jolting him with savage left hooks. For the most part, the challenger was on the defensive, trying desperately to ward off Thil's two-fisted attack. Before Brouillard received his two warnings in the third, Thil again drove the American to the ropes. The fourth round was only a minute old when Brouillard let loose another low blow, sending Thil to the mat. The referee then stepped in and ended the fight, While Thil's seconds rushed in and carried the champion from the ring.
Daily Capital News
Jefferson City 3 March 1936
Middleweight Champ Marcel Thil, Soon
to Quit Ring Career
Famous French Boxer Recognized
by International
Boxing Union
PARIS, March 2 — (AP) —
Square-headed Marcel Thil, International Boxing Union middleweight champion, has reached the "I expect to retire soon stage of' his career. Four years ago Thil battered Gorilla Jones into such a state of bewilderment that the Akron, fighter's seconds threw in the towel and the I. B. U. crown with it.
Thil's hairy chest and hairless pate combined with his peculiar method of hammering his opponents with a husky forearm, made him the most popular French boxer since Jack Dempsey put a period to George (Gorgeous Georges) Carpentier's heavyweight career.
Opposed by Carpentier
Carpentier, now a barman, was the man who first put a spike in Marcel's popularity. He announced after the Canadian-American, Lou Brouilard, lost to Thil in January on what the referee called a foul, that, for him, Brouillard was world champion.Carpentier defended his statement against a volley of attacks from outraged Thil fans. Marcel himself announced he might retire next winter.
Thil's proud boast is that he . never has dodged a fight. His cauliflower ears, flattened nose and scarred face bear mute witness to the ability of his opponents.
"I'm a Frenchman," he said, "and I fight for my own people. I have been accused of cowardice for not going to America, but since I’ve been champion in France the middleweight title in America has been admittedly in the hands of inferior fighters.
"When they came here I fought them. I found American fighters superior to English middleweights. Brouillard was one of the toughest men I ever fought."
Began Career in 1925
Thil is 32 and has fought 96 times since he began his ring career in 1925. He's married and has one son, Davy. When he retires, Thil said, he'll buy a grocery store or a tree nursery and settle down.
"I have enough glory, enough money, to do it now," he said, all depends upon how I feel.
End
Jefferson City Post – Tribune
23 September 1937
EXPECT 40,000
TO SEE FISTIC SHOW
IN N. Y.
$300,000 Gate Apticipated;
All Four Champs Look
Good With Exception of
Marcel Thil of France
.NEW YORK, Sept. 23-(AP)
Eight of the grandest little fighting men on earth will dance and fiddle for the czar and his court under the dazzling arc lights of the Polo Grounds tonight They'll play fiddles with lefts rights and uppercuts on Promoter Mike Jacobs' "Carnival of Champions" and, if the press agents are not kidding, a crowd of 40,000 or upwards will pay more than $300,000 to watch four titleholders fight to keep their crowns. This is the all-star lineup, all matches 15 rounds to a decision
if not satisfaction:
Thil Meets Apostoli
Marcel Thil, the bald-headed man .from France who holds the European but not the world' middleweight championship, vs Fred Apostoli, an ex-San Francisco bellhop with a good wallop and not much, style.
Barney Ross, smarting king of the welterweights from Chicago vs. Garcia, the dangerous little Filipino with the celebrated "bolo punch."
Lou Ambers, lightweight champion from Herkimer, N. Y., who fights hard only when his crown is at stake, vs. Pedro Montanez,.a real punching whirlwind from Puerto Rico, who is no slouch.
Sixto Escobar, king of the bantamweights and also from Puerto Rico, vs. Baltimore's Harry Jeffra who has been accusing his rival of ducking him for two years.
Jacobs Will Win
The two sure-fire winners are Promoter Jacobs and Uncle Sam who hope for a gross gate of $400,000. As for the rest, it's pretty much of a toss-up fight for fight Broadway's smart: money, which often finds its final resting place in some "sucker's" hip pocket, is riding with Ross, Apostoli, Ambers and Escobar.
All four fighters who throw their titles on the block Tonight look good with the possible exception of Frenchman Thil. And he’s a puzzle to the befuddled experts. Not only is this his first and probably last appearance over here but He’s what is known as a bum gymnasium fighter. But so was Tommy Farr when he worked out for Joe Louis.
Fair,' crisp weather was the predicted for the night.
End