Billy Kilgore

Name: Billy Kilgore
Birth Name: William Gordon Kilgore
Hometown: Deland, Florida, USA
Birthplace: Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Died: 2000-11-19 (Age:74)
Stance: Southpaw
Height: 178cm
Referee: Record
Pro Boxer: Record

Photo #2, Photo #3

Biography

Billy Kilgore was Miami Beach, Florida's most-popular fighter during the late 1950s. He was known as "Miami's Personality Kid." Kilgore was considered the top drawing fighter in Miami Beach in 1956 by promotor Chris Dundee.

Billy Kilgore's fights were so popular that singer Frank Sinatra and fellow Rat Packers Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop were fans of his.

Kilgore helped defray the medical instrument expenses of former University of Miami collegiate boxing champion Mickey Demos, and would be a partner when Demos went into private practice. Kilgore also invested in an exterminating company.

Kilgore became the last man to defeat former world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. He also scored victories over contenders Lee Sala, Steve Belloise, and Ernie Durando. In 1956, Kilgore defeated 7-5 favorite Billy McNeece at 1:16 of the 5th round in Miami Beach before a crowd of 1,657 fans. Belloise, LaMotta, and McNeece all retired following their defeats to Kilgore.

Kilgore won the Florida Middleweight Boxing Title, and retired with the title.

For a number of years Kilgore ran an exterminator business in South Florida. However, as years went by, he was slowly forgotten by his fans. He lived out the last few years of his life in the Hebrew Home for the Aged on South Beach. Later he suffered a stroke which affected his memory. Billy Kilgore, who had rubbed elbows with the elite of the entertainment world, met local mayors and politicians, and was friends with the upper crust of the Miami Beach social scene, died broke and forgotten in that South Beach old-age home.

Sources

• Miami News, May 3, 1956: NINO:GET A WIN OR GET A JOB.

• Miami News, May 29, 1956, Page 16: THE SPORTSCENE-NOTES UPON A TUESDAY.

• Miami News, Tuesday, May 29, 1956: MCNEECE RISKS VIDEO SHOT; FACES KILGORE.

• Miami News, Wednesday, May 30, 1956: KILGORE MAY BOX TROY, BILLY MCNEECE TO QUIT, by Art Grace (Miami News Staff Writer).

• Sun News, Wednesday, May 30, 1956: UNLESS TV BECKONS, THIS KILGORE'S AN EXTERMINATOR, by Mert Wetstein (Sun Sports Editor).