Billy Kohut

Name: Billy Kohut
Birth Name: William Kohut
Hometown: Bayonne, New Jersey, USA
Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
Stance: Orthodox
Pro Boxer: Record


Photo 2, Photo 3, Ink drawing

Billy Kohut was born in 1907. He started studying the violin at seven but lost interest after three years.

“At the time of nine I weighed 265 pounds,” informs Kohut. “Nine months of exercising at the YMCA brought me down to 109-and I also developed into a fair wrestler. But I preferred boxing.”

By falsifying his age at 13, he entered the amateurs, competing as a featherweight while still attending high school. He won 21 of 23 bouts, 16 by knockouts.

At 15, by faking his age again, Kohut turned pro. A year later, without abandoning his ring career, he organized a 12-piece orchestra that played the Keith circuit for two years. “But I chucked it to apply all my energies to boxing.”

He fought such ringmen as former middleweight champ Ben Jeby, Harry Ebbets,Jack McVey, Izzy Grove, Enzo Fiermonte, KO Phil Kaplan and other noted scrappers. Kohut retired in 1932. (The Ring magazine, March 1960.)