Johnny Trambitas
Name: Johnny Trambitas
Alias: Portland Iron Man
Birth Name: Traian Trambitas
Hometown: Portland, Oregon, USA
Birthplace: Bucharest, Romania
Died: 1969-10-19 (Age:66)
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 169cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Manager: Jack Fahie (former manager of Welterweight Champion Mysterious Billy Smith)
- Nicknames: "Portland Ironman" and "Boomerang"
- Boxed primarily out of Portland, Oregon. Also boxed out of nearby Kelso, Washington in early 1929. He fought from Bantamweight up to Welterweight; his best fighting weight was at Lightweight.
Trambitas Family
- Brother of fellow boxers Alex Trambitas and Valley Trambitas (a.k.a. Jimmy Darcy), who once fought World Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey
- Two of his nephews, Larry and Jack (sons of Johnny's brother Valley) boxed as well.
Career Summary
Johnny was considered to be the only puncher of the Trambitas brothers. He had some of the durability and toughness that his brother Valley was known for as well. He was not well regarded or liked in his native Portland though, until his 1924 win over Johnny O'Donnell, which was the high point of his career. Following his 1924 losses to Johnny Adams, Trambitas's conditioning became very suspect, and he rapidly fell from the elite level of Pacific Coast Lightweights.
Miscellaneous Info
- Per the May 30, 1929 Portland Oregonian, Trambitas was living in Kelso, Washington, where he was working as a millwork
- Per the July 25, 1929 Tacoma News-Tribune, he was arrested for suspicion of hotel robbery, released, and apparently not charged.
- The July 27, 1929 Daily Olympian newspaper of Olympia, Washington, reported: "Johnny Trambitas, 25, ex-pugilist of Portland, was arrested early Saturday morning by Sheriff Havens and Deputies Croxall and Erickson, charged with drunkenness. [Note: This was during alcohol Prohibition in the U.S.] He was also held for investigation, Havens said. No longer the nattily dressed ring idol of a few years ago, Trambitas was wearing frayed clothing and was in a high state of intoxication, arresting officers said. He was arrested after Havens, driving home about midnight Friday, saw him duck into the brush beside the road. Croxall and Erickson, in a car behind the sheriff's, helped Havens catch the former prizefighter when he came out of the bushes."
- He later resided in Seattle.