Otto O'Keefe
Name: Otto O'Keefe
Birth Name: Otto Eugene Yentsch
Hometown: Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
Birthplace: Walnutport, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: 1952-12-16 (Age:54)
Pro Boxer: Record
According to his great-nephew Steve (April 2024), Otto O'Keefe (real name: Otto Eugene Yentsch) was born in Walnutport, PA, USA.
His parents objected to him being a boxer, so he went by a pseudonym. He had reddish blonde hair, so taking "O'Keefe" was believable. He was known, via family oral history, as being strong and relentless.
The only time he took a break from training was his honeymoon, the time he was hit by a car in Philly and the time he fell 55 ft from scaffolding while painting a sign. He once suffered a broken leg while being a timekeeper at an amateur bout, when he took a step and fell down.
He was one of the founders, and president (1941), of the Veteran Boxers Association (VBA) in Philadelphia. He originally had wanted to become a priest. After boxing he devoted most of his life to the welfare of others. He was a trainer, coach, AAU referee, time keeper, VBA founder, and Newsboys Athletic Club founder. His friends would hold regular yearly memorial dinners in his honor at Polumbo's in Philadelphia. For work he owned a sign painting business ("Otto O'Keefe Signs"), and was the clerk of Local 108, AFL Teamsters.
He died Dec. 16, 1952, in Philadelphia of a heart attack while at his desk in the Union Hall.
According to an article from The Morning Call, Dec. 19, 1950, p. 28, written by Charles Ettinger:
Accident Ends Career
In the summer of 1921 Jack Dempsey was training in Atlantic City for the memorable fight with George Carpenter. Tex Rickard had built Boyle's Thirty Acres in which to stage the contest. In Atlantic City Dempsey's training quarters was a modern boxing club. Crowns swarmed there to see the Manassa Mauler train and enterprising promoters staged boxing shows at regular intervals. The feature attraction on this particular night was Johnny Mealey vs. Otto O'Keefe. In the fifth round O'Keefe dislocated his right shoulder. He never boxed professionally again for the shoulder remained weak and would come out of joint when he threw a punch.
That article goes on to say that after that injury forced his retirement, O'Keefe turned his attention to developing young boxers and other boxing related roles:
- Director of Arena A.A
- Director of the Newsboys A.C.
- Developed Ray Jeffries, who won 3 titles in one night
- Coached Izzy Richter, who won the national A.A.U heavyweight championship in Boston
- Deputy of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission
- Promoter, manager, trainer, referee
- Founder of the Veteran Boxers Association (VBA)
- Long time Secretary of the VBA
