Pat Smith
Name: Pat Smith
Alias: Schmidt
Birth Name: Howard Richard Smith
Hometown: Akron, Ohio, USA
Birthplace: Decatur, Alabama, USA
Died: 1981-03-31 (Age:73)
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 185cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record
- Manager: Clarence Dyer
- Trainers: Tiny Herman (of Akron), Paul 'Pep' Sheeks
- Photo 2, Photo 3
Pat Smith (born Howard Richard Smith) was an Akron, Ohio heavyweight boxer.
According to his grandson Steve (Sept. 2020): "With his father gone at an early age, Howard joined the Navy at 16 and was sent to Lakehurst, New Jersey, where he manned guy lines on the USS Shenandoah, America's first rigid airship. A Southern rebel, he drinks and fights his way into the Navy brig on several occasions, eventually being kicked out of the service.
"He rides the rails to Evansville, Indiana, where he and his older brother contrive a car theft ring, stealing Model T's and driving them to the South, where they unload them. Amassing over 40 stolen machines, the brothers are eventually found out. Howard is sentenced to Atlanta Federal Penitentiary for two years while his brother absconds, leading federal agents on a nationwide manhunt that ends in Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks.
"Once Howard’s sentence ends in 1930, he leaves the South for Akron, Ohio. As a heavyweight fighter, Howard becomes the toast of Akron’s smokers, compiling a record string of knockouts in over 50 fights. Among his fights, he battles mutual opponents of Jack Dempsey (Hank Hankinson), Primo Carnera (Bumbo Myers) and Joe Louis (Eddie Simms). When gamblers offer Howard (whose nom de guerre is Pat Smith) a payoff to help fix a fight, he takes the cash out of desperation. Once his reputation is stained, Pat falls out of favor with promoters and must begin anew elsewhere. He moves to West Virginia and battles successfully for the state heavyweight championship. The title belt he parlays into a new and better position of promoting young fighters. (Pat Smith's fighting in West Virginia was amateur initially, so he changed his ring name from Pat Smith to Pat Schmidt to avoid detection as a pro. The state was considering pro fights after a long outlaw period going back to the Wanko fight.)" ...