Benny Bass, one of the greatest fighters ever to come out of Philadelphia, was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June, 2002, in Canastota, NY. Fellow inductees: Victor Galindez, Ingemar Johansson, Pipino Cuevas as well as promoters Aileen Eaton-the first woman inductee-and “Suitcase” Sam Silverman-whose office was his suitcase-as well as writers… Read more »
Harry Blitman never won the world title, but he was one of many outstanding Jewish fighters in the 1920s and 1930s. Blitman was a smooth-boxing lightweight. His family was from North-Central Philadelphia but he trained out of Jimmy Coster’s gym in South Philadelphia. He was a teenage sensation and my dad knew him from their… Read more »
Sam Cozen became the varsity basketball coach at Overbrook High School in the fall of 1948. Overbrook had won the Public League basketball championship the previous year, but there was only one starter remaining from that team. Luckily it was Jackie Moore, the 6″5″ center, who later went on to become the first African-American to… Read more »
Like most Jewish fighters in the early part of the 20th century, Lew Tendler was tough as nails but he was scared of his mother. “My mom was against boxing,” Tendler once recalled. “One night I fought at a small club and got a shiner. I tried everything to get the swelling down before I… Read more »