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Boxing: Welterweights
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★ Boxing: Welterweights

Lewis had two non-title contests before embarking on a tour to Australia to test his mettle against some of the finest the proud former convict colony had to offer.  Whilst there was a sense of superiority with many of the British regarding her Empire, the astute were fully aware of the fortitude and incredible teak-like toughness the Australian man brought to any situation he was placed in.  So it proved, with Lewis having five contests in a little over sixty days.  Each went the allotted twenty rounds with Kid getting the nod in four of them.  Having fought three times in one of the great stages in the world, White City Stadium in Sydney would certainly be an experience Kid could draw on a little later when he ventured to the hotbed of boxing, the United States of America.  With Lewis’ contractual agreements concluded in Australia instead of the planned return to England, manager Charley Harvey deduced an opportunity to get some action in the States would be beneficial to their pockets and his profile.  He made his American bow in the hallowed hall of Madison Square Garden in November 1914 with a newspaper decision over Phil Bloom.  Two more victories courtesy of the newspapermen saw Lewis, now known as Ted, make a trip to Havana, Cuba as funds had dried up to beat Frankie Mack on points.  Unfortunately, promoters then were even more slippery than today’s iteration and Ted didn’t make a penny.  He did however have the pleasure of meeting and sparring with the great Jack Johnson, though the big man would surely have gone easy on the wee Englishman!

 

His return to America cemented his reputation as a top-flight operator in boxing circles.  March 26, 1915 saw Ted matched up with the Boxing Marvel, Jack Britton.  His agent in the States, Jimmy Johnstone, did the Kid a great turn matching him with Britton as he was a world-class opponent in the welterweight division and Ted’s frame could no longer boil down to the featherweight limit.  In today’s age men fighting each other two or three times is considered plenty, these two goliaths of their weight class locked horns in an incredible twenty occasions!  It’s testament to their amazing matchups that the paying public desired more of the same.  When we can digest Gatti-Ward and Pacquiao-Marquez on three and four times respectively, what can be deduced on Britton-Lewis times twenty?  What inflamed the rivalry further was the enmity betwixt the pugilists.  Despite losing the first contest on a newspaper decision, Lewis had finally arrived.  That he had to do it the hard way, via Australia and America made it all the more satisfying.

 

Harvey, his manager, began a campaign of hawking his protégé to all-comers, with the promise of a winner-takes-all pot.  All lightweights and welterweight were put on notice that this alter-ego of the former Gershon Mendeloff was willing and able to best the cream of the American system.  His star was polished further when he got the better of top welterweight contenders in Kid Graves and Mike Glover.  The clamor for a title fight became deafening and in August of 1915, Lewis fought for the World Welterweight Championship against none other than Jack Britton, who had beaten Lewis with a ten-round newspaper decision earlier in the year.  Nobody could accuse the Kid of being ring rusty for his big opportunity as he’d indulged in three bouts of the very same month he would vie for the title.  The acerbity between the men was apparent at the weigh-in when Britton cried foul as the Kid came under the agreed weight limit the champion’s team had set for the fight.   Britton then refused to weigh in, which technically made the fight a non-title affair.  The bad blood between the two had started from their first contest when Britton claimed Lewis was a dirty fighter.  A proud Irish American, Britton had further cause to despise Lewis as he represented the country which was allegedly causing bloodshed and mayhem on the Emerald Isle.  The scene was set for one of the most magnificent series of contests boxing has been party to.  

 

The first round was barely out of the first minute when Britton cried foul at a heinous act Lewis was perpetrating.  The Kid was wearing a gumshield of sorts which was anathema to the boxing cognoscenti of the day.  Lewis threw the shield to the apron and the action continued with an extra frisson of animosity effervescing under the surface.  Lewis proved his doubters wrong with a clinical display, dropping the obdurate champion in the eleventh on the way to a points victory.  It would take another seven decades before a British fighter wrestled a World Welterweight title on American soil when the underrated Ragamuffin Man, Lloyd Honeyghan dethroned the seemingly unbeatable Cobra, Donald Curry.  The shenanigans with the weigh-in emitted a foul stench of wrongdoing in the Britton camp, mainly due to the histrionic diatribe of manager, Dan Morgan.  A rematch was ordered and the result remained the same, a unanimous decision for Lewis.

 

Successful defenses against Joe Mandot, Willie Ritchie and Kid Graves were followed by another meting with old antagonist, Britton.  This bout ended in a draw and it could be argued that Lewis had reached the acme of his career.  He had participated in over one hundred and fifty paid contests at this point and many would have accepted if this great warrior could hang up his gloves.  This was no ordinary man though.  He lost his title on a newspaper decision to none other than Jack Britton and subsequent attempts were rebuffed to his nemesis and to Lockport Jimmy Duffy.  He stepped up in weight to try for Mike Gibbons middleweight crown, but the heavier man easily got the nod from the newsmen.  Draws, losses and wins against the man Lewis loved locking horns with punctuated the next couple of years till June 25th 1917 saw the Aldgate Sphinx wrest the world welterweight crown once again in a titanic twenty-round bout.  Despite several losses through the eyes of the sports correspondents in non-title bouts, Lewis successfully defended his hard-fought strap against Bryan Downey then lost it again to Britton in ten.  Beating Johnny Tillman over twenty rounds in the middle of 1918 saw the Kid reclaim his title.  He retained it with a workmanlike performance over Johnny Griffiths and then scored a credible draw with the incomparable Benny Leonard.  It appeared Lewis was on the slide after this bout at the elite level.  The title was lost with a ninth round kayo to Britton in March 1919 and a subsequent loss in July to Jack seemed to herald the end.  The teak tough East Ender had further ambitions however and a gallant though fruitless attempt at the middleweight crown came to naught when he dropped a decision to Mike O’Dowd.

 

It was time for Ted to come home after the years of operating at the coal-face of top-level action in America.  It would have been fair to assume it was probably time to call it a day, yet this goliath of the little men had other machinations.  He claimed the British Middleweight title in 1920 with a kayo over Johnny Bee, then stopped the excellent Johnny Basham in the ninth round for the British, European and Commonwealth Welterweight titles three months later.  After stopping Basham in a British and European defense by way of nineteenth round stoppage, Ted found himself in position for another tilt at the World Welterweight title.  It would be prosaic to be facing an unknown opponent, for none other than Jack Britton was once again in the opposite corner.  A unanimous fifteen-round decision loss was the upshot of his challenge.  Lewis would never again be victorious in a world title fight but to say he would rest on his laurels and retire content with all he had achieved in the squared circle was way off the mark.

 

His return to Europe saw him dominate the domestic scene.  He annexed the British middleweight and light-heavy belts, which meant he had won British titles from featherweight up to light-heavyweight.  The triumph of securing the light-heavyweight crown of Britain came only nine months after making the welterweight limit for the Britton fight!  The final world title challenge for this gamest of pugs was against the superlative Georges Carpentier in May 1922.  Here was a boxer who was truly world-class in his natural weight class.  To give up so much weight and reach to the peerless Frenchman was pure folly.  The contest was over in the first stanza despite Lewis making a bright start.  He turned to complain to the referee about some Gallic indiscretion and whilst pleading his case promptly got knocked out.  At ringside, the great Jack Dempsey commented, It was merely a matter of a game man against a good big man.

 

Whilst some of the vitality coursing through this potentate of British boxing had waned he still managed to capture the Commonwealth Middleweight title with an eleven round kayo over Frank Burns and beat Roland Todd for the British, Commonwealth and European middleweight belts over twenty grueling rounds.  After losing his titles in a rematch with Todd, there was still one final glorious swansong where he managed to boil down to the welterweight limit and claim the British, Commonwealth and European crowns with a twenty-round points decision over Hamilton Johnny Brown on the 3rd of July 1924.  The Kid would continue to fight for the next five years with mixed results.  His penultimate fight was a crack at the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title in Toronto but it ended in failure after a foul-fueled first round resulting in Lewis quitting the fight.  He ended his career on a high note with a third round stoppage of old foe Johnny Basham in December 1929.

 

Retirement was well earned for the grizzly warrior.  In a career spanning an incredible twenty years it was estimated he earned in excess of $500,000 in America alone, which was an monumental sum for those times yet the Kid was as lavish with his spending outside the ring as he was mean within it.  It was said he couldn’t walk past a homeless person without tipping them generous amounts of money.  Unverified reports suggest he would regularly drive through the streets of London’s East End and throw notes and coins to the poor!  He liked a flutter on the nags as well as living the fast life with fast cars, horses and showbiz friends.  The silent screen hero Charlie Chaplin was a dear friend and was even godfather to Lewis’ son Morton.  He tried his hand at many things after he retired including being a henchman for the British fascist Oswald Mosley.  When he discovered the true nature of the blackshirts motives, Ted gave Mosley and two of his thugs a sound thrashing before leaving their company for good.  He was also a boxing manager, nightclub owner, Hollywood actor, car salesman and a boxing tutor to the Hungarian Army.  All fell by the wayside and he ended his working career as an assistant to his beloved boy, Morton, who had carved out a successful career as a film director.  In 1966, the widower Ted moved to Nightingale House, a retirement home for Jewish people in Clapham.  He died in 1970 at the age of seventy-seven.

 

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