Jack "Kid" Wolfe

Jack "Kid" Wolfe (June 11, 1895 – April 22, 1975) was an American professional boxer. He was the first World Champion in the Junior Featherweight division. During his career, Wolfe defeated such men as Joe Lynch, Frankie Jerome, "Memphis" Pal Moore, Young Montreal, Kid Williams, Pete Zivic, Dick Loadman, Al Shubert, John "K.O." Eggers, Terry Martin, Danny Frush and Eddie O'Dowd.^[1]

Professional career

Wolfe was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 11, 1895 and turned professional in 1911. The 5-foot-2 Wolfe, who was managed by Tommy McGinty, fought mostly as bantamweight in the Cleveland area. One of his local rivals was Cal Delaney, whom he met three times in the first year and they ended up on even terms-not much to choose between the two local battlers.

By 1913, Wolfe started venturing out to New York City and other cities to take on more nationally known battlers. A few of the men he met in New York City were Kid Herman, Willie Doyle, and Eddie O'Keefe. By late 1916, he was back fighting mostly in Cleveland and averaging one fight per month. Local promoters did not hesitate to put him on a card, as he was an action fighter who "gave it his all."

It wasn't until April 21, 1921, that Wolfe really tasted defeat, as Danny Kramer, a southpaw from Philadelphia, put the ten count on Wolfe in the fifth round. Up until that point, Wolfe had defeated many of the top bantamweights and featherweights in the world, including four world champions in non-title bouts, and seemed almost invincible. When referee Tommy McGuire hit ten, many of the seats actually shed tears for their fallen idol. Wolfe had been winning the fight easily when he got careless, and it said a ton of Cleveland money went down the drain that night when the local hero tasted defeat.

Junior Featherweight Championship of the World

But the very next month, Wolfe went right back at it. He defeated Kid Williams and continued on his winning ways against mostly good fighters such as Alvie Miller and Frankie Jerome. On September 21, 1922, he was match with Joey Linch in New York City for the vacant World Junior Featherweight Title, and he won it over 15 rounds. On August 29, 1923, he met Carl Duane in Long Island in defense of his title. Wolfe lost over 15-round decision.

Wolfe was one of the most popular fighters in Cleveland history, and left behind a total of 131 fights with 74 wins, 29 defeats and 28 draws. He died on April 22, 1975 at age of 79.^[2]

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions
• List of super bantamweight boxing champions

References

External links

• Jack "Kid" Wolfe