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Philly Boxing History |
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JANUARY 15, 1940 |
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SPEIGEL TOPS MAHER IN 12 Takes Pennsylvania Lightweight Crown On this day in 1940, Tommy Speigel regained the Pennsylvania Lightweight Championship from Billy Maher, before 7,000 fans at the Philadelphia Arena. Speigel toughed his way to the title. He took everything that the cleaner-punching Maher had to offer (like the left shown in the photo), only to bully his way inside. Speigel clutched and grabbed, and popped Maher with countless short right-hand punches over the top. He was relentless. |
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But after starting quickly in the first two rounds, Speigel began
scratching his head for a stretch, as Maher started coming on and
taking the better of it for several sessions. The pro-Maher crowd
loved it, as their man took the lead and seemed to have things in
hand. But Speigel, who lost this same title to Maher just about one
month before, brought the battle into the trenches. They traded and
struggled evenly in the middle portion of the fight, but Speigel's
hard-boiled tactics began to pay off. Maher began to tire, and
Speigel, slightly behind on the scorecards, rallied in the final
four rounds. It was this final surge that sealed the close but
unanimous victory for Speigel (7 rounds to 5). The newspaper
accounts of the day called the fight a "savage, rough and tumble"
battle.
Leading up to, and including this fight, the PA Lightweight Title had been like a hot potato, changing hands 4 times in just 3 months. On October 23, 1939, Bob Montgomery won the vacant crown in a fight with Mike Evans. A month later, Speigel took a controversial decision over Montgomery to wrest the title. About one month after that, Maher claimed the prize by beating Speigel. 25 days later, Speigel regained the title over Maher, in the fight we celebrate today. |
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| FIGHT RESULTS ON THIS DATE: | ||||
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1932 - Leroy Haynes KO5 Jack Silva at San Francisco, CA |
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| 1958 - Vince Martinez W12 Gil Turner at the Philadelphia Arena | ||||
| 1958 - Len Matthews KO3 Milton Ferguson at the Philadelphia Arena (Matthews' 5th fight) | ||||
| 1959 - Paul Armstead W10 Len Matthews at Hollywood, CA (Matthews' 1st loss) | ||||
| 1972 - Joe Frazier TKO4 Terry Daniels at New Orleans, LA for the World Heavyweight Title | ||||
| 1973 - Sammy Goss KO2 Raul Cruz at the Philadelphia Spectrum | ||||
| BIRTHDAYS: | ||||
| 1954 - Roger Stafford | ||||
| 1965 - Bernard Hopkins | ||||
| DEATHS: | ||||
| 2001 - Tommy Forte | ||||
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