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WHO WAS PHILADELPHIA'S By Ken Hissner I was looking over a list of three of the top Philly boxing historians on www.phillyboxinghistory.com, the web site founded by John DiSanto in 2004. This is a site well worth looking into. His Assistant Editor, Chuck Hasson, wrote a feature article on the history of Philadelphia boxing for Boxing Digest magazine in 1998. He also compiled 50,000 newspaper clippings on Philadelphia boxing. The third historian is Hall of Fame Promoter J Russell Peltz, who is also an outstanding writer. Though Peltz didn’t rank the boxers on his list, he was right in line with the rest of us. I combined all four lists and was surprised with the results. I want to give thanks to writer, public relations person and all around good guy Robert Coster and boxing promoter Jacques Deschamps for the idea. Both operate out of the Dominican Republic and do work in Haiti, Mexico and Panama.
In compiling this list, I created a point system that weighed each fighter's placement on the four individual lists (by Hasson, Peltz, DiSanto, and myself). Frazier had 45 points to runner-up Loughran’s 42 points. Johnson had 38 points and Giardello 36 points. DiSanto had Giardello as his top pick while Hasson and this writer had Frazier on top. Peltz did not rank the fighters but is a big supporter of Johnson. Loughran had two second and one third place votes. Others receiving votes: Bob Montgomery 14; George Benton, Tyrone Everett and “Bad” Bennie Briscoe 13; Matthew Saad Muhammad 12, and “Gypsy” Joe Harris 11. It was decided by a 3-1 vote to exclude Bernard Hopkins since he is still an active fighter. Once he does retire, one can only imagine how he might shake up these rankings. |
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#10
Philadelphia Jack O’Brien: 188 total bouts,
136-12-23-16 (55) with 1 No Contest. O’Brien won the light
heavyweight championship from Bob Fitzsimmons in 1905. Fitz
would later become middleweight and heavyweight champion.
Prior to this, O’Brien defeated welterweight champion Joe
Walcott and future heavyweight champion Marvin Hart in
1902. He defeated future heavyweight champion Tommy Burns
in 1904. In 1906, he drew with then champion Burns and lost
in the rematch. He fought a draw with future heavyweight
champion Jack Johnson in 1909. He was elected to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994.
#9
Midget Wolgast: 161-37-16 (17) with 1 No Contest.
Wolgast won the NYSAC world flyweight title in 1930 from
Black Bill, 117-19-9. He later battled to a draw with the
NBA flyweight champion Frankie Genaro (71-17-6) in a title
unification match. Former bantamweight champion George
Pace said in Ring Magazine in 1970, "Midget Wolgast was a
lightning streak. I have never seen any fighter with
trickier or speedier execution in the ring, and that
includes Willie Pep.” He was elected into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001.
#8
Lew Tendler: 171 total bouts, 114-16-6-35 (38).
Tendler drew with future junior lightweight champion Johnny
Dundee in 1917. He defeated future world lightweight
champion Rocky Kansas and KO Chaney in 1919. After
defeating Dundee again in 1922 he was matched later that
year with legendary Benny Leonard for the world lightweight
title. In the 8th round Tendler had Leonard out
on his feet but got “talked out of it” in a clinch. The
fight was close enough that a rematch was demanded the
following year. Leonard again won by decision. In 1924,
Tendler lost a decision to the NBA welterweight champion
Mickey “Toy Bulldog” Walker, another pound for pound all
time great. Tendler was considered to be one of the
greatest southpaws of his era. He was elected to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999.
#7
Joltin' Jeff Chandler: 37 total bouts, 33-2-2 (18). In
1980, Chandler won the WBA bantamweight title by stopping
Julian Solis (21-0), in Miami, Florida. After turning pro
with a draw he went unbeaten in his next 32 fights,
including one draw. He made a total of nine successful title
defenses. There was one draw among those defenses against
Japan’s Eijiro Murata (18-0-2). Chandler later defeated
Murata in two subsequent title defenses. In 1983, he lost
a split decision to Oscar Muniz (36-3-3), in a non-title
bout. Before the year was out Chandler stopped Muniz in a
title defense rematch. In one of his defenses, Chandler
defeated future world champion and future Hall-of-Famer,
Gaby Canizales (24-1). In making his 10th
defense Chandler was dropped in the 11th round
for the first time in his career, and lost his title that
night to Richie Sandoval (22-0) in 1984. Chandler never
fought again. He entered the International Boxing Hall of
Fame in 2000. 
#6
Sonny Liston: 54 total bouts, 50-4 (39). In 1962, Liston
stopped Floyd Patterson for the world heavyweight
championship, in Chicago. His only loss prior to winning
the title was to Marty Marshall (18-5-2), by split
decision. Liston won their two rematches, stopping Marshall
once. He also stopped contenders Mike DeJohn, Zora Folley
and Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams (twice). He also defeated
contender Eddie Machen. In 1964, Liston was upset by then
Cassius Clay. In the rematch, by then Muhammad Ali, Liston
was stopped by the “Phantom Punch” in round one. Sonny
went on to win his next 14 fights, 13 by knockout before
losing to Leotis Martin. Martin would never fight again
following this bout due to a detached retina. Liston had
one of the most powerful jabs in the history of the
division.
#5
Benny Bass, 'The Little Fish': 242 total bouts, 192-40-8
(71) with 2 No Contests. In 1927 he defeated Red Chapman
for the NBA featherweight title in Philadelphia. In 1929,
Bass defeated Todd Morgan for the world junior lightweight
title at Madison Square Garden. Bass lost his crown in
1931 to future Hall-of-Famer Kid Chocolate in Philadelphia.
In 1937, Bass defeated Red Cochrane, a future world
welterweight champion. He was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002.
#4
Joey Giardello: 134 total bouts, 101-25-7 (33), 1 No
Contest. Joey won the undisputed world middleweight title in
1963 over Dick Tiger (47-14-3) in Atlantic City. Joey
would lose it back to Tiger in 1965, in their fourth
match-up two years later. Each won twice. Giardello
defeated Billy Graham (98-9-8), Joey Giambra (26-1-1) and
Chico Vejar (73-10-2). He drew with Gene Fullmer (51-4), in
1960 for the NBA middleweight title in Montana. Fullmer
was lucky to get the draw . In 1962, he defeated Henry
Hank (51-13-3), in Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year. The
following year, he defeated the legendary Sugar Ray
Robinson( 154-12-3), to earn the Tiger title fight. He was
inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 1993 and
later into the World Boxing Hall of Fame. 
#3
Harold Johnson: 87 total bouts, 76-11 (32). Johnson won
the NBA world light heavyweight title in 1961 by stopping
Jesse Bowdry in Miami Beach. Johnson defeated Hall of
Famer Archie Moore in 1951 for his lone victory in five
meetings between the two. In their fifth match and only
title bout, Johnson was ahead on the scorecards when he was
stopped in the 14th round. In 1953, he defeated
former heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles (81-9-1) in
Philadelphia. After winning the NBA title he made four
successful title defenses and defeated the top heavyweight
contender Eddie Machen (37-3-1). In two of his defenses he
defeated Doug Jones (19-1) at home, and European champion
Gustav “Bubi” Scholz (85-1-6) in Germany. In 1963, Johnson
lost his title on a disputed decision to Willie Pastrano
(57-11-8), in what boxing film historian Jim Jacobs called
the worst decision he ever saw. Johnson was inducted into
the International Hall of Fame in 1993.
#2
Tommy Loughran, 'The Phantom of Philly': 175 total
bouts, 109-30-11-25 (17). Loughran won the NYSAC
light heavyweight title in 1927 over Mike McTigue. That
same year he won the world light heavyweight title over
Jimmy Slattery. He had a previous win over Georges
Carpentier, in 1926 before more than 30,000 people in
Philadelphia. In 1929, he defended his title by defeating
Mickey Walker, and future world heavyweight champion, Jimmy
Braddock. After the Braddock fight, Loughran campaigned as
a heavyweight and eventually challenged Primo Carnera for
the championship. He gave away 84 pounds, and lost the fight
by decision. In 1922 at the age of 19, Tommy lost to Harry
Greb in their first meeting. He had only lost once in his
previous 43 fights. He won one out of three in 1923 to
Greb, and a drew with him 1924. In his next fight, he drew
with future world champion Gene Tunney. In 1927, he
reversed a decision loss to Young Stribling. In 1931, he
defeated future world champion Max Bear, and in 1933, former
champion Jack Sharkey. Loughran was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. 
#1
Smokin' Joe Frazier: 37 Total bouts, 32-4-1 (27).
Frazier won the world heavyweight championship in 1970
stopping Jimmy Ellis, 27-5, who had won the tournament after
Ali’s title was vacated. Smokin' Joe had four successful
title defenses, including one against light heavyweight
champion Bob Foster, and a returning Ali, in the first bout
of their legendary series. In 1968, he won the NYSAC title
stopping Buster Mathis, 23-0. He had four successful
defenses including wins over Oscar Bonavena and Jerry Quarry
before meeting Ellis. He lost his title to George Foreman
in 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, after winning his first 29
bouts. Frazier was the 1964 Olympic Gold medalist at the
Tokyo Games. He was inducted into the International Boxing
Hall of Fame in 1990.