LEWIS, TED

LEWIS, TED (Gershon Mendeloff ; "Kid," "Aldgate Sphinx"; 1894–1970), U.S. boxer, world welterweight champion 1915–16, 1917–19; member of the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame and International Boxing Hall of Fame. One of the greatest English fighters, Lewis was born the fourth of eight children to Solomon, a poor Russian immigrant cabinetmaker in London's East End, dropping out of school at 12 to help the family with its income. Lewis began his professional career as a bantam-weight on September 13, 1909, six weeks before his 15^th birthday, hence the nickname "Kid." He fought for two decades in six weight classes, and he fought often – in 1941 alone he fought 58 times, losing only 3, and 39 more times in 1912 with only 4 losses. While it is difficult to gauge the exact number of fights Lewis fought, boxrec.com accounts for 302, with Lewis winning 230 including 80 by knockout, losing 43, and drawing 22, with seven no-contests. Overall Lewis fought an estimated 400 fights. On October 6, 1913, Lewis won the British featherweight title, and he became the world welterweight champion at 21 with a win over Jack Britton on August 31, 1915. Lewis and Britton had one of the 20^th century's greatest ring rivalries, fighting each other 20 times – six times for the title, which changed hands four times – over a six-year span for a total of 224 rounds. Lewis also lost a controversial light heavyweight title bout to Georges Carpentier on May 11, 1922, when Carpentier knocked out Lewis while the referee was still pulling the fighters apart. Nat Fleischer ranked Lewis as the #4 all-time welterweight. Lewis was the first fighter to use a protective mouthpiece, which was developed by his dentist. He is the subject of a biography written by his son Morton, Ted Kid Lewis: His Life and Times (1990). Lewis was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1964, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

[Elli Wohlgelernter (2^nd ed.)]