THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
fighters named Kid Midget. Meanwhile, a 1934 boxing show in Waycross, Georgia, featured a four-rounder between Kid Pork Chops and Kid T-Bone. Chops won. There was Harry “Kid” Matthews, a popular Seattle fighter of the 1940s and 1950s, and Kid Marcel, a French middleweight who was stopped in five by Ray Robinson. There was two-time welterweight champion Benny “Kid” Paret of Cuba and featherweight champion Hogan “Kid” Bassey of Nigeria. Bassey said at the height of his fame in 1958, “All good fighters are named ‘Kid,’ so they call me ‘Kid’ too.” By Bassey’s time, though, the Kid name was already shrouded in nostalgia. It recalled the old
junior flyweight title in 2009. There was also Almazbek Raiymkulov, a lightweight contender from Kyrgyzstan who followed the custom of simplifying his birth name and went by “Kid Diamond.” There are even some new Kids on the block, from Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield to Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia. The name lives on. To call yourself Kid is to uphold one of boxing’s oldest traditions. No list of fighters named Kid would be complete without a mention of Kid Goose Egg, of Chihuahua, Mexico. The shamefully underappreciated Kid Goose Egg fought only once, on October 28, 1917, at the famous Plaza de Toros in Juarez. He scored a KO victory over Kid Johnson. The co-main event featured another
KIDS IN THE HALL The International Boxing Hall of Fame has honored quite a few Kids. Here’s a baker’s dozen to prove the name was sometimes aligned with greatness.
Baltimore Tiger,” he served as bantamweight champion from 1914 to 1917. Birth name: Jonathon Gutenko
Pete “Kid” Herman (Inducted 1997): A former New Orleans shoeshine boy who won the bantamweight championship from Kid Williams in 1917, Herman crammed 144fights into a 10-year career, beating such stars as Joe Lynch and Jimmy Wilde. Birth name: Peter Gulotta.
Kid Gavilan (Inducted 1990): The master of the bolo punch and one of the fight game’s most
George “Kid” Lavigne (Inducted 1998): Also known as “The Saginaw Kid,” Lavigne won the lightweight championship of America in 1894 and the world title in 1896, a distinction he held until 1899. Fighting in the early days of gloved boxing, Lavigne’s record is generally
memorable personalities, Cuba’s Gavilan was welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954 and retired with a record of 108-30-5, with 28 KOs. Birth name: Gerardo Gonzalez. Kid Chocolate (Inducted 1991): Undefeated in his first 56 fights, the “Cuban Bon-Bon” put up a sterling
given as 35-6-11, with 21 KOs and five no-decisions. His February 1889 bout with George Siddons lasted more than five hours.
Antonio Cervantes, “Kid Pambele” (Inducted 1998): Colombia’s most revered boxer, Cervantes’ epic career included wins over Nicolino Locche, Esteban De Jesus, and Saul Mamby. He
record of 136-10-6 with 51 KOs. He won The Ring and NBA world junior lightweight championships in 1931, becoming the first Cuban to win a world title. He won the vacant Ring and NYSAC featherweight championship on October 13, 1932. Birth name: Eligio Sardinias Montalvo. Charles “Kid” McCoy (Inducted 1991): One of boxing’s most controversial characters, McCoy fought from 1891 to 1912. Though more than 100 fighters went by “Kid McCoy,” this one was the real McCoy. He won more than 70 bouts and earned recognition as middleweight champion in 1896. Birth name: Norman Selby. Ted “Kid” Lewis (Inducted 1992): At one time considered the best fighter to come out of the United Kingdom, Lewis won several titles in Europe, as well as the world welterweight title in 1915 and again in 1917. Competing in 300 or so fights, Lewis was best known for a 20-bout series with Jack Britton, and for helping introduce the mouthpiece. Birth name: Gershon Mendeloff Jack “Kid” Berg (Inducted 1994): Known as “The Whitechapel Whirlwind,” Berg was junior welterweight champion from 1930 to 1931. After 192 bouts, Berg retired with a record of 157-26- 9, with 61 KOs. He won two decisions over Kid Chocolate in the ultimate Kid vs. Kid bouts. Birth name: Judah Bergman. Kid Williams (Inducted 1996): More than 150 fighters went by the name Kid Williams, but the Hall of Famer was a Denmark- born boxer who appeared in more than 200 bouts. Dubbed “The
Ted “Kid” Lewis
made 16 successful title defenses over two junior welterweight championship reigns and retired with a record of 67-12-1, with 37 KOs. Dixie Kid (Inducted 2002): There were 30 or more “Dixie Kids,” but only one made it to the IBHOF. He appeared in more than 160 bouts during the 1900-1920 period, facing such legends as Sam Langford and Barbados Joe Walcott. Birth name: Aaron Lister Brown. Louis “Kid” Kaplan (Inducted 2003): Ukrainian-born but fighting out of Connecticut, this energetic crowd-pleaser fought from 1918 to 1933, scoring more than 100 victories. In 1925, he won the vacant NYSAC and inaugural Ring featherweight championships by stopping Danny Kramer in nine rounds at Madison Square Garden. Kid Norfolk (Inducted 2007): This Kid claimed the “colored” light heavyweight title in 1921 after beating the Jamaica Kid. In upwards of 150 fights, his opponents included Harry Greb, Battling Siki, and Harry Wills. Birth name: William Ward. Cocoa Kid (Inducted 2012): In a pro career spanning nearly 250 bouts, this Puerto Rican of African descent fought some of the best men of the 1930s and ’40s, including Archie Moore and Charley Burley. He was recognized as the “colored champion” at both welterweight and middleweight. Birth name: Herbert Lewis Hardwick.
Countless Kids adorned The Ring’s covers in past decades.
days of dusty arenas and fights that lasted 20 rounds. You might see a shabby figure outside a fight club, his hand out, and hear someone say, “That’s Kid So-and-So” before rushing over to slip him a buck. As Delaware columnist Bill Schellhammer wrote in 1973, “One always has regard for any fighter called ‘Kid,’ no matter how cauliflowered his ears.” The greatest Kid of them all may have been Kid Chocolate of Havana, Cuba, a flashy featherweight who fought during the 1920s and ’30s. He was so well regarded that upward of 120 fighters had the balls to swipe both ends of his name, brazenly calling themselves “Kid Chocolate.” These bogus Kid Chocolates turned up everywhere, from South Carolina to South Africa, including 20
Chihuahua fighter, Kid Blue. He fought a 10-round draw with One Round Norman of New Mexico. Think of it. One night of boxing. Four fighters. Three of the four were named Kid. That’s how it went back then, and for a long time afterward. Who is this writer’s favorite Kid? Well, I’d cast my vote for a Panamanian flyweight known as Kid Danger. Like the aforementioned Goose Egg, Kid Danger fought only once, at the Excelsior Theater in Panama City in November 1922. He won a four-round decision over Kid Huerta and never fought again. He retired with a perfect record of 1-0. Kid Danger, this one’s for you, and for all the Kids of the past. And to those who might use the name in the future, we can only say: “Go get ’em, Kid!”
or more dubbed “Young Kid Chocolate” or “Baby Kid Chocolate.” Perhaps fearing copyright infringement, there were another 10 or so who went by “Chocolate Kid.” In recent decades, William Guthrie, who briefly held the IBF light heavyweight title in 1997- 1998, and Peter Quillin, who had a good middleweight run in the 2005- 2015 era, borrowed the Kid Chocolate name. Quillin would throw handfuls of Hershey’s Kisses to his fans. Other Kids of a more recent vintage would include Rodel “Kid Rapido” Mayol, a Filipino who won the WBC
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