A list of 'name' fighters beaten, i.e., ones who were rated in the RING's top ten at one point or another (although, apart from a few exceptions, they were mostly rated at or near the time he beat them): Spider Armstrong Pedro Hernandez x2 Bobby Ivy Vince Dell'Orto x2 Bill Speary x2 Allie Stolz Sal Bartolo x3 Jackie Wilson x2 Willie Roache x2 Willie Joyce Lulu Constantino Joey Peralta Charley Lewis x3 Phil Terranova Jackie Graves Lefty LaChance x2 Humberto Sierra x2 Jock Leslie Miguel Avacedo Teddy Davis x3 Paddy DeMarco Eddie Compo Harold Dade Charley Riley Ray Famechon Bobby Bell x2 Carlos Chavez Eddie Chavez Baby Neff Ortiz Rodolfo Gonzales Gil Cadilli Chalky Wright x4 Manuel Ortiz Sandy Saddler The separate section consists of Hall of Famers. It's worth noting that many of the fighters he beat were heavier than him by nearly a full division. As you can see, he clearly belongs south of history's best, probably more towards the #50 mark.
I think Chalky Wright was a better fighter than he gets credit for. Most people just seem to know him as the guy was unfortunate enough to fight in the same era and division as the great Willie Pep.
Slightly off-topic but does anyone else rate Chalky Wright (a featherweight) going to a majority decision against Cocoa Kid (welterweight/middleweight) a pretty solid achievement? Cocoa Kid was coming off a 15 round decision win over Holman Williams for the coloured welterweight title. Here's an article about the LaMotta-Robinson bout which includes a brief mention of Chalky Wright vs Cocoa Kid: http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=3413,6998144&dq=cocoa+kid+chalky+wright Wright fought several other welterweights as well. Seemed like he didn't care about such minor things as a 20 pound weight advantage.
Manassa i never know when you are joking or not i was about to lay in some tirade why Pep is so good.
Nah I was just playing on the notion, and I've heard people say it, that Pep fought nothing but cab drivers. His record clearly shows a large number of worthwhile scalps, and it makes it all the more notable that half of them outweighed him.