Fighter of the Year of 1930

Cheers, everyone.

We are now back to the "Fighter of the Year" series that I interrupted a few months ago.
This time, we travel to the year of 1930 to visit the best boxing records built in those months of fistic action.

According to the "Ring Magazine" the fighter of the year of 1930 was the great Max Schmeling.
Of all the fighters that built amazing records during the course of that year, was the great "Der schwarze Uhle vom Rhein" the one with the best resume? Let's find out, shall we?


Max Schmeling: 1-0-0;
One fight, one win, World Champion.
The Heavyweight division was without a champion since Gene Tunney had retired 2 years before. A fight between Max and Sharkey was very much necessary by now as the entire World was asking for a new undisputed number one in the heaviest class of all.
Everything was aligned and in favor of a clash between these two greats of the Fistiana and thus, in the Ides of March, the fight was scheduled for June 12.
In the "Battle of the Continents" in front of more than 70 thousand people at the Yankee Stadium, New York City, U.S.A. Jack Sharkey hit Schmeling with a low blow in the 4th round and the action was stopped. Max Schmeling was then crowned the first ever Heavyweight Champion of the World to become so... on a foul. Sure in the next day he was already known as the "Low Blow Champ" but we cannot say that without spelling "Champ" can we?

Young Corbett III: 7-0-0;
Coming from a fantastic 1929, Raffaele continued his unbeatable streak this year and in great fashion.
Beating two Champions of the World in Jackie Fields and Young Jack Thompson would be enough to make the great Rioneresi lefty a solid contender for fighter of the year.
Now, if one add tough warriors such as Babe Anderson, Alf Ros, Andy DiVodi, Sammy Jackson and Farmer Joe Cooper to the mix, what we have... is a legendary year.
Bravissimo!

Tony Canzoneri: 11-2-0;
Tony started the year with a loss against the immortal Jack "Kid" Berg, in one of the greatest beatings the legendary "Mechanic" ever took, if not the greatest.
Like a true ATG, Canzoneri proceeded to a vicious winning streak of 10 fights, where he collected victories over the likes of Stanislaus Loayza, Frankie La Fay, Johnny Farr and the greats Joe Glick and Benny Bass, among others. He then lost to another legend in Billy Petrolle in a very close contest, and ended the year with a win over another great and current Champion of the World, Al Singer. With that win in December, Tony Canzoneri became the new Lightweight Champion of the World and a two divisions World Champion as well.
What a year!

Billy Petrolle: 14-2-0;
Like Canzoneri, the "Fargo Express" also started the year with a loss (against the experienced Jacky Purvis) and - also like the former - he was also defeated by no other than Jack "Kid" Berg.
Continuing in the same track as Tony, Billy Petrolle proceeded to an impressive winning streak of his own (12 wins in a row) the last of those against Canzoneri himself.
In one of the best years ever of the great Fargo warrior, he managed to beat another legendary fighter in Jimmy McLarnin, adding to this yearly list other great names such as Spug Meyers, Johnny Curtin and Frankie La Fay.
What an Express!

Jack "Kid" Berg: 11-0-0;
In the words of Black Francis: "Here Comes Your Man".
Crowned Light Welterweight Champion of the World after stopping Mushy Callahan early in the year in London, Jack added 3 successful title defenses in the following months by beating Joe Glick, Al Delmont and Buster Brown.
As if that was not enough, the "Whitechapel Wizard" also beaten Tony Canzoneri in what was his most impressive win of the year and one of the most impressive results ever in the Sport. He also beaten the undefeated Kid Chocolate, Billy Petrolle and Joe Glick one more time, building an impressive body of wins in such a short period of time;
Without a doubt, this was the greatest year ever of the "Kid" and a legendary year in the History of the Sweet Science.
Shalom!

Jackie Fields: 11-2-0;
Loosing the Championship of the World on points to Young Jack Thompson and in another bout to Young Corbett III also on points, is no shame for anyone.
If one start to add his victories over Vince Dundee, Alf Ros, Tommy Freeman, Meyer Grace, Sam Bruce and Bucky Lawless, we realize that 1930 was, after all, a great year for Jackie Fields.

Benny Bass: 9-5-1;
The "Little Fish" lost to Sammy Fuller, Eddie Shea, Tony Canzoneri, Tony Cello and Mike Dundee.
The draw was against Cowboy Eddie Anderson.
Speaking of the cowboy, Benny also beaten him twice during this year. He scored other victories over the likes of Johnny Jadick, Lew Massey, David Abad and Joey Goodman.
Maybe not his best year, but what a year it was, nonetheless.

Maxie Rosenbloom: 11-0-1-1;
His draw was against the very experienced Leo Lomski in their rematch of that year, while the No-Contest was declared after Paul Swidersky was disqualified when "Slapsie" was way ahead on points.
The highlight of the year for Maxie was clearly his victory over Jimmy Slattery at his own home turf, that ended the dispute of who was in fact the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Rosenbloom proceeded to a successful title defense against Abie Bain, and added names such as Leo Lomski (in their first fight of the year in early January), Ace Hudkins, Harry Fuller and Patsy Perroni, among others.
As usual, "Slapsie" the ATG just couldn't live without building another fantastic yearly record.

Battling Battalino: 9-7-0;
If anyone had a tough year, that one was Christopher Battaglia.
In just the 4th year of his professional career, "Batt" went on to have 2 fights against Charles "Bud" Taylor (1-1), Bushy Graham (victory), Louis "Kid" Kaplan (loss), Lew Massey (1-1), Cecil Payne (2 losses) and still got time to knockout Ignacio Fernandez for the Featherweight Championship of the World and to successfully defend the crown against no other than Kid Chocolate.
Bravo!

Jimmy McLarnin: 3-1-0;
Loss to Billy Petrolle in a fight where the "Baby Face" hurt his right hand, forcing him to stop fighting for the next few months.
His 3 wins were against Sammy Mandell, Young Jack Thompson and Al Singer.
Really, what else could anyone ask of this crazy Irish?
Sláinte!

Kid Chocolate: 9-3-0;
Imagine starting the year flooring Vic Burrone 6 times in Havana, Cuba and finish the year in a World Title fight at the Madison Square Garden in New York City against Battling Battalino. Looks like the kind of stuff only at the reach of Sergio Montalvo, a.k.a. "Kid Chocolate", a.k.a. the "Cuban Bon Bon".
Yes, he lost that fight after 15 rounds, but he also floored "Batt" in the 1st round and won the fight on the eyes of many observers.
His other losses of the year were against Fidel La Barba and off course, to Jack "Kid" Berg who was fuming and beating everyone during the entire year.
What about his wins?
Let's start with Al Ridgeway who was dropped 4 times for the count of 9. Let's add Dominick Petrone with another stoppage, this time in 6 and Vic Burrone again, who came back to get smoked in 3. He then went on to outpoint the experient Luigi Quadrini and to annihilate Benny Nabors and Mickey Doyle, both in the opening round. You mix all this togheter and you get a massive anti-diabetic chocolate cake of ring destruction.
Bom apetite!

Sammy Mandell: 8-4-2;
The "Rockfort Sheik" had another busy year.
After scoring draws against Quintero and Grogan, he went on to lose against the great Jimmy McLarnin, to Al Singer in a Lightweight World Title fight and to Halaiko and Strub.
At first sight, it doesn't look much although there's a Title fight in the mix. However, to be able to score 8 wins against tough cookies with lot's of ring experience such as Joey Goodman, Pee Wee Jarrell, Tommy Herman, Spug Meyers and Tony Ligouri in the middle of such a busy year, is clearly of noting.

Fidel LaBarba: 9-1-1;
Loss to Eddie Shea and got a controversial draw against Earl Mastro.
Scored wins against great names of the sport such as Charles Bud Taylor (twice), Kid Chocolate and Bushy Graham and also against real tough opposition such as Charley Sullivan, Santiago Zorrilla, Tommy Paul and Ignacio Fernandez.
A tough year, passed in great style.

Eddie Shea: 17-2-1;
What an extraordinary year by Nazzario D'Onofrio.
Beaten the Junior Lightweight Champion of the World Benny Bass, followed by wins over the likes of Billy de Foe (KO in 2), Ray McIntyre (KO in 1), Johnny Datto (lights out in 4) and Fidel LaBarba, on points.
The 2 losses were against Lew Massey (against whom Eddie also got a draw) and Allen Whitlow.
In one word: Impressive!

Al Singer: 6-2-0;
In a year with 8 fights, Al managed to be part of 3 extraordinary battles.
The first, is one of the strongest candidates for Upset of the Year. The "Battling Bronco of the Bronx" knocked down the Lightweight Champion of the World Sammy Mandell an impressive 3 times before knocking him out for good, all in the first round. Can't imagine a better way to win a World Title!
The second one, was right in his next fight that ended with his loss in just 3 rounds against Jimmy McLarnin.
The third one, was the loss of the World Title by KO in the first round against Tony Canzoneri. Can't imagine a worse way to lose a World Title!
From the Earth to the Stars and back again.

There are other fighters with good records in this year, such as Earl Mastro, Vince Dundee, Billy Jones, Lou Brouillard, Panama Al Brown, Midget Wolgast or Tony Herrera. I just selected those I consider to have a more pertinent record for the discussion of Fighter of the Year of 1930.


I'm sure that some names are missing in this thread. May God forgive me if you cannot.

Please, feel free to participate.

Peace