Just wondering, what are the best fighters came from both of these states and what are the possible matchups that could happen between them?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Boxers_from_Philadelphia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Boxers_from_Chicago To help your thread mate.
I think Philly gets the nod but this list is pretty funny: Ali was from Louisville, Tex Cobb is from Texas (what gave it away, lol), Ezzard Charles was born in Georgia and grew up in Cincinnati (he wasn’t the Chicago Cobra, haha), etc.
They were all Chicago Golden Gloves champions. The Chicago Golden Gloves was a big deal back in those days. https://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Category:Chicago_Golden_Gloves_Champions&from=C
They're both cities, not states. Best boxers in Chicago would have to be Barney Ross, Packey McFarland, Jackie Fields From Philadelphia are Bernard Hopkins, Jack O Brien and Joe Frazier.
Also from Chicago- Ernie Terrell , Eddie Perkins, Sammy Mandel, Harold Dade, Johnny Coulon, Ken Norton. stay safe buddy.
There's a lot of fighters who are "Philly fighters" who weren't born here. Frazier and Liston were from the south somewhere originally. Then you got guys from NJ like qawi but they came across the river to train and were Philly fighters for their early careers.
Did a boxer have to be living in Chicago to compete in the GG there? A lot of bigger GG tournaments back int the day attracted fighters from all over. They were regional or semi-national in some cases. I don’t know if it’s still going but there was a huge one at the Ohio State Fair that drew guys from across the country.
Michael Spinks is another one. Moved to Philly to turn pro and fought his whole career living in Philly before moving to Delaware.
Giardello was from Brooklyn. I believe he moved to Cherry Hill during his career after being in Philly a few years.