Robert Cohen (15 November 1930 – 2 March 2022) was a French boxer. Cohen was World Bantamweight Champion from 1954 to 1956. He was managed by Robert (Bobby) Diamond, and Gaston Charles-Raymond.
Early life and amateur career Cohen was born in Bône, a port city in French Algeria, on 15 November 1930 to a Sephardi Jewish family in a French territory that would soon suffer from the shadow of the Pro-Nazi Vichy regime. Though the family survived the Holocaust, Cohen's father had little wish for his son to pursue a career in boxing. Robert would sometimes escape the house using the window to watch his older brother Léon earn a living boxing. Entering the French Amateur Championships after winning an Algerian title in 1950, he was beaten in the finals by Jacques Dumesnil. The following year he lost the finals again to Joseph Perez, but caught the attention of European promoter Charles Raymond who offered to manage him.Blady, Ken, The Jewish Boxer's Hall of Fame, (1984) Shapolsky Brothers, New York, New York, pg. 284-88
Professional career Cohen, who at 5' 3-1/2", was a short but muscular champion, won the French bantamweight title in November 1953 and the European championship in January 1954.
Between September 1951 and May 1954, Cohen won a remarkable 34 of 37 fights, losing only one to Robert Munier in Paris, France, and drawing twice.
On 20 October 1952, he defeated Theo Medina in a ten-round points decision in Paris. Andre Valignat fell to Cohen on November 17, 1952 in another ten round points decision. Cohen upset Jean Snyers, winning a ten-round points decision in Paris on 23 February 1953."Europe Ring Pilots Duck Basset Bout", Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona, pg. 25, 25 February 1953
He defeated Pappy Gault on 15 April 1953 in a ten-round points decision in Paris, before a crowd of 8,000."2 U.S. Fighters Lose Amid Arguments with French Ref", The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, pg. 18, 16 April 1953
French and European bantam champ On 6 November 1953, Cohen defeated French bantamweight champion Maurice Sandeyron easily taking the title in a fifteen-round bout in Paris, having beaten Sandeyron earlier on 19 January in a ninth-round knockout in a non-title bout. A religious Jew, one source noted that he briefly attended a Synagogue the morning of the match.
Cohen defeated Jake Tuli on 14 December 1953, in Manchester, Lancashire, England, in ten rounds.
Before a crowd of 20,000, on 27 February 1954, Cohen took the European Bantamweight Title, defeating John Kelly in a third-round knockout in Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland, Ulster. Cohen knocked Kelly to the mat for counts of four, seven and six in the second round. Kelly was down again at the end of the second from a right hook shortly before the bell. Thirty seconds into the third, Kelly went down for the full count from a right to the jaw."Cohen Posts KO For European Bantam Title", The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania, pg. 41, 28 February 1954
World bantam champ On 19 September 1954, he won the vacant World bantamweight title in a fifteen-round split decision in Bangkok, Thailand, against police Lieutenant Chamroem Songkitrat. An enormous crowd of 60,000 that included the King and Queen of Thailand watched the bloody contest. Cohen was left with a badly sprained or broken wrist in the fifth and his opponent with a broken nose. Cohen was formerly the European Bantamweight Champion."French Boxer Gains World Bantam Title", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, pg. 21, 20 September 1954"Robert Cohen May Make First Bantam Defense Here", Dixon Evening Telegraph, Dixon, Illinois, pg. 8, 20 September 1954 Later that year, his marriage took place at the Synagogue de la rue des Tournelles, in Paris, presided by Rabbi David Feuerwerker.
On 20 December 1954, he defeated Roy Ankrah in a fourth-round technical knockout in Paris.
Stripped of World bantam title On 23 December 1954, Cohen was stripped of his title by the National Boxing Association for failing to defend it within 90 days against Raul "Raton" Macias. Few sanctioning bodies other than the NBA recognized Macias as the World Champion."NBA Strips Cohen of Ring Crown", Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii, pg. 10, 24 December 1954 Both the New York State Athletic Commission and the European Boxing Union continued to recognize Cohen as champion. On 11 December 1955 Cohen lost in a ten-round technical knockout against French featherweight champion Cherif Hamia before a crowd of 14,000. Cohen was down for an eight count in the second from a right cross to the jaw and was down again in the seventh from a right hook."Hamia in Upset Nod Over Cohen", Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada, pg. 11, 14 December 1955 The referee ended the bout 1:27 into the tenth round, when Cohen's left brow was injured by a left from Hamia."Champion Fails", The Age, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, pg. 22, 12 December 1955Hamia Stops Robert Cohen", Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona, pg. 27, 11 December 1955 Some time after the bout, Cohen was severely injured in an automobile accident, and suffered a broken jaw. He attempted to defend his title, but the injury shortened his career.
On 3 September 1955, he drew with Willie Toweel in a fifteen-round world bantamweight title bout in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cohen dropped Toweel three times in the second and put him down for a no count in the tenth. Toweel had never been knocked to the mat in a previous bout."Robert Cohen Retains Bantamweight Crown", Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut, pg. 51, 4 September 1955 In a brutal bout, Cohen was deeply fatigued by the end of the match.Cohen dazed and staggered in "Cohen is Held to a Draw By Willie Toweel", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, pg. 45, 4 September 1955
Cohen lost a title bout to Mario D'Agata on 29 June 1956 before a crowd of 38,000, in a seventh-round technical knockout in Rome. D'Agata dropped Cohen to the mat for a nine count near the end of the sixth. After the sixth ended, the referee stopped the fight due to a serious gash over the left brow of Cohen. D'Agata appeared superior in the in-fighting, and many of Cohen's blows were wide of his mark. America's National Boxing Association (NBA) did not recognize the match as a title bout, though nearly every other world boxing organization did."D'Agata Beats Robert Cohen", The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, FLorida, pg. 6, 30 June 1956 Only a year and a half earlier, D'Agata had been injured by a shotgun blast."D'Agata And Macias Showdown is Planned", The Terre Haute Tribune, Terre Haute, Indiana, pg. 7, 30 June 1956"Italian Deaf Mute Slugs to World Bantamweight Title", Casper Morning Star, Casper, Wyoming, pg. 22, 30 June 1956
His professional record over 43 bouts was 36 wins (14 KOs), 4 losses, and 3 draws.
Life after boxing Cohen retired after his fight with Mario D'Agata, and a comeback attempt three years later against Peter Locke in July 1959.
Suffering from injuries, he retired from boxing in the 1960s, and moved with his wife, Zita, to the Congo-Brazzaville and began working in his father-in-law's textile and retail business. Unhappy in the textile business, he opened a boxing gym with some success, but his best boxers left for Europe after it was nationalized, and he left the gym.
In the 1980s Cohen managed a textile import and export business in Brussels, Belgium.
His biography, Gambuch, a book written by Michel Rosenzweig was published in 2012 by the widely-known French publisher L'Harmattan. A movie of Cohen's life, produced by Shanghai-based Italian entrepreneur Jonathan L. Hasson, was in production in 2012.
Cohen died on 2 March 2022, at the age of 91.
Hall of Fame Cohen, who was Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes43Loss36–4–3 Peter LockPTS10Jul 13, 1959 42Loss36–3–3 Mario D'AgataTKO7 (15)Jun 29, 1956 41Loss36–2–3 Cherif HamiaTKO10 (10)Dec 10, 1955 40Draw36–1–3 Willie ToweelPTS15Sep 3, 1955 39Win36–1–2 Roy AnkrahTKO4 (10)Dec 20, 1954 38Win35–1–2 Chamroen SongkitratSD15Sep 19, 1954 37Win34–1–2 Mario D'AgataUD10May 15, 1954 36Win33–1–2 Manny Kid FrancisPTS10Apr 30, 1954 35Win32–1–2 Eddie CarsonPTS10Apr 7, 1954 34Win31–1–2 John KellyKO3 (15)Feb 27, 1954 33Win30–1–2 Jake TuliPTS10Dec 14, 1953 32Win29–1–2 Maurice SandeyronPTS15Nov 6, 1953 31Win28–1–2 Dante BiniPTS10Oct 17, 1953 30Win27–1–2 Teddy PeckhamRTD6 (10)Sep 25, 1953 29Draw26–1–2 Gaetano AnnaloroPTS10May 31, 1953 28Win26–1–1 Pappy GaultPTS10Apr 15, 1953 27Draw25–1–1 Jean SneyersPTS10Mar 28, 1953 26Win25–1 Gaetano AnnaloroPTS10Mar 19, 1953 25Win24–1 Jean SneyersPTS10Feb 23, 1953 24Win23–1 Maurice SandeyronRTD9 (10)Jan 19, 1953 23Win22–1 Marcel MathieuRTD7 (10)Dec 19, 1952 22Win21–1 Andre ValignatPTS10Nov 17, 1952 21Win20–1 Theo MedinaPTS10Oct 20, 1952 20Win19–1 Dante BiniPTS10Oct 2, 1952 19Win18–1 Roland GibertKO1 (8)Sep 18, 1952 18Win17–1 Tino CardinalePTS8Jun 30, 1952 17Win16–1 Andre JasseRTD9 (10)May 31, 1952 16Win15–1 Robert MeunierRTD8 (8)May 15, 1952 15Win14–1 Robert GarciaPTS8Apr 5, 1952 14Win13–1 Felix VanderdonckTKO4 (8)Mar 17, 1952 13Win12–1 Robert LefuevrePTS8Feb 25, 1952 12Win11–1 Jean BinetPTS10Feb 3, 1952 11Win10–1 Georges LafagePTS6Jan 19, 1952 10Win9–1 Edmond MolettoPTS8Jan 5, 1952 9Win8–1 Lucien GougelinPTS8Dec 29, 1951 8Win7–1 Michel MartinTKO8 (8)Dec 16, 1951 7Loss6–1 Robert MeunierPTS8Dec 2, 1951 6Win6–0 Sideki YansanneTKO6 (6)Nov 4, 1951 5Win5–0 Florent DruartTKO5 (6)Oct 17, 1951 4Win4–0 Henri PageotKO5 (6)Oct 11, 1951 3Win3–0 Emile CordillotPTS6Sep 26, 1951 2Win2–0 Francis PandocchiPTS6Sep 20, 1951 1Win1–0 Leon GaucheTKO2 (6)Sep 12, 1951
Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC bantamweight champion (118 lbs) NBA (WBA) bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
The Ring magazine titles The Ring bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
Regional/International titles France bantamweight champion (118 lbs) European bantamweight champion (118 lbs)
Undisputed titles Undisputed bantamweight champion
See also List of bantamweight boxing champions List of select Jewish boxers
References
External links BoxRec bio When a Cohen was the world champion boxer at The Jewish Chronicle
Robert Cohen - CBZ Profile