Waldemar Birger Holberg (29 May 1883 – 16 March 1947) was a Danish boxer. Born in Copenhagen, he won the World Welterweight Championship on January 1, 1914, defeating Ray Bronson in Melbourne, Australia in a twenty round points decision. He was a fierce boxer with a KO percentage of 40% in the virtually complete boxing record displayed on BoxRec.

Boxing career Prior to his entry into the Olympics, Holberg was a five time amateur champion of Denmark. He won the featherweight division in 1902, and the lightweight division in 1903, 1905, 1907, and 1908. He qualified for the 1908 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated in the first round after losing to future welterweight world champion Matt Wells.

After the Olympics, Holberg turned professional making his debut in Denmark. He had a number of wins in Denmark and Germany but moved to England in 1912. After losing two bouts on disqualification, Holberg moved to Australia in 1913 fighting for the Australian lightweight title.

Taking the Australian version of the world welterweight title

He had limited success in Australia, losing 6 out of 9 matches but on New Years Day, 1914 met American Ray Bronson in Melbourne in a bout recognized by the Australian boxing authorities as a World Welterweight title. Holberg won easily on points after 20 rounds. He held the title for only twenty-three days, losing it in Melbourne to Irishman Tom McCormick in a sixth round foul on January 24. By several accounts, Holberg sometimes fought with questionable tactics, and had lost five previous fights to fouls. For some reason, McCormick is more often recognized as a world welterweight boxing champion than Holberg."Ray Bronson Loses", The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, pg. 8, 2 January 1914

After having lost the world title, he returned to Denmark only to lose two matches in Copenhagen to Danish veteran Dick Nelson on December 2, 1914, and February 14, 1915, one for the Scandinavian Welterweight title. Holberg had his last professional fight on August 29, 1921 when he was stopped in Vienna by Austrian Hans Hirschberger. Holberg retired from professional boxing in 1921 after his loss to Hirschberger.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes70Loss39–27–4 Hans HirschbergerTKO9 (15)Aug 29, 1921 69Loss39–26–4 Willi SpoeriTKO7 (10)Jul 7, 1921 68Win39–25–4 Holger HansenPTS12Feb 22, 1921 67Loss38–25–4 Emanuel JacobsenDQ5 (15)Sep 13, 1919 66Win38–24–4 Johan EkerothDQ15 (20)Aug 1, 1919 65Loss37–24–4 Georg BrustadPTS15May 26, 1919 64Win37–23–4 Johan EkerothPTS10Feb 2, 1919 63Win36–23–4 Holger HansenTKO7 (?)Dec 15, 1918 62Win35–23–4 Fred BostonKO6 (?)Nov 2, 1918 61Win34–23–4 Dick NelsonPTS15Apr 9, 1918 60Win33–23–4 Frithjof HansenKO3 (15)Feb 26, 1918 59Win32–23–4 Sam BrownKO11 (?)Jan 22, 1918 58Win31–23–4 Willy CarlsenKO2 (?)Nov 18, 1917 57Win30–23–4 Johan EkerothTKO11 (?)Jun 6, 1917 56Win29–23–4 Calle SvenssonTKO7 (?)Sep 24, 1916 55Win28–23–4 Calle SvenssonPTS10Sep 10, 1916 54Win27–23–4 Emil KjellbergTKO7 (12)Aug 11, 1916 53Loss26–23–4 Jack Kid GreenstockPTS10Feb 21, 1916 52Loss26–22–4 Willie FarrellTKO7 (15)Jan 3, 1916 51Loss26–21–4 Willie FarrellPTS15Oct 7, 1915 50Loss26–20–4 Billy WilliamsPTS20Jul 19, 1915 49Loss26–19–4 Jim PrendyPTS20Jun 12, 1915 48Loss26–18–4 Dai RobertsKO7 (?)Apr 24, 1915 47Win26–17–4 Young NipperPTS10Apr 12, 1915 46Loss25–17–4 Sapper McNeilDQ13 (?)Mar 20, 1915 45Loss25–16–4 Dick NelsonKO15 (20)Feb 14, 1915 44Loss25–15–4 Dick NelsonPTS20Dec 6, 1914 43Loss25–14–4 Tom McCormickDQ6 (20)Jan 24, 1914 42Win25–13–4 Ray BronsonPTS20Jan 1, 1914 41Loss24–13–4 Alf GoodwinDQ14 (20)Dec 20, 1913 40Win24–12–4 Frank PicatoTKO11 (20)Nov 29, 1913 39Win23–12–4 Len PorterTKO8 (20)Nov 15, 1913 38Loss22–12–4 Young NipperPTS20Nov 1, 1913 37Loss22–11–4 Hock KeysPTS20Oct 18, 1913 36Win22–10–4 Harry PuieKO6 (20)Oct 1, 1913 35Loss21–10–4 Harry ThomasDQ20 (20)Sep 13, 1913 34Loss21–9–4 Herb McCoyPTS20Aug 30, 1913 33Loss21–8–4 Hughie MeheganKO17 (20)Jul 12, 1913 32Loss21–7–4 Paul BrevieresDQ11 (?)Dec 20, 1912 31Loss21–6–4 Bill JohnsonDQ11 (?)Dec 16, 1912 30Loss21–5–4 Bill JohnsonDQ10 (?)Nov 4, 1912 29Win21–4–4 Jack WardKO1 (?)Sep 30, 1912 28Draw20–4–4 Dick LeePTS10Aug 24, 1912 27Loss20–4–3 Dick NelsonPTS20Jun 33, 1912 26Win20–3–3 Bobby DobbsPTS20Feb 3, 1912 25Win19–3–3 Jerry PetersonKO10 (?)Dec 9, 1911 24Win18–3–3 Billy GordonKO15 (?)Sep 17, 1911 23Win17–3–3 Holger HansenKO4 (?)Sep 3, 1911 22Draw16–3–3 Jack SlimPTS15Aug 22, 1911 21Win16–3–2 Jimmy ButlerKO4 (?)Aug 20, 1911 20Win15–3–2 Paul MondKO4 (?)Jul 23, 1911 19Win14–3–2 Kid McGordonPTS15Apr 23, 1911 18Win13–3–2 Eugen LegardKO7 (?)Dec 19, 1910 17Win12–3–2 Erik MosukKO2 (?)Dec 15, 1910 16Win11–3–2H PaullianKO4 (?)Dec 5, 1910 15Win10–3–2 Alf ElreichKO6 (?)Sep 12, 1910 14Win9–3–2 M LechleitnerKO2 (?)Sep 9, 1910 13Win8–3–2 Alf ElreichKO4 (?)Apr 7, 1910 12Win7–3–2 M MullerKO3 (?)Apr 28, 1910 11Win6–3–2 E Van DykKO5 (?)Feb 7, 191010Win5–3–2 Billy JacksonKO5 (?)Jan 27, 1910 9Loss4–3–2 Dick NelsonKO5 (15)Jun 25, 1909 8Win4–2–2 FrankKO1 (?)May 29, 1909 7Win3–2–2 Emil Hemming HansenKO5 (?)May 29, 1909 6Draw2–2–2 Holger HansenPTS10Apr 25, 1909 5Win2–2–1 John JordanPTS10Feb 21, 1909 4Loss1–2–1 Jim SmithPTS?Dec 15, 1908 3Win1–1–1 Johannes HindsbergPTS?Dec 5, 1908 2Draw0–1–1 Holger HansenPTS?Dec 2, 1908 1Loss0–1 Jim SmithPTS?Dec 1, 1908

See also Lineal championship List of welterweight boxing champions

References

External links

profile