Paul Berlenbach (February 18, 1901 – September 30, 1985), nicknamed the Astoria Assassin was the world light heavyweight boxing champion in 1925 and 1926. Known for his punching power, he took the crown from Mike McTigue, until July 16, 1926, when he was defeated by his nemesis Jack Delaney. The Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer rated him as the #10 best light heavyweight of all time. Berlenbach was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1971 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001.Cyber Boxing Encyclopedia - Paul Berlenbach CyberBoxingZone.com Retrieved on 2014-04-30

Career Prior to his professional boxing career, Berlenbach had been a champion at amateur wrestling and amateur boxing, both at middleweight. His record as an amateur boxer was 21–0 with 21 knockouts. He made the United States Olympic wrestling team in 1920, but was injured and did not participate.

World light heavyweight champion Berlenbach scored a 10th-round TKO over former champion Battling Siki to earn a title shot against champion Mike McTigue. Berlenbach defeated McTigue with a unanimous decision to become light-heavyweight champion.

In his first title defense against Tony "Young" Marullo, the bout was stopped in the 9th round and declared no contest. "(Referee) Lewis was convinced the boxers were pulling their punches. I agreed with Lewis that the bout should be declared 'no contest,'" inspector Platt Adams of the New Jersey Boxing Commission said after the fight. Adams cleared both boxers though, when examination revealed that Berlenbach had broken a bone in his hand.

Berlenbach stopped Jimmy Slattery in his second defense. Next was Jack Delaney, the only fighter who had previously defeated him. After being knocked down in the 4th round, Berlenbach rallied and won on a split decision, with one judge calling the fight a draw.

Against heavyweight Johnny Risko he suffered a surprise loss. A rematch was requested by both fighters, but the request was denied by the New York boxing commission, citing desire for the champion to fight opponents in his own division.

Young Stribling, who had fought Berlenbach to a draw two years before, and also owned a victory over Risko, was given a shot at the light-heavyweight title. Berlenbach won the rematch decisively.

Jack Delaney defeated Paul Berlenbach for the light-heavyweight championship on July 16, 1926, in front of 41,000 spectators. After the victory Delaney said Berlenbach had "the hardest left hand punch I ever took." Berlenbach, "I was never in serious trouble, but I could not land my lefts effectively."

Late career "If Berlenbach wants a return bout, he'll get it," Jack Delaney said after his championship win. Instead of seeking a rematch with Delaney for the light-heavyweight title, Paul Berlenbach moved to heavyweight. In his first match at heavyweight he fought Mike McTigue, who Berlenbach had taken the light-heavyweight title from. McTigue won in the 4th round. Berlenbach announced his retirement afterward. However he would return to the ring 5 months later back at light-heavyweight.

After a string of victories at light-heavyweight. He fought the middleweight champion Mickey Walker in a non-title match. Walker won on points, knocked Berlenbach down in the 4th. Berlenbach's 11 pound advantage did not seem to matter.

He fought Jack Delaney for a 4th time, this time in front of only 6,000. Berlenbach was knocked down 3 times before the fight was stopped in the 6th round.

After a match with veteran Larry Estridge in 1928 both boxers had their boxing licenses rescinded. Berlenbach had won in 8 rounds. According to sportswriter James P. Dawson, the fight "proved conclusively to all those in attendance that their days of real boxing are at an end."

In 1929 Paul Berlenbach began a brief career as a professional wrestler.

After multiple unsuccessful returns to the ring in 1931 and again in 1933, Berlenbach finally retired for good.

He retired from boxing with a record of 40 wins (33 KOs), 8 losses, and 3 draws. He was named #93 on the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. Upon his retirement, he owned and operated Paul Berlenbach's Ringside Restaurant in Sound Beach, New York in the 1950s.

Professional boxing record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes54Loss40–8–3 Carl KnowlesPTS10Sep 28, 1933 5340–7–3 Ray LopezNC2 (?)Sep 14, 1931 52Loss40–7–3 Herman WeinerDQ1 (5)Jul 22, 1931 51Win40–6–3 Jerry GarfieldTKO4 (6)Jul 9, 1931 50Win39–6–3 Billy HendersonTKO1 (4)Apr 13, 1931 49Win38–6–3 Eddie ClarkKO3 (4)Mar 31, 1931 48Win37–6–3 Larry EstridgeKO8 (?)May 22, 1928 47Win36–6–3 Floyd ShimallaKO1 (?)May 12, 1928 46Loss35–6–3 Jack DelaneyTKO6 (10)Dec 9, 1927 45Loss35–5–3 Mickey WalkerPTS10Nov 25, 1927 44Draw35–4–3 Joe LohmanPTS10Oct 13, 1927 43Win35–4–2 Bob LawsonKO7 (?)Jul 28, 1927 42Win34–4–2 Bing ConleyPTS10Jul 18, 1927 41Win33–4–2 Gus BergerTKO4 (10)Jul 9, 1927 40Win32–4–2 Charley RammellTKO1 (10)Jun 27, 1927 39Loss31–4–2 Mike McTigueTKO4 (10)Jan 28, 1927 38Win31–3–2 Francis CharlesTKO1 (10)Aug 20, 1926 37Loss30–3–2 Jack DelaneyUD15Jul 16, 1926 36Win30–2–2 Young StriblingUD15Jun 10, 1926 35Win29–2–2 Ray NeumanPTS10Apr 5, 1926 34Loss28–2–2 Johnny RiskoPTS10Mar 19, 1926 33Win28–1–2 Jack DelaneyPTS15Dec 11, 1925 32Win27–1–2 Emilio SolomonTKO9 (10)Oct 12, 1925 31Win26–1–2 Jimmy SlatteryTKO11 (15)Sep 11, 1925 3025–1–2 Tony MarulloNC9 (15)Jul 13, 1925 29Win25–1–2 Mike McTigueUD15May 30, 1925 28Win24–1–2 Battling SikiTKO10 (12)Mar 13, 1925 27Win23–1–2 Frankie MaguireTKO5 (10)Feb 9, 1925 26Win22–1–2 Tony MarulloPTS12Jan 30, 1925 25Win21–1–2 Rocky SmithTKO4 (10)Jan 14, 1925 24Win20–1–2 Larry EstridgeTKO2 (?)Dec 26, 1924 23Win19–1–2 Tom BurnsKO5 (10)Dec 5, 1924 22Win18–1–2 Johnny GillNWS10Oct 1, 1924 21Win18–1–2 Jack ReddickKO8 (?)Sep 19, 1924 20Draw17–1–2 Young StriblingPTS6Aug 27, 1924 19Win17–1–1 Hambone KellyKO4 (10)Aug 15, 1924 18Draw16–1–1 Augie RatnerPTS8Jul 24, 1924 17Win16–1 Frank CarpenterTKO7 (10)Jul 7, 1924 16Win15–1 KO JaffeTKO7 (10)Jun 20, 1924 15Win14–1 Chief HalbranTKO3 (10)Jun 16, 1924 14Win13–1 Harold AbbottTKO4 (10)Apr 29, 1924 13Win12–1 Jack StoneTKO5 (12)Apr 7, 1924 12Win11–1 Harry KrohnKO4 (10)Mar 31, 1924 11Loss10–1 Jack DelaneyKO4 (12)Mar 14, 1924 10Win10–0 Jimmy DarcyTKO3 (12)Mar 3, 1924 9Win9–0 Young FisherKO6 (?)Feb 28, 1924 8Win8–0 Pat WalshTKO1 (?)Feb 15, 1924 7Win7–0 Frank CarboneTKO6 (8)Jan 28, 1924 6Win6–0 Lew ChesterKO2 (6)Jan 18, 1924 5Win5–0 Billy RyanKO1 (?)Jan 10, 1924 4Win4–0 KO JaffreKO7 (?)Jan 2, 1924 3Win3–0 Jerome BairdKO1 (8)Dec 13, 1923 2Win2–0 Charles HoffmanKO1 (8)Nov 29, 1923 1Win1–0 Jimmy RobertsKO1 (8)Oct 4, 1923

Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC light heavyweight champion (175 lbs) NBA (WBA) light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed light heavyweight champion

See also List of light heavyweight boxing champions

References

External links

boxrec.com