Benny Valgar, frequently spelled "Valger" (September 24, 1898 – October 1, 1974), was a French boxer. On February 25, 1920, he faced the reigning featherweight champion, Johnny Kilbane, in a 8 round non title bout which, without a disqualification or knockout, had no official winner. According to all of newspaper writers who reported on the fight, Valgar won convincingly. Due to the fighters being over the featherweight limit of 124 pounds, the fight was not for Kilbane's championship. Kilbane could have waved the forfeit, but chose not to.
Valgar also made it to the semi-final bout of the NYSAC World Lightweight Boxing Championship against
Jimmy Goodrich
Jimmy Goodrich became the World Lightweight Champion when he defeated Chilean boxer Stanislaus Loayza in a second round TKO at Queensboro Stadium in Queens, New York on July 13, 1925. He retained the title only five months, losing it by unanimous ...
, who he lost to in a close bout on June 15, 1925.
Showing promise at an early age, Valgar was the U.S.
Bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...
National Amateur champion in 1916. In evidence of his extraordinary defensive ring skills, he was one of only two American boxers of his era to have never been knocked out, though he fought over two hundred fights.
Early life and boxing career
Benjamin "Benny" Valgar was born in Paris on September 24, 1898 to Jewish parents who had emigrated to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
around 1894. He was one of five children of Etta and Menachem Valger. His mother, after her husband's death, emigrated to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1913. Benny and his younger sister arrived in New York the following year.
A prodigal boxer from an early age, he won the American Bantamweight National Title in 1916.
He began professional prizefighting that year, winning one of his first fights on July 1 against Joe Goodney at the Fairmont Athletic Club in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. On December 4, he beat Sammy Waltz, future Connecticut State Featherweight champion in fifteen rounds in Meriden, Connecticut. He lost only seven of his first sixty-five recorded fights with BoxRec between July 1916 and September 1919, beating Eddie Wallace in 1918 and 1919 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
and
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
. He fought 1925 World Lightweight Champion
Rocky Kansas
Rocky Kansas was an Italian-born American tough, short (5'2" tall) former world lightweight champion boxer. He was born Rocco Tozzo on April 21, 1893, in Italy and came to America in 1898. Rocky Kansas was the brother of champion Joe "Kid" Kansas ...
to a draw on November 9, 1918 in Philadelphia.
Fights against world champions
Valgar's trainer throughout the 1920s was the legendary Ray Arcel, and his manager was Billy Gibson, who also trained long reigning world lightweight champion
Benny Leonard
Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner; April 7, 1896 – April 18, 1947) was a Jewish American professional boxer who held the world lightweight championship for eight years, from 1917 to 1925. Widely considered one of the all-time greats, he was ...
. Valgar and Leonard would often train together. As someone who would know, Arcel once said of Valgar, "When it came to all around ring generalship, Benny Valgar was on a par with Benny Leonard, though Leonard packed the better punch." Leonard once said of Valgar, that he was "the fastest boxer I ever knew." Arcel also noted that Gibson's concentration on Leonard as the reigning World Lightweight Champion may have increased the time and attention Arcel had to influence Valgar in his boxing career.
At the peak of his career on February 25, 1920, Valgar met Johnny Kilbane, reigning World Featherweight Champion at the Newark Athletic Club in
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', New York, NY., 26 February 1920.
An impressive array of newspapers agreed with the ruling that Valger had won the bout. These included the ''New York World'', ''New York Tribune'', and ''New York American''. On February 26, the ''New York Times'' trumpeted the headlines in a large article, "Johnny Kilbane Outpointed By Benny Valgar in their Eight Round Bout at Newark." The ''Times'' wrote the boxers exhibited "brilliant footwork" and "showed knowledge of the scientific side of boxing". The article went on to note that the boxers "feinted and parried with the skill and effectiveness of veteran fencers".
One of the few boxers to defeat Valgar in his prime was Jewish boxer
Sid Terris
Sidney Terris (September 7, 1904 – December 30, 1974) was a top rated American lightweight boxing contender from the lower East Side of Manhattan. He excelled as an amateur, winning fifty straight bouts and taking Metropolitan, New York State, ...
, the "Galloping Ghost" on August 19, 1924 at the Henderson Bowl in Brooklyn. Valgar in his prime was one of the few boxers that may have equaled Terris's ring skills and speed. Terris outpointed Valgar in a classic ten round bout before 14,000 fans.
Competing for the Lightweight Championship of the World
Valgar also contended for the Lightweight Championship of the World in an elimination tournament by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) after Benny Leonard gave up his lightweight crown. He defeated Alex Hart, Basil Galiano, and Solly Seeman, in February, March and May 1925, finally losing to
Jimmy Goodrich
Jimmy Goodrich became the World Lightweight Champion when he defeated Chilean boxer Stanislaus Loayza in a second round TKO at Queensboro Stadium in Queens, New York on July 13, 1925. He retained the title only five months, losing it by unanimous ...
in twelve rounds in the semi-final bout of the tournament on June 15, 1925 in Queensboro Stadium in New York. According to sportswriter Mike Silver, much of the early betting favored Valger, as he had beaten Goodrich earlier in Buffalo.
During the tournament, newspapers continued to characterize Valger as a brilliant ringsman, but lacking a strong punch. The ''Reading Eagle'' wrote of his second bout with Galiano, that "Valgar showed boxing supremacy over his opponent, while Galiano had the better punch but could not land it." In a commanding performance, Valgar had come quite close to taking the Lightweight Crown. Goodrich took the title only one month later in the final bout against Chilean Boxer Stanislaus Loyaza winning in the second round after Loyaza was injured from a fall in the first caused by Goodrich's dominating punching. Valgar's making it to the semi-final bout was exceptional considering eighteen of the top lightweights in the world were invited to the tournament with only the world's top two lightweights, Sid Terris and Johnny Dundee declining.
Before they became champions or serious contenders, Valgar beat the exceptional boxers Rocky Kansas, and Jack Bernstein by the decision of newspapers. He fought and defeated top contender
Charley White
Charley White who was born Charles Anchowitz on 25 March 1891 in Liverpool, England was considered one of the best boxers of his era. White fought from 1906 until 1923. He made one ill-fated comeback attempt in 1930, but was ignominiously TK ...
, as well as King Tut and Joe Tiplitz. He beat Frankie Britt, Hilario Martinez, Jimmy Fruzetti and Billy DeFoe by decision, although these boxers never became champions.
From 1928 to 1931, Valgar, fluent in French, fought primarily in France, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. He continued to box top talent, but his speed diminished and he lost more frequently. Retaining his exceptional defensive skills, he was able to avoid the rough losses and knockouts common to so many boxers in their late boxing careers.
Even late in his career, Valgar was known for his ring generalship, or boxing skills, but rarely characterized as a strong puncher. When he drew with John Scuff, Featherweight champion of England on November 12, 1929 in Paris, the ''Montreal Gazette'', wrote "It was one of the most scientific exhibitions of boxing ever seen in a Paris ring."Valgar and Scuff Draw", ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'', Montreal, Canada, 13 November 1929.
Boxing retirement and later life
Valgar returned to the United States around 1931. He continued boxing, mostly in the New York area, until his retirement from the ring in 1932. He remained active in boxing veterans' organizations after his retirement to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. His wife Rose, whom he had married in 1919 opened a dress shop in the Brownsville section of the borough.
Benny Valgar died in New York in October 1972. Benny's mother was buried in New York. Abraham longed to join his mother in America until the end of her life but could not travel from Europe to the US as he was a communist.