William "Henry" Hall (August 29, 1922 – May 25, 2016) was an American
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 1942 to 1960. His birth name was William Hall.
Early life
Born in
Napoleonville, Louisiana
Napoleonville is a village and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 660 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village is best known as the loca ...
, Hall was the second of five children of Louis and Ida Hall.
After his mother's death, the family moved to
, where he began boxing at the Rampart Street gym.
[
]
Professional career
Hall turned professional in 1942 and adopted "Henry" Hall as his ring name at the suggestion of his manager, who said the name sounded more sporty.[
On October 15, 1948, he defeated ]Archie Moore
Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (December 1952 – May 1962). He had one of the longest ...
, the future world light-heavyweight champion, in New Orleans.[ Hall was ranked as the ninth-best ]light heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
in the world that year in '' The Rings annual ratings. He fought in exhibition bout
An exhibition fight is a sports match which is not part of a competition but instead serves the function of demonstrating the skills of the participants In boxing, an exhibition fight normally consists of three to eight rounds. The participants ge ...
s against Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...
and Ezzard Charles
Ezzard Mack Charles (July 7, 1921 – May 28, 1975), known as the Cincinnati Cobra, was an American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion. Known for his slick defense and precision, he is often considered the greatest light heavywei ...
in 1950 and 1951, respectively.[ He also held ]Heinz Neuhaus
Heinz Neuhaus (14 April 1926 – 6 April 1998) was a German boxer who was heavyweight champion of Germany and Europe in the 1950s.
Career
Born in Iserlohn, Neuhaus made his professional debut on 29 May 1949 with a points win over Herbert Thiele ...
to a ten-round draw in Germany in 1955.[
]
Later life
Hall moved to Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
in the 1950s.[ After retirement, he worked as a cement mason and a school bus driver.][ He suffered from ]dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
in his later years and died on May 25, 2016, at age 93.[
]
References
External links
*
1922 births
2016 deaths
Boxers from Louisiana
American male boxers
Light-heavyweight boxers
People from Napoleonville, Louisiana
Sportspeople from New Orleans
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