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Judah Bergman, known as Jack Kid Berg or Jackie Kid Berg (28 June 1909 – 22 April 1991), was an English
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
born in the
East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, who became the World Light Welterweight Champion in 1930.


Biography

Judah Bergman was born in Romford Street near
Cable Street Cable Street is a road in the East End of London, England, with several historic landmarks nearby. It was made famous by the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Location Cable Street starts near the edge of London's financial district, the City ...
,
St George in the East St George-in-the-East is an Anglican Church dedicated to Saint George and one of six Hawksmoor churches in London, England. It was built from 1714 to 1729, with funding from the 1711 Act of Parliament. Its name has been used for two forms of p ...
,
Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
. His father Judah Senior, who found work as a tailor in America, and his mother Mildred immigrated from Odessa. His siblings included Wolf, changed to Willie, Rebecca and Sarah. He was apprenticed as a lather boy in a barber's shop, and began his boxing career at the ''Premierland'', Back Church Lane, when he was 14.
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish Berg boxed with a
Star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
on his trunks. The book ''The Whitechapel Windmill'' covers the handsome boxer's rise in the boxing world as well as his flamboyant out-of-the-ring life, which is said to have included an affair with
Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...
and a long-lasting friendship with fellow East Ender
Jack Comer Jack "Spot" Comer (12 April 1912 – 12 March 1996) was an English gangster. Early life Born Jacob Colmore in Mile End, London, the youngest of four children, Comer's father was a Jewish tailor's machinist who, to escape anti-Semitic pogroms, ...
, the colourful (and also Jewish) gangster. After losing his British Lightweight crown, he lived to be the oldest British boxing champion. Berg died in London on 22 April 1991. He is commemorated by a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
on Noble Court, Cable Street, close to the place where he was born. Stepney Historical Trust presented the plaque at a ceremony attended by the Chief Rabbi, the Bishop of Stepney Richard Chartres, Professor Bill Fishman, Councillor Albert lilley and the Retired Boxers Federation. Later in the evening the Trust held a Charity Ball to raise funds for the Retired Boxers Federation attended by Mr Cox, Chairman of the Boxing Association and also the local Arbour Youth and Repton Boxing Clubs Boys. Over a £1000 was raised for the Retired Boxing charity.


Career

Between 1923 and 1936, Berg had 192 professional fights, winning 157 of them. His record was 157–26–9. Fifty seven wins were by knock out. In 1931 he moved to the USA, where he won 64 out of 76 fights there. During his bouts in America, he was trained by legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel. In 1930, Berg defeated the great
Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...
fighter
Kid Chocolate Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo (January 6, 1910 – August 8, 1988), better known as Kid Chocolate, was a Cuban boxing, boxer who enjoyed great success both in the boxing ring and outside it during the 1930s. Chocolate boxed professionally between 1 ...
in ten rounds. The Chocolate bout, fought in Queens, New York in 1932, had 10,000 spectators, larger than many of his British bouts. In 1930, he knocked out the American champion Mushy Callahan to take the World Light Welterweight Championship in London. The
National Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...
(NBA) had stripped Callahan before this fight and Britain did not recognize this division, so only the New York State Athletic Commission recognized Berg as champion after this fight. The NBA only recognized Berg as champion after he beat Goldie Hess in January 1931. Berg fought as a
lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...
when he put his title on the line to meet with
Tony Canzoneri Tony Canzoneri (November 6, 1908 – December 9, 1959) was an American professional Boxing, boxer. A three-division world champion, he held a total of five world titles. Canzoneri is a member of the exclusive group of boxing world champions who h ...
in Chicago on 24 April 1931. He was quickly knocked out in three rounds, falling on his face and stumbling to get up before giving in and collapsing into the ropes. Berg, contending that he lost at lightweight and not at light welterweight, continued to claim that he was champion. Most of the boxing world recognized Canzoneri, however. He unsuccessfully challenged Canzoneri again for the title in September 1931. After the Canzoneri bout, Berg continued boxing with mixed results. He became British lightweight champion in 1934 by beating the title holder
Harry Mizler Hyman Barnett "Harry" Mizler (22 January 1913 – March 1990) was an English boxer who competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics and won the British BBoC Lightweight title in January 1934. Early life and amateur caree ...
, another Jewish boxer. He was thrust back into the limelight as a replacement for the injured Canzoneri against Cleto Locatelli at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
, but his hopes of challenging for the world title faded after a points defeat to Gustave Humery in Paris in February 1935, also losing a return bout in London in April, although Berg was still British champion at this point. Later that year he lost to Laurie Stevens in a fight for the British Empire lightweight title in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
. He returned to fighting at welterweight in the United States with some success. In August 1936, after three straight defeats, he announced his retirement, but returned in January 1937 with a victory against Ivor Pickens, the first of a nine fight unbeaten run. In January 1941 he moved up to middleweight to fight Harry Craster. He again beat Mizler in February 1941 and defeated British lightweight champion
Eric Boon Eric Boon (28 December 1919 – 19 January 1981) was a champion British lightweight boxer. Born in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, he was known by the nicknames Boy Boon and the Fen Tiger. Of a total of 119 fights, he won 92 ( KO 62), lost 21 (KO ...
on a disqualification due to a low blow in a non-title fight in April 1941. After a victory over Eric Dolby in March 1945, Berg expressed a desire to once more challenge for a title, saying "What I need is fights. I'm a bad gymnasium worker, but I'll show what I can do in the ring. When I've had a few warm up fights I'll know where I stand. If I'm no good I'll quit." He had two further fights, the last a win by knockout against Johnny MacDonald in May 1945, before retiring. Berg's brother Teddy was also a boxer, and the two fought on the same bill in 1941. After retiring from boxing, he worked as a film stunt man, joined the Royal Air Force, and owned a restaurant in London.


Personal life

In 1930 Berg's marriage to
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
student Eleanor Kraus, the daughter of a New York silk merchant, was announced, although by November 1931 the relationship had ended. In September 1930 Berg was served with a writ claiming £10,000 for breach of promise by Sophia Levy, who claimed the two had a relationship. Berg married Bunty Pain, a dancer at the Trocadero, on 11 August 1933 at Prince's Row register office in London. In October 1940 he was awarded £500 damages for slander after John Macadam suggested in a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast that Berg would fight Eric Boon after "drawing his old-age pension" and "tottering along to Earl's Court", although the decision was overturned on appeal.


Hall of Fame

Berg was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
. Berg was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame. Berg, who was
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish, was inducted into the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...
in 1993.


Miscellaneous

*Academic Howard Fredrics wrote an opera about Kid Berg's life. *The non-religious Berg used his Jewishness to get the crowd on his side, entering the ring wearing tephillin. *Alongside "The Battling Levinsky" is mentioned in the title track of Madness' "The Liberty of Norton Folgate" *Berg was the subject of an episode of
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
biographical documentary '' This Is Your Life'' in 1987. *On 19 June 1933, he was the guest of honour who officially opened
Walthamstow Stadium Walthamstow Stadium was a greyhound racing track in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London.BBC News - Walthamstow race track to close' It was regarded as the leading greyhound racing stadium in Britain following the closure of W ...
.


Professional boxing record


See also

*
List of light welterweight boxing champions This is a chronological List of World Super Lightweight/Light Welterweight/Junior Welterweight Boxing Champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the Nati ...
*
List of British lightweight boxing champions List of British lightweight boxing champions is a table showing the boxers who have won the British lightweight title. The title had been sanctioned by the National Sporting Club from 1909–1929 where they awarded the Lord Lonsdale Challenge B ...
* List of select Jewish boxers * Stepney Historical Trust


References and notes


Sources

*Harold Finch ''The Tower Hamlets Connection – a Biographical Guide'' Stepney Books *''The Whitechapel Windmill'' by John Harding with Jack Kid Berg 1987, Robson Books


External links

*
Sparring with Jack Kid Berg (1934)
Article.
Internet Movie Database listing for Jack Kid Berg


{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Jack Kid English male boxers Jewish boxers Jewish American boxers People from Stepney English Jews 1909 births 1991 deaths International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees World light-welterweight boxing champions World boxing champions Boxers from Greater London 20th-century American Jews