Louis Daniel Laurie (November 19, 1917 – December 26, 2002) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. In 1936, he won the bronze medal in the flyweight class after winning the third-place fight against Alfredo Carlomagno. At the time, the two losing semifinalists met in a bout for the bronze medal.

Personal

Laurie was born to an Italian father and a Slovak mother in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Lou graduated from East Technical High School and went to work as a service station attendant. He was acrobatic champion of Cleveland for two years.

Amateur career

Although he competed in only 22 amateur bouts, Laurie accomplished a great deal during that time. He went to Berlin with the Olympic team where he won three out of his four bouts, earning the bronze medal. So impressive was Laurie's boxing style that he was requested to give an exhibition. He remained in Germany two months and was presented with the

Val Barker trophy The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games. In theory, the award goes to the top "pound for pound" boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxing ...

for being the most scientific boxer in all classes that year. From

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Lou travelled to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Then he went to

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, France. Then to Cobb, Ireland, Plymouth, England and parts of Holland.

1936 Olympic results

Below is the record of Louis Laurie, an American flyweight boxer who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: *Round of 32: Defeated Rudolf Bezděk (Czechoslovakia) on points *Round of 16: Defeated Asbjørn Berg-Hansen (Norway) on points *Quarterfinal: Defeated Edmund Sobkowiak (Poland) on points *Semifinal: Lost to

Gavino Matta Gavino Matta (June 9, 1910 in Sassari – January 20, 1954) was an Italian boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI O ...

(Italy) on points *Bronze-Medal bout: Defeated Alfredo Carlomagno (Argentina) by walkover (was awarded bronze medal)

Professional career

When Laurie came back home in 1937, he turned pro under the care of Sam Barber, who had started Paul Perrone. Under Sam, Lou fought eight battles, losing two of them. He went to Chicago where he had six bouts under Jack Hurley's banner. After defeating Eddie Lander, he returned home, got his old job back pumping gas and gave up boxing for one year. Then, heeding the advice of his friend, Max Minnich, once a promising heavyweight, Lou Laurie re-entered the boxing game - and won a six-round decision at the Ridgewood Grove. Jack Bluman, manager of

Julie Kogan Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

, was then handling the affairs of the clever battler. He continued as a featherweight though his ambitions were to compete in the bantamweight division. He retired in 1941 after a relatively unsuccessful career, having won 5, lost 8, and drawn 1.

Return to boxing

Laurie returned to Europe and re-entered the ring briefly while serving in the Army during World War II.

Retirement

After the war, Laurie worked as a machinist.

Honors

He was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. Four years later, the Ohio State Former Boxers and Associates gave him a similar honor.

Death

Laurie, 85, died December 26, 2002, at Beachwood Nursing and Health Care Center. Survivors included one son, Joseph.

Trivia

*Laurie was one of five athletes from Cleveland's East Technical High School to compete in the 1936 Olympics. Teammate

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

won four gold medals in track events.

Dave Albritton David Donald Albritton (April 13, 1913 – May 14, 1994) was an American athlete, teacher, coach, and state legislator. He had a long athletic career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first high jumpers to use t ...

won the silver in the high jump, and Jack Wilson did the same in bantamweight boxing.

Ted Kara Theodore Ernst Kara (April 2, 1916 – February 14, 1944) was an American featherweight boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Boxing career He competed in the Men's Featherweight Boxing at the 1936 Olympics and was elimina ...

also performed well, reaching the quarterfinals in featherweight boxing. *Laurie, at 18 was the youngest member of the U.S. boxing team at Berlin.

References

* * *The Ring, September, 1940 -- "New Faces" by Fred Eisenstadt {{DEFAULTSORT:Lauria, Louis 1917 births 2002 deaths Boxers from Cleveland Flyweight boxers Boxers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in boxing Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics American male boxers