Teddy "Redtop" Davis, alias Murray (Sugar) Cain (June 23, 1923 – June 4, 1966), was a
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...
professional
boxer from
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
.
Personal life
"Redtop" Davis was born in
Laurens, South Carolina
Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,139 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Laurens County.
History
Located in upstate South Carolina, the city of Laurens is named after Henry Laure ...
but at his death was a resident of
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. He served in the
US military, where he made a name for himself fighting under the name "Murray (Sugar) Cain."
Professional career
Redtop's career as a professional boxer might not be believable, were it not so well-documented. He made his professional debut in February 1946 and initially fought at least once a month, sometimes twice. By the end of 1946 he had already amassed a dismal record of 1 win and 6 losses with 2 draws. Nevertheless, he kept plugging away, winning a few fights here and there so that by March 1947 he had been selected as an opponent for
Sammy Angott
Sammy Angott (January 17, 1915 – October 22, 1980) was born Salvatore Engotti in a Pittsburgh area town in Pennsylvania. He was known as a clever boxer who liked to follow up a clean punch by grabbing his opponent, causing him to be known as "Th ...
, whose record was 82-23-7. He lost that fight by
TKO in the 3rd round. Having begun his career in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
in 1947, Redtop made a move to the boxing hotspot of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, where the quality of his opponents improved - as did his own performances. It wasn't long before Redtop was fighting the best boxers of his day, and not only that, winning with some regularity. In fact before 1948 was over, Redtop had fought the legendary
Willie Pep
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scre ...
twice - losing both bouts. In 1949 Redtop fought 54-1-3
Eddie Compo and according to
Ring Magazine refused to do any punching until the state fight commissioner confronted him in the ring, whereupon Davis peppered Compo at will for two rounds before getting knocked out in the 8th. His purse for that fight was initially withheld, and its resolution is not known. Redtop continued to fight top-flight boxers for money and lower-flight pugs for wins, occasionally stringing together awful losing streaks and impressive winning streaks, and even occasionally pulling off a significant upset, as when he beat Elis Ask (record 31-5-2), Julie Kogon (record 81-37-17), George Dunn (record 33-7-3) and Paddy DeMarco (record 49-4-1) in a three-month period in 1950. Also, in 1952 Redtop put together a six-fight winning streak against a collection of opponents with a combined record of 133-47-5. And yet Redtop continued to pepper these impressive stretches with occasional, even frequent losses. Following another six-fight winning streak, this time against fighters with a combined record of 190-57-15, Redtop was given a shot at the legendary champion
Sandy Saddler
Joseph "Sandy" Saddler (June 23, 1926 – September 18, 2001) was an American professional boxer. He was a two-time featherweight world champion, having also held the super featherweight title. Over his twelve-year career (1944–56), Saddler s ...
, whose record was an incredible 138-13-2. Saddler, it was written, "won as he pleased and it pleased him to cuff and belabor Davis and put him to rout in a bout that through the early rounds looked fairly even." Following the Sadler bout, the good times seemed to end, and Redtop finished out his career with a stretch in which he only managed to win 8 out of 33 contests.
At the end of Redtop's career, his record was tabulated as 68 wins (22 by knockout), 73 losses, and 5 draws in 146 contests.
Teddy 'Redtop' Davis
/ref> Along the way he fought a collection of small boxers that included Eddie Compo, Buddy Hayes, Tommy Stenhouse, Nick Stato, Miguel Acevedo, Willie Pep
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scre ...
, Dennis Pat Brady
Denis Pat Brady (January 18, 1928-August 6, 2010) was a lightweight professional boxer from Connecticut.
Personal life
Brady, a resident of Bronx, New York, was born in New York, New York.
Professional career
Brady made his professiona ...
, Harry LaSane, Charley Riley
Charley Riley (April 22, 1922 - May 22, 1994) is an inductee of the Boxing Hall of Fame. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and was sometimes known as ''Chillin' Charley''.
Career
Charley Riley was a top featherweight boxing contender in the 19 ...
, Jackie Graves
Jackie Graves (September 12, 1922 – November 15, 2005), alias "The Austin Atom", was a featherweight boxer from Minnesota.
Personal life
Graves was a native of Austin, Minnesota.
Boxing career
From 1944 to 1956 Graves compiled a career record ...
, Paddy DeMarco
Paddy DeMarco, (February 10, 1928 – December 13, 1997) was a lightweight professional boxer from Brooklyn, New York who took the Lightweight World Championship on March 5, 1954 against Black lightweight boxer Jimmy Carter. His managers inc ...
, Percy Bassett
Percy Bassett (January 3, 1930 – July 7, 1993) was a featherweight professional boxer from Pennsylvania.
Personal life
Percy Bassett was borne in Daneville, VA, in 1930, but his family moved to West Philadelphia when Bassett was 6 years old. B ...
, Art Aragon
Arthur Benjamin Aragon (November 13, 1927 – March 25, 2008
) was an American boxer in the lightweight class from New Mexico.
Early and later life
Aragon was a native of Belen, New Mexico, but grew up in East Los Angeles. His family was of M ...
, Corky Gonzalez
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, Arthur King, Federico Plummer
Federico Plummer (April 10, 1929 – April 4, 2004) was a former lightweight professional boxer from Panama.
Personal life
Plummer was a native of Panama and a resident of Miami, Florida. He was born April 10, 1929, and died April 4, 2004.
P ...
, George Araujo
George Araujo (May 26, 1931 – November 21, 1997) was a lightweight professional boxer from Rhode Island.
Personal life and professional career
Araujo was born in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. He was of Cape Ver ...
, Tommy Collins, Tony DeMarco
Tony DeMarco (January 14, 1932 – October 11, 2021), born Leonardo Liotta, was an American boxer and World Welterweight Champion. Born to Sicilian immigrants from Sciacca (AG), Vincent and Giacomina, DeMarco grew up in the North End neighbor ...
, Pat Mallane
Patrick Mallane, alias ''Irish'', was a lightweight professional boxer from Connecticut.
Personal life
Pat Mallane was a native of Union City, Connecticut
Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United St ...
, Paul Jorgensen
Paul Jorgensen (April 5, 1935 – August 6, 2008) was a super featherweight professional boxer from Louisiana.
Personal life
Jorgenson was born in Tallulah, Louisiana, and made his residence in Port Arthur, Texas.
Professional career
Jorgense ...
, Richie Howard, Kenny Lane, and a host of others with impressive records.
Notes
Boxers from South Carolina
People from Laurens, South Carolina
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
1923 births
1966 deaths
American male boxers
Place of death missing
Featherweight boxers
Boxers from New York City
20th-century American military personnel
References
* {{boxrec, id=012840, name=Teddy Davis