Willie Joyce (September 2, 1917 – December 5, 1996) was an American boxer from Chicago. He was the 1936 National AAU Bantamweight champion, and the 1937 (126 lb) Chicago & Intercity Golden Gloves Champion. Joyce was 24-1-4 in 1937 to 1939 only losing to

Frankie Covelli Frankie Covelli (May 4, 1913 – February 16, 2003 ) was an American boxer from Brooklyn New York. Life Covelli began boxing in 1929. Among other notable fighters, he fought Freddie Miller two times, losing both bouts by decision, and also ...

. He fought

Lew Jenkins Lew Jenkins (December 4, 1916 – October 30, 1981) was an American boxer and NYSAC and ''The Ring'' lightweight champion from 1940-1941. He was born in Milburn, Texas and was raised during the Great Depression. He began fighting in carnivals a ...

at the White City Arena in Chicago three times in 1939, battling to a draw in their first bout and winning the next two by split decision. He fought

Henry Armstrong Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisio ...

four times in 1943 and 1944. In the first match he beat Armstrong at the

Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium ...

in Los Angeles. The second fight he lost to Armstrong at the

Gilmore Stadium Gilmore Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City. The stadium held 18,000. It was located next to Gilmore Field. The stad ...

, also in Los Angeles. The third fight he beat Armstrong at

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...

. In their final meeting Armstrong was the victor beating Joyce at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Joyce also fought

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 ...

. Pep beat Joyce at

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...

in Chicago in 1944. In 1944 and 1945, Joyce went 3–1 against

Ike Williams Isiah "Ike" Williams (August 2, 1923 – September 5, 1994) was a lightweight world boxing champion. He took the World Lightweight Championship in April 1945 and made eight successful defenses of the title against six different fighters prior to ...

and in 1945, split two bouts with

Chalky Wright Albert "Chalky" Wright (February 1, 1912 – August 12, 1957) was an American featherweight boxer who fought from 1928 to 1948 and held the world featherweight championship in 1941–1942. His career record was 171 wins (with 87 knockouts), ...

. Joyce would go on to face

Tippy Larkin Tippy Larkin (November 11, 1917 – December 10, 1991), born Antonio Pilliteri, was an American boxer from New Jersey who took the world light-welterweight boxing championship on April 29, 1946 in a twelve-round unanimous decision against Willie J ...

in three fights, losing all three by decision. In their second fight, Larkin beat Joyce for the vacant World Jr. Welterweight Title at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

. In their third fight, Joyce lost to Larkin for the World Jr. Welterweight Title 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 ...

in New York. Joyce also fought

Johnny Bratton Johnny Bratton, also known as Honey Boy Bratton, (September 9, 1927 – August 15, 1993) was an American professional boxer and briefly reigned as the NBA welterweight champion in 1951. He fought many of the best fighters of his era in ...

at the

in 1946, losing in both fights.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:9618 {{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, William 1917 births 1996 deaths Boxers from Chicago American male boxers Bantamweight boxers