Calvin Coolidge Lytle (January 24, 1924 – January 26, 1990), better known by his professional names Bert Lytell and Chocolate Kid, was an American boxer and middleweight contender in the 1940s and early 1950s. Recognized as a member of the famous Murderers' Row, the 5'8" Lytell fought (and often won) against other top black middleweights of his time, including

Charley Burley Charley Burley (September 6, 1917 – October 16, 1992) was an American boxer who fought as a welterweight and middleweight from 1936 to 1950. Archie Moore, the light-heavyweight champion who was defeated by Burley in a 1944 middleweight bout, w ...

Holman Williams Holman Williams (January 30, 1915 in Pensacola, Florida – July 15, 1967) was a world welterweight and middleweight boxing contender. Williams is a member of the infamous Murderers' Row, a group of black fighters who were never able to get a worl ...

, and Charley Doc Williams, as well as other notable fighters including

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 ...

and

Sam Baroudi Sam Baroudi (born Sammy Crandall, August 29, 1926 – February 21, 1948) was a professional American boxer in the middleweight division. Boxing career Baroudi fought his first professional fight on May 15, 1945 in the Meadowbrook Bowl in Newar ...

. Like many of his contemporaries, Bert Lytell was denied a chance to fight for a world title largely due to his race. Lytell was born in

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a small city in South Texas and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 censu ...

. He enlisted in the Naval reserves in 1942 in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, and was discharged in 1944. He resided in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

for most of his career, later moving to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

to be closer to his family, including brother Loyal Lytle. During his career, he was known as The Beast of Stillman's Gym. He was one of the members of the famous Black Murderers' Row, a group of world-class African American welterweights and middleweights who were avoided by most top white fighters of their era and never got the chance to fight for a world title, despite being well-regarded by the boxing community. The "Chocolate Kid" died on January 26, 1990, 2 days after his 66th birthday.

Professional boxing record

References

External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lytell, Bert 1924 births Boxers from Texas 1990 deaths American male boxers Middleweight boxers United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy reservists