Willis "Red" Applegate (November 4, 1921 – August 1, 1965) was a United States

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 ...

and

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

player.

Early life

In 1942 at the age of 20, Applegate served in the 92nd Infantry Division in the

Mediterranean Theater of Operations The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), originally called the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), was a military formation of the United States Army that supervised all U.S. Army forc ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was discharged in 1945.

Boxing

His professional boxing career began in 1946 with 4 consecutive wins, 2 by knockout (both in the first round), but he was stopped by Austin Johnson. He won his next fight, and lost the next three. He fought several more fights afterwards. In April 1951, he fought legendary boxer

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...

for 10 rounds, only to lose by decision. Overall, he compiled a record of 11-16-2 (4 KO). His boxing career ended in 1951 after suffering a detached retina.

Negro league baseball

In 1947, he briefly pitched for the

Newark Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley. History Formation The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Dodge ...

of the Negro National League.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball Stats
and
Seamheads
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Applegate, Red 1921 births 1965 deaths Boxers from Newark, New Jersey Heavyweight boxers Newark Eagles players American male boxers Baseball players from New Jersey United States Army personnel of World War II African Americans in World War II African-American United States Army personnel 20th-century African-American sportspeople