Willie Ritchie (born Gerhardt Anthony Steffen, February 13, 1891 – March 24, 1975), was the World lightweight champion from 1912 to 1914.
Gerhardt Anthony Steffen was born in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
on February 13, 1891.
He began his boxing career in 1907 under the name of "Willie Ritchie" so that his mother would not be aware of his career.
On July 16, 1908, he met future World Bantamweight Champion
Jimmy Walsh at the Reliance Athletic Club in Oakland, California, and won a six-round points decision. Ritchie was one of the most accomplished opponents Reagan would meet in his early career.
Ritchie's first title shot was with reigning lightweight champion
Ad Wolgast
Adolphus Wolgast (February 8, 1888 - April 14, 1955), nicknamed Michigan Wildcat, was the world's lightweight champion from 1910 to 1912.
Biography
Wolgast's siblings were fellow boxers Johnny Wolgast and Al Wolgast.
Wolgast trained on a meat ...
on November 28, 1912, in San Francisco. Ritchie dominated the fight, and after Wolgast landed two blows below the belt in the sixteenth round, the referee called the fight for Ritchie.
He held the title for two years, successfully defending it four times.
In 1914, he sailed to London to face the British lightweight champion,
Freddie Welsh
Freddie Welsh (born Frederick Hall Thomas; 5 March 1886 – 29 July 1927) was a Welsh World lightweight boxing champion. Born in Pontypridd, Wales, he was nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard". Brought up in a tough mining community, Welsh left a working ...
. Welsh won the 20-round match by decision.
After losing his title, Ritchie continued to fight until retiring in 1927.
In 1937, he became chief inspector for the
California State Athletic Commission
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) regulates amateur and professional boxing, amateur and professional kickboxing and professional mixed martial arts (MMA) throughout the State by licensing all participants and supervising the events. ...
, a position he held until 1961.
Ritchie was a 1962 inductee to ''
The Ring'' magazine's
Boxing Hall of Fame (disbanded in 1987),
and a 2004 inductee to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
. He died in Burlingame, California, in 1975.
Professional boxing record
All information in this section is derived from
BoxRec
BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing.
The objective of the site is to document every profes ...
,
unless otherwise stated.
Official record
All
newspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club ...
s are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.
Unofficial record
Record with the inclusion of
newspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club ...
s in the win/loss/draw column.
See also
*
Lineal championship
In combat sports where champions are decided by a challenge, the lineal championship of a weight class is a world championship title held initially by an undisputed champion and subsequently by a fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a mat ...
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Willie
1891 births
1975 deaths
World lightweight boxing champions
Boxers from California
American male boxers