Meet Barney Lebrowitz (1891-1949. He was known in the boxing world as “Battling Levinsky” and he was the world light heavyweight champion from 1916 until 1920. “Box Rec”, a boxing statistical website rates Levinsky as the 12th best light heavyweight of all-time. “Ring Magazine” placed him at 9th. He clearly was no slouch in the ring. He was named to the hall of fame for Ring Magazine, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Jewish immigrant parents from Russia. He worked as a shoe shine boy and sold newspapers to help support his family. When he began boxing, he sold jewelry during the day, and boxed in the evenings in Philadelphia clubs and gyms. It is conjectured that he had his jewelry sales job in order to hide his boxing career from his parents. In 1906, Levinsky began his boxing career using the pseudonym of Barney Williams. He took on a manager named “Dumb” Dan Morgan in 1913. Morgan changed the boxer’s name and helped his career. Levinsky was known as a defensive fighter. Although he delivered few knockouts, he was adept at avoiding truly damaging blows. In 1913, to hide the fact that Levinsky was not a very aggressive fighter, Morgan added the “Battling” part of “Battling Levinsky’s” name. Levinsky was a prolific fighter. In his first hundred fights (1910-1914), he lost only three fights. Between 1914 and 1918, he fought 127 times. In 1914, he fought 37 times, 9 times in January alone. On New Years day in 1915, he had two bouts. One fight was in Brooklyn, New York, while the other was in Waterbury, Connecticut. Levinsky beat Jack Dillon in 1916 to gain the Light Heavyweight crown. He kept it until 60 fights later when he lost the championship to French fighter, Georges Carpentier. Levinsky fought all major challengers. His record includes losses to boxing greats, Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey. Levinsky’s official professional record indicates that he won 196 fights (including 30 knockouts), lost 54, and had 37 draws. After losing to Gene Tunney in 1922, he retired from boxing to enter the Real Estate business. He was drawn back to the ring in 1926 after experiencing some major financial losses. He returned as a heavyweight and fought 42 fights, losing just 12 bouts. His comeback ended in 1930. This vintage press photograph comes from the archives of the “Acme News Pictures Company”. This photograph measures about 7″ x 9″ and is in good condition (see scans). (SOLD) : 00
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