Taking One Too Many For The Family

The fight magazines described Abe Simon as the giant from New York. He and my mother were cousins, and that connection sparked my interest in the Joe Louis era of boxing. Abe wanted to go to college, he had a scholarship, but his mother wanted him to fight... that's how tough times were in the late 1930's. Abe won his first thirteen fights, even knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott. 

In the fight shown above, Simon went toe to toe with Louis for thirteen rounds. That toughness earned him another title shot at Madison Square Garden in 1942. The first overhead strobe ring photo was of that fight. Another interest of mine remains B&W photography, and that era of boxing produced some classic shots. Those interested in the Joe Louis era might enjoy my December 2012 archive, which contains many of my boxing posts.

That 1942 title fight with Louis was the last of 47 bouts for Abe, although he had good offers to continue boxing. He had small parts in several films, including On The Waterfront and Requiem For A Heavyweight. He worked as a referee and for a Long Island police department. In his last years, he worked in several capacities at the Roosevelt Racetrack.