Pete Herman
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Kid Herman |
| Nationality |  American |
| Born | Peter Gulotta February 12, 1896 Convent, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 13, 1973 (aged 77) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) |
| Weight | Bantamweight |
| Boxing career | |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 145 |
| Wins | 100 |
| Win by KO | 20 |
| Losses | 32 |
| Draws | 13 |
Pete Herman (February 12, 1896 – April 13, 1973) was one of the all-time great bantamweight world champions.[1] An American of Italian heritage and descent, Herman was born Peter Gulotta in New Orleans, Louisiana, and fought from 1912 until 1927. He retired with a record of 69 wins (19 by KO), 11 losses, 8 draws and 61 no-decisions in 149 bouts. His managers were Jerome Gargano, Doc Cutch, Sammy Goldman and Red Walsh.[2] Nat Fleisher, Ring Magazine editor and founder, impressively rated Herman as the #2 best all time bantamweight.[3]
Early life
[edit]Herman was born Peter Gulotta on February 12, 1896 in Convent, Louisiana, to Sicilian immigrant parents from Corleone, Italy.[4] His father, Calogero Gulotta, worked unloading bananas from freighters along the Mississippi River.[5]
Raised in a working-class Italian-American family, Herman spent much of his childhood in New Orleans, leaving school after the eighth grade to help support his family.[6] He worked as a shoeshine boy and later as a bellhop, often earning more than his father.[7] Herman’s interest in boxing began while reading the Police Gazette at the barbershop where he shined shoes. He started sparring with local fighters and adopted the ring name “Pete Herman” to conceal his boxing activities from his father.[8]
Boxing career
[edit]Herman fought his first professional fight around 1912 at age 16. According to boxing lore, Herman earned some of his living as a "bootblack" or shoe shine before making it as a boxer.[9] Two years after his first bout, he held his own during a 10-round, no-decision bout against World bantamweight champion Kid Williams on June 20, 1914, at the Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, though losing the bout in the opinion of the local Times-Picayune.[2]
Herman was a smooth boxer and great body puncher, particularly skilled at inside fighting.[3] He defeated San Franciscan Eddie Campi on September 13, 1914, in a twenty-round points decision in New Orleans.[2]
In his first eighteen bouts, between September 1912 and July 1913, his only loss was to Johnny Fisse on points. He later drew on his loss to Fisse on September 29, 1913, fighting him again in Memphis, Tennessee, and making Fisse his most frequent career opponent.[2]
Bouts with Eddie Coulon
[edit]On December 13, 1915, Herman defeated fellow New Orleans boxer Eddie Coulon in a fourth-round knockout in New Orleans. Both boxers weighed 116 pounds, but Coulon had a 3+1⁄2-inch reach advantage. Herman had faced Coulon twice in his early career on September 30, and October 21, 1912, in two six-round draws in New Orleans. He defeated Coulon on September 1, 1913, in Memphis, Tennessee, in an eight-round points decision.[2]
Herman lost to the great New York Jewish boxer Lew Tendler on February 28, 1916, at the Olympia Club in Philadelphia in a six-round newspaper decision. Tendler would later meet the greatest boxers of his era including the lightweight champion Benny Leonard in several bouts.[2]
On June 12, 1916, he defeated Frankie Brown, New York bantamweight, in New Orleans in a fifteen-round points decision.[2] He had drawn with Brown three months earlier in Baltimore in another fifteen round bout.[2]
World Bantamweight Champion, 1917
[edit]
In their fourth meeting, Herman finally won the title from Kid Williams on January 9, 1917, in a twenty-round points decision in New Orleans, even though Williams was allowed to pick his own referee for the match, Bill Rocap. Herman scored knockdowns in the fifth and twelfth. Though Williams was the aggressor throughout the fight, Herman had little trouble dodging the former champion's blows. Due to Williams' aggressive style of boxing in the bout, many ringside believed he had won more of the rounds than Herman.[10][11]
Knocking out Johnny Coulon
[edit]On May 14, 1917, Herman defeated Johnny Coulon in a third-round technical knockout at Lakeside Auditorium in Racine, Wisconsin. Halfway through the third, Coulon was down for a count of nine from a right swing to the jaw by Herman, not long after coming out of a clinch. After Coulon rose, the referee stopped the fight, as Coulon still seemed woozy. Herman had a nine-pound weight advantage, and a two-inch reach advantage. Coulon was seven years older at twenty-eight, which may have made a difference in the fight. Coulon had formerly held and lost the World Bantamweight Title.[12]
Bantamweight champion
[edit]Marriage to Annie LeBlanc, November 1917
[edit]On the evening of November 4, 1917, Herman was married to Annie LeBlanc, whom he had known since he was a child in New Orleans. The following day Herman defeated Frankie Burns in a twenty-round points decision at Louisiana Auditorium in New Orleans in what a few sources considered a title bout.[13] Herman was scheduled to have reported for service in the US Army after the bout.[14] Herman did not have great difficulty amassing enough points to win the bout.[15] Burns had a difficult time in the first three rounds and was staggered by Herman in the second. Burns may have evened the fighting in the seventeenth round.[16]
Herman previously suffered a thirteenth-round technical knockout from burns in November 1914 in the same city.[2][17] Herman did not box from late December until May 1918, and may have been in military training. In March 1918, the US Navy refused Herman furloughs to box until he had achieved three months of active duty.[18]
On December 14, 1917, Herman won with a third-round technical knockout against Frankie Mason, in