Bob Pastor

Bob Pastor (January 26, 1914 – January 26, 1996) born Robert E. Pasternak, was a prominent American boxer.

28 days later, Pastor received the first blemish on his record, a six round draw against Eddie Sims, who had a record of 23-15-1 coming into their bout.

The fight with Sims was followed by an encounter with ranked contender Steve Dudas, who had a record of 36-7.

In his next fight, Pastor lost to the 28-4-3 Nathan Mann by unanimous 10 round decision at the Madison Square Garden, on November 26, 1937.

A draw against the 31-5-2 Al Delaney came after that, and then a rematch with Dudas in which Pastor avenged his earlier defeat by outpointing Dudas over 6 rounds on March 13 at the Madison Square Garden.

Pastor then took on the 31-15-14 John Andersson, on July 7, 1936.

This fight was significant in that it marked the first time Pastor boxed outside New York state as a professional.

The bout was held at the Braddock Bowl, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Pastor came out on top with a fourth round technical knockout.

Pastor began his professional boxing career on January 26, 1935, his 21st birthday.

In his professional debut he fought Julius Veight, a veteran who had a considerable experience advantage over the rookie boxer, with a record of 10 wins and 20 losses.

The fight was held at Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York, and ended with Pastor outscoring Veight to win a six round points decision.

The fight with Veight was the beginning of an eight fight winning streak that saw Pastor score his first stoppage, a fourth round knockout of another veteran, the 11-29-10 Frank LoBianco, at the Dyckman Oval, in New York City on June 12, 1935.

Pastor fought at Yankee Stadium on September 24 of that year, outpointing the 21-20-2 Terry Mitchell over four rounds.

On November 1, in a fight featuring two undefeated prospects, Pastor, by then 7-0 with 1 knockout win, faced Max Marek, who had a record of 5-0 with 2 knockouts.

This bout marked Pastor's first fight as a professional boxer at the Madison Square Garden.

Pastor improved to 8-0 by outpointing Marek over 6 rounds.

The fight occurred on January 17, 1936, at the Madison Square Garden.

Dudas won the fight by an eight round decision, handing Pastor his first professional defeat.

These wins were followed by a rubber-match victory by six round decision over Dudas, on June 19, 1936, at Yankee Stadium.

On August 1, 1936, Pastor fought a boxer named Unknown Winston, at the Walnut Beach Stadium in Milford, Connecticut.

The October, 1936 issue of Ring Magazine stated that Winston had fought Lou Poster on the day of the fight, not Bob Pastor, and that the fight had been held on August 12 instead first.

The magazine later corrected that information in its next issue, clarifying that it was Pastor, not Poster, who faced Winston and that the fight had been held on August 1.

Pastor won the fight by a ten round decision.

Pastor followed the victory over Winston with a win over Billy Ketchell, and three wins over mediocre opposition, whose combined records totaled 20 wins, 36 losses and 6 draws, before facing Ray Impelletiere.

Impelletiere had an unimpressive record of 10-6, but held the USA New York State's Heavyweight title.

Pastor won the regional belt when he dropped Impelletiere twice before stopping him in round seven, on December 18, 1936 at the Madison Square Garden.

With that, Pastor was set to face upcoming star Joe Louis, who had a record of 29-1 at the time.

Joe Louis was rapidly becoming known as a serious contender with a powerful punch when he and Pastor faced each other January 29, 1937.

He had scored 25 knockout wins in 30 fights, his lone defeat so far coming in his first fight with former world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling.

The first encounter between Pastor and Louis was held at the Madison Square Garden with Arthur Donovan Sr. as referee.

Despite taking a beating, Pastor was not floored by the young contender and he lasted the ten round distance, losing by unanimous decision.

After that fight, Pastor made his West Coast debut on May 28 when he met the undefeated 12-0 Bob Nestell at the Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California.

Nestell dropped Pastor in round one, and Pastor dropped him in rounds one and three en route to a 10 round points win for Pastor.

After a relatively restful 1937, Pastor began 1938 with four fights in less than thirty days, beating Hans Havlicek by technical knockout in 8 on January 17, Buck Tracy by technical knockout in 2 on the 24th, Buck Everett on points in 10 on January 31, and then ranked contender Al Ettore by 10 round unanimous decision on February 7.

Pastor then faced Lou Nova on April 22, in San Francisco, California.

He was a top-ranked heavyweight of the 1940s who once challenged for the world title, losing to Joe Louis in 1939.

Pastor's next fight was highly unusual in that his opponent, the 11-12-1 Art Sykes, suffered a nervous breakdown before their bout.

Sykes returned to his hotel and had to be persuaded to return to the arena for the fight.

Sykes became disinterested in fighting and leapt out of the ring in round six, quitting and officially giving Pastor his second knockout win.

A win over Terry Mitchell in a rematch came after the fight with Sykes, followed by wins against Frankie Sims and a victory over Ralph Barbara in a bout fought at St. Nicholas Arena in New York.