Georgie Abrams

Georgie Abrams (November 11, 1918 – June 30, 1994) was an American boxer who came very close to winning the World Middleweight Championship in November 1941 against Tony Zale and was a top contender for the title in the early 1940s.

In his unique boxing career, he fought eight former or future world champions.

He was managed by Bo Bregman, and Chris Dundee.

Georgie Abrams was born the son of a shoemaker in Roanoke, Virginia on November 11, 1918.

He was given the middle name "Freedom" for being born on Armistice Day.

His family eventually moved to Washington, D.C., where he was raised and began his ring career.

A gifted athlete and top student in high school, he had to forgo completing college due to the economic pressures of the Great Depression, even though he was offered partial athletic scholarships by two colleges, Notre Dame and Catholic University, in swimming and boxing.

He briefly attended Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana, having to leave for financial reasons.

An outstanding amateur boxer, with a record of 62–3, he won the Washington, D.C. AAU Welterweight Title.

Brouillard was a former October 1931, NBA World Welterweight Champion, and an August 1933 NYSAC World Middleweight Champion against Ben Jeby, making Abram's win more significant.

Yarosz had previously taken the NYSAC World Middleweight Championship in September 1934 against Vince Dundee in Pittsburgh.

On June 6, 1936, Abrams defeated Teddy Yarosz in a ten-round split decision at the Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. In a July 5, 1938, rating of American middleweights, Yarosz was placed at tenth by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Later, he took a Golden Gloves championship in Chicago in 1937 at 147 pounds.

Turning professional in 1937, Abrams won his first 17 fights.

He earned a shot at middleweight champion Tony Zale by defeating such contenders as Billy Soose, Teddy Yarosz, and Lou Brouillard.

The Cocoa Kid took the "Colored" Welterweight Title on June 11, 1937, and had previously held the USA New England Welterweight Title.

Impressively, Abrams win over the Kid was the black brawler's first loss in forty six successive bouts.

On April 11, 1938, he defeated Jimmy Jones in an eight-round points decision at Turner's Arena in Washington, D.C. Abrams had previously lost to Jones on March 21 in a fifth-round knockout that ended when Jones landed a wild right to his jaw.

On June 29, 1938, he defeated Phil Furr at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., in a ten-round unanimous decision.

Furr was rated the number six welterweight in the country in a standing released by the National Boxing Association (NBA) the following month.

The fighting was fast, and Furr had Abrams down on the mat at one point in the match.

On April 28, 1939, Abrams defeated Harry Balsamo in the main event at New York's Hippodrome in an eight-round points decision.

Abrams, who may have taken every round, was on the offensive throughout, never giving Balsamo a chance to lead with his strong right.

Balsamo may have not yet been in top condition having had an appendectomy several months prior to the fight, though Abrams' win was decisive.

Abrams was given seven of the eight rounds by most of the judges, and numerous facial cuts at the end, though Balsamo led 3 to 1 in the pre-fight betting.

On June 20, 1939, Abrams defeated Lou Brouillard in a ten-round points decision at Griffith Stadium at Abram's home turf in Washington, D.C., in a ten-round points decision.

On October 28, 1939, he defeated Vincent Pimpinella in an eight-round points decision at Ridgewood Grove in Brooklyn, New York.

The Italian Flatbush native Pimpinella, also a New York Golden Gloves winner, fought such boxing greats as Lew Tendler, British born champion Jack "Kid" Berg, Billy Soose, and Fritzie Zivic, as well as sharing some of the opponents Abrams had fought including Phil Furr.

He defeated Ernie Vigh on March 26, 1940, in an eight-round points decision at the New York Coliseum in the Bronx.

Both boxers fighting near 162, had a rough March bout before 8,000 spectators.

Vigh was the victim of an accidental head butt in the second, and Abrams landed a hard left hook to the face of Vigh in the third.

On July 29, 1940, he met the talented Black boxer Charley Burley in a rough ten round draw at Hickey Park in Millvale, Pennsylvania, close to Burley's hometown of Pittsburgh.

Burley had the first two rounds taken from him because of low punches, but may have had a slight edge in the following rounds which ended when Abram's, rallying late with a flurry of punches, may have taken the eighth and ninth.

Abrams appeared to have taken the third, but the bout was certainly close and the sharper blows may have been dealt by Burley.

The Pittsburgh Press and Post Gazette, though both were hometown papers of Burley, both wrote that Burley probably should have received the decision.

On August 12, 1940, Abrams defeated the Cocoa Kid, a Black boxer from New Haven, Connecticut.

The "Kid" was rated fifth nationally among Middleweights at the time.

Vigh was known as a very hard puncher and was a top New York-based world rated Middleweight contender between 1941 and 1942, rising as high as second in some standings.

Like Abrams, he fought champions Tony Zale and Billy Soose in his career.

Abrams was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.