Mike Ballerino

Mike Ballerino (April 10, 1901 – April 4, 1965) was an American World Jr. Lightweight boxing champion who began his career in the Philippines boxing with the U. S. Army.

Ballerino was born to an Italian family in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on April 10, 1901.

At the age of seventeen he began boxing for the Army in the Philippines, where he was stationed, and according to one source won the bantam championship of the Orient in a 20-round match.

Many of his bouts were never documented.

At the age of 18, he would become known as a skilled bantamweight in Manila.

He is not remembered as a polished boxer with refined, scientific technique, but a relentless and determined fighter who thrilled audiences.

He lacked a frequent record of knockouts and a strong punch, but he made up for it with enthusiasm and a relentless attack.

Tait had managed a boxing club in Honolulu in 1908.

He settled in Bayonne, New Jersey, the state of his birth, and set out to find worthy opponents.

Shortly after his move to New Jersey, he impressively fought twice at New York's Madison Square Garden.

A few sources state he began boxing as early as 1918 with the Army, but Ballerino's first known bout in the Philippines was in January 1920 against Kid Ponzo, which he won in a third-round knockout.

Rising to face top-rated opponents quickly, he met future Filipino World Flyweight Champion Pancho Villa nine times between January 1920, and October 1921 losing to him in six bouts.

Leaving the Army in the Philippines in late 1921, Ballerino decided it was time to begin "boxing in earnest".

He fought his first bout in the United States at the Eagles Athletic Club in Tacoma, Washington, on December 21, 1921, against Frankie Britt.

Britt was a well-known American featherweight and later lightweight who would contend for the Pacific Coast Title in both these weight classes.

Though the bout was a six-round draw, the crowd was thrilled with the pace of the fight and Ballerino's value as a future contender for the Jr. Lightweight Title was established.

His primary opponent in the Philippines, Pancho Villa arrived in America to fight the following year, with the assistance of legendary manager and promoter Tex Rickard.

Ballerino was managed in his early career in Tacoma, Washington, by Eddie Tait, a former American featherweight boxer, who had briefly managed boxers and opened movie theaters in the Philippines where Ballerino had his start.

On May 18, 1922, he lost to Sammy Gordon in four rounds.

The Seattle Star advertised the bout as a "Special Event", but for a boxer who was nearly local to Seattle, there was relatively little pre-fight publicity.

The Junior Lightweight Class was in its infancy and its boxers did not attract the attention of boxers from more established weight classes.

After taking the Jr. Lightweight Title, Ballerino would draw larger crowds, and greater coverage.

He fought Mike DePinto on June 12 and 26, 1922 in Washington drawing in six and losing in four rounds respectively.

DePinto was a skilled Italian lightweight a shade below the skill of a serious contender.

Their June 12 bout was only a preliminary for a bout between Jimmy Sacco and Joe Gorman in Aberdeen.

Ballerino would not make the top of boxing cards often until taking the championship, though near the end of his career he would fight a number of name boxers in front of larger audiences.

On October 25, 1922, he fought Seattle bantamweight Buddy Ridley at the Auditorium in Tacoma, in a bout that was pre-determined as a six-round draw at the insistence of Ballerino's manager Eddie Tait.

The bout was a good draw, and spectators from Seattle flocked to Tacoma, as Balerino was "a rip snorting battler."

Leo Lassen of the Seattle Star noted that Ballerino "had always gone over big in every one of his scraps in the Northwest."

Ballerino's manager Eddie Tait had worked as a boxing matchmaker, and referee, and had once been a boxer in contention for the featherweight championship.

On January 5, 1923, he met Frankie Jerome in a twelve-round draw and on January 19, he met Carl Tremaine in a second round loss by technical knockout.

On June 18, 1923, he lost to Jewish lightweight Charley Goodman in a six-round points decision at the Polo Grounds in New York, a venue for well-attended, popular bouts.

The fight was described as a "slugging match all the way."

On July 21, 1923, he gave an "artistic trimming" to boxer Joe O'Donnell in an eight-round win at Shetzline Ballpark in Philadelphia.

One source noted that in his typical style, "Ballerino slammed Joe with nearly everything in sight, but the Gloucester blacksmith took his punishment without a whimper".

The fight was a preliminary to an historic bout between his former opponent Pancho Villa and Kid Williams.

Pancho Villa's feature fight received far more newspaper coverage.

After the move, he would find larger audiences, better known opponents, and more income boxing in New England and the Midwest where he primarily focused his career after January 1923.

Ballerino took the World Jr. Lightweight Championship against Steve "Kid" Sullivan on April 1, 1925, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a ten-round unanimous decision.

The Jr. Lightweight class is now referred to as Super featherweight.