Once upon a time, there were guys like Abe Feldman, Abe Simon, Art Lasky, Bob Pastor, Max and Buddy Baer (well, maybe), and?Bill Poland.
?A true credit to boxing.??The New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame on Bill Poland
They don?t make Jewish heavyweights like they used to. In fact, they don?t make them at all.
But once upon a time, there were guys like Abe Feldman, Abe Simon, Art Lasky, Bob Pastor, Max and Buddy Baer (well, maybe), and?Bill Poland.
Born in New York City on October 14, 1917, Poland fought out of the Bronx from 1937 to 1947 (though he was absent from the ring in ?44 and ?45), winding up with a very respectable record of 39 wins, 29 by knockout, eight losses, four by knockout, and three draws. He was managed by the notorious Billy Duffy, who was arrested on the rather unexpected charge of vagrancy at the time of his boy?s bout with Danny Hassett, a decent fighter who had absolutely nothing in his fists. The bout took place at Madison Square Garden on May 3, 1940, Poland winning on points.
Poland fought some toughies, including Henry Cooper (in a bout reffed by Tony Galento, of all people), losing on points at New Haven?s Arena on March 9, 1939. There was also the magnificently monikered ?Peabody Paralyzer,? Harry Bobo. Poland knocked him out in the eighth at Baltimore?s Municipal Stadium on June 26, 1941, but the Paralyzer paid him back that September 15, knocking him out in the sixth at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh (the bout reffed by Al Grayber). In between the Bobo bouts, Poland knocked out Eddie Blunt in the fourth at DC?s Griffith Stadium that August 27 in a fight that had been optimistically scheduled for 25 rounds. He drew against Joe Baksi at the New York Coliseum in the Bronx on July 7, 1942, and, as part of the ?Bomber for MacArthur? fight card, got knocked out by Lee Savold in the ninth at Scott Stadium in Toledo that July 21 (reffed by Jimmy Braddock). On September 9, 1946, he knocked out combat veteran Marty Clark in the third at the Queensboro Arena in Long Island City, Queens. He lost his last two fights, knocked out by Al Hoosman in the fourth at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago on January 8, 1947, and by Kid Riviera in the fifth at St. Louis? Kiel Auditorium that March 12. He last won on December 17, 1946, outpointing Johnny White at the Park Arena in the Bronx.
Although the Whitey Bimstein-trained fighter never got a shot at Joe Louis, he did face impressive, however forgotten, Joe O?Gatty. Tough as a steel-toed boot, ?Fireplug? usually lost, but that didn?t stop him from taking on any and every tough guy available. O?Gatty ?was easy to manage,? said boxing promoter and manager Willie ?The Beard? Gilzenberg. ?He told me many times to pick the opponents and he?d fight them.? And fight them he did, guys like Lou Nova, Eddie Blunt, Henry Cooper, Wild Bill Boyd, Clarence Burman, Melio Bettina, Gunnar Barlund, Harry Bobo, Leroy Haynes, Buddy Walker, Tony Shucco, Herbie Katz, Joe Muscato, Frankie Hammer, Lem Franklin, Tommy Gomez, and, yes, Bill Poland, who outpointed him at the Baltimore Arena on February 13, 1941.
In 1953, Poland appeared in a boxing movie, Champ for a Day, starring Alex Nicol and Audrey Totter. Fellow heavyweight Pat Valentino appears as a sparring partner, albeit in an uncredited role. Boxing fans will remember Audrey as Julie, the wife of Bill ?Stoker? Thompson (Robert Ryan) in The Set-Up. Equally memorable was her performance as Madge Gorland in The Postman Always Rings Twice. When Frank Chambers (John Garfield) offers to help with her broken-down car (is that what they called it in the ?40s?), Madge leaves the vehicle, saying, ?I?m going to wait standing up. It?s a hot day and that?s a leather seat. And I?ve got on a thin skirt.? Rowrr! Well, as Audrey herself noted, ?The bad girls were so much fun to play.?
According to the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame, which inducted Poland on November 20, 1992 (despite his never having fought there), the former fighter was involved in the nightclub business in the Garden State before moving to Las Vegas in 1973, where he was employed by the Riviera Hotel (which closed only a few months ago).
I once came across a photo of Poland posing with Tony Galento. I?m not sure of the date (though I?m guessing around 1965), but Bill looks pretty good. ?Two Ton,? however, in a dark, checked sport coat, skinny tie, with the narrow end longer than the broad, and cigar in his left hand, resembles nothing so much as a barroom bouncer past his prime, though still plenty tough enough to handle any number of snot-nosed frat brats. The godawful rug he insisted on wearing in later years (?Now I?m more beautiful than Clay!?) is mercifully absent. Though only a few years younger than his brother-in-gloves, Poland outlived him by many a year, dying on February 4, 2005, age 87.
