The 1940s were the heyday of American boxing. Champions included featherweight Willie Pep, who won sixty-two fights in a row before he was beaten by lightweight Sammy Angott and then seventy- one more (with one draw) before Sandy Saddler took his title on 28 October 1948. When the decade closed, Pep was champion again, having defeated Saddler in the rematch. Among the lightweights, there was Beau Jack, the popular "Georgia Shoe Shine Boy," who fought a series of championship fights with another southerner, Bob Montgomery. After the war Ike Williams won the championship and ruled the division for the rest of the decade. Among the welterweights, there were Henry Armstrong, who had moved up in weight, Fritzie Zivic, Red Cochrane, and Marty Servo. All except Cochrane were beaten by the best fighter in the division, Sugar Ray Robinson. Jake La Motta had similar problems in the middleweight division, which included champions.....
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