John Henry Lewis boxer

John Henry Lewis (May 1, 1914 – April 18, 1974) was a hall of fame American boxer who held the World Light Heavyweight Boxing Title from 1935 to 1938. The Ring boxing magazine named Lewis the 16th greatest light heavyweight of all-time. His trainer was Larry Amadee, and his managers included Ernie Lira, Larry White, Frank Schuler, and Gus Greenlee.Lewis was born in Los Angeles on May 4, 1914, to Mattie Drake Foster and John Edward Lewis. The family settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where he grew up and was taught to box at an early age by his father, a former lightweight who ran a Phoenix gym. Lewis claimed a great-uncle was the noted bare-knuckle brawler Tom Molineaux.Lewis battled in exhibition "midget boxing" matches at the age of five. Turning professional as a welterweight at 14, he gained a reputation for speed and rapidly improving scientific boxing skill.Lewis began his professional career in 1928, beating Buster Grant by a four-round decision in Phoenix, where he fought his first fourteen bouts. In 1931, he traveled to Prescott, to fight Sam Terrain on March 11. This proved to be a tragic event, as Terrain later died from the blows received during Lewis' fourth round knockout win.On July 1, 1931, he won his first title, the USA Arizona State Middleweight Championship, in an eight-round points decision against Lloyd Phillips, in Mesa, Arizona. The crowd violently resented the ruling, possibly as a result of racial basis, but the Arizona Republic called the ruling "eminently just".Lewis faced future World Heavyweight champion, James J. Braddock on September 21, 1932, defeating him in a ten-round points decision at Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Though only eighteen and still in school at the time of the fight, he took nine of the ten rounds by wide margins. Braddock forced the fighting to take the seventh round.