George Chip pugile

George Chip (Lit. Jurgis Čepulionis, August 25, 1888 – November 6, 1960) was a Lithuanian-American boxer who was the World Middleweight Champion from 1913 to 1914 in an era of great middleweights. Chip came to be known as a heavy puncher with an impressive knockout ratio. He was the father of Major general William C. Chip, USMC.Chip was born on August 25, 1888, in Scranton but was raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in what is today the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where most of his matches occurred. He was of Lithuanian descent. His manager was Jimmy Dime.He was active in both baseball and football in his youth, and later worked in the coal mines in Madison, Pennsylvania. In January 1909, realizing his athletic gifts at the age of twenty, he decided to try boxing on the advice of L. B. Lewis, a mining Superintendent he knew. He won his first match when Billy Manfredo received a second round disqualification in Greensburgh, Pennsylvania. The following month he knocked out George Gill and John Chew. He continued to fight through 1910 with only one recorded loss.During a title fight on 11 October 1913, Chip surprised the crowd when he knocked out reigning world middleweight champion Frank Klaus with a strong right hook to the jaw near the end of the sixth and final round. Prior to the knockout, in the first five rounds, Chip never threatened to take the lead. The fight occurred at the old Pittsburgh City Hall at Market Square . It was the first knockout of Klaus's career. The extra weight Klaus was carrying in his midsection led many reporters to believe he had not trained adequately for the bout, and had underestimated the ability of his opponent.Chip fought the exceptional boxer Jack Dillon over ten times, usually losing to him in the opinions of newspapers. Dillon was an Indiana-born Hall of Famer who held the light heavyweight championship of the world from 1914-16.Chip fought Pittsburgh area boxer Albert "Buck" Crouse seven times during his career, mostly in no decision bouts, losing to him only once.