King Levinsky, the windbag of the Windy City, is one of the most colorful fighters in the resined arena today. If the King wasn’t so erratic, he’d still be on the upgrade instead of being knocked colder than one of his own mackerels every time a good fighter—that is, a man with a punch—scowled at him.
The King never was a boxer. He was a fish peddler who could swing a barrel of halibut with the greatest of ease. He developed his punch in the fishstalls of the Chicago markets merely as a matter of good business sense. His sister, at the time known as Mrs. Levy, talked him into becoming a prizefighter, holding out all the promises of easy dough, no more fish peddling and good times.
His size, heft and punch kept him from being flattened for eight years until he met Maxie Baer for the third time in a scheduled four-round scrap in Chicago. In the first minute of the second round of that fight the champ lifted a haymaker that dropped the alleged Windy City Walloper like a ton of bricks. The King was out for ten minutes and when he came to he said, “Max hit me when I wasn’t looking.”
HAS LONG RING HISTORY
Kingfish was born plain Eddie Krakow some twenty-five years ago on the East Side. Coming from an old family of fish peddlers, his folks thought it would be more lucrative if they changed their stalls from the Fulton Street Markets under the Manhattan Bridge to the mackerel marts of Chicago. His sister married a motorcycle cop by the name of Levy, and Eddie Kid Krakow became the terror of the Lake City alleys.
Lena Levy persuaded him to enter the ring, and the Kid changed his name to King Levinsky, a take-off on a Jewish boxer of some two decades ago. The King won his first dozen fights because of his terrific punch. His style was far from orthodox. He was a wild swinger with very little knowledge of the fine points of the boxing game. When he connected with a right to the button or a clip under the ear, it meant curtains for his opponent. Lena Levy would be in the King’s corner at every fight, and according to ringside fans would act more like a kibitzer than a manager. Her jack-in-the-box antics at every fight, when she would jump out of her seat to yell, “Hit him in de zeiten, King!” caused her to be named “Leaping Lena” Levy.
The King fought the best of the fighters in the last three years. He has had scraps with Sharkey, Neusel, Hamas, Lasky and three with Baer. He has lost many by decisions but was kayoed only by Baer in their third fight. His attitude with the fight fans made him a well-liked lad. He never did mind the names he was called, such as the Chicago Fishmonger, the Windy City Assassin, the Windbag, or Blizzard Eddle Krakow. And because he acted the part, the fans were all for him.
The King isn’t through as a fighter. He has several years of ring career left in him. And, says the King, when his days of fistic glory are over, he is going to buy himself a fish market in the Los Angeles territory and live out an easy old age among the flounders of the Pacific—far from fan dancers, resin, tape and ballyhoo.
VICTORY OVER ROSIE PINCUS—SENSATIONAL
The King’s last fight was against Maxie Baer. He was whipped. Previous to that he had turned back Art Lasky, the potato picker from Minnesota, who is known as the California Comer. And prior to the Lasky scrap the Windy City Peddler had scored one of the most sensational ring victories of his young career. He knocked out Rosie Pincus, his fan dancing missus, in one minute thirty-two seconds, with a well-directed blow in the eye. Rosie was fan dancer from the World Fair. It had been a case of love at first sight with the two of them.
Leaping Lena Levy talked, yelled, hollered, pleaded, prayed and wept, but all to no avail. She told the King a fighter would never go places with a fan-dancing wife on his trail. But the King was in love. So Lena told the King she would tie up his purse-strings and not give him any more money. Levinsky clipped Rosie and became a fighter once again.
The knockout by Baer doesn’t matter. The fight fans of the Midwest are gaga about the Fish King. They pay to see him bluster about the ring. If the King connects, so much the better. If he doesn’t, he’s good for a belly-laugh at the very least.
TEMPLE AND DAVE SMUKLER AT GARDEN TONIGHT
The Temple University basketball squad of fifteen players will arrive here at noon today in order to have ample rest for their game tonight against N. Y. U.
Both Temple and N. Y. U. are unbeaten this season, and the Violets will be seeking their twenty-fifth consecutive victory.
Among the Owl players making the trip will be Dave Smukler, 210 pound Jewish fullback, who has just joined the court squad. The sophomore grid hero was high scorer on an unbeaten freshman five last year. His delay in joining the court team was due to the lengthy gr## schedule of the Warner men, and the Sugar Bowl game against Tulane at New Orleans on January 1.
The game will in all likelihood decide the winner of the Eastern court crown, since both teams are unbeaten in eight starts this season. The clash is expected to develop into an individual battle between Willie Rubenstein, Violet scoring ace, and Harold Reds Rosan, who loops most of the points for the Cherry and White tossers.
The second game on the twin bill is the clash between Fordham and Pitt.
These two games should provide the metropolitan court fans with enough thrills to last for an entire season. All four teams are considered the best each school has turned out in years. The Temple N. Y. U. game should be a humdinger. The set-up makes for a “natural.” The Fordham-Pitt game should be a rough and tumble affair with plenty of fouls called during the evening. This is one bill we advise you not to miss.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
