Ted Kid Lewis
By Alex Daley
They called him the 'Crashing, Dashing Kid' for his relentless, all-action style, and Ted 'Kid' Lewis (real name Gershon Mendeloff) ranks very highly among the best British fighters of all time.
He won the British featherweight title on 6 October 1913, then captured the European crown four months later. In 1915 he arrived in America and boxed a string of fights, before winning the world welterweight crown from another all-time great in New Yorker Jack Britton. The pair fought each other 20 times, during which the world welterweight title changed hands several times. Theirs was one of the greatest rivalries in boxing history.
Lewis returned to England in late 1919 and proceeded to storm his way through Britain's best welters and middles. Giving away weight meant nothing to Ted Kid, and though never more than a welter himself, he won the European and British middleweight titles and the British light-heavyweight title, all in 1921. In 1922 he challenged the great Georges Carpentier for the Frenchman's European heavyweight and world light-heavyweight titles. The fight finished controversially in the first round, however, when Lewis was knocked out as he turned to make a complaint to the referee.
Lewis boxed on until the age of 36, retiring in December 1929 after a staggering 235 recorded fights. His record stands at 193 wins, 29 losses and 13 draws.
As an interesting aside, he is thought to be the first boxer to use a gum shield in the ring.
Kid Lewis on film
Watch Ted 'Kid' Lewis KO Rotherham middleweight Tom Gummer inside a round (16 Feb 1922).
This was a warm-up match for his world title bout with Carpentier and shows the 'Kid' in devastating form.
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