8. Midget Wolgast (149-35-16, 16 KO, 12 ND)

Born: July 18, 1910

Died: Oct. 19, 1955

 

Born Joseph Robert LoScalzo in Philadelphia, PA., Wolgast turned pro in 1925 and was considered one of the fastest boxers of his time. He marveled fans with his inventive antics in the ring.  His boxing skills, fast hands and fast feet made him a very elusive and dangerous adversary in the ring.  He boxed world class Corp. Izzy Schwartz in a no decision bout in 1927.

 

Wolgast won the vacant NYSAC World flyweight championship in 1930 by defeating Black Bill and held on to it until 1935. Bill, one of Cuba's finest, was on a 26 fight winning streak before to losing to Wolgast.  In 1929 RING Magazine rated Bill the #1 flyweight in the world while Wolgast was rated #2.  Since RING titles didn't exist at the time, when the two met nothing was at stake outside of NYSAC recognition.  NBA Champion Frankie Genaro was rated #4 by the magazine the same year.  Wolgast attempted to unify with Genaro at the end of the following year (1930), but the bout ended in a draw.

 

While Wolgast's rating became #1 after the Bill win and remained so following the Genaro draw, Genaro actually dropped to #5.  It's no coincidence that the general sentiment going into the bout was that Wolgast was on his way up while Genaro was on his way out.  Although Genaro lost his version of the title on October 26th, 1931, there were no unification matches between Wolgast and subsequent NBA champions.  In fact, Wolgast didn't even bother defending his NYSAC title again until 1935.  Weight fluctuations were often a problem for Wolgast and attributed to his reluctance to actually defend his crown.  He ended up outgrowing the flyweight division entirely well over a year before he finally lost the title.  His last successful defense of the title on July 13th, 1931 was against Ruby Bradley.

 

Overall the RING rated Wolgast among the 10 best flyweights in the world from 1928 to 1934. From 1930 to 1934 he was rated #1.  When he was finally dethroned in 1935, he debuted at #4 in the featherweight ratings.  The large jump in weight begins to describe why he was dethroned in the first place.  Despite regularly fighting 10 lbs heavier at that stage in his career, Wolgast dropped down to 111¾ lbs to defend his title against Small Montana on September 16th, 1935. Wolgast planned to give up his title regardless of the verdict of the fight, no longer desiring to kill himself to make weight. 

 

Wolgast continued to box until 1940.  Wolgast went 3-12-1 in his final 16 fights but it sure was one hell of a career up until then.