Boxing Career
On May 25, 1942 he KO'd Lou Nova in the eighth round in a bout which was named the Ring Magazine upset of the year.
On March 19, 1948 Lee Savold set the record for the quickest knockout in a main event bout in Madison Square Garden by knocking out Italy’s Gino Buonvino. He was the underdog, and had been substituted for Joe Baksi, who had injured his ankle, on only 48 hours notice. The record stood until Gerry Cooney tied the record by KO'ing Ken Norton in 1981. It was finally broken on March 10, 2007, when Sultan Ibragimov KO'd Javier Mora in 46 seconds.
On June 6, 1950, he defeated Bruce Woodcock on a fourth round cut eye stoppage to win the EBU version of the World Heavyweight title, Savold had lost on a foul in their first meeting in 1948.
On June 17, 1951 he fought Joe Louis in what was the first professional prizefight carried to theaters on closed circuit TV. He was knocked out in 2 minutes 29 seconds of the sixth round. Although it was a non-title match, after this bout the EBU withdrew recognition of Savold as "world" champion.
In his last fight, he lasted 7 rounds before being TKO'd by legendary boxer Rocky Marciano on February 13, 1952.
| Titles in pretence | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by George Godfrey | World Heavyweight Champion BBBC/EBU recognition June 6, 1950 - June 16, 1951 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Muhammad Ali |
Read more about this topic: Lee Savold
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