Levine, Artie

Levine was a popular Brooklyn middleweight in the 1940s who was a contender on the verge of a title shot, but fell just short; his most famous fight was against the great Sugar Ray Robinson in November 1946.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. 1924

Career Highlights:
Levine began his professional career as a middleweight in 1941, and won 10 of his first 11 fights before losing to Tony Pappas in a six-round decision in January 1942. Over the next few years, Levine continued to fight on the East Coast and moved up the middleweight ranks. Winning 34 of 46 since his loss to Pappas, Levine's big fight came in November 1946 against Sugar Ray Robinson (Robinson entered the ring with 72 victories in 74 professional fights and 89 straight as an amateur). Levine's managers believed that a victory over the young Sugar Ray could lead to a title shot.

Levine was not intimidated by his opponent and, "was doing pretty good, maybe the fight was even after the fourth." In the fifth-round, Levine unleashed a left hook that Robinson said "flopped me like a fish." The referee walked Levine to a neutral corner, then returned to Sugar Ray and began the countdown at one. Of course, the ref should have started the count as soon as Levine was in the corner; had he done so, Robinson would likely have been counted out. Instead, Sugar Ray was given an extra seven seconds, which enabled him to struggle to his feet before the ref counted to ten.

In the eighth-round, Levine staggered Robinson again; but in the ninth, Ray socked Levine in the midsection and then hit him with a barrage of punches. Although Levine sagged against the ropes, he refused to go down. During the fight, Levine, "realized something about him [Sugar Ray] I didn't know before -- he was one hell of a puncher. In the 10th and final round, he was desperate, throwing punches as random. He...hit me a good shot that landed on my Adam's apple. I started to gasp for breath...the last one [punch] I remember was one to the ear." Levine was counted out at 2:41 of the 10th-round, with only 19 seconds remaining in the fight.

Some said that Sugar Ray could not remember the fight after the 5th round; Robinson later said that Levine's hook in the fifth, "was the hardest punch I was ever hit." Robinson went on to capture the world welterweight title in his next bout, and become arguably the greatest fighter in history. Levine, on the other hand, never got a shot at the title after losing to Sugar Ray. After the Robinson fight, Levine's most notable bout was against future light-heavyweight contender "Blackjack" Billy Fox in 1947; he was knocked out in the third-round. He continued to fight until 1959 and retired with 53 wins (42 knockouts) in 78 decisions.

Origin:
Brooklyn, New York

Physical description:
5'8"

Career Statistics:
Professional record:
Wins: 53 (42 by knockout)
Losses: 19
Draws: 6

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