Yack, "Baby" (aka Babe)

Norman Yack

In the mid-1930s, Yack (a highly-regarded Canadian bantamweight), and Canadian lightweight champ Sammy Luftspring boycotted the 1936 Olympic Games in protest of Germany's treatment of Jews. Yack and Luftspring announced their decision not to attend the Berlin Games in a stark and revealing statement. They declared, "We would have been very (loath) to hurt the feelings of our fellow Jews, by going to a land that would exterminate them if it could." Instead, the two boxers chose to compete in the alternate Games being held in Barcelona. When they reached the port city of Dieppe, France, however, they learned the Barcelona Games had been cancelled due to the Spanish Civil War.

Birth and Death Dates:
unknown

Career Highlights:
Yack turned professional soon in 1936 and fought primarily out of Toronto. In January 1938, Yack defeated contender Indian Quintana of Panama in a ten-round decision. The following month, he defeated featherweight contender Jack "Spider" Armstrong in another ten-round decision. He had a rematch with Armstrong in August and won another ten-round decision. Between the two Armstrong fights though, Yack lost a ten-round decision to former New York Commission world flyweight champ Small Montana. In September 1939, he lost an eight-round decision to former world bantamweight champion Harry Jeffra; Jeffra won the world featherweight title in his next fight.

Origin:
Canada

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