Silas, Sid

Silas fought professionally as a lightweight and light welterweight in the 1930s and 1940s.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. 1911

Career Highlights:
A scrawny teenager, Silas desired to learn the boxing game after being beaten up in an orphan asylum in New York City. At the age of 14, with two years of high school, he left the home and worked as a clerk. His first purchase, as legend has it, was a set of boxing gloves and while he struggled early as an amateur, but had improved greatly by January 1929 when he was named to a New York Metropolitan AAU team that fought against other amateurs from Newark and Philadelphia. Two months later, Silas turned pro and was knocked out in his first fight against Danny Dempsey.

Beginning as a bantamweight as an amateur, Silas turned pro as a lightweight and then quickly moved up into light welterweight. He fought the majority of his early fights in Brooklyn and Queens, but then fought in St. Nicholas Arena in New York City by the end of 1930. In January 1931, he defeated Joe Paradise in a bout arranged by the Fur Square Club in benefit of the Fur Trade Foundation - Silas had knocked out his previous six opponents entering the bout (New York Times, January 20, 1931). The following month, Silas had his first bout at Madison Square Garden, but lost a six-round decision to Rocco Vigna.

After losing to Vigna again on decision in March 1931, Silas fought in Newark, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, and Washington D.C. over the next few years, but did not return to Madison Square Garden. Silas fought into the mid-1930s, but then retired. He attempted to make a comeback in 1944, and won two of three bouts, but his last recorded fight took place in November of that year, in which he lost to Bill Bailey.

Origin:
New York

Physical description:
5'8", 145-150 pounds

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