Sammy Angott: Battling Lightweight Champion

Sammy Angott was born "Samuel Engotti" on January 17, 1915, and in the style of the time, the Italian-American eventually anglicized his name. Angott's father was a Pennsylvania coal miner, and as a teenager Angott got into amateur boxing and won a Golden Gloves championship in Pittsburgh. In March 1935, he traveled to Brooklyn and fought his first bout as a pro, embarking on a road that would eventually see him win the World Lightweight Championship and duke it out with no fewer than seven Hall of Fame opponents.

Times were different in the 1930s, and Angott lost his sixth fight, then his 11th, scored a Draw in his 12th, and lost his 13th and 15th bouts. If a fighter did that in the modern era, he would be written off as a journeyman. Yet by that 15th fight, Angott was only into his second, busy year as a professional fighter. Boxers often fought frequently and learned on the job in the 1930s, and Angott was no exception. Standing 5'8", Sammy Angott became what was probably boxing's very first master of the "punch and grab" style of boxing, leading to his nickname "The Clutch." Angott would land a clean punch or two, and then grab onto an opponent before he could be countered. Once clinched up, Angott would then maul his opponent with rough-housing on the inside. Harry Winkler once said of Angott that "had Angott been around to tie up Houdini, that great escape artist would have lost his reputation."

The Contender
In December 1938, Sammy Angott landed his first big fight. He met Freddie Miller, who was 200-25-8 and a former World Featherweight Champion. Angott enjoyed substantial advantages his size and age, and hammered out a clean decision victory, earning him a high ranking from The Ring magazine. Angott built on that win through 1939. He beat Baby Arizmendi, a Mexican contender who turned pro at age 13, and went 1-1 with Davey Day, widely considered the last great Jewish fighter to come out of Chicago.

Clutching Gold
Davey Day was the #1 contender for the NBA (precursor to the WBA) title, and that title away from the champion when he refused to fight Day. Since Day was 1-1 with Angott, the NBA ordered a duel between "The Clutch" and Day over the vacant title in May 1940. The two met in Louisville, Kentucky in a bout that was refereed by Jack Dempsey. Angott relied on his left hook to score before clamping down with his customary clutching, sweeping the first six rounds. Day surged back into the fight after that, but Angott doggedly hung on. After 15 furious rounds, Angott won the scorecards by a razor thin 6-5-4 margin.

Angott's very next outing was somewhat less glorious. In a non-title rematch with Arzimendi, Angott was floored in the 4th and barely earned a Draw. The Clutch then met one of the dirtiest fighters in boxing history when he fought welterweight Fritzie Zivic. The Croat was bigger and rougher than Angott, and thoroughly dominated him. He then just barely edged African-American contender Bob Montgomery of Philadelphia. In 1941, he beat Larry Mancini (father of Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini) and undefeated Harry Hurst by slightly better margins. Then Angott was routed in another welterweight match-up, this time with the rising, undefeated sensation, Sugar Ray Robinson.

During this time, Angott was the NBA champion and had yet to formally defend his title even once. The other half of the world championship, the New York State World Title, was in the hands of Lew Jenkins. In December 1941, only 12 days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the showdown finally came. Angott pounded out an overwhelming 13-2 points victory in Madison Square Garden, earning his place as the Undisputed World Lightweight Champion.

Sammy Angott started his reign as full champion off with style. He fought Bob Montgomery again, this time beating him by a solid margin. Then he met Allie Stolz, a slick Jewish contender from New Jersey, and defeated him in a respectable Split Decision. That was followed by a rubber match with Bob Montgomery, a grueling fight ending in a Split Decision victory for the Clutch. Angott then fought another bout with the bigger, harder-hitting welterweight Sugar Ray Robinson and lost it.

In 1943, Angott crossed paths with 62-0 featherweight champ Willie Pep, a man who remains widely regarded as the greatest defensive technician in boxing history. Angott's wrestling tactics and greater size proved a workable answer for Pep's slickness, and Angott won a close Unanimous Decision victory. That fight was followed by a match-up with Henry Armstrong, a former three-division champ who now fought at welterweight. In a vicious, all-action slugging match, Angott carried the first half of the fight only to see Armstrong find the answer to Angott's style in a savage body attack. Armstrong carried a close decision.

In all of these top-level fights, Sammy Angott had yet to actually defend his world title. He finally did that in October 1943, hammering out a clean points win over Slugger White.

New York State had since stripped Angott of the title, but he retained the NBA belt, and in the hearts and minds of most fight fans Angott remained the champ. He opened 1944 by meeting Beau Jack, who held the New York title, in what would today be labeled a super lightweight (140 lbs) bout. The result was a tentative bout that bored the 19,000 fight fans who turned up in Madison Square Garden expecting to see a war, and was rightfully scored a Draw.

Despite the lackluster outcome, rematch negotiations were in the works for a unification match between Angott and Jack. According to the plan, Jack was supposed to fight Angott's old rival Bob Montgomery and Angott was supposed to met a Mexican contender named Juan Zurita, and after both fighters won they would square off against each other. The plan didn't work out. Beau Jack lost his match with Montgomery, and the title along with it. Yet even more shocking was Angott's loss to Zurita. Consistently beaten to the punch all night long, Angott had no choice but to literally clutch Zurita and hang on, and was badly beaten. The fight was The Ring's Upset of the Year for 1944.

The Ike Williams Trilogy
The Clutch began his comeback by thumping an undefeated novice named Aaron Perry, and then met a hard-punching lightweight contender named Ike Williams. Angott wisely tied up Williams deadly right hand through the fight, leaving Williams little choice but to score with love-tap lefts. Even so, Williams scored a lot and won a Split Decision. The two had a rematch in September 1944, which Williams won again on the basis of work-rate and clean punching.

Ike Williams went on to meet and destroy Juan Zurita in April 1945, capturing the NBA Lightweight Title. When he gave Angott a rubber match in September 1945 it was in a non-title bout, which proved to be a wise move for Williams. Angott roughed up Williams so badly with body shots that Williams suffered torn abdominal muscles, and Angott stopped him in the 6th. Williams would never give Angott another fight.

Having scored a measure of revenge on Williams, Angott had high hopes for 1946, yet fared poorly. In March 1946 he met Sugar Ray Robinson for a third time, was dropped in the 1st and 8th Rounds, and soundly defeated. Then in July 1946, Angott had a rematch with Beau Jack. The second fight was entirely different from the first, as both men came to win and win in impressive fashion. It was a barn-burner that saw Angott stopped by Beau Jack in what was the Italian-American's sole knockout loss, and leaving Jack as the only lightweight rival Angott never scored a win over.

Autumn Years
Sammy Angott campaigned on after the loss to Beau Jack. In May 1947, he defeated future lightweight champion Johnny Bratton and rode a winning streak clear into 1949. However, Angott never challenged for a world title again, and in 1949 he started losing. By August 1950, even Angott could see that he was spent, and he hung up the gloves.

Legacy
Sammy Angott retired with a record of 94-29-8 (22 KOs) and held onto his lightweight championship for almost four years. During his career he fought most of the top fighters in the 126, 135 and 147 lbs divisions. Among those opponents, he fought seven Hall of Fame members and beat three of them -- Bob Montgomery, Willie Pep and Ike Williams -- at least once. Despite his exceptionally high quality of opposition, Angott suffered only one knockout loss in his entire career, his 7th Round TKO loss to Beau Jack. Not even the great Sugar Ray Robinson was able to pop the Clutch.

Sources: Archival fight footage; boxrec.com; ibhof.com; cyberboxingzone.com; ESPN Classic.