The Man of Many Firsts: The Legacy of Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis

In 1881, following the assassination of Czar Alexander the second, the Russian Government started an anti-Semitic drive restricting Jewish rights and sponsoring attacks on their people. This led to mass emigration to the USA, Britain and countries within the British Empire with the majority of these uneducated exiles settling close to where their ships docked. Around 100,000 came to rest in East London spawning a teeming ghetto famous for its prostitution, crime and urban poverty. It was in 1894, just six years after Jack the Ripper started his own clean up campaign in the area, that Gershon Mendeloff was born into this ‘Outcast London’, growing up to become Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis, one of the greatest British fighters of all time.

The son of a cabinet maker, Lewis turned pro at age fourteen, in 1909, losing a six round decision to one Johnny Sharp, but earning the runner up purse of sixpence and a cup of tea (how British). Fighting almost
every week, he built up a record of 116 wins, against only nine losses and eight draws, over the next four years culminating in the British and disputed European featherweight titles (and more tea?), with a win over Alec Lambert in the seventeenth round.

The eighteen-year-old then claimed the complete European title against Paul Til before hitting the road, touring Australia (four wins, one loss), and eventually arriving in the USA in late 1914. He started
competing at the top level immediately, although by now he generally weighed around 145 pounds, the welterweight limit. In the days before televised fights, newspapers often decided the results of fights while reporting the action. If a bout was exciting enough, it was common for the two combatants to then take their rivalry to the road, touring America’s main cities, while fighting other opponents along the way. Many fighters of this era are linked to one or two main rivals with whom they contested multiple title bouts.

In Lewis’s case, it would be Jack ‘Boxing Marvel’ Britton.

Britton and Lewis first met, in a non-title bout, in March 1915 in Britton’s native New York, with ‘The Kid’ losing a close ten round decision. Britton would go on to win the world welterweight title from Mike Glover less than three months later, before signing for a return with Lewis in August that year. The twenty-year-old Londoner fought superbly to win the title over twelve rounds, becoming the first Englishman to win a world boxing title on American soil; no, Fitzsimmons doesn’t count. Lewis was also the first Jewish fighter from Britain to claim a world title.

After this victory, the Lewis and Britton road show would tour North America, with the fighters exchanging blows, and sometimes the titles. They fought in Buffalo, New Orleans, Boston (again and several times),
Cincinnati, Toronto, St Louis, Dayton, Atlanta, Scranton, Canton and Jersey City before ending their series with a Britton win in Madison Square Garden in 1921, an incredible 21 fights later, more than some world champions whole careers today! They fought for the title five times, with Lewis winning two and Britton three. It is said that the two fighters would play cards in the changing room prior to their bouts, before returning and finishing the game after the hostilities were completed.

During his rivalry with Britton, Ted fought an additional eighty-seven times including a No Decision bout against Benny Leonard, arguably the greatest lightweight fighter of all time and another no decision for the world middleweight title versus Mike O’Dowd. By now, the British public were clamoring to see their all conquering hero fight again in the U.K. and they were duly rewarded when Lewis beat Johnny Bee to win the British middleweight title and then Johnny Basham for the British, European and Commonwealth (in those days called the British Empire) welterweight titles. Lewis would go on to beat Basham two more times over the following year, the latter time for the
British and European middleweight titles.

Next up for the twenty-seven-year-old Lewis would be his toughest adversary by far, the popular Frenchman Georges Carpentier. Known as the Orchid Man, Carpentier had fought in every weight from flyweight to heavyweight and had tried to win the world heavyweight title from Jack Dempsey the previous year. Now he was defending his European light heavyweight and heavyweight titles as well as the light heavyweight world championship against the lighter man. Carpentier would win by controversial first round KO after Lewis turned to complain to the referee about Carpentier’s holding and forgot the Golden Rule of Boxing: Defend yourself at all times.

There was no lengthy layoff to recuperate in those days and Lewis would claim the Commonwealth middleweight title just thirty-nine days later, although he was now slowing down managing ‘just’ fourteen fights over the next two years, then celebrating his thirtieth birthday by losing six of his next ten fights. After a brief return to form, he was taken back to America to face future hall of fame fighter ‘Slapsie’ Maxie Rosembloom, losing by disqualification in the sixth round. The thirty-four-year-old Lewis now seemed finished but still managed to win the British Empire light heavyweight title with a first round Disqualification against Charley Belanger in Toronto. After a final farewell win over regular whipping boy Johnny Basham in 1929, the great Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis finally called it quits.

As any aspiring boxer knows, one of the first pieces of equipment you need is a good mouthpiece. This piece of equipment was developed by Lewis’ dentist (and ex boxer) Jack Marks to help protect Ted’s prominent teeth. At first there was quite a bit of controversy over what was seen as an advantage on Lewis’ part, although this eventually became an essential item that we know today. Lewis’ record is difficult to gauge with some sources stating two-hundred fights and others over three-hundred. A recognized recording is that he retired with 224 wins against thirty-eight losses and twenty drawn fights.

Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis had an all-energy, attacking style similar to Henry Armstong and Aaron Pryor, and was also one of the first fighters to effectively throw combinations. After retiring, he joined the Royal Air Force
during World War II and stayed on in the British boxing scene until his death in October 1970.