It's one of those names that say it all
Willie Pep has died. He was one of the great names in boxing. Oh, and he was a heck of a fighter as well.
I love the names in old-time boxing, which did stage names better than any other legit sport. It just wouldn't sound the same if Walker Smith Jr. were the best pound-for-pound of all time, or if Rocco Francis Marchegiano had retired undefeated, or if Guglielmo Papaleo had won 229 bouts.
A few years ago, Ring Magazine ranked the 80 greatest boxers of the past 80 years. Eight of the top nine, and 12 of the top 16, fought under something other than their birth names.
1. Sugar Ray Robinson -- born Walker Smith Jr., 2. Henry Armstrong -- Henry Jackson Jr., 3. Muhammad Ali -- Cassius Clay, 4. Joe Louis -- Joseph Louis Barrow, 5. Roberto Duran -- that is his real name, 6. Willie Pep -- Guglielmo Papaleo, 7. Harry Greb -- Edward Henry Greb, 8. Benny Leonard -- Benjamin Leiner, 9. Sugar Ray Leonard -- Ray Charles Leonard ... and so on.
Rocky Marciano was born Marchegiano. Archie Moore was Archie Wright. Jack Dempsey was William Harrison Dempsey.
Fighters changed names for all sorts of reasons. Ali's, of course, was religious. Others did it to give long names more, well, punch; to get around ethnic prejudice; to copy earlier famous names; to keep their mothers from knowing they were fighting; or, though this worked only for less-well-known athletes, to get fights under two different names.
Depending on the fashion of the day, Jewish fighters switched to non-Jewish names (Albert Rudolph won a championship as Al McCoy, Arthur Lieberman became Artie O'Leary, and -- hard to believe this fooled anybody -- Benny Cohen became "Irish" Benny Cohen), or non-Jewish fighters switched to Jewish names (Sammy Mandella became Sammy Mandell).
You always wonder if certain celebrities would have hit it big if they hadn't heeded advice to change to snappy names, or been lucky enough to be born with snappy names. And if certain athletes, whatever their accomplishments, are a little more legendary because of unique names -- Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth.
Did Willie Pep win the featherweight belt and become Ring's No. 6 fighter of all time in part because his adopted name, perfect for headlines and arena marquees, gave him opportunities that others lacked? You'd hate to think that, but you have to say the name helped to make him memorable.
Anyway, that's all for today from me, Lance Zap.