Sid Terris

Sidney Terris ("The Galloping Ghost of the Ghetto," "The Galloping Ghost," and ""The Dancing Master of the East Side"; born Sept. 26, 1926, in New York, NY; died December 1974, in Miami, Florida) was an American boxer.

A world ranking lightweight from February 1925 until November 1929, his highest ranking was # 1.

Boxing career

Terris was born on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father died suddenly when he was 8 years old.

As an amateur he won 50 consecutive matches, and was never defeated.

Terris won the New State, Metropolitan, National AAU, and International Championship, all in a period of 10 months.

He started his professional career in 1922.

In 20 fights in his first year as a pro, he lost only twice.

In 1924 he delivered 18 straight wins. In October of that year, Ring Magazine wrote, "There is no stopping Terris in his quest of the 135-pound laurels. Many are of the opinion that in six or eight more months he will defeat [Benny] Leonard." That was quite a statement. Benny Leonard had been the undefeated lightweight king since 1917. But the title shot the writers at Ring hoped for was never to come. Benny Leonard hung up his gloves in January of 1925 after an historic seven-year reign, leaving a promising field of lightweight contenders with no apparent heir.

On January 13th he beat top contender Jimmy Goodrich on points after 12 rounds.

In February he took on ranked # 3, Sammy Mandell. 13,000 fans packed the old Madison Square Garden. Mandell hung on to win a unanimous decision from the judges.

In March 1925 the New York State Boxing Commission announced an elimination tournament for the vacant lightweight championship. Participation in the tournament was not mandatory and the Caplins had a strategy. At only 20 years old (Rocky Kansas and Goodrich were 25 and 30 respectively), they felt Sid should sit out the tournament where his inexperience and questionable chin could mean an early elimination. After a winner was announced, and still being a ranked contender, they could make a clean challenge for the crown.

He bounced back from the loss to Mandell and 1925 would end up being a golden year. By December, he faced 7 former and future world lightweight champions. Other than Mandell, he defeated them all.

In May and again in June, he faced former junior lightweight champ, Johnny Dundee. His back to back defeats of Dundee followed a win by disqualification over Rocky Kansas. He fought "Nebraska Wildcat" Ace Hudkins in Chicago for 10 rounds, and there were some witnesses who claim he was never hit during the entire fight.

The Ghost faced "The Fargo Express" Billy Petrolle in June of 1926. His defeat of Petrolle made him the undisputed top-ranked contender for the title. Sammy Mandell would have to fight him.

But in July 1926 he dropped out of professional boxing. He did not step into the ring again until February 1927.

His comeback continued with big wins over Stan Loayza and New York favorite Ruby Goldstein in which he knocked out his former Hebrew School mate in the first round in front of 50,000 screaming fans at the Polo Grounds. He was dropped by Goldstein for a nine-count during their historic six-round fight, but arose and immediately kayoed Goldstein with the first right blow he landed. But he broke one of his hands in the process. Terris was never the same afterwards in the ring. His stellar performances in 1927 put him at # 3 in the lightweight rankings. The following year, he was knocked out in the first round by world lightweight champion, Jimmy McLarnin.

He was beaten in his last bout on May 7, 1931.

His career record was: Won 105 (KOs 15), Lost 15, Drawn 5.

Boxing style

Terris possessed an extremely fast pair of legs and quick hand speed. His speed and agility were uncanny. He would literally surround an opponent with his dexterity. Ring Magazine called him, "the speediest fighter of his generation." At the same time he would spray the opposition with left hand jabs that came from nowhere. When he was set properly for a right hand punch, he could hit with more than annoying propensity. He was also an instinctive, scientific boxer.

During his pro days the only ones who gave him trouble were those who reached his body at close quarters. His rapidity made him almost impossible to reach at long range.

Links

* [http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/Sid_Terris Boxrec bio]
* [http://www.jewishboxers.com/sidterrisbio.html Jewishboxers bio]
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=boxing&ID=12 Jews in Sports bio]