Johnny Dundee

Johnny Dundee
Statistics
Real name	Giuseppe Curreri
Nickname(s)	Scotch Wop
Rated at	Featherweight Junior Lightweight Lightweight
Height	5 ft 4 1⁄2 in (1.64 m)
Reach	63 in (160 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	November 19, 1893 Sciacca, Sicily,
Died	April 22, 1965
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	333
Wins	197
Wins by KO	17
Losses	76
Draws	45
No contests	15

Johnny "Scotch Wop" Dundee (November 19, 1893 – April 22, 1965) was a featherweight and junior lightweight champion boxer who fought from 1910 until 1932. He was born Giuseppe Curreri in Sciacca, Sicily, but was raised in the United States. Though Dundee was a clever boxer with little knockout power, he was highly skilled at fighting off the ropes and was always in outstanding condition. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Dundee as the #3 ranked featherweight of all time, while The Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer placed him at #4.^[1] The International Boxing Research Organization rates Dundee as the 5th best featherweight ever and boxing historian Bert Sugar placed him 32nd in his Top 100 Fighters catalogue.^[2][3] Dundee was elected to the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1957 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.^[4]

Professional career

World featherweight champion

Dundee earned a world title fight in his 87th fight and fought to a draw with World Featherweight champion Johnny Kilbane in 1913. The slick boxer waited until his 265th fight for another shot at the title. His patience paid off. He won the junior lightweight championship in 1921 when his opponent, George "KO" Chaney, was disqualified in the fifth round. Dundee earned the distinction of being the first universally recognized junior lightweight champion in history. Then in 1922 he knocked out Danny Frush to earn recognition in New York State as the featherweight champion of the world.

On July 6, 1922, Dundee defeated "Little" Jackie Sharkey by unanimous decision in a fifteen round Junior Lightweight title bout at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Sharkey was down briefly in the fourth, and again in the fifteenth in what several boxing critics considered only a modest showing for Dundee. The New York Evening World wrote that Dundee was "losing his fighting fire", by allowing the bout to go fifteen rounds. The Evening World considered Dundee to have taken every round, though he made a strong showing in the early part of the fourth.^[5] Sharkey had lost earlier to Buff on January 15, 1920 in an eight round newspaper decision of the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The bout was quite exciting and Sharkey was said to excel at infighting having a reach advantage over Dundee. The bout was close and pushed Dundee to his limits, though he won "by a shade". ^[6]

Dundee successfully defended his junior lightweight crown three times before losing it to Jack Bernstein in 1923. Two fights later he unified the featherweight title by defeating Eugene Criqui and finished 1923 by regaining the junior lightweight title in a rematch with Bernstein.

Later career

Dundee lost the junior lightweight title to Steve Sullivan on June 20, 1924 and then relinquished the featherweight crown two months later. The last significant fight of his career was in 1927 when he challenged featherweight champion Tony Canzoneri but lost a 15-round decision. Dundee finally retired in 1932 after posting a six-round decision over Mickey Greb.

Legacy

Dundee faced all of the great fighters in the featherweight, junior-lightweight, and lightweight divisions of his era. He fought the great Benny Leonard nine times, Lew Tendler three times, and boxed lightweight champions Freddie Welsh and Willie Ritchie.

Dundee was regarded as a skillful boxer with great footwork. During his career he had 330 bouts and won featherweight and junior lightweight titles. Only two fighters in history, Len Wickwar (463) and Jack Britton (350) had more fights than Dundee. Perhaps more remarkable was that Dundee was knocked out only twice in his long career.

Notable bouts

Result	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes[7]
Loss	Tony Canzoneri	UD	15	1927-10-24	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Loss	Jack Bernstein	PTS	15	1924-09-15	Queensboro Stadium, Queens, New York
Loss	Sammy Mandell	NWS	10	1924-06-09	Open-Air Arena, East Chicago, Indiana	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Rocky Kansas	UD	10	1924-04-21	Broadway Auditorium, New York, Buffalo
Win	Jack Bernstein	SD	10	1923-12-17	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won World Junior Lightweight Title.
Win	Eugène Criqui	PTS	15	1923-07-26	Polo Grounds, New York, New York	Won World Featherweight Title.
Loss	Jack Bernstein	UD	15	1923-05-30	Coney Island Velodrome, Brooklyn, New York	Lost World Junior Lightweight Title.
Loss	Charley White	NWS	10	1922-06-27	Rock Island, Illinois	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Lew Tendler	UD	15	1922-05-05	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	Charley White	PTS	15	1922-03-17	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Loss	Charley White	SD	10	1922-01-16	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	George KO Chaney	DQ	5 (15)	1921-11-18	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won World Junior Lightweight Title.
Draw	Charley White	PTS	10	1921-08-10	Boxing Drome, Bronx, New York
Win	George KO Chaney	NWS	8	1921-07-18	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Win	George KO Chaney	PTS	10	1921-06-10	Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	Rocky Kansas	NWS	10	1921-04-26	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	8	1920-02-09	4th Regiment Armory, Jersey City, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Win	Charley White	NWS	10	1919-11-26	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	8	1919-09-17	1st Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	6	1919-06-16	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	8	1919-01-20	1st Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Rocky Kansas	PTS	12	1918-09-10	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	George KO Chaney	NWS	6	1918-03-09	National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Win	George KO Chaney	NWS	6	1917-11-19	Olympia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Lew Tendler	NWS	6	1917-10-01	Olympia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Draw	George KO Chaney	NWS	6	1917-07-12	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Win	Rocky Kansas	PTS	12	1917-05-29	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Loss	Lew Tendler	NWS	6	1917-03-26	Olympia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	6	1916-11-15	Olympia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Benny Leonard	NWS	6	1916-11-15	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Win	Matt Wells	PTS	12	1916-05-16	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Draw	Benny Leonard	NWS	6	1916-03-08	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Joe Mandot	PTS	20	1916-02-21	Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana
Win	Matt Wells	PTS	12	1915-12-10	Italian Riverside Club, New Haven, Connecticut
Win	Willie Ritchie	NWS	10	1915-10-26	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Joe Mandot	NWS	10	1915-09-23	Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York	Newspaper Decision
Win	Rocky Kansas	NWS	10	1915-05-03	Broadway Auditorium, New York, Buffalo	Newspaper Decision
Win	Benny Leonard	NWS	10	1915-03-02	135th Street A.C., New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Joe Mandot	PTS	20	1915-02-14	McDonoughville Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Draw	Willie Ritchie	PTS	4	1914-10-23	Coffroth's Arena, San Francisco, California
Loss	Joe Mandot	NWS	10	1914-07-04	Pelican Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana	Newspaper Decision
Win	George KO Chaney	NWS	6	1914-04-20	Olympia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Matty Baldwin	PTS	12	1914-04-14	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Loss	Rocky Kansas	NWS	10	1914-02-24	Broadway Auditorium, New York, Buffalo	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Freddie Welsh	NWS	10	1914-01-01	Pelican Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana	Newspaper Decision
Win	Charley White	NWS	10	1913-11-27	Pelican Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Johnny Kilbane	PTS	20	1913-04-29	Vernon Arena, Vernon, California	For World Featherweight Title.
Loss	Johnny Kilbane	NWS	10	1912-09-04	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Charley White	NWS	10	1912-04-30	Alhambra, Syracuse, New York	Newspaper Decision
Win	Frankie Fleming	NWS	10	1911-06-10	Fairmont A.C., Bronx, New York	Newspaper Decision
Win	Frankie Fleming	NWS	10	1911-06-10	Olympia A.C., New York, New York	Newspaper Decision

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Johnny Dundee from BoxRec