I did an article on Philly’s J Russell Peltz years ago and this time wanted to pick his brain about Philly boxers and others he either promoted or saw. I asked him to comment on boxer’s names I gave him and here’s what he had to say:
KEN HISSNER: “GYPSY” JOE HARRIS
J RUSSELL PELTZ: a one-eye ring genius who couldn’t beat the streets.
KEN HISSNER: WILLIE “THE WORM” MONROE
J RUSSELL PELTZ: always insecure about his own ability and never the main guy in his stable.
KEN HISSNER: STANLEY “KITTEN” HAYWARD
J RUSSELL PELTZ: he would have been the star in the age of social media, plus he could really fight.
KEN HISSNER: EUGENE “CYCLONE” HART
J RUSSELL PELTZ: the best left hook I ever saw in person and that includes Joe Frazier.
KEN HISSNER: BOBBY “BOOGALOO” WATTS
J RUSSELL PELTZ: the best of the Watts-Hart-Monroe trio due to his boxing smarts but his body may have been too fragile to hold up in the trenches.
KEN HISSNER: GEORGIE BENTON
J RUSSELL PELTZ: he enjoyed fighting out of the pocket and being a defensive genius that he often forgot the purpose of the fight in winning.
KEN HISSNER: “BAD” BENNIE BRISCOE
J RUSSELL PELTZ: he came to hurt you, body or head, and he thought the only fight he ever lost was when Rodrigo Valdez stopped him in 1974 in Monte Carlo.
KEN HISSNER: MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD
J RUSSELL PELTZ: a boy in a man’s body who was as exciting as any 175-pounder but he was abused financially by those in charge around him.
KEN HISSNER: HAROLD JOHNSON
J RUSSELL PELTZ: a master boxer who was accused of being timid yet he fought every great light heavyweight and most heavyweights of his era.
KEN HISSNER: TYRONE EVERETT
J RUSSELL PELTZ: ahead of his time but he could have been even better with just a bit more aggression.
KEN HISSNER: JEFF CHANDLER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: perhaps the best I ever promoted and was still learning on the job when his eyes went.
KEN HISSNER: DICK TURNER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: only saw him once – a loss to Jose Stable – but another talent whose career was cut short due to detached retina.
KEN HISSNER: ANTHONY BOYLE
J RUSSELL PELTZ: poorly promoted by me and could have been much better had Wesley Mouzon trained him from jump street.
KEN HISSNER: MIKE EVERETT
J RUSSELL PELTZ: underrated 140-pounder who bore the brunt of fans who wanted to see his brother get beat so they took it out on Mike. Beat solid guys like Norman Goins, Dale Hernandez, Miguel Barreto. Underated!
KEN HISSNER: FRANK FLETCHER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: relentless force and the most exciting fighter of the early 1980’s who made the most of his unlimited talent, but he couldn’t stay out of trouble on the street.
KEN HISSNER: JOEY GIARDELLO
J RUSSELL PELTZ: underrated champ who fought every tough Black fighter in his era. A throwback fighter.
KEN HISSNER: PERCY MANNING
J RUSSELL PELTZ: decent technician but fragile and thrown to the wolves by management.
KEN HISSNER: JERRY “THE BULL” MARTIN
J RUSSELL PELTZ: showed his toughness against James Scott but froze against Mustafa Muhammad.
KEN HISSNER: LEN MATTHEWS
J RUSSELL PELTZ: teenage phenom pushed too fast and enabled outside of the ring which led to his fire burning out early.
KEN HISSNER: LEOTIS MARTIN
J RUSSELL PELTZ: tragic heavyweight who had to quit on the doorstep of big money.
KEN HISSNER: CHARLEY SCOTT
J RUSSELL PELTZ: another burned out Philly left-hooker whose schedule of opponents was chosen by the Marques de Sade.
KEN HISSNER: JAMES SHULER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: beat James Kinchen but died way too young. Hearns loss could have been a anomaly but we’ll never know.
KEN HISSNER: CHARLES BREWER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: fought as if you had insulted his mother and rarely in a bad fight so what more could you ask.
KEN HISSNER: CHARLIE “CHOO CHOO” BROWN
J RUSSELL PELTZ: undisciplined—inside and outside the ring—who never made the most of his talent.
KEN HISSNER: RANDALL “TEX” COBB
J RUSSELL PELTZ: right up there with George Chuvalo on toughest chins.
KEN HISSNER: AUGIE PANTELLAS
J RUSSELL PELTZ: underrated junior lightweight with world-class punching power who was mis-labled as a White kid with the right connections.
KEN HISSNER: ROBERT “BAM BAM” HINES
J RUSSELL PELTZ: beautiful to watch with his repertoire of short punches inside and you cannot say that about too many southpaws.
KEN HISSNER: TYRONE “BUTTERFLY” CRAWLEY
J RUSSELL PELTZ: excellent boxer but I’m not sure how much success in boxing meant to him in the long run.
KEN HISSNER: CALVIN GROVE
J RUSSELL PELTZ: this 130-pounder could have competed in any era. Quick and solid defensively.
KEN HISSNER: GARY HINTON
J RUSSELL PELTZ: awkward over-achieving southpaw who was a tough “out” for any 140-pounder of his era, including Aaron Pryor.
KEN HISSNER: NATE MILLER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: his humorous personality disguised the fact that he could really fight.
KEN HISSNER: DWIGHT QAWI
J RUSSELL PELTZ: without Michael Spinks he was the best of his era at 175. Brilliant defensively and he liked to hurt you.
KEN HISSNER: CURTIS PARKER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: terrific action fighter who should have been managed better. Too many hard fights in a row for his bruising style.
KEN HISSNER: RODNEY MOORE
J RUSSELL PELTZ: overcame a poor start to his career to become a solid contender.
KEN HISSNER: MELDRICK TAYLOR
J RUSSELL PELTZ: excellent talent and 10 seconds from super stardom. Biggest tragedy was lack of financial advice or perhaps his refusal to accept it.
KEN HISSNER: TIM WITHERSPOON
J RUSSELL PELTZ: tremendous right-hand puncher who may have been robbed against Larry Holmes, but again, abused financially.
KEN HISSNER: ROY WILLIAMS
J RUSSELL PELTZ: need have the zip to go with his ability. The 10th round of his fight with Earnie Shavers was his career in microcosm.
KEN HISSNER: DAVID REID
J RUSSELL PELTZ: drooping eye kept him from achieving more.
KEN HISSNER: IVAN ROBINSON
J RUSSELL PELTZ: classy boxer who showed his heart in two great fights with Arturo Gatti but a half-step below the best of his time.
KEN HISSNER: “SMOKIN” JOE FRAZIER
J RUSSELL PELTZ: the night he beat Ali in 1971 he would have been a tough “out” for any heavyweight who ever lived. Unbeatable from 1968 through 1972.
KEN HISSNER: TOMMY LOUGHRAN
J RUSSELL PELTZ: may have been the best-ever from Philly since he fought out of town so much and, without a big punch, had to be dominant enough to get all those decisions. Beat three heavyweight champs but never fought a black fighter.