Frankie Genaro

The former Olympic gold medalist Frankie Genaro, also known as Frank Genaro, was born in New York City on August 26, 1901. During his childhood years, Genaro dreamed of becoming a jockey someday. He also worked in a stable and started to show interest in boxing at the age of eighteen. Not long after learning the sport, he instantly grabbed an Olympic gold medal in the year 1920. Shortly after his triumphant Olympic victory, he went into 17 boxing bouts and succeeded in each battle.

On March 1, 1923, this young hopeful defeated Pancho Villa on a 15-round decision and was recognized as the American Flyweight Champion. The winning streak of Genaro ended when he faced Fidel La Barba in 1925, where La Barba grabbed the American title. His unfortunate defeat made him stronger. After the NBA flyweight championship became vacant in 1927, he challenged Frenchy Belanger in a square off on November 28 of that same year. Although Belanger won the said match, Genaro regained his thrown on February 6, 1928 when he defeated Belanger in their rematch.

On the succeeding year, he again faced a defeat against Spider Pladner of France when he was knocked out on the first round. Genaro refused to give up and was able to redeem himself when Pladner was disqualified in the fifth round of their rematch on April 18, 1929. On 1930, Genaro was given his first and last opportunity to fight for World Boxing title in a bout against Midget Wolgast. The boxing match ended in a draw and both parties were able to keep their respective titles.

Overall, Genaro had 129 bouts where he had 83 victories, 19 of which are knockouts. He also lost 22 boxing matches, went into 9 draws and 15 undecided matches. During his whole boxing career, he was able to challenge 10 world champions and 3 Hall of famers. In 1998, Genaro was included in the roster of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.