Two of Amsterdam’s Duchessi brothers may be sparring in heaven. In 1935, much to his mother’s chagrin, Peter Duchessi started boxing and became the first member of the family to use the nickname Duke. He was proud that he was able to go six rounds against future champ Sugar Ray Robinson. He fought 71 fights and had 57 victories, 15 of them knockouts.

Peter’s younger brother, John Duchessi, Sr., also became a boxer, winning 16 of 17 fights. John Senior, known as Duke the Dropper, slugged his way to a decision over Don Trott of Saratoga Springs in a pioneer televised boxing match on WRGB in Schenectady in 1942. William, yet another Duchessi brother, became a local, then national, officer of the union that represented Amsterdam’s carpet mill workers, the Textile Workers Union of America.