Italian boxers took Irish names to deter discrimination

Nov 16, 2016 2410

To the untrained eye, it seemed that prior to the 1920s there were few noteworthy American boxers of Italian origin and only a limited presence in the decades that followed. But behind many Irish boxing names there frequently stood an olive-skinned, dark-haired battler with a hidden identity. More than one thousand Italian professional boxers went by Irish pseudonyms.

Italian immigrants entered boxing at a time when the booming American economy took advantage of Italian muscle to fuel the nation's growth. However, the ruling elites – the very ones who benefited from cheap labor – disparaged Italians, describing them as "biologically incapable" and a "burden on America."

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Source: http://www.irishcentral.com/

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