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Pete Latzo was Welterweight Champion, 1926-1927. His birthdate is listed as August 1 1902; Coloraine, PA. Died July 7 1968: Atlantic City, NJ.
I have most of a copy (except the first 14 pages) of the Everlast Boxing Record Book, 1926. Inside there is a few paragraphs written by Pete Latzo. I hope someday it may be of interest to someone here.
"CHAMPION PETE LATZO TELLS HIS STORY"
"There were eight kids in our family. My father died when I was about six and most of us had to get out and hustle. I got my first job as a carpenter at $1 a day and was fired three months later for asking for $1.50. I worked in the mines for a while and did odd jobs while some of the other boys of the family tired the boxing game.
Steve, now 33 and a policeman in Hazelton, was the best of the family when it came to boxing.
In fact, the Latzos weren't in good repute as fighters about the time my first chance came-by accident. I was in a barber shop one day when the local promoter came in. They needed a boy for one of the preliminaries and I offered to go in but the Latzo name was against me. He figured I'd be knocked kicking as my brothers had been. So he suggested I change my name to "Young Clancy" for the occasion. I accepted and knocked out my opponent, Red Ferguson, in three rounds.
That gave me a boost and I determined to stick to the fighting game to prove that a Latzo could reach the top. Then when Walker knocked out Steve and beat me pretty baldy I had a burning ambition to even the score for the family's sake as well as my own.
I set about studying Walker, his style and everything about him, determined to be prepared to beat him the next chance I had. It took me three years to accomplish that end, but I attribute the act that I did it solely to my careful preparation and study of a plan of battle calculated to defeat Mickey."
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