New Haven Independent

MY INDUCTION (JULIE KOGON) SPEECH

My name is Stu Rosen and I am originally from New Haven, CT. I now live in South Windsor in the Hartford area.

It is a great privilege for me to present this award of induction into The CT Boxing Hall of Fame of the late Julie Kogon, lightweight great from New Haven, CT. Soon, I will present this award to one of the Kogon family members, but he will accept this award for Julie, his family, his friends, and his legions of fans, with us tonight or in spirit, particularly those who knew him in New Haven, CT.

All of us owe a great deal of gratitude to the Directors of The CT Boxing Hall of Fame for founding and promoting The Hall. The fighters, in particular, deserve this recognition given their courage and the pleasure and thrills which they have given to all of us gathered here tonight. You, the Directors, have enabled us to remember these great athletes and others who have supported them, officially and unofficially. You have given them immortality.

As to Julie Kogon’s boxing accomplishments, Julie fought professionally from 10/1/37 to 5/22/50. In 135 fights, he was undefeated in his first 20 fights and, ultimately, he won 80 matches, 35 by knockout. In July 1944, he was ranked 10th in the world by Ring Magazine. Julie Kogon won the New England Lightweight Championship in 1947.He fought numerous champions like the Hall’s initial inductee, Willie Pep, knocked down the great champion Ike Williams in the Madison Square Garden, and beat champion Petey Scalzo in a non-title, over the weight fight. He fought lightweight champion, Bob Montgomery, twice.

In this connection, I relate two anecdotes which also show the great camaraderie among many boxers. (1) Willie Pep’s beautiful card to Julie on his deathbed in a Florida hospital encouraging Julie to fight on. (2) Before one of the two fights with Bob Montgomery, we have a photo of Julie, the excellent singer crooning, and Bob Montgomery accompanying him on the piano.

I knew Julie as a 10 year old. My late father was a friend of his and admired him as a person and fighter. He would patronize Julie’s luncheonette on the corner of Whalley Ave. and Norton St. (we lived a half block away on Norton St.) .

One school night in 1950, my father took me to one of Julie’s last fights. (My father was very permissive. My younger son who is here tonight wasn’t so fortunate.) I can picture the setting at the New Haven Arena so vividly. Julie was in white trunks trimmed in black. His opponent, Henry Schlizzi was in black trunks, trimmed in white. I can remember the boxers exchanging punches, no knockdowns, and a constant loud voice coming from a nearby Schlizzi fan with the words “schdink,” “schdink,” “schdink.” I suppose those words meant “jab,” “jab,” “jab.”

Julie lost the fight. My father and I were the only ones to walk him back to his dressing room. I think that I felt more badly for his loss than Julie.

The next day, I went to see Julie in his luncheonette. This is the place where you could see the photos of Julie in his boxing stance. I couldn’t believe it —- Julie’s face looked like someone had taken sandpaper to it. (As a youngster, boxing seems so glamorous. It hit me that boxers can be so beat up!)

In any event, as usual, Julie was so unassuming and a perfect gentleman to me. He was hardly stuck on himself as opposed to other accomplished personalities whom I have met over the years.

To quote my best friend of over 60 years who also lived on Norton Street and who always accompanies me to these Inductions, Roger Zotti states in “The Resident,” the local newspaper for which he writes, that:

”..Stu and I grew up together on Norton Street, in the Elm City, and while we were talking about Kogon, Stu asked, ’ Do you remember Julie Kogon’s Corner?’ I certainly did. I went there often. For a youngster to be in the company of a professional fighter, a legitimate contender and fine human being, was an unforgettable thrill.”

My Friend Rick Kaletsky’s Recollections From His Father and Others:

Rick is a certified boxing timekeeper and OSHA expert and is with us tonight. By the way, his daughter, Amanda, delights us with her rendition of our National Anthem.

From Rick’s recommendation to the Directors for Julie’s Induction:
“Besides the impressive record of Julie, it is notable that he brought great excitement to the Connecticut fight scene. He had a legion of avid fans, who ‘couldn’t wait” for his next fight. It is quite interesting that “the story” behind Julie’s losses -especially fights where he had the opponent “in trouble” but did not finish him off- was often that he simply had too big of a heart and was too compassionate! It was not that he was afraid to mix it up. He was known for a powerhouse punch, but he was too concerned that he might hurt the opponent and/or embarrass him. If not for this frustrating “soft side” (totally above board), Julie would have gone even higher up in the rankings.

Julie’s ability, and the enthusiasm that he sparked, are so legendary in Southern Connecticut (and beyond) that a popular new book, “Save Me, Julie Kogon”, was inspired by his career and the community in which he lived. The book is set as a novel and is not a precise reflection of his record (liberties are purposely taken).

Nevertheless, the point is that he was a beloved inspiration of considerable talent and achievement in the ring and he had a huge following.”

I should add that the New Haven Independent, an internet newspaper, reviewed the book in these terms:

In the days of the book, “Jewish celebrities were just as likely to be deli owners and bakers and pugilists and numbers-runners as they were attorneys, scholars, and doctors”

The book “is a thinly veiled autobiographical family novel about life in the rough-and-tumble Oak Street/Legion Avenue neighborhood…. The lightweight boxing champ Julie Kogon makes a brief appearance in Ruff’s novel, a climactic one. It earned him a spot in the novel’s title: Save Me, Julie Kogon. The title stems from a real- life incident involving Ruff’s father, who had gambled heavily on Kogon in a bout at the now -demolished Arena. When Kogon went down for the count, the otherwise hushed stadium was filled with two sounds: the referee’s count, and the gambler’s prophetic wail that would become the son’s book title.”

The Recollections of My High School Classmate, Marshall Deutsch:

When Marshall wrote to the Directors of the Hall, he said:

“The purpose of my letter is to inform the Directors of the Hall of Fame of my direct knowledge of Julie’s wonderful personality, and his great teaching ability, during his stint as the Interim Boxing Coach of the Yale University Intramural Boxing Program…

Julie was a great teacher of boxing. I went to the gym about three afternoons per week, and Julie would supervise approximately fifteen boys each afternoon, Julie was an excellent teacher, and showed us the various technical parts of boxing. These included how to jab, how to parry the opponent’s jab, etc. As I remember, Julie brought a scrap book to his office, depicting his career. This scrapbook helped the boys to realize that Julie had been a successful professional boxer, and because of this, all of the boys became very respectful of Julie, and each sincerely wanted to learn from Julie on how to box. I, myself, was very respectful of him since I knew that he had had a successful professional career…

After November 1957, I would see Julie at his restaurant and at other places. He always encouraged me to study hard, and concentrate on becoming a doctor or lawyer. I took his advice and became a lawyer.”

As his young friend and supporter, I give my sincere thanks to the Directors of the CT Boxing Hall Of Fame for giving Julie Kogon this well deserved recognition. Along with the other ring greats and those who supported them, he will now be immortalized in this revered Hall.

Julie Kogon started his fight career during the Great Depression. He was trying to make a living for himself and his family. Things are no different today. Some say we are living very close to the years of the Great Depression of the 1930s when, now, for all practical purposes, we have 16% unemployment. I recognize that you fighters out there are boxing in large part just to put food on the table for yourselves and your families. (Foodbanks, churches, synagogues, and mosques cannot keep up with the demand for food. In a letter to me from Foodshare of Greater Hartford, 100,000 people in the greater Hartford area are without sufficient food, 40,000 are children.) I admire you for carrying on the tradition of Julie Kogon. And I thank your supporters, like fight officials and promoters, so that you can pursue your noble profession and help your families.

Finally, to you boxers out there, you never know how much you are impressing the youngsters who deeply admire you, not only because of your boxing ability but also because of your character. Someday, that 10 year old will be a 70 year old (like I am), who has not forgotten the impression that you made on him or her, and that individual will campaign for your admission into this prestigious CT Boxing Hall of Fame.

I WILL NOW PRESENT THIS PRISTIGIOUS AWARD TO JULIE KOGON’S LOYAL NEPHEW, MEL ZEIDENBERG:

By way of introduction, Mel boxed in the Navy after WWII and, like Julie with Julie’s good singing voice, Mel sang with the big bands. As President of the Bambino Ruth Little League in New Haven, he has contributed greatly to the youth there.

He is also quoted in the “New Haven Independent,” the internet periodical, in connection with the recent book signing by Allen Ruff, the author of “Save Me, Julie Kogon”:

“He was a wonderful person. He was a great boxer. He could knock you out with either hand. He fought four or five champions of the world… He was also known for not being a ‘killer’ after he knocked opponents to the mat.”