Jack 'Kid' Berg - The Whitechapel Whirlwind by David Statham Feb 25th 2008

With Junior Witter and Gavin Rees each holding a major title and past master Ricky Hatton returning to the ring in May, light-welterweight is one of the hottest divisions for British fighters at the moment.   The 140lb division has enjoyed increased popularity over the years but if it wasn't for one great English fighter, who won the belt 78 years ago, the division may never have existed.   Jack ‘Kid' Berg was born in London on June 28th 1909 and began boxing professionally at the tender age of 14.   He beat many of his early opponents without breaking sweat and in 1925, aged 17, he managed to beat British featherweight title holder Johnny Curley. Had the fight been for the title, Berg would have become the youngest ever British championship winner.   At 19, he was beating such opponents such as, Johnny Cuthbert, Harry Corbett, and Alf Mancini in the United States and it was there that fans, who loved his courageous and aggressive fighting style, attributed Berg ‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind' (some sources say Windmill) nickname, given to him because his hands didn't stop going for three minutes of every round.   When Mushy Callahan travelled to London from America, on February 18th 1930, he brought with him the junior-welterweight world title. He had defended the title five times previously but the champion's sixth defence was to be his toughest test.   Berg had beaten Callahan previously in New York and after ten rounds at the Albert Hall, ‘Kid' was again the victor, winning the fight via technical decision. He snatched the champion's title and with it the ‘title' of becoming the first ever British fighter to hold the junior-welterweight belt.   Confusion reigned however, over Berg's legitimacy of holding a title for a weight division that didn't yet exist in Britain.   Lord Lonsdale criticised the division and the British Board refused to even recognise the Englishman as the world champion.   Despite the protests, ‘Kid' Berg made a career out of defending his junior-welterweight belt. He travelled over to America and fought in New York, Newark, Long Island and Chicago, defending the belt against Joe Glick (twice) Billy Petrolle and Herman Perlick.   In Chicago on August 7th 1930, Jack managed to achieve the ‘impossible' by beating the, seemingly invincible, Kid Chocolate on points over ten rounds. The ‘Cuban Bon Bon' (real name, Eligio Sardinias) was undefeated in over a hundred amateur contests and 46 professional bouts.   Berg finally received titular recognition from the NBA (now the WBA) when he scored a points victory over Goldie Hess on January 23rd 1931.   Only seven days after being named champion, ‘Kid' was in the ring again, this time defending his belt in a rematch with Herman Perlick. He got the decision over ten rounds and travelled to Detroit 11 days later to beat USA's Billy Wallace, again on points (all of his title fights were won on points over ten rounds) before meeting lightweight champion Tony Canzoneri in Chicago on April 24th 1931.   Although the fight was officially a lightweight match, Canzoneri, the champion of two weight divisions took with him the Englishman's junior-welterweight crown when he knocked-out an off-form ‘Kid' Berg in three rounds. He took the title (even though it was not at stake) because it was inside the division's weight limit!   Even so, Berg still claimed the title was his and he billed himself as world champion for the rest of his career, with support coming from the Ring magazine! The NBA had given the title to Canzoneri. He continued to box against some of the best opposition around and he beat Harry Mizler for the British lightweight title in 1934, a title he held for two years until he was beaten by Jimmy Walsh.   In 1939, after a second spell in America, Berg came home to serve in the RAF. He boxed sporadically up until 1944 (a year he was inactive) and once he had won three times in 1945, ‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind' hung up his gloves once and for all.   He died in April 1991, after enjoying a career as a film stuntman and a restaurant owner and after being honoured at the Annual Boxing Writers' Dinner in London.   Career record: 157-26-9 (192 contests)   References: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing- Harry Mullan with Bob Mee The Boxing Album, An Illustrated History- Peter Brooke-Ball

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