Sport: Boxing
Born: September 2, 1918
Died: September 4, 2000
Towns: Newark, New Jersey
Albert Stolz was born September 2, 1918 in Hoboken, NJ. He began boxing at age 8 after his family moved to Newark. Allie was quick, strong and stylish for his age, which won the admiration of New Jersey boxing fans and writers. He won 38 of his 40 amateur bouts and was state champion in 1936. Allie was a huge fan of Lightweight champs Benny Leonard and Al Singer, and hoped to follow in their footsteps.
Allie turned pro at 19 and won his first 24 matches, fighting as a featherweight at 5’6” and 112 pounds. He stepped into the ring two or three times a month and, in 1938, he out-punched several top fighters—including Monty Pignatore, Chang Collura (twice) and Willie Skidmore (twice). Allie’s first loss as a professional came in Madison Square Garden to Joey Fontana in March of 1939. In 1940, Allie moved up to the Lightweight division.
In May of 1942, Allie got a title shot against Sammy Angott. He lost a controversial split decision, despite knocking down Angott once and controlling the action for much of the fight. The referee gave Allie 11 of the 15 rounds but the judges saw things differently. The story was that mobsters had bribed the judges to go against Allie because he would not drop his manager in favor of one they controlled.
A few weeks later, Allie defeated Featherweight champ Chalky Wright in an over-weight match. In 1943, Allie joined the Coast Guard.
Allie got a second title shot after the war in 1946, against Bob Montgomery, and was knocked out. He decided to call it quits after the loss, leaving the ring as one of the most highly regarded non-champions of his era. He was also proud of his Jewish heritage in an era during which most Jewish boxers hid their ethnicity.
Allie lived and worked in Newark in his post-boxing days and was very active in the city’s Jewish community. He passed away at age 82 in 2000.