Willi Besmanoff

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William David Besmanoff (October 4, 1932 – October 20, 2010)^[1] was a German boxer who was a heavyweight contender in the 1950s. He was born in Munich, Germany. His father was Jewish American. When Willi was 11, he was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp for a short time. In the 1950s he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and became an American citizen.^[2]

Making his professional debut in 1952, Besmanoff mainly fought in Germany for the first half of his career, before subsequently relocating to the United States. Besmanoff fought many top contenders of the era, including Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, George Chuvalo, Zora Folley, Eddie Machen, Roy Harris, Willie Pastrano and Bob Foster. He was also an early opponent of Cassius Clay. He retired in 1967, with a final record of 51–34–8.

51 Wins (19 knockouts, 32 decisions), 34 Losses (11 knockouts, 23 decisions), 8 Draws[3]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	53–32–8	Dave Zyglewicz	TKO	3	01/08/1967	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas	Referee stopped the bout at 2:47 of the third round.
Loss	53–31–8	George Chuvalo	RTD	2	27/05/1967	Cocoa Expo Sports Center, Cocoa, Florida
Loss	53–30–8	George Chuvalo	TKO	3	04/04/1967	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida
Win	53–29–8	Mike Lanum	KO	9	09/12/1966	Civic Auditorium, Melbourne, Florida
Loss	52–29–8	Mike Lanum	PTS	10	09/11/1966	Melbourne, Florida
Win	52–28–8	Mike Lanum	SD	10	01/11/1966	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida
Win	51–28–8	Gene Idelette	SD	10	22/09/1966	Melbourne, Florida
Win	50–28–8	Willie Johnson	UD	10	12/08/1966	Civic Auditorium, Melbourne, Florida
Win	49–28–8	Aaron Beasley	KO	1	22/07/1966	Civic Auditorium, Melbourne, Florida
Win	48–28–8	Joe Louis White	SD	10	01/07/1966	Civic Auditorium, Melbourne, Florida
Loss	47–28–8	Amos Johnson	TKO	6	17/12/1963	Akron Armory, Akron, Ohio
Loss	47–27–8	Bob Foster	KO	3	11/12/1963	Norfolk, Virginia
Draw	47–26–8	Duke Sabedong	PTS	10	14/11/1963	Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts
Win	47–26–7	Herb Siler	TKO	4	05/07/1963	Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Loss	46–26–7	Cassius Clay	TKO	7	29/11/1961	Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky	Referee stopped the bout at 1:55 of the seventh round.
Loss	46–25–7	Alejandro Lavorante	TKO	7	28/08/1961	San Francisco Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California
Loss	46–24–7	George Chuvalo	TKO	4	27/06/1961	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Loss	46–23–7	Young Jack Johnson	SD	10	18/02/1961	Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Loss	46–22–7	Pete Rademacher	UD	10	13/12/1960	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Win	46–21–7	Howard King	SD	10	21/11/1960	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	45–21–7	Jimmy McCarter	UD	10	18/10/1960	Seattle Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington
Loss	44–21–7	Zora Folley	UD	10	16/09/1960	Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, Centralia, Washington
Loss	44–20–7	George Logan	UD	10	08/08/1960	Boise, Idaho
Loss	44–19–7	Archie Moore	TKO	10	25/05/1960	Indiana State Fair Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana	Non-title bout.[4] Referee stopped the bout at 1:32 of the tenth round.
Loss	44–18–7	Tom McNeeley	PTS	10	14/03/1960	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Loss	44–17–7	Bob Cleroux	UD	10	05/02/1960	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	44–16–7	Sonny Liston	TKO	7	09/12/1959	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Loss	44–15–7	Eddie Machen	UD	10	16/09/1959	Auditorium, Portland, Oregon
Win	44–14–7	Marty Marshall	UD	10	01/08/1959	Harding Stadium, Steubenville, Ohio
Win	43–14–7	Mike DeJohn	UD	10	16/06/1959	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Win	42–14–7	Alvin Williams	UD	10	18/05/1959	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Loss	41–14–7	Zora Folley	UD	10	07/04/1959	Denver, Colorado
Loss	41–13–7	Donnie Fleeman	UD	10	26/01/1959	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Loss	41–12–7	Mike DeJohn	UD	10	28/11/1958	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Win	41–11–7	Alex Miteff	RTD	1	23/09/1958	Seattle Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington
Loss	40–11–7	Hal Carter	UD	10	13/06/1958	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Loss	40–10–7	Archie Moore	SD	10	02/05/1958	Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Win	40–9–7	Pat McMurtry	SD	10	04/02/1958	Seattle Civic Auditorium, Seattle, Washington
Loss	39–9–7	Willie Pastrano	UD	10	27/11/1957	Miami Beach Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida
Loss	39–8–7	Roy Harris	UD	10	29/10/1957	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas
Loss	39–7–7	Yvon Durelle	UD	10	25/09/1957	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan
Loss	39–6–7	Alex Miteff	UD	10	10/06/1957	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Loss	39–5–7	Archie McBride	UD	10	20/05/1957	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win	39–4–7	Bob Baker	UD	10	01/04/1957	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win	38–4–7	Calvin Wilson	UD	10	25/02/1957	St. Nicholas Arena, New York City
Win	37–4–7	Don Ellis	PTS	8	20/10/1956	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	36–4–7	Albert Westphal	TKO	5	21/09/1956	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	35–4–7	Artenio Calzavara	PTS	8	15/09/1956	Velodromo Vigorelli, Milan, Lombardy
Win	34–4–7	Maurice Mols	TKO	9	07/09/1956	Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Win	33–4–7	Eugene D'Alessio	PTS	8	28/06/1956	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	32–4–7	Erwin Hack	PTS	8	09/06/1956	Rheinlandhalle, Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	31–4–7	Uwe Janssen	KO	8	11/05/1956	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	30–4–7	Simon Ayankin	PTS	8	02/03/1956	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	29–4–7	Jacques Bro	PTS	8	04/02/1956	Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win	28–4–7	Alex Buxton	PTS	8	22/01/1956	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	27–4–7	Maurice DeMulder	KO	4	13/01/1956	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Loss	26–4–7	Jacques Bro	PTS	6	05/12/1955	Luxembourg City
Loss	26–3–7	Willi Hoepner	PTS	10	25/11/1955	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg	Germany BDB Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	26–2–7	Heinz Sachs	KO	6	14/10/1955	Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Win	25–2–7	José González Sales	PTS	8	09/09/1955	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	24–2–7	Ed Smith	PTS	8	22/07/1955	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Draw	23–2–7	Heinz Sachs	PTS	8	12/06/1955	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Loss	23–2–6	Franz Szuzina	PTS	8	04/06/1955	Eisstadion, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	23–1–6	Roland Guille	KO	3	20/05/1955	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Draw	22–1–6	Ed Smith	PTS	8	27/03/1955	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	22–1–5	Wim Snoek	PTS	8	11/03/1955	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	21–1–5	Clair Redmond	KO	2	11/02/1955	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	20–1–5	Winfried Henne	TKO	4	21/01/1955	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	19–1–5	Artenio Calzavara	PTS	8	10/12/1954	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	18–1–5	Domingo Lopez	DQ	8	25/09/1954	Weser-Ems-Halle, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony
Win	17–1–5	Franz Szuzina	PTS	10	27/08/1954	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Draw	16–1–5	Franz Szuzina	PTS	8	11/07/1954	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	16–1–4	Marcel Limage	PTS	8	10/06/1954	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	15–1–4	Austin Jones	PTS	8	09/04/1954	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Draw	14–1–4	José González Sales	PTS	8	05/03/1954	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Loss	14–1–3	Hans Friedrich	PTS	8	22/01/1954	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	14–0–3	Emile DeGreef	KO	3	15/01/1954	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	13–0–3	Jean Serres	TKO	5	27/12/1953	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	12–0–3	Ray Schmit	PTS	6	04/12/1953	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	11–0–3	Hans Baumann	PTS	6	13/11/1953	Seeback Saal, Bremerhaven, Bremen
Win	10–0–3	Karl Ameisbichler	TKO	8	07/10/1953	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Win	9–0–3	Willy Schagen	KO	2	28/08/1953	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	8–0–3	Paul Schirrmann	PTS	4	05/07/1953	Waldbühne, Westend, Berlin
Draw	7–0–3	Hans Strelecki	PTS	6	16/05/1953	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Draw	7–0–2	Karl Ameisbichler	PTS	6	17/04/1953	Funkturmhalle, Westend, Berlin
Draw	7–0–1	Otto Bastian	PTS	6	15/02/1953	Ausstellungshalle, Berlin
Win	7–0	Heinz Schreiber	KO	2	26/12/1952	Funkturmhalle, Westend, Berlin
Win	6–0	Bruno Junkuhn	KO	2	21/11/1952	Winterhalle, Munich, Bavaria
Win	5–0	Robert Sapion	PTS	6	09/11/1952	Funkturmhalle, Westend, Berlin
Win	4–0	Willy Schmauser	PTS	6	17/10/1952	Messehalle, Munich, Bavaria
Win	3–0	Franz Schoepgens	TKO	2	14/09/1952	Praelat Schoeneberg, Schoeneberg, Berlin
Win	2–0	Emil Dimmer	PTS	4	05/09/1952	Ausstellungshalle, Munich, Bavaria
Win	1–0	Heinz Schreiber	KO	4	15/08/1952	Funkturmhalle, Westend, Berlin

• Boxing record for Willi Besmanoff from BoxRec (registration required)