Ruby Goldstein
Encyclopedia
"Ruby" Goldstein the "Jewel Of The Ghetto," was an American boxer
and prize fight referee
.
with a large following in his hometown of New York City.
Fighting his first professional fight at the age of 17 and appearing on the cover of The Ring Magazine just one year later, Goldstein won his first 23 bouts, developing into a remarkable lightweight and middleweight contender. His boxing career ranged from 1925 until 1937. He won 50 of 55 professional fights — 34 by knockout. All five of his losses were by early knockouts in the fourth round or before. In 30 of his own knockouts, his opponent failed to make it past the fourth round, and a dozen fell in round one.
Unfortunately, Goldstein could not take a punch well, and was stopped in the three major fights he fought against Jimmy McLarnin
, Ace Hudkins, and fellow New Yorker Sid Terris
.
The Terris fight was a much-hyped battle between the two rival Jewish New Yorkers. Each fighter had his legion of supporters, and their eagerly anticipated face-off produced a stirring 1-round fight. Goldstein seized the advantage when he floored Terris for a count of nine, and confidently seemed on his way to an easy victory. Terris, however, upon arising timed Goldstein's charge and caught him coming in with a powerful blow, knocking Goldstein out. Interestingly, Terris suffered from the same flaw as Goldstein (a glass jaw), and was himself KO
ed by McLarnin.
For example, he refereed the Sugar Ray Robinson
-Joey Maxim
light heavyweight
title fight on June 25, 1952. The bout was held outdoors at famed Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Robinson, the reigning middleweight
king, was seeking to wrest Maxim's light heavyweight crown. Temperature at ringside measured a blistering 104 degrees Fahrenheit
(40 degrees Celsius
), and it was even hotter in the ring under the lights.
A preview of the fight's ending occurred when Goldstein collapsed from the heat after the 10th round, and could not finish refereeing the remainder of the match. Another referee, Ray Miller, was rushed into service so that the fight could be concluded. In the 13th round, Robinson began wavering, and staggered around the ring on unsteady, wobbly legs. Overcome by the heat, he could not answer the bell for the 14th round, resulting in a 14th round TKO
for Maxim. Robinson, who was ahead in the scoring, was thus deprived of an opportunity to win a world title in a third division. When asked if Maxim got lucky when Robinson collapsed from the heat, his colorful manager, Jack "Doc" Kearns
, replied: "It was just as hot for Maxim in there as it was for Robinson." Robinson commented: "I lasted longer than Goldstein, and nobody was hitting him."
Goldstein also refereed the first Floyd Patterson
-Ingemar Johansson
world heavyweight
championship fight. In the third round Johansson floored Patterson, who arose but appeared out on his feet. Goldstein was criticized for not immediately stopping the match and allowing Johansson to knock Patterson down six more times before ultimately awarding the bout to Johansson.
Goldstein served as a referee for 21 years, and was the "third man in the ring" for 39 world title fights.
The biggest controversy involving Goldstein as a referee occurred in 1962 when he refereed the Benny "Kid" Paret-Emile Griffith
world welterweight
championship fight. In that nationally televised encounter, Griffith pinned Paret in a corner in the 12th round and delivered a barrage of unanswered punches to the head of the seemingly helpless Paret as Goldstein looked on. When Goldstein finally did intervene, Paret slumped to the canvas, unconscious. He died 10 days later from the injuries he suffered in that bout. Goldstein never refereed another fight. Some have said the reason Goldstein was ineffective in the fight was that he was recovering from a recent heart attack. Ironically, before the fatal bout, Goldstein had been regarded by many as the finest referee in boxing. His son Herb pointed out that he had often been criticized for stopping other fights too early.
In 1959, Funk & Wagnalls published his memoirs, titled Third Man In The Ring, as told to sports writer Frank Graham
.
in 1994.
Goldstein was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame
.
Goldstein, who was Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
in 1995.
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and prize fight referee
Referee (boxing)
The referee in the boxing is the individual charged with enforcing the rules of that sport during a match.-The role of the referee:Referees have the following roles:*Gives instructions to both boxers before the fight...
.
Boxing career
Before he became a referee, Goldstein boxed professionally from 1925 to 1937. Nicknamed the "Jewel Of The Ghetto," Goldstein was a smooth boxing, hard punching welterweightWelterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
with a large following in his hometown of New York City.
Fighting his first professional fight at the age of 17 and appearing on the cover of The Ring Magazine just one year later, Goldstein won his first 23 bouts, developing into a remarkable lightweight and middleweight contender. His boxing career ranged from 1925 until 1937. He won 50 of 55 professional fights — 34 by knockout. All five of his losses were by early knockouts in the fourth round or before. In 30 of his own knockouts, his opponent failed to make it past the fourth round, and a dozen fell in round one.
Unfortunately, Goldstein could not take a punch well, and was stopped in the three major fights he fought against Jimmy McLarnin
Jimmy McLarnin
James McLarnin, known as Jimmy McLarnin , was an Irish Canadian professional boxer who became two-time welterweight world champion and an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee.-Background:McLarnin was born in Hillsborough, County Down, Ireland, into a large Methodist family who emigrated...
, Ace Hudkins, and fellow New Yorker Sid Terris
Sid Terris
Sidney Terris was an American boxer....
.
The Terris fight was a much-hyped battle between the two rival Jewish New Yorkers. Each fighter had his legion of supporters, and their eagerly anticipated face-off produced a stirring 1-round fight. Goldstein seized the advantage when he floored Terris for a count of nine, and confidently seemed on his way to an easy victory. Terris, however, upon arising timed Goldstein's charge and caught him coming in with a powerful blow, knocking Goldstein out. Interestingly, Terris suffered from the same flaw as Goldstein (a glass jaw), and was himself KO
Ko
Ko or KO may refer to:* Ko , a Tamil action movie directed by K.V. Anand released in April 2011* Ko , the romanization of the Japanese kana こ and コ* Ko Mountain, the second highest peak in Sikhote-Alin*Ko, Lamphun, Thailand...
ed by McLarnin.
Referee career
Later, after his boxing career ended Goldstein became a popular referee, and he was the 'third man' in several high-profile fights.For example, he refereed the Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
-Joey Maxim
Joey Maxim
Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli was an American boxer. He was a light heavyweight champion of the world. He took the ring-name Joey Maxim from the Maxim gun, the world's first self-acting machine gun, based on his ability to rapidly throw a large number of left jabs.-Early career:Maxim was born in...
light heavyweight
Light heavyweight
In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...
title fight on June 25, 1952. The bout was held outdoors at famed Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Robinson, the reigning middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
king, was seeking to wrest Maxim's light heavyweight crown. Temperature at ringside measured a blistering 104 degrees Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
(40 degrees Celsius
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
), and it was even hotter in the ring under the lights.
A preview of the fight's ending occurred when Goldstein collapsed from the heat after the 10th round, and could not finish refereeing the remainder of the match. Another referee, Ray Miller, was rushed into service so that the fight could be concluded. In the 13th round, Robinson began wavering, and staggered around the ring on unsteady, wobbly legs. Overcome by the heat, he could not answer the bell for the 14th round, resulting in a 14th round TKO
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
for Maxim. Robinson, who was ahead in the scoring, was thus deprived of an opportunity to win a world title in a third division. When asked if Maxim got lucky when Robinson collapsed from the heat, his colorful manager, Jack "Doc" Kearns
Jack Kearns
Jack "Doc" Kearns was an American boxing manager from the state of Washington. He is most famous for managing Jack Dempsey, who was World Heavyweight Champion from 1919 to 1926. He also managed Mickey Walker, Joey Maxim, and Archie Moore. He was given the nickname "Doc" from Dempsey....
, replied: "It was just as hot for Maxim in there as it was for Robinson." Robinson commented: "I lasted longer than Goldstein, and nobody was hitting him."
Goldstein also refereed the first Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson was an American heavyweight boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion. At 21, Patterson became the youngest man to win the world heavyweight title. He was also the first heavyweight boxer to regain the title. He had a record of 55 wins 8 losses and 1 draw, with 40 wins by...
-Ingemar Johansson
Ingemar Johansson
Jens Ingemar Johansson was a Swedish boxer and former heavyweight champion of the world. Johansson was the fifth heavyweight champion born outside the United States. In 1959 he defeated Floyd Patterson by TKO in the third round, after flooring Patterson seven times in that round, to win the World...
world heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
championship fight. In the third round Johansson floored Patterson, who arose but appeared out on his feet. Goldstein was criticized for not immediately stopping the match and allowing Johansson to knock Patterson down six more times before ultimately awarding the bout to Johansson.
Goldstein served as a referee for 21 years, and was the "third man in the ring" for 39 world title fights.
The biggest controversy involving Goldstein as a referee occurred in 1962 when he refereed the Benny "Kid" Paret-Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...
world welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
championship fight. In that nationally televised encounter, Griffith pinned Paret in a corner in the 12th round and delivered a barrage of unanswered punches to the head of the seemingly helpless Paret as Goldstein looked on. When Goldstein finally did intervene, Paret slumped to the canvas, unconscious. He died 10 days later from the injuries he suffered in that bout. Goldstein never refereed another fight. Some have said the reason Goldstein was ineffective in the fight was that he was recovering from a recent heart attack. Ironically, before the fatal bout, Goldstein had been regarded by many as the finest referee in boxing. His son Herb pointed out that he had often been criticized for stopping other fights too early.
In 1959, Funk & Wagnalls published his memoirs, titled Third Man In The Ring, as told to sports writer Frank Graham
Frank Graham
Francis or Frank Graham may refer to:*Frank Graham , New York sportswriter*Frank D. Graham , writer of Audel guides*Frank Porter Graham , Democratic Senator from North Carolina, 1949–1950...
.
Halls of Fame
Goldstein was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of FameInternational Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
in 1994.
Goldstein was also inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame
World Boxing Hall of Fame
The World Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Riverside, California, United States, in Southern California. The WBHF is one of two recognized international boxing halls of fame with the other being the International Boxing Hall of Fame , with the IBHOF being the more widely recognized...
.
Goldstein, who was Jewish, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame was opened July 7, 1981, in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around the world....
in 1995.