Kenny Lane

Kenny Lane was a southpaw (left handed) boxer. He fought for lightweight and light welterweight titles of the world, once against Joe Brown and twice against Carlos Ortiz.

Kenny Lane
Statistics
Real name	Kenneth H. Lane
Weight(s)	Lightweight
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality	United States
Born	(1932-04-09)April 9, 1932 Big Rapids, Michigan
Died	August 5, 2006(2006-08-05) (aged 74) Lansing, Michigan
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	100
Wins	82
Wins by KO	19
Losses	16
Draws	2
No contests	0

Early life

Lane was raised on a farm in Big Rapids, Michigan with his four brothers and sister. According to his family, he regularly fought with his brothers and it is assumed that his southpaw stance was adopted to defend himself against his older brother who later became an Olympic boxer. [1]

Professional boxing career

Lane was known for having a very unorthodox way of fighting. This combined with the fact that he was a southpaw made him an excellent boxer and in 1953 started his professional career.[2]

Quote from Ortiz: "No one was more difficult to figure out than Kenny Lane, the guy was unbelievably clever" [3]

He had a controversial decision loss to Joe Brown for undisputed lightweight championship of the world. He fought the Ortiz rubber match for light welterweight title.

Lane decided at age 50 to round out his professional career to 100 bouts. He dropped to his fighting weight from almost 200 pounds.[4] After beating 3 much younger opponents he lost to the fourth. Lane decided to retire for the final time, making the even 100 bouts he sought.

Family life

Lane married his wife Ruth as a teenager in West Virginia. They had 4 children.

Later years

After retiring Lane continued teaching boxing in the Lansing area. he ran the boxing program at the Lansing Gallo Recreation Center.

In 1995, British singer Morrissey released an album called Southpaw Grammar. The cover featured an old photograph of Lane from the April 1963 issue of The Ring magazine. [5]

Lane was admitted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004. [6]

Later in life Lane became an avid golfer and had a tournament named for him. He died of a heart attack on November 29, 2018 alongside one of his most well known students, Christian Lloyd in Lansing, Michigan. [7]

Professional boxing record

82 Wins (19 knockouts), 16 Losses, 2 Draws [8]
Result	Opponent	Type	Round, Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	Dave Guerra	Split Decision	Unknown	1985-11-02	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Second retirement.
Win	Willie Floyd McIntosh	KO	Unknown	1983-06-18	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Paul Lewis	KO	Unknown	1983-04-16	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Bobby Plegge	PTS	Unknown	1982-07-17	Muskegon, Michigan	Lane comes out of retirement at age 50.
Loss	Eddie Perkins	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1965-10-25	New Orleans, Louisiana	Lane retires.
Loss	Carlos Hernandez	KO	Unknown	1964-10-05	Maracaibo, Venezuela	none
Loss	Dave Charnley	PTS	Unknown	1964-06-02	Wembley, London, UK	none
Win	Stoffel Steyn	TKO	Unknown	1964-05-09	Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa	none
Loss	Carlos Ortiz	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1964-04-11	San Juan, Puerto Rico	WBA and WBC Lightweight titles
Win	Johnny Bizzarro	Split Decision	Unknown	1964-02-19	Erie, Pennsylvania	none
Win	Paul Armstead	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1963-08-19	Saginaw, Michigan	Michigan lightweight title
Win	Vicente Milan Derado	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1963-03-02	New York City, New York	none
Win	Len Matthews	TKO	Round 9, Unknown	1962-09-15	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	none
Win	Carlos Hernandez	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1962-07-14	New York City, New York	none
Win	Tommy Tibbs	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1962-06-11	Boston, Massachusetts	none
Win	Luis Molina	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1962-04-14	San Jose, California	none
Loss	Garland Randall	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1962-01-23	Houston, Texas	none
Win	Aissa Hashas	PTS	Unknown	1961-10-16	Paris, France	none
Win	Virgil Akins	PTS	Unknown	1961-09-22	Annapolis, Maryland	none
Win	Garland Randall	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1961-08-30	Amarillo, Texas	none
Win	TJ Jones	PTS	Unknown	1961-08-14	Chicago, Illinois	none
Win	Willie Robertson	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1961-06-30	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Ray Portilla	TKO	Unknown	1961-06-16	San Antonio, Texas	none
Draw	Curtis Cokes	PTS	Unknown	1961-06-08	Dallas, Texas	none
Win	Manuel Gonzalez	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1961-05-16	Odessa, Texas	none
Win	Garland Randall	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1961-05-01	Dallas, Texas	none
Draw	Carlos Hernandez	PTS	Unknown	1961-02-20	Caracas, Venezuela	none
Lose	Jose Stable	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1961-01-23	New York City, New York	none
Win	Lahouari Godih	Maryland	Unknown	1960-12-06	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	none
Lose	Len Matthews	TKO	Unknown	1960-10-08	Los Angeles, California	none
Win	Sid Adams	TKO	Unknown	1960-09-27	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	none
Win	Douglas Vaillant	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1960-08-16	Miami Beach, Florida	none
Win	Jerry Black	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1960-04-25	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	none
Lose	Ralph Dupas	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1960-01-13	Mobile, Alabama	none
Win	Ray Lancaster	KO	Unknown	1959-12-29	Minneapolis, Minnesota	none
Win	Virgil Akins	Maryland	Unknown	1959-10-28	Washington District of Columbia	none
Lose	Carlos Ortiz	TKO	Unknown	1959-06-12	New York City, New York	World Light Welterweight Title
Win	Johnny Busso	TKO	Unknown	1959-04-17	Hollywood, California	none
Win	Carlos Ortiz	Maryland	Unknown	1958-12-31	Miami Beach, Florida	none
Win	Lahouari Godih	Split Decision	Unknown	1958-11-07	Syracuse, New York	none
Win	Orlando Zulueta	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1958-09-06	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Lose	Joe Brown	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1958-07-23	Houston, Texas	World Lightweight Title
Win	Davey Dupas	KO	Unknown	1958-05-26	Dallas, Texas	none
Win	Johnny Gonsalves	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1958-01-09	Oakland, California	none
Win	Luke Easter	TKO	Unknown	1957-12-09	San Francisco, California	none
Win	Orlando Zulueta	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1957-10-30	Chicago, Illinois	none
Win	Johnny Gonsalves	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1957-08-20	Oakland, California	none
Win	Teddy Davis	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1957-08-03	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Henry Brown	KO	Unknown	1957-05-22	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Danny Davis	TKO	Unknown	1957-04-06	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Frankie Ryff	TKO	Unknown	1957-01-30	Norfolk, Virginia	none
Win	Frankie Ryff	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1956-11-14	Miami, Florida	none
Win	Ludwig Lightburn	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1956-09-19	Miami, Florida	none
Win	Ralph Capone	TKO	Unknown	1956-08-30	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Glen Flanagan	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1956-08-02	Minneapolis, Minnesota	none
Win	Ralph Dupas	Split Decision	Unknown	1956-07-09	New Orleans, Louisiana	none
Win	Danny Davis	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1956-05-10	Minneapolis, Minnesota	none
Win	Enrique Esqueda	PTS	Unknown	1956-03-25	Mexico City, Mexico	none
Win	Ike Vaughn	PTS	Unknown	1956-02-25	Lansing, Michigan	none
Win	Don Mason	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-12-06	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	none
Win	Kid Centella	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-11-07	New Orleans, Louisiana	none
Lose	Paddy DeMarco	Split Decision	Unknown	1955-10-03	New York City, New York	none
Win	Hocine Khalfi	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-08-16	Miami Beach, Florida	none
Win	Noel Humphreys	PTS	Unknown	1955-08-03	Mt. Pleasant, Michigan	none
Win	Elmer Lakatos	TKO	Unknown	1955-07-28	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	none
Win	Jimmy Ford	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-07-12	Miami Beach, Florida	none
Win	Richie Howard	PTS	Unknown	1955-06-28	Nova Scotia, Canada	none
Win	Larry Boardman	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-06-21	Miami Beach, Florida	none
Win	Eli Leggett	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-06-07	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Richie Howard	PTS	Unknown	1955-05-30	Nova Scotia, Canada	none
Win	Armand Savoie	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-03-29	Grand Rapids, Michigan	none
Lose	Ralph Dupas	Split Decision	Unknown	1955-03-14	New Orleans, Louisiana	none
Win	Jackie Blair	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1955-02-14	New York City, New York	none
Win	Danny Jo Perez	Split Decision	Unknown	1954-12-13	New York City, New York	none
Win	Orlando Zulueta	Split Decision	Unknown	1954-11-08	New York City, New York	none
Win	George Collins	PTS	Unknown	1954-10-04	New York City, New York	none
Win	John Barnes	PTS	Unknown	1954-08-12	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Win	Elmer Lakatos	PTS	Unknown	1954-06-22	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Sammy Rodgers	PTS	Unknown	1954-05-27	Muskegon, Michigan	none
Lose	John Barnes	PTS	Unknown	1954-03-22	Detroit, Michigan	none
Lose	John Barnes	TKO	Unknown	1954-02-01	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Jesse Underwood	PTS	Unknown	1954-01-14	Saginaw, Michigan	none
Win	Mike Tourcotte	PTS	Unknown	1954-01-02	New Orleans, Louisiana	none
Win	Ronnie Stribling	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1953-12-01	Grand Rapids, Michigan	none
Lose	Ronnie Stribling	KO	Unknown	1953-10-20	Lansing, Michigan	none
Win	Ken Hohner	PTS	Unknown	1953-09-29	Grand Rapids, Michigan	none
Win	Ralph Cervantes	Unanimous Decision	Unknown	1953-09-14	Saginaw, Michigan	none
Win	Eddie Crawford	PTS	Unknown	1953-09-10	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Don Grinton	KO	Unknown	1953-08-20	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Dick Holling	KO	Unknown	1953-08-06	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Ron McGilvery	PTS	Unknown	1953-07-23	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Frank O'Neal	KO	Unknown	1953-07-16	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Johnny Valentine	PTS	Unknown	1953-06-18	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Benny Uhl	PTS	Unknown	1953-06-15	Chicago, Illinois	none
Win	Milton Scott	PTS	Unknown	1953-05-23	Chicago, Illinois	none
Win	John Walls	PTS	Unknown	1953-05-11	Chicago, Illinois	none
Win	Jimmy DeMura	PTS	Unknown	1953-04-30	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Bob Henry	KO	Unknown	1953-04-20	Chicago, Illinois	none
Win	Jimmy DeMura	PTS	Unknown	1953-04-16	Detroit, Michigan	none
Win	Clinton McDade	PTS	Unknown	1953-04-09	Grand Rapids, Michigan	none

References and notes

1. "Pearce Lane - BoxRec". www.boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
2. "Kenny Lane - BoxRec". www.boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
3. "Former Muskegon boxer Lane dies of heart attack". Archived from the original on 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2008-09-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Southpaw Grammar album cover".
6. "Cyber Boxing Zone -- Kenny Lane". cyberboxingzone.com. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2008-09-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "BoxRec". www.boxrec.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2008-09-13.

External links

• Boxing record for Kenny Lane from BoxRec
• Video of championship fight with Ortiz on YouTube