Billy Conn
"The Pittsburgh Kid"
- Born
- 1917
- Died
- 1993
- Nationality
- USA
- Career
- 1934–1948
A brilliant boxer who was leading Joe Louis on points before being knocked out in the 13th round in 1941.
Titles & Honours
- World Light Heavyweight Champion (1939–1941)
Career Timeline
1934–1948- Milestone
First recorded professional bout
vs Johnny Lewis · W KO
- Milestone
25th recorded win
vs Honeyboy Jones · SD. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Title history
Title reign begins
World Light Heavyweight Champion (1939–1941). Year from profile title history; exact title-winning bout not identified.
- Signature fight
vs Fred Apostoli
W UD · Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Milestone
50th recorded win
vs Gus Lesnevich · UD. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Signature fight
vs Tony Zale
W UD · Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Milestone
Latest recorded bout
vs Jackie Lyons · W KO. Not necessarily the retirement date.
Derived from the current archive and profile honours. Title-reign years are not exact bout dates; title claims are not independently verified. Signature fights use existing profile selections, or clearly labelled wins over other archived fighters when no selections exist. Year-only dates retain their original precision.
Photo Archive
No freely licensed photographs of Billy Conn are available in this archive.
Fight-by-Fight Record
| Date | Result | Opponent | Method | Round | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934-07-20 | W | Johnny Lewis | KO | 3 | Valley Bell Park, Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. |
| 1934-08-30 | W | Bob Dorman | PTS | 6 | Parkersburg, West Virginia, U.S. |
| 1934-09-27 | W | Paddy Gray | PTS | 4 | Northside Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1934-11-12 | L | Pete Leone | RTD | 3 | Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. |
| 1935-01-29 | W | Johnny Birek | SD | 6 | Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-02-25 | L | Ray Eberle | PTS | 6 | Moose Lodge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-03-13 | W | Stanley Nagy | PTS | 4 | Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. |
| 1935-04-08 | W | George Schlie | KO | 2 | Moose Lodge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-04-25 | L | Ralph Gizzy | UD | 4 | Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-06-03 | W | Ray Eberle | SD | 6 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-06-10 | L | Ralph Gizzy | PTS | 6 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-07-09 | L | Teddy Movan | PTS | 4 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-07-29 | W | Ray Eberle | UD | 5 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-08-19 | L | Teddy Movan | SD | 4 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-09-09 | W | George Liggins | UD | 4 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-09-10 | W | Johnny Yurcini | PTS | 6 | Washington, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-10-07 | W | Johnny Yurcini | PTS | 6 | Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-10-14 | D | Teddy Movan | PTS | 6 | Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1935-11-18 | W | Steve Walters | PTS | 6 | Northside Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-01-27 | W | Johnny Yurcini | TKO | 4 | Northside Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-02-03 | W | Louis Cook | UD | 6 | Northside Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-02-17 | W | Louis Cook | UD | 8 | Northside Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-03-16 | W | Steve Nickleash | UD | 6 | Northside Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-04-13 | W | Steve Nickleash | UD | 6 | Moose Lodge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-04-27 | W | General Burrows | PTS | 6 | Moose Lodge, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-05-19 | W | Dick Ambrose | SD | 6 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-05-27 | W | Honeyboy Jones | UD | 8 | Greenlee Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-06-03 | W | Honeyboy Jones | PTS | 10 | Greenlee Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-06-15 | W | General Burrows | UD | 8 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-07-30 | W | Teddy Movan | UD | 8 | Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-08-10 | W | Teddy Movan | UD | 8 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-09-08 | W | Honeyboy Jones | SD | 10 | Hickey Park, Millvale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-09-21 | W | Roscoe Manning | TKO | 5 | Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-10-19 | W | Charley Weise | UD | 10 | Islam Grotto, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-10-22 | W | Ralph Chong | UD | 8 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-12-02 | W | Jimmy Brown | TKO | 9 | Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1936-12-28 | W | Fritzie Zivic | SD | 10 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-03-11 | W | Eddie Babe Risko | UD | 10 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-05-03 | W | Vince Dundee | UD | 10 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-05-27 | W | Oscar Rankins | SD | 10 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-06-30 | W | Teddy Yarosz | SD | 12 | Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-08-03 | W | Ralph Chong | RTD | 5 | Idora Park, Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. |
| 1937-08-13 | L | Young Corbett III | PTS | 10 | Dreamland Auditorium, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| 1937-09-30 | W | Teddy Yarosz | SD | 15 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-11-08 | W | Young Corbett III | UD | 10 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1937-12-16 | L | Solly Krieger | UD | 12 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1938-01-24 | W | Honeyboy Jones | PTS | 12 | Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1938-04-04 | W | Domenico Ceccarelli | PTS | 10 | Motor Square Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1938-05-10 | W | Eric Seelig | MD | 10 | Motor Square Garden , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1938-07-25 | L | Teddy Yarosz | UD | 12 | Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1938-09-14 | W | Ray Actis | TKO | 8 | Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| 1938-10-27 | W | Honeyboy Jones | PTS | 10 | Duquesne Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1938-11-28 | W | Solly Krieger | UD | 12 | Duquesne Garden , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1939-01-06 | W | Fred Apostoli | UD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1939-02-10 | W | Fred Apostoli | UD | 15 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1939-05-12 | W | Solly Krieger | UD | 12 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1939-07-15 | W | Melio Bettina | UD | 15 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1939-08-14 | W | Gus Dorazio | TKO | 8 | Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1939-09-25 | W | Melio Bettina | UD | 15 | Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1939-11-17 | W | Gus Lesnevich | UD | 15 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1940-01-10 | W | Henry Cooper | UD | 12 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1940-06-05 | W | Gus Lesnevich | UD | 15 | Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| 1940-09-06 | W | Bob Pastor | KO | 13 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1940-10-18 | W | Al McCoy | UD | 10 | Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| 1940-11-29 | W | Lee Savold | UD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1941-02-27 | W | Ira Hughes | TKO | 4 | Clarksburg, West Virginia, U.S. |
| 1941-03-05 | W | Danny Hassett | KO | 5 | Uline Arena, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| 1941-04-04 | W | Gunnar Bärlund | TKO | 8 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| 1941-05-26 | W | Buddy Knox | TKO | 8 | Forbes Field , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1941-06-18 | L | Joe Louis | KO | 13 | Polo Grounds, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1942-01-12 | W | Henry Cooper | UD | 12 | Polo Grounds, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1942-01-28 | W | Jay D Turner | UD | 10 | Municipal Auditorium, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| 1942-02-13 | W | Tony Zale | UD | 12 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1946-06-19 | L | Joe Louis | KO | 8 | Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1948-11-15 | W | Mike O'Dowd | TKO | 9 | Macon, Georgia, U.S. |
| 1948-11-25 | W | Jackie Lyons | KO | 9 | Sportatorium, Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
Showing 76 of 76 recorded fights · last updated 2026-10-11. Imported record tables are not independently verified and may be incomplete. Early-era logs include newspaper decisions (NWS), which are not counted in the official totals above.
Record notes
Fight record last retrieved: 2026-10-11. Title histories remain subject to archival review.
Historical-era totals differ between record-keeping conventions (newspaper decisions, exhibitions).
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