Paul Berlenbach

Paul Berlenbach was a boxing champion in the 1920s, known for his high-impact power punch. Nicknamed the “Astoria Assassin”, Berlenbach was a New Yorker, born February 18, 1901, and came to be known as the light heavyweight boxing champion of the world for roughly one year, grabbing the title from Mike McTigue in 1925 and a year later, losing the crown to long-time archenemy Jack Delaney in July of 1926.

Prior to being a professional boxer and champion, Berlenbach was a champion wrestler. It was in 1923 that he decided to fit some boxing gloves, knocking out champion “Battling Siki” in the 10th round and consequently earning his golden ticket to fight McTigue. Berlenbach was a formidable boxing champ, but his Achilles heel was that he lacked the capacity to fight an intelligent game, as he failed to study and put up an effective defense system. As a matter of fact, sports journalist Paul Gallico described the “Astoria Assassin,” as an “untutored, unlettered, slow-witted, and slow-moving” fighter. Nonetheless, his power punch pushed him to a great advantage over his opponents, as his jabs and blows were truly “numbing and paralyzing,” as Gallico himself noted.

The “Astoria Assassin” has had forty (40) wins that includes thirty-three (33) knockouts in his victory belt, while suffering eight (8) losses, and three (3) draws in his entire career. The power of his punch prompted him to be named by the Ring Magazine as one of the “100 greatest punchers of all time”, and to be inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame sometime 1971, as well as in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001.

Paul Berlenbach died September 30, 1985 at Port Jefferson, New York at the age of 84 years old.