Robert Lous Olin (July 4, 1908 – December 16, 1956) was an American boxer who became the World Light Heavyweight champion on November 16, 1934, against Maxie Rosenbloom at Madison Square Garden. He was trained by Ray Arcel and managed by Harold Scadron.
Early life and career
Olin was born on July 4, 1908, to a Jewish family in New York's crowded Lower East Side, and raised in Brooklyn. Like several outstanding Jewish boxers of his era, he began boxing at the Lower East Side's Educational Alliance on East Broadway, a settlement house for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. After graduating from Erasmus High, he attended Fordham Law School for two years while working as a messenger for a Wall Street brokerage office. Early in his boxing career, Olin continued to broker the sale of bonds as a side line.
Boxing as an amateur, Olin won the New York City Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Open Championship in 1928. On March 24, 1928, he competed in the Inter-City Golden Gloves Competition in Chicago. He won all 35 of his amateur fights, as well as the New York Metropolitan Amateur Athletic Union title, and turned professional in 1929.
Early career 1930-31
On April 10, 1930, Olin defeated George LaRocco in a six-round points decision at Lennox Sporting Club in New York.
On June 3, 1930, Olin met Ralph Ficucello, a former 1929 New York Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion, at Queensboro Stadium in Queens, New York. Though outweighed by 12 pounds, Olin pulled off the victory of the fellow Golden Gloves champion in an eight-round points decision.
On October 22, 1930, Olin bested Willard Dix in a hard-fought ten round points decision at New York's Madison Square Garden. Olin floored Dix for a nine count in the fourth and ninth rounds. In the rough match, Olin was down for nine in the fourth himself.
Olin took a ten-round decision against Joe Banovic near the end of 1930 at Madison Square Garden. It was a dull, close, mauling bout with little boxing or long range blows, and the decision was unpopular with many fans, but Banovic was an accomplished opponent and the win helped pave Olin's path toward a light heavyweight championship attempt
On July 27, 1931, Olin defeated Al Gainer, a determined World Light Heavyweight Championship contender, in a ten-round bout at White City Stadium in New Haven, Connecticut. Gainer led in the early rounds, but Olin came through in the ninth and tenth to win the referee's decision. A light rain hampered the outdoor match in the fifth and sixth rounds. From his corner, trainer Ray Arcel assisted Olin in the strategically fought bout.
1931 NBA Light Heavy tournament
On December 18, 1931, Olin achieved a fourth-round knockout of Tait Littman in the opening round of the National Boxing Association World Light Heavyweight Tournament at Chicago Stadium. Olin's telling blow was a left hook delivered with Littman against the ropes. Twelve days later in the tournament's second round on December 30, Olin won over Cylde Chastain in a ten-round split decision. Though many in the crowd believed Chastain had outboxed Olin in the opening rounds, Olin was awarded the decision due to his strong finish in the closing rounds. In his final round of the tournament, Olin lost a ten-round decision to Baxter Calmes on January 15, 1932.
Lead up to the Light Heavy title, 1933-34
On February 15, 1932, at New York's St. Nicholas Arena Olin broke his right hand placing three smashing rights to the jaw of Arthur Hittick in the first, and he lost the bout as a result. Though he managed to finish the bout, he was unable to use his right hand for uppercuts or to block as effectively, and Hittick countered with blows to the body in the remaining rounds.
Al Gainer handed Olin a disappointing loss in their third meeting on September 1, 1932, in a ten-round points decision at West Haven, Connecticut. Gainer gave Olin a "terrific battering during the last two rounds". Gainer was an aspiring Light Heavyweight Contender and a Connecticut State Light Heavyweight Champion with a strong punch and may have outpowered the lighter punching Olin this match. Regardless, Olin won in two of their four meetings and drew one. The battle was close until the ninth when a barrage of punches by Gainer left Olin nearly helpless, and with cuts below both eyes.
Olin took a six-round points decision on October 9, 1933, at Madison Square Garden against Black boxer Ed "Unknown" Winston. A right cross to the head sent Winston to the deck for a no count in the first, and he connected with fewer punches than he received in the rough rounds that followed.