Kenny Lane
| Kenny Lane | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Kenneth L. Lane |
| Rated at | Lightweight |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Born |
April 9, 1932 Big Rapids, Michigan |
| Died | August 5, 2008 (aged 76) Muskegon, Michigan |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 100 |
| Wins | 82 |
| Wins by KO | 19 |
| Losses | 16 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 0 |
Kenny Lane was a southpaw boxer. He fought for lightweight and light welterweight titles of the world, once against Joe Brown and twice against Carlos Ortiz.
Kenny 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.
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.
Quote from Ortiz: "No one was more difficult to figure out than Kenny Lane, the guy was unbelievably clever"
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. After beating 3 much younger opponents he lost to the fourth. Kenny decided to retire for the final time, making the even 100 bouts he sought.
Kenny Lane married his wife Ruth as a teenager in Big Rapids, Michigan. Kenny and Ruth had four children (Lori, Kenny Jr., Todd and Melody).
After retiring Kenny continued teaching boxing in the Muskegon area. Kenny ran the boxing program at the Muskegon Recreation Center at Smith-Ryerson Park in Muskegon Heights. Several times Kenny drove less fortunate members of the program to meetings and matches across Michigan, often on his own dollar.
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.
Lane was admitted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.
Later in life Lane became an avid golfer and had a tournament named for him. He died of a heart attack on August 5, 2008 while golfing at The Bent Pine golf course in Whitehall, Michigan. After Lane's funeral on August 8, services were held for family and friends at Bent Pine Golf course courtesy of the owners.
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Wikipedia