Name Moe Herscovitch Died July 22, 1969 Division Middleweight | Role Boxer Martial art Boxing | |
Olympic medals Boxing at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's middleweight | ||
Moe 'Montgomery' Hart Herscovitch (October 27, 1896 – July 21, 1969) was a Canadian middleweight and welterweight boxer who competed in the early 1920s. He was also a prominent rugby player in Montreal.
Born in Romania to Vetra 'William' and Anna Herscovitch, he emigrated with his parents and siblings to Montreal, Canada. He Anglicized his given name to 'Montgomery,' but was known to everyone as 'Moe.'
Although short in stature (his military enlistment form has him at five foot, six inches), he was incredibly athletic. He played football with the Montreal Football Club of the Inter-Provincial Rugby Union until 1915 when it was disbanded due to the increasing hostilities of World War I.
Eager to do his part, Herscovitch joined the 66th Battery, Canadian Expeditionary Forces. A gunner, while posted overseas he took up the sport of boxing, winning a number of competitions, including the Aldershot welterweight division. When he returned from the War in 1919, he played with Montreal's successor rugby team (which won the division championships that year), but he also continued to box.
He was selected for Canada's 1920 Olympic boxing team and assigned to its middleweight division. At Antwerp that August, he won a bronze medal, losing the silver to fellow Canadian Georges Prud'homme in the semi-final.
Herscovitch turned pro early the next year, and defeated Olympic gold medalist Bert Schneider on May 18, 1921. He spent the next few years fighting in Canada and New York City, putting together an inconsistent record. He beat Prud'homme in 1922, but suffered losses, including his fight against world titleholder Mickey Walker on December 21, 1923 in Toronto, in which Herscovitch was billed as the Canadian welterweight champion. Walker won with a sixth round knockout, having broken his opponent's right hand during the fight.
Herscovitch retired in the summer of 1924, and began volunteering as a boxing coach at the Montreal YMHA.
Although he boxed at a time when fighters wore no protective gear, 'Moe' had never suffered a debilitating injury in the ring. However, on July 24, 1943 while on holiday at the summer resort of Plage Laval, he and some companions were set upon by an anti-Semitic mob and beaten so badly that surgeons were forced to remove one of his eyes.
He continued to be actively involved in sports and his community, and served as president of the Quebec Rugby Union.