George Latka, Millennium Hall of Fame

Richard Dunn

Known as the “Boxing Professor” in the 1930s, George Latka covered

every spectrum of the ring in his illustrious career, which spanned seven

decades.

As a fighter (amateur and professional), referee, instructor and, at

times, an actor in boxing movies, Latka has never seen a punch he

couldn’t take.

“I’d say I was an exceptionally good defensive fighter,” Latka said,

when pressed to describe his specialty in the ring as a 5-foot-6,

135-pound lightweight.

After a long career that included 159 amateur fights and 55

professional bouts, Latka hung up his golden gloves in 1944 and became a

referee for 30 years.

As a professional, Latka’s contract was owned by movie star George

Raft. Latka’s only disappointment is that he never got a title fight, but

he faced four former world champions, including Sammy Angott, and never

lost.

Latka, who fought Angott to a “controversial” draw in San Francisco,

also went toe to toe with former world champions Willie Pep, Petey Scalzo

and Richie Lamos. His last fight (and victory) came in 1944 against

Lamos, the 1941 National Boxing Association featherweight champion.

When Latka fought Angott to a draw, it was a non-title fight, but at

least one San Francisco-based sportswriter thought Latka had won. “I got

a newspaper decision,” Latka said. “Back then, the newspapers really

covered boxing well and their decisions carried a lot of weight.”

Latka, who lost only five pro fights in his career, also fought in the

first televised bout against Jimmy Garrison from the Hollywood Legend

Stadium in 1940. It was during television’s experimental stages.

Previously, fight fans could only see highlights on a newsreel at

theaters.

Latka, who later played bit roles in movies such as “Matilda” and

“Raging Bull”, earned his nickname the “Boxing Professor” when, as a

student at San Jose State on a boxing scholarship, he became the boxing

coach at the University of Santa Clara.

“I’d say fighting four former world champions, and not losing to any

one of them, is as good as it gets,” Latka proudly said of his boxing

highlight.

Latka, who once judged a Muhammad Ali-Ken Norton heavyweight bout in

the 1970s, was instrumental in helping to launch the boxing program at

Costa Mesa-based Save Our Youth in 1994. It wasn’t a long stint at SOY,

but Latka helped kids stay off the streets and out of gangs by teaching

them a competitive spirit and the fundamentals of boxing.

“Some of those kids could’ve been top-notch fighters, but I was

running out of gas, spending too much time there,” Latka said. “I loved

the organization; it was great.”

Latka, born in Kalamazoo, Mich., and raised in Pueblo, Colo., is part

of the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame, celebrating the millennium.

It’s the fourth hall of fame of which Latka is a member; he’s also in

the World Boxing Hall of Fame (based in Los Angeles), Orange County

Sports Hall of Fame and San Jose State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Latka, an 85-year-old Huntington Beach resident, was named Senior

Citizen of the Year in Huntington Beach five years ago and rode in the

city’s annual Fourth of July Parade.

Latka was born Nov. 12, 1914, as the 10th of 12 children, and is the

only sibling still alive. His parents emigrated from Czechoslovakia to

America and worked in the steel mills, including the largest in the West

at the time in Pueblo.

“I had a great boyhood,” said Latka, who would hunt, fish and swim,

while growing up within eyeshot of Pikes Peak in Colorado.

Latka and his wife, Trudie, are inseparable these days. Latka has two

children and 22 grandchildren or great grandchildren.