Billy Conn - The Pittsburgh Kid

About the Book

There has never been a fighter like Billy Conn.  Handsome as a movie star and tough as Pittsburgh steel, Conn threw combinations with the beauty and speed of later masters Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali.  The kid from the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh began boxing professionally at age 16, as his manager Johnny Ray fed him older, more experienced pros in a “baptism of fire.”  Conn developed quickly.  At age 19 and 20 he defeated most of the world’s best middleweights, a division rich with talent.  Still growing, by age 21 he won the world light-heavyweight title.  After dominating that division, he sought greater challenge in the heavyweight division.  He beat three of the best heavyweights, one by knockout and two by easy decision.  Only one challenge remained - the great heavyweight champion Joe Louis.  Their first fight remains one of boxing’s all-time classics, ranked by some as the greatest fight ever. 

     Conn’s story transcends boxing.  He pursued and eloped with the love of his life, the beautiful Mary Louise Smith, despite her father’s vehement and public opposition.  Conn and his father-in-law tangled in a chaotic brawl at a lavish christening party at the Smith home.  Billy starred in a Hollywood movie, The Pittsburgh Kid, and developed friendships with big stars like Bob Hope, Robert Taylor, and Frank Sinatra.

     Through all the glamour Billy remained the unpretentious “kid” from gritty Pittsburgh, the city he loved.  He became an icon of that city, of the downtrodden Depression-era working class, and of the American Irish. 

     Conn’s place in boxing and American folk history has been neglected and forgotten in recent decades.  His story of a poor kid with talent and spirit who went for it all is one worth reading.

About the Author

     Pittsburgh native Paul F. Kennedy has written over 60 articles for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, mostly about local history, including Pittsburgh’s impressive boxing history.  He has published articles, poetry, and short fiction in such diverse publications as Boxing Digest, Loyalhanna Review, Laurel Highlands Scene, Miraculous Medal, and Pittsburgh Quarterly.  In 2001 he published A Pittsburgh Gamble, a novel that takes place in Pittsburgh during the 1960 Pirate-Yankee World Series.

     Paul is a graduate of Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  He has a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.  He currently lives with wife Patricia in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

     As a child, Paul heard tales of the days of the great Pittsburgh boxers, of the time when the Pittsburgh area owned five of the eight world titles between 1939 and 1941.  He heard of how Fritzie Zivic won the title from Henry Armstrong, and of how Charley Burley was the best fighter never to hold a title.  But the most heralded legend was of how an undersized Billy Conn, young, handsome, and talented, had the great Joe Louis beat, only to lose by getting too cocky and trying to knock him out.  As a teenager in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze section, Paul witnessed Conn, who lived in nearby Squirrel Hill, taking long solo walks through the neighborhood.  Though elderly at the time, Conn still had a rugged look and formidable physical presence. 

     Paul has had the good fortune to gain access to the Conn family’s vast treasure of information about Billy’s life and career.  Billy Conn - the Pittsburgh Kid,  his first biography, is the result.