Leo Rodak

As an amateur from 1931 to 1933 Rodak showcased his exceptional boxing talent in five Chicago Golden Gloves tournaments. He first won the 1931 Flyweight 112 lb championships for both the Chicago and Intercity Golden Gloves Championships. In 1932, he took the Bantamweight 118 lb Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, and in 1933, the Featherweight 126 lb Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions and the Intercity Golden Gloves Championships.[1]

Rodak was known for speedy hands and feet, but not for a knockout punch.[1] In his second year as a professional in 1934, and at only twenty-one years of age, he defeated Eddie Shea, Everett "Young" Rightmire, and former 1932 NBA world featherweight champion Tommy Paul. According to the Chicago Tribune, he won every round of ten against Eddie Shea on April 23, 1934, at White City Arena in Chicago, effectively using his left.[4][2]

On September 20, 1934, he decisively defeated Everett "Young" Rightmire at Wrigley Field in Chicago in a ten-round points decision, acting as the aggressor throughout the fight, and flooring Rightmire in the first round. Rodak had Rightmire close to a knockout in the sixth round.[5] One source attributed Rightmire's loss to his lack of a knockout punch.[6][2][7] Rodak would later lose to Rightmire on March 16, 1939, in St. Louis, in a ten-round points decision.

On October 15, 1934, he defeated former world featherweight champion Tommy Paul in a non-title ten round points decision at White City Arena in Chicago.[8] Scoring on the close bout was near even going into the ninth round, when Rodak briefly sent Paul into the ropes, but he did not fully achieve his winning points margin in the tenth, when he put Paul down for a two count.[9] The win was his twentieth in a row.

Ex-champion Tony Canzoneri

Most impressively, Rodak was undefeated in his first 22 fights.[2] His streak ended on January 31, 1935, when he lost to the incomparable one-time featherweight, lightweight, and junior welterweight champion Tony Canzoneri at Chicago Stadium in a ten-round Unanimous Decision. Demonstrating the respect paid Canzoneri, the bout brought 14,775 fans, the largest crowd of the year. As expected, Canzoneri dominated the talented youngster, rocking him on his heels from a blow to the jaw in the sixth, and inflicting stiff punishment in the seventh. Rodak hung on well, showing good defense and excellent conditioning against the former champion. Canzoneri took seven rounds decisively, had a small edge in two, and lost only one.[10][11]

On February 7, 1936, Rodak fought Bushy Graham to a draw in Madison Square Garden. Graham used smart foot work, lightning fast ducking, and superb slipping and counter-punching. The veteran Graham leaned forward coaxing Rodak to throw punches, and then repeatedly drew back and dodged them. Showing his command, he stung Rodak's face with jabs and overhand swings. In the seventh, Rodak was dropped by a blow from Graham who had remained illusive despite Rodak's attacks. Despite a three-year layoff and his advanced age of 32, Graham gave an excellent display of talent to the younger Golden Glove winner. Though the final ruling was a draw, Graham demonstrated he still had championship form.[12]

On October 24, 1938, he defeated Freddie Miller, former NBA World Featherweight Champion, for his first defense of the Maryland version of the World Featherweight Title in a fifteen-round points decision in Washington, D.C.[2] Rodak broke away in the closing rounds to gain his lead on points scoring, landing blows with both his left and right to the face and body of Miller.[18]

Rodak went on to fight Tippy Larkin, losing by a decision at Meadowbrook Bowl in Newark, New Jersey, on June 3, 1942. Rodak did well through the first five rounds, but faded in the sixth and seventh when he received a flurry of lefts and right to the head, though he subsequently covered well and came through the next three rounds. The referee gave six rounds to Larkin, with three to Rodak, and one even.[26]

During WWII, Rodak joined the Marines, and continued to fight professionally. He lost to Henry Armstrong on September 14, 1942, at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco in an eighth-round TKO. Rodak was floored in both the second and third rounds for counts of nine by rights from Armstrong. Armstrong won six of the eight rounds, and the TKO when the fight was stopped in the eighth due to a deep cut over the left eye of Rodak. Rodak had a slight margin in the first and fourth.[27][1]

Rodak fought Willie Joyce twice. The first fight Rodak lost by an eighth round technical knock on December 14, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan. The referee had to stop the fight in the fourth as Joyce had reopened the cut Rodak had received fighting Henry Armstrong two months earlier. The second fight Rodak won by decision on March 3, 1944, in Hollywood, California. He was still serving in the Marines at the time. Rodak kept Joyce off balance throughout the bout with straight lefts, and finished strongly in the ninth and tenth, though he was ten years younger than his opponent, who had twice suffered a broken jaw at the hands of Henry Armstrong the prior year.[2]

On February 15, 1946, Rodak lost to Bob Montgomery, reigning NYSAC lightweight champion, in a non-title ten round split decision at Chicago Stadium before a crowd of 8,575. Both boxers fought as lightweights. The crowd was disappointed with the amount of clinching and lack of solid punching displayed by the two distinguished but aging lightweights. Montgomery, at 27, had lost training from his recent three year hitch in the Army, and Rodak, at thirty-two was well past his boxing prime. Rodak had recently ended his service with the Marines. Though Rodak had not fought for thirteen months, to his credit, he showed stamina in the seventh, eighth, and ninth and was scored higher by one of the three judges.[28]