About Ike Williams
Isiah "Ike" Williams was an American professional boxer known as the Trenton Tornado. He was a lightweight world boxing champion. He took the World Lightweight Championship in April 1945 and made eight successful defenses of the title against six different fighters prior to losing the championship to Jimmy Carter in 1951. Williams was known for his great right hand, and was named to The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time as well as The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year for 1948. Williams was also the Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year for 1948, was inducted into The Ring Boxing Hall of Fame, and was an inaugural 1990 inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. According to boxing lore, Williams worked as a newsboy after his family's move to Trenton, and first began boxing using his fists to defend the corner where he sold his papers. Williams won the NBA World Lightweight Championship before a crowd of 35,000 by a second-round knockout of Juan Zurita in Mexico City on April 18, 1945. Williams made a two fisted attack to the head of Zurita in the second which Zurita could not hold off, though he had made an effective defense in the first round.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.