This Hall of Fame boxer won over 200 fights

Editor’s note: The following story is part of a feature called Home Grown in which we take a look at the people and products that have made a name for themselves well beyond our Middle Georgia borders.

The record, regardless of the era, remains staggering.

In about 280 professional fights, William Lawrence “Young” Stribling Jr. won between 220 and 230 bouts. The figures vary a little bit by source, but he knocked out the opponent in approximately 127 of those bouts. Stribling’s earnings passed $1 million by age 22.

Born in Bainbridge on Dec. 26, 1904, Stribling didn’t start his boxing career in any normal fashion. His family were vaudeville performers, and part of the act featured Stribling and his brother “boxing,” with their father as the referee.

The 1996 inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame began actual boxing at age 16 and had racked up about 75 fights while still a student at Lanier High School in Macon. Along the way, as that boxing career gained momentum, he helped Lanier to a state basketball championship in 1922.

Stribling was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1963, 30 years after his death in a motorcycle accident at age 28.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 12:38 PM with the headline "This Hall of Fame boxer won over 200 fights."