View source for Nathan Bor

{{short description|American boxer}}
{{Infobox boxer
| name           = Nathan Bor
| image          = NathanBor.jpeg
| image_size     =
| alt            =
| caption        =
| realname       =
| nickname       =
| weight         = [[Lightweight]], [[Welterweight]]
| height         =
| reach          =
| nationality    = {{Flag icon|USA}} American
| birth_date     = {{birth-date|March 1, 1913}}
| birth_place    = [[Fall River, Massachusetts]] 
| death_date     = {{death-date and age|June 13, 1972|March 1, 1913}}
| death_place    = [[New Bedford, Massachusetts]]
| style          = Orthodox
| total          = 49
| wins           = 34
| KO             = 22
| losses         = 12
| draws          =  3
| no contests    =
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Boxing]]}}
{{Medal|Country | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Boxing at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1932 Summer Olympics|1932 Los Angeles]] | [[Boxing at the 1932 Summer Olympics|Lightweight]]}}
}}

'''Nathan "Nat" Bor''' (March 1, 1913 – June 13, 1972) was an American [[Boxing|boxer]] who won a lightweight bronze medal at the [[1932 Summer Olympics]].  He continued primarily a professional welterweight boxing career until around 1940, when he served as a Marine in World War II, before returning to start a dry cleaning business in his home of Fall River, Massachusetts.<ref name="book">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGcPDXOjxMoC&dq=%22Jews+and+the+Olympic+Games%22+nathan+bor&pg=PA226|title=Jews and the Olympic Games|isbn=9781903900871|last1=Taylor|first1=Paul|year=2004}}</ref><ref name="Boxrec">{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/25039|title=Nat Bor Boxing Record|publisher=BoxRec|accessdate=3 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Boxrec Bio">{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Nat_Bor|title=Nat Bor Bio|publisher=BoxRec|accessdate=3 January 2018}}</ref>

==Personal==
Bor was Jewish,<ref name="book" /> and of Russian heritage. He was born in [[Fall River, Massachusetts]], on March 1, 1913.

==Amateur career==
As an amateur, Bor won 90 of 95 bouts, taking both the New England and then the National lightweight championships.<ref name="Boxrec Bio"/>  During his amateur career, he sidelined as a telephone operator in his home of Fall River.<ref>"No Draw Bouts in Big Amateur Show", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', San Francisco, California, pg. 17, 19 July 1932</ref>

[[File:Spike Webb 1924.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.75|Spike Webb 1924]]
As the 1932 [[United States Amateur Lightweight Champion]], he was sent to the Los Angeles Olympics and received the Olympic bronze medal in the lightweight class after winning the third place fight against [[Mario Bianchini]] on August 13.  Bor was coached by the talented [[Spike Webb]], the American team boxing coach at the 1932 Olympics, who spent much of his later career training the nearly undefeated teams of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.<ref name="Spike Webb Bio">{{cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Spike_Webb|title=Spike Webb Bio|publisher=BoxRec|accessdate=3 January 2018}}</ref><ref>Taylor, Walter, "Webb, Retiring After 35 Years at Navy", ''The Evening Sun'', Baltimore, Maryland, pg. 27, 14 January 1954</ref>

===1932 Olympics===
In the quarterfinal, he defeated [[Harry Mizler]], future British lightweight champion, in three rounds on points
In the semifinal, he lost to [[Thure Ahlqvist]], representing Sweden, on points in three rounds.  According to one local source, Bor took a lead in the second round with strong blows to the head, but in the third and final round pulled up too often in clinches and lost from longer left and rights to the head from his taller Swedish opponent.<ref>Lowry, Paul, "Punk Decision Robs Yank", ''The Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, California, p. 15, 12 August 1932</ref>
In the bronze medal bout, he defeated [[Mario Bianchini]], representing Italy, on points for third place.<ref name="Boxrec Bio"/>

==Professional career==
Bor won his first professional bout with a second-round knockout of Al Hope on October 5, 1932, at the Casino in his home of Fall River, Massachusetts.  The win was followed by a streak of wins that lasted four years and included nearly 28 fights.<ref name="Boxrec"/>

In a disappointing turn that ended Bor's long early career winning streak, he lost to the somewhat heavier, more experienced, and likely more talented Babe Marino on October 21, 1936, in a widely anticipated eight round main event at the Auditorium in Oakland.  Due to the bout's potential importance and Bor's successful record, he was trained by two well known former contenders, Jimmy Duffy and ex-light heavy champ Tommy Loughran.<ref>Ward, Allen, "Nat Bor Approved by Loughran and Duffy", ''Oakland Tribune'', Oakland, California, pg. 20, 19 October 1936</ref>  Before a substantial crowd of 4,000, Bor lost decisively, beginning in the second round when Marino began crowding him, and Bor could only land the occasional right hand to the chin which did little damage compared to the constant barrage he received from Marino.  Marino was given every round but the sixth by the judges.<ref>"Babe Marino Defeats Bor", ''The San Francisco Chronicle'', San Francisco, California, pg. 35, 22 October 1936</ref>  The loss hurt Bor's chances of progressing to a title shot.<ref>Ward, Allen, "Veteran Stops Nat's String", ''Oakland Tribune'', Oakland, California, pg. 30, 22 October 1936</ref>

Bobby Allen fell to Bor on April 12, 1937, in a ten-round points decision in Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Winning in an upset, Bor floored his rival with a lethal uppercut to the chin in the tenth round.<ref>"Bor Defeats Allen in Holyoke Fight", ''The Hartford Courant'', Hartford, Connecticut, pg. 16, 13 April 1937</ref>

On June 24, 1937, he lost a ninth-round technical knockout to Andy Callahan at Brave's Field in Boston.  Early in the bout, Bor suffered a bad cut over his left eye, which grew worse until the referee stopped the fighting 1:05 into the ninth round.  Though there were no knockdowns in the bout, Callahan managed to earn a large lead on points from the opening rounds.<ref>"Mike Belloise Kayoes McLeod", ''The Hartford Courant'', Hartford, Connecticut, pg. 22, 15 June 1937</ref>

Bor lost to Frankie Britt, a former New England Lightweight champion, on October 6, 1938, at the Fall River Casino in a twelve-round unanimous decision.<ref name="Boxrec"/>

He defeated K.O. Castillo on October 28, 1938, in a ten-round newspaper decision in Portland, Oregon.  The ''Boston Globe'' gave Bor nine of the ten rounds.<ref name="Boxrec"/>

His last bout on May 24, 1940, was an eighth-round technical knockout loss to Joe Boscarino in Boston Garden.<ref name="Boxrec"/>

==Life after boxing==
Bor joined the Marines during World War II and served as a boxing coach stationed at Paris Island, the well-known Marine base in southeastern South Carolina.  After the war, he returned to Massachusetts, where he first worked as a foreman at the Eastern Sportswear Manufacturing Company and then opened the Olympic Dry Cleaners in 1948 in his hometown of New Bedford.<ref name=Stats/>  

He died on June 13, 1972, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, after suffering a heart attack while on his dry cleaning route, leaving a wife, Leona, and two children. A memorial service was held at Fall River's Fisher Memorial Chapel.<ref>"Nathan Bor Left Kin Here", ''Newport Mercury'', Newport, Rhode Island, pg. 3, 23 June 1972</ref>

==Selected fights==
{{s-start}}
|-
| align="center" colspan=8|'''7 Wins''', '''4 Losses'''<ref name="Boxrec"/>
|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|'''Result'''
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|'''Opponent(s)'''
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|'''Date'''
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|'''Location'''
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|'''Duration'''
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|'''Notes'''
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| [[Harry Mizler]]
| Aug 9, 1932
| Los Angeles
| 3 Rounds
| 1932 Olympic win<ref name=Stats>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/nat-bor-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418093206/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/nat-bor-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18|title=Nat Bor, Bio and Stats|website=SR/Olympic Sports}}</ref>
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| [[Thure Ahlqvist]]
| Aug 12, 1932
| Los Angeles
| 3 Rounds
| 1932 Olympic loss<ref name=Stats/>
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| [[Mario Bianchini]]
| Aug 13, 1932
| Los Angeles
| 3 Rounds 
| Won '''Olympic Bronze'''<ref name=Stats/>
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| Al Hope
| Oct 5, 1932
| Fall River, MA
| 2nd Round KO 
| 
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| Babe Marino
| Oct 21, 1936
| Oakland California
| 8 Rounds 
| Broke a long streak of 28 wins
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| Bobby Allen
| Apr 12, 1937
| Holyoke, MA
| 10 Rounds 
| Upset
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| Joe Gelinas 
| May 31, 1937
| Holyoke, MA
| 3rd Round TKO
| Gelinas down 5 times
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| Andy Callahan
| June 24, 1937
| Braves Field, Boston
| 9th Round KO 
| Bor suffered bad cut, <br> over left eye
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| Frankie Britt
| Oct 6, 1938
| Fall River, MA
| 12 Round UD
| Former New England light champ
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| K. O. Castillo
| Oct 28, 1938
| Portland
| 10 Rounds 
| Newspaper Decision 
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| Joe Boscarino
| May 24, 1940
| Boston Garden
| 8th Round TKO 
|  
{{s-end}}

==See also==
* [[List of Jews in sports#Boxers|List of select Jewish boxers]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{DatabaseOlympics|BORNAT01}}
* {{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/nat-bor-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418093206/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/nat-bor-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18}}
* {{BoxRec|025039}}

{{1932 Olympic Bronze Medalists Boxing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bor, Nathan}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fall River, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Jews from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Jewish American boxers]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Boxers from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Lightweight boxers]]
[[Category:Boxers at the 1932 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in boxing]]
[[Category:American male boxers]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Jewish American military personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]