Name: Kenny Lane
Date of birth: April 9, 1932
Date of death: August 5, 2008
Career: 1953 to 1985
Record: 100 fights, 82 wins (19 by KO/TKO), 16 losses (5 by KO/TKO), 2 draws.
Classification: Light, Ultra Light
Posture: Left-handed
Title: Michigan State Champions
Major competitions
Score a win: Ronnie Stribling, Orlando Zuleta*(three times), Armand Savoie, Larry Boardman, Enrique Esqueda, Ralph Dupas**, Glen Flanagan, Ludwig Lightburn, Teddy Davis*, Frankie Ryff (twice), Johnny Gonsalves (twice), Lahouari Godih (twice), Carlos Ortiz**, Johnny Busso, Virgil Akins(twice)**, Doug Vaillant*, Rip Randall(twice), Manuel Gonzalez, Louis Molina, Tommy Tibbs, Carlos Hernandez**, Lenny Mattews, Vicente Derado*, Paul Armstead
Lost: Ronnie Stribling, Ralph Dupas (twice)**, Paddy DeMarco**, Joe Brown **, Carlos Ortz**, Lenny Matthews, Jose Stable*, Johnny Bizzarro*, Dave Charnley*, Carlos Hernandez **, Eddie Perkins **
Draw with: Carlos Hernandez **, Curtis Coke **,
**Past/future world champion title holder
* Unsuccessful challenger for a world championship title
Kenny Lane’s Story
Lane was born in Big Rapids, Michigan, and grew up on a farm as one of six children. His older brother, Pearce, was a top amateur boxer and competed in the 1956 Olympics, losing to Ireland’s Freddy Tiedt in the quarterfinals. Kenny honed his boxing style from having to defend himself in fights with Pearce and developed into a very intelligent left-handed boxer.
He turned pro in April 1953 and won 16 of his 17 fights in his first year, losing one due to a cut above Lane’s right eye. In 1954, he went 8-2 in 10 fights, losing twice to Detroit’s John Barnes, once by cut and once by points. Fighting in his opponents’ homes became a hallmark of Lane’s career.
Lane won the Michigan State lightweight title that year and defended it with a win over Barnes. He also had his first fight in New York, defeating experienced former lightweight title challenger Orlando Zulueta. He got his big break in 1955. He had a 12-2 record in 14 fights. He lost split decisions to Ralph Dupas and Paddy DeMarco, a former champion and a future champion.
He had wins over Armand Savoie, Richie Howard and Larry Boardman to earn his place in the Ring Magazine rankings and would be a fixture in or around the rankings for the next ten years. Lane had a 17 fight winning streak that earned him a title shot against Joe Brown. Brown retained the title in a controversial, but very close unanimous decision, with one judge scoring it 144-143 and the other 143-142.
Lane won a points victory over Carlos Ortiz 28-1 in December 1958, just two months after Ortiz defeated Dave Charnley in London. He met Ortiz in a vacant world welterweight title fight at Madison Square Garden in June 1959. Lane was knocked down in the second round, but he was also cut over his right eye, which forced the fight to be stopped.
Lane recovered quickly and defeated former welterweight champion Virgil Akins in October 1959 despite suffering another serious cut over his right eye. Lane continued to fight the best in 1960, losing on points to Ralph Dupas and Len Matthews in cuts but beating Doug Vaillant and Lahouari Godih. In his ten fights in 1961, he had draws with future champions Carlos Hernandez and Curtis Cokes, and another win over Virgil Akins.
In 1962, there were wins over Luis Molina and Carlos Hernandez 19-0 and a revenge win over Len Matthews. Lane won a world title in 1963 when he decided Paul Armstead, but only Michigan State recognized him. Lane fought for a real title in April 1964. He went 1-1 in two fights with Carlos Ortiz but was knocked out and disqualified in the third as Ortiz retained the WBA and WBC versions of the lightweight title. There were occasional losses along the way, but consecutive losses to Dave Charnley, Carlos Hernandez and Eddie Perkins saw Lane retire at the age of 33 with a record of 79 wins, 15 losses and 2 draws.
While the number of ranked opponents Lane fought was remarkable for any age, his willingness to face them on their home turf was equally remarkable. In 1955, he lost a split decision to Ralph Dupass in New Orleans, defeated Canadian Richie Howard in Nova Scotia, and in October lost a split decision to former lightweight champion Paddy DeMarco in New York.
In 1956, he defeated Enrique Esqueda in Mexico City, Dupas by split decision in New Orleans, and Glen Flanagan in Minneapolis. He traveled to California to defeat Johnny Gonzalves twice in 1957 and lost a title fight to Carlos Ortiz in 1959 in New York, which was almost Ortiz’s hometown.
In 1961, he held the undefeated Venezuelan Carlos Hernandez to a draw in Caracas (Hernandez had defeated featherweight champion Davey Moore in eight rounds in a non-title bout in 1960). In 1961, he invaded Texas and over the course of six weeks fought four Texans, defeating Rip Randall, Manuel Gonzalez and Ray Portilla and drawing with future welterweight champion Curtis Cokes.
In October, he traveled to Paris to defeat Aissa Hashas, who was 27-1 at the time, and in 1962, he defeated Luis Molina 19-0 in California and Tommy Tubbs in Boston, then Len Matthews in Philadelphia. In 1964, he won against Johnny Bizzarro in Erie, lost to Carlos Ortiz in a WBA/WBC title fight in San Juan, won against Stoffel Steyn in South Africa, and lost to Dave Charnley in London (both pictured below).
Finally, in fight number 95, he entered the lion’s den for the last time, losing in two rounds to Hernandez in Venezuela. In every case cited above, he fought a past, present, or future champion or a ranked or unranked contender, and all took place in front of his opponent’s home fans, putting his ratings and standing at risk.
Is that it? Not quite. Lane had gained a lot of weight after retiring, climbing to around 200 pounds. He decided to start working out to lose weight. He succeeded in reaching 135 pounds, and when he did, Lane looked at his 96 fight total and decided to go up to 100. He passed his state medical exam at age 50, and after nearly 17 years since retiring, he returned and went 3-1 in four fights spread over three years, retiring again in November 1985 at age 53.
He is a slick but soft-hitting left-hander who has only won 19 by KO/TKO. Carlos Ortiz has said of Lane, “There’s no one more confusing than Kenny Lane; the guy is incredibly smart.” His record shows five KO/TKO losses, but his losses to Ronnie Stribling, John Barnes, Carlos Ortiz, and Len Matthews were all by cut.
In retirement, Lane owned his own laundromat and TV repair business. He opened a gym and worked with youth in his local area and also became an avid golfer, having a golf tournament named “Kenny Lane Classic” named after him to raise money for the Muskegon Recreation Center.
He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 2004. He and his wife Ruth married as teenagers and had four children. Lane died of a heart attack while playing golf on August 5, 2008.
