Philly Boxing History

FEBRUARY 17, 1975

ROSSMAN DECISIONS  DONOVAN

Mike Rossman, the Jewish Bomber, beat Matt Donovan on points over 10 rounds for the second straight time, on this day in 1975. The bout took place at the Philadelphia Spectrum and raised Rossman's tally to a near-perfect 20-0-1 (12 KO). He was truly a young prospect on the rise. But his peak was still three years away.

Rossman's career highlight came in 1978 against Argentina's Victor Galindez at the New Orleans Superdome, in a near perfect ring performance. Rossman won the WBA light heavyweight title via 13th round TKO in that bout. After one defense (against Aldo Traversaro at the Spectrum) and an aborted first try at a rematch with Galindez in Las Vegas, Rossman returned to the Superdome and lost his title back to the Argentine by TKO in 10 rounds.

Rossman slowly slipped down the rankings, bottoming out with a loss to Dwight Muhammad Qawi. After a layoff, Rossman returned to win four straight bouts and looked to be on the verge of making some more noise in the 175-pound division. However, he abruptly ended his comeback and retired for good with an overall record of 44-7-3 (27 KOs).

  1951 - Gil Turner W8 Jimmy DeCerio at Philadelphia, PA