Fidel LA BARBA

Outstanding as an amateur, Fidel LaBarba went on to even greater success as a professional. After winning the 1924 Olympic flyweight championship, LaBarba won the world professional championship from another Olympian, Frankie Genaro, in 1925. La Barba never defended his title and retired only a few months later to enter Stanford University and major in journalism. He stated that he had already made over $400,000 in the ring, but the stock market crash and depression depleted most of that. He returned to the ring in 1929, first as a bantamweight and eventually moving up to the featherweight class. Although he eventually had some title fights in the heavier classes, he was never the fighter he was as a flyweight. Nat Fleischer, well-known boxing expert, rated La Barba the fourth best flyweight of all-time, behind Genaro, Jimmy Wilde and Pancho Villa. After retiring as a fighter in 1933, La Barba became a journalist, writing for boxing newspapers and magazines. He also served as a boxing advisor in Hollywood.