Alberto Santiago LOVELL

Alberto Lovell, Sr. started as a soccer player with the club Sportivo Dock Sud as a center forward. In 1930 he joined the Club Sportivo Nicoleño St. Nicholas, in the Buenos Aires region. By then he had already tried several different jobs – selling newspapers, washing potatoes, loading bags in the port, and laborer in a paper mill. In the early stages of his boxing career he was rough, strong and temperamental. However, he calmed down and after winning the Argentine heavyweight championship, earned the right to represent Argentina at the 1932 Olympics.

Lovell turned professional in 1934, winning the South American heavyweight championship in 1938, a title he held through 1953, although he did not defend it after 1944. He ended his professional career in 1951, with a loss against future light-heavy world champion Archie Moore, finishing with a record of 76 wins, 8 losses, and 3 draws. Alberto Lovell was the brother of Guillermo Lovell and the father of Santiago Lovell. Another son, Osvaldo Pedro, also had a boxing career in the United States. The Lovell family were descendants of African slaves in Argentina.