Sidney Terris was a top rated American lightweight boxing contender from the lower East Side of Manhattan. He excelled as an amateur, winning fifty straight bouts and taking Metropolitan, New York State, National AAU, and both National and International titles.

Sammy Mandell was an American World lightweight boxing champion from 1926-1930. Born in Rockford, Illinois, and named Salvatore Mandala, he was known as the "Rockford Sheik" due to his Rudolph Valentino like good looks and as the "Rockford Flash" due to his fast hands and foot speed. His father was an Albanian and his mother Italian. Statistical boxing website BoxRec ranks Mandell as the 13th greatest lightweight boxer to have ever lived. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.