Pinky Silverberg

Who was Pinky Silverberg?

Pinky Silverberg was a boxer in the flyweight division who briefly held the National Boxing Association flyweight title in 1927. Silverberg won his the title vacated by Fidel LaBarba, who had recently retired, by defeating Ruby Bradley on October 22, 1927, when Bradley was disqualified due to a low blow in the seventh round. Silverberg met Bradley again on December 4, 1927, in a match that was contested above the flyweight limit. Bradley beat him in a ten-round decision. Shortly after that match, the President of the NBA stripped Silverberg of the title for an "unsatisfactory showing" in a non-title bout. As a later historian put it, "it remains the only time in boxing history that a champion was shorn of his title due to a poor performance in a non-title bout."

Silverberg never fought for a title again. He was inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame on November 30, 2007.