Bob Pastor (January 26, 1914 – January 26, 1996) born Robert E. Pasternak, was a prominent American boxer. He was a top-ranked heavyweight of the 1940s who once challenged for the world title, losing to Joe Louis in 1939. Professional boxing career Pastor began his professional boxing career on January 26, 1935, his 21st birthday. In his professional debut he fought Julius Veight, a veteran who had a considerable experience advantage over the rookie boxer, with a record of 10 wins and 20 losses. The fight was held at Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York, and ended with Pastor outscoring Veight to win a six round points decision. The fight with Veight was the beginning of an eight fight winning streak that saw Pastor score his first stoppage, a fourth round knockout of another veteran, the 11-29-10 Frank LoBianco, at the Dyckman Oval, in New York City on June 12, 1935. Pastor fought at Yankee Stadium on September 24 of that year, outpointing the 21-20-2 Terry Mitchell over four rounds. On November 1, in a fight featuring two undefeated prospects, Pastor, by then 7-0 with 1 knockout win, faced Max Marek, who had a record of 5-0 with 2 knockouts. This bout marked Pastor's first fight as a professional boxer at the Madison Square Garden. Pastor improved to 8-0 by outpointing Marek over 6 rounds. 28 days later, Pastor received the first blemish on his record, a six round draw against Eddie Sims, who had a record of 23-15-1 coming into their bout. The fight with Sims was followed by an encounter with ranked contender Steve Dudas, who had a record of 36-7. The fight occurred on January 17, 1936, at the Madison Square Garden. Dudas won the fight by an eight round decision, handing Pastor his first professional defeat. A draw against the 31-5-2 Al Delaney came after that, and then a rematch with Dudas in which Pastor avenged his earlier defeat by outpointing Dudas over 6 rounds on March 13 at the Madison Square Garden. Pastor's next fight was highly unusual in that his opponent, the 11-12-1 Art Sykes, suffered a nervous breakdown before their bout. Sykes returned to his hotel and had to be persuaded to return to the arena for the fight. Sykes became disinterested in fighting and leapt out of the ring in round six, quitting and officially giving Pastor his second knockout win. A win