Joe Burman (11 December 1898– 8 April 1979) was a British born American boxer who was briefly awarded the World bantamweight championship by the New York State Athletic Commission, when reigning champion Joe Lynch cancelled a bout with him scheduled for October 19, 1923. Burman defeated five world champions in his career, Pete Herman, Sammy Mandell, Joe Lynch, Charles Ledoux, and Johnny McCoy and was rated among the top bantamweight boxers in the world for several years. He had only three losses and was never knocked out in an exceptional career that spanned eight years, and included as many as 120 bouts. Early life and career Burman was born in London, England, on December 11, 1898 to a large Jewish family of six children, who emigrated to the United States in his early youth. His father was of Russian-Jewish heritage, and his mother was of Polish origin. In his early career, he boxed frequently in New York, fighting his first professional bout around seventeen. On December 3, 1915, he defeated Young Pope in a four round points decision at the Argus in New York in his first prize fight. He lost to Johnny Ertle or Ertel, a disputed claimant to the world bantamweight championship, on November 21, 1917 in a ten round newspaper decision at the Arcadia Rink in Milwaukee. Burman uncharacteristically scored well with a straight left in the early rounds, but Ertle later countered strongly with his right to the face of Burman, throwing more telling blows. The only knockdown of the close fight came in the eighth when Burman briefly knocked Ertle off balance while he delivered a punch. Burman dominated by the tenth, and in two instances may have nearly had Burman close to a knockout. He lost to 1922 world junior featherweight champion Jack "Kid" Wolfe in a close ten round newspaper decision in Buffalo, New York, on January 23, 1920. His opponent forced the battle and landed harder and more precise blows in the last four rounds, turning the decision of most newspapers against Burman. Wolfe, a slightly awkward boxer, but powerful hitter, carried a strong punch with his right which he delivered well in the fourth, sixth, ninth, and tenth rounds. In the ninth and tenth, after the boxers were warned against clinching, Wolfe found openings to score sufficiently against Burman to take the decision. Both boxers, being evenly matched, clinched frequently throughout