Kenny Bang Bang Bogner Obituary, Death – Kenny “Bang Bang” Bogner was a prominent boxer in the early 1980s. Those of you who followed the sport will undoubtedly recall his name. It was during this period that his wild swinging technique established him a fan favorite as well as a potential contender in the Lightweight division. The 9th of January, 1961 found Kenny Bogner being born in Trenton, New Jersey.
He suffered a serious ankle injury when he was a teenager, but he nevertheless managed to become an outstanding amateur. His achievement of a silver medal in the featherweight division at the 1977 Maccabiah Games is widely regarded as the high point of his amateur career. In 1980, when Kenny was only 19 years old, he made his debut as a professional boxer, knocking out Robert Johnson in the second round of their bout.
Bogner went on to win his next three fights via knockout in quick fashion. On July 6, 1980, Kenny fought for the fourth time in his professional career and was held to a draw by an unremarkable opponent named Jose Ortiz. Bogner got his payback in the form of a decision victory against Ortiz in the rematch that took place just one week later. Following his third consecutive victory, the unbeaten Robert Rucker presented Kenny with his most difficult challenge to date.
Bogner won the fight with a decisive knockout victory in the first round. By the time June rolled around in 1981, Kenny’s record read 11-0-1 with 7 knockouts. Livingstone Bramble, a fellow prospect and the eventual champion of the Lightweight division, was his next opponent. Bramble also entered the bout with a perfect record of 5-0-1, with four knockouts to his name.
The battle was interrupted after seven rounds due to Kenny’s difficulty continuing due to his fractured nose. After suffering his first loss in a professional competition, Bogner went on to win his next seven matches. ESPN deemed his victory over Arthur “Kato” Wilson in June 1982 to be the best fight of the year. He won by unanimous decision. In November of 1982, Kenny challenged Gonzalo Montellano, a longtime contender in the lightweight division,
marking a significant step up in the quality of competition he faced. Montellano had a significant advantage in terms of experience and had only been defeated once in a total of 37 previous battles. Bogner was successful in the end, emerging victorious after 10 rounds via unanimous decision. Kenny “Bang Bang” Bogner had demonstrated that he was the genuine article. At this point in time, he had amassed an enormous fan base, and he had climbed into the top 10 of Ring Magazine’s rankings for the lightweight division. The next fight on Bogner’s schedule would be for a title shot against the reigning WBA Lightweight champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. At the very least, that’s how we all interpreted the situation back then.