In 1920 Chris Newton was selected to represent Canada in the lightweight boxing division at that year’s Summer Olympics. He won his first two bouts against Holger Jensen of Denmark and Johan Sæterhaug of Norway before losing to Denmark’s Gotfred Johansen, the eventual silver medalist, in the semifinals. Nonetheless he received a bronze medal after his opponent in the third-place match, Dick Beland of South Africa, was unable to fight, having been knocked out in the semifinals by upcoming gold medalist Sammy Mosberg of the United States. Newton turned professional after the Games and drew his first bout, against American Eddie Harlow, in October 1920. In February 1927 he became the Canadian lightweight champion by defeating Cliff Graham, a fellow-Olympian who had won a silver medal for Canada in the bantamweight division of the 1920 Games. Newton lost the title just two months later, however, after being defeated by the reigning national featherweight champion Leo “Kid” Roy. In his next bout he was held to a draw with Eddie Paulhus, and then took a five month hiatus before returning to the ring and defeating Joey Novak of the United States. By this point, however, his career was in decline and he lost nine of his final twelve fights. After being involved in a serious car crash, he retired in May 1929 with a record of 24-27-13. He is a member of the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame.
Canada