Abraham Jacob Hollandersky
Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky (December 3, 1888 – November 1, 1966) became the second American boxer to win the Panamanian Heavyweight Title when he defeated Californian Jack Ortega in nine rounds in Panama City on May 30, 1913. American congressmen, Naval personnel, and canal workers were among the crowd of nearly two thousand who watched Hollandersky gain victory over an opponent who outweighed him by over thirty-five pounds. The "New York Times" announced Hollandersky's best known win the following morning.
Abraham Jacob Hollandersky
Though his book and the ship's manifest from his first entry into the United States give his birth year as 1888, Hollandersky cited December 3, 1887, as his birth date in his passport application, and other official documents. The ship's manifest for his arrival in the United States in 1899 likely gives the more accurate birth date of 1888, as it was provided by his mother on entry to the United States when Abe was 12. Abe's mother Celia, raised by a religious leader, created strong Old Testament values in Abe that were reflected in the moral tone of much of his autobiography. Celia's father, Mowza (Moses) Finkielsztejn, was a "Podskolnik", a part-time temple leader who could fill in as a Rabbi or teach Hebrew. Pogroms, famine, restrictions on career opportunities, the inability to own or purchase property, and highly limited access to public secondary education caused by Tsar Alexander III's May Laws of 1882, encouraged the family to leave Russia. According to Abe's autobiography, many of the residents of Berzniki were evicted from their homes by edict of the Russian government if they could not prove they were land owners.