George Henry (Kid) Lavigne

George Henry “Kid” Lavigne

Professional Boxer

Kid Lavigne was born in Bay City, Michigan and introduced to boxing by his older brother who would later become his manager and started fighting professionally as a 16-year-old. In his first 54 fights, Lavigne had 32 wins, 11 draws, 10 no decisions and 1 no contest, many of these fights had few rules and would last as long as 77 rounds. He was eventually recognized as the American lightweight champion but found it difficult to get fights in his weight class so he would have to move up in weight and fight boxers ten to twenty pounds heavier. Lavigne eventually had to travel to England and elsewhere to fight and would end up losing six fights at the end of his career. Kid Lavigne was inducted into the Ring Hall of Fame in 1959, the Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame in 1965, the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998 and was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. He passed away on March 9, 1928 at 58 years of age.