A decade before it had Ellsworth "Spider" Webb, the middleweight division had Ursal "Ginger" Snapp. I suppose with those sort of first names, a nickname was in order to get some degree of respect in the boxing community!
Snapp totally discarded the Ursal thing during his ring career but picked it up once he retired. The pride of Klamath Falls, Oregon, "Ginger" did most of his fighting in the Pacific Northwest where he wore that region's middleweight crown.
A clever boxer, who was not above throwing a shot "south of the border", he put together an impressive record of 37-5-3 during a career that spanned from 1947 to 1952.
He fought the stiffs, as all fighters do, and outpointed Torpedo Reed (see my Laszlo Papp thread for his rating). But he was also in against some talent. He fought former champ Al Hostak and tough Milo Savage twice each and split the results with both men.
Snapp was only stopped three times. Twice it was on cuts, and once he was counted out in the ninth in his second fight against Hostak. Cuts seemed to be a problem for him throughout his career.
After leaving the ring he led what we'd call a rewarding life as a dedicated coach, a loving husband, a caring father, and a kindly grandad. Sadly, he passed away in September shortly after he and his wife celebrated their 60th wedding aniversary.
In doing the research for this rating, I couldn't help but get a sense that this was a very good man, indeed.
The websites below give you an idea as to just what kind of guy Ursal "Ginger" Snapp was in his lifetime.
Lives Lived: Ursal Snapp | TheUnion.com
Anniversary: Ursal and JoAnne Snapp | TheUnion.com