The Official Pete Sanstol Web Site
Pete is Back, Ready to Fight!
(Comeback No. 2)

"Pete Is Back, Ready To Fight" reads a Montreal newspaper headline. The photo caption announces: "Here's Montreal's favorite boxer, whirlwind Pete Sanstol, the Norwegian blonde bullet, as he reached here Saturday ... He hopes to fight in Montreal soon, and is ready to meet any bantam."

Pete had returned to Montreal May 14, 1932, nine months after his world title fight with Panama Al Brown. During his bout with Brown, that foot injury he apparently suffered in his title bout with Archie Bell was exacerbated. Or so we speculate, because even to this day we do not know the exact origin or nature of what became a chronic foot problem that would hamper Pete many times in his future life. Either it was an arch, a joint, a tendon, a muscle of his foot or ankle that caused all his misery. From this time on, Pete would try to keep knowledge of his chronic foot problem a secret.

At the beginning of Year 1932, Pete Sanstol was considered the third best bantamweight fighter in the world, although he had not fought anyone since his World Title bout with Al Brown four months earlier. The January 24, 1932, edition of the Sacramento Union reported that the National Boxing Association's ranking of the world's top five bantams was Brown, Dick Corbett, Pete, Newsboy Brown and Young Tommy. (Thanks to William Shubb for this information and the image below.)

For the years 1930, 1931 and 1932 (and 1933 as well), The Ring magazine rated Pete the second best contender for Al Brown's title. See the 1980 edition of The Ring Record Book.

Pete had kept himself busy during his long layoff, as usual. Again his priorities were his family, friends, and his business affairs. He continued his charitable work for young athletes. He met with fans. He would get some nice fan letters, especially from kids. He also practiced yoga and meditation, and studied philosophy and Hinduism -- passions he had acquired years earlier. The Vedanta Society was of special interest. He also worked on his boxing skills, and in particular attempted to design his own "power punch."

On May 30 Pete was honored to serve as a judge at the Troisieme Festival Sportif et Musical des Ecoliers de Montreal.

Pete's first fight in this, his third campaign for the world championship, had come the month before in Toronto. He had beaten Pittsburgh's Jimmy Thomas on points during a ten-rounder. (Click here to read about that fight.) At this time, The Ring magazine ranked Thomas the seventh best bantam contender in the world.

Pete then returned home to Montreal to battle France's Emile "Spider" Pladner, the current Bantamweight Champion of Europe -- who, the year before, had been ranked by The Ring as the sixth best contender in the world.

Pladner was from Clermont-Ferrand. He had won the world flyweight title when he KO'd Frankie Genaro in Paris March 2, 1929. One month later he lost it to Genaro in Paris when he fouled him in the fifth round. (The Ring, June 1979 issue, p. 35.) That June he fell into a coma after his opponent, Eugene Huat, had knocked him down 18 times! But he fully recovered. The man knew no fear. He was a "heavy-hitting, rugged and methodical" fighter -- a dangerous slugger. "No easy fights for me" was Pete's motto.

A Montreal headline proclaimed, "Sanstol Better Than Ever. Right-hand Punch Vastly Improved - Has Benefitted Rather Than Suffered by Long Lay-Off." The underlying article reads, in part:

Sanstol's snappy right cross, which was regarded as possessing no more than deadly accuracy and stinging effect last year, has been developed to a point where it packs dangerous possibilities. He has shortened his punch slightly, stiffening his ram at the point of contact, and the effect is crisp and jolting, proving far more solid and effective than the slashing lashes he displayed last year. And at that, Petey did not sacrifice any of his speed for the additional weapon, as any of those present at his workouts this week have noted and marveled that he is possibly even faster than ever - and that is going SOME!

Sanstol bounds around with all his old-time shiftiness and spectacular style and it is apparent that his aggressive qualities are more effective than ever, as he is planning two moves ahead all the time, pulling his opponent open by a feint and then plunging in with a rapid-fire series of left hooks and that new right-hand wallop only to slip away out of range again when his victim recovers his balance and bearings....

He looks contented and confident of success in his new campaign for the world's title.....

The little Norwegian also seems to possess more ring generalship than ever and his fighting style strikes one as being more grim and business-like than before....

He is not worrying about what might happen if Pladner does get a clean sock at his chin as he has proven that he can take it and is confident that his record, which is bare of knockouts against him, will remain that way after the coming fight, or after the current season, for that matter. Pete has satisfied Montreal fans that he has speed and skill to a high degree but hitherto his punching has never been properly appreciated in his opinion. He is determined to show the fans that he is a puncher too and figures that the hard punching Monsieur Pladner would prove a particularly good medium to that effect.

---

"Newsboy Brown Will Meet the Winner"
(L to R: Pete Sanstol, Newsboy Brown & Spider Pladner)
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The contrast in appearances between the two was obvious. Pete preferred to train out-doors with plenty of air and light; thus the little Norseman was tanned. Whereas Spider was quite pale in comparison.

[Click here for one round-by round account of this great fight.]

Reporter W. J. Morrison of one Montreal paper described the fight as follows:

Furnishing one of the most brilliant exhibitions of boxing that has been witnessed in Montreal in many years, Emile "Spider" Pladner and gallant little Pete Sanstol fought a ten-round draw before 7,000 enthusiastic spectators at the Forum last night.... The decision announced from the centre of the ring was one of the fairest that has ever been given in Montreal and only the most rabid supporters of either fighter could have disagreed with it. Previous to the fight Pladner, on the result of his two matches with Bobby Leitham and the fact that Sanstol has not seen action in many months, was made the public choice.... In the opinion of critics who watched the encounter from ringside seats any other decision would have been unfair to either boxer, although in the early stages it looked as though Sanstol would run away with the bout.

No two fighters could have entered a ring in better condition, notwithstanding reports that Sanstol had sprained a ligament in one of his legs. They fought at entirely different styles and each was pleasing to the spectator, furnishing brilliancy in every round that could hardly have been surpassed. The boxers went at their work in a business-like manner and changed their tactics frequently, each trying to outguess the other in the effort to score a knockout and make the victory a decisive one. At times they fought cautiously while on other occasions they flung caution to the winds and swung at one another, trying all of their tricks to terminate the battle. They started at a fast clip and there was no letting up in their pace until the gong sounded the end of the encounter and both lads were called to the centre of the ring where their hands were raised signaling to the spectators in more than words that the judges had been unable to reach a decision and that the honors were divided. [Pete and Spider each won four rounds, with the remaining two evenly divided.] When the decision was announced the lads who had given their all to bring victory for their supporters put their arms around each other and the fight was only a memory with them.

SPEED SERVES WELL Pladner, who is no stranger to Montrealers, is the more rugged type and is a slugger while Pete Sanstol is of the more open type of boxer but his speed and aggressiveness served him well and stood off the determined efforts of Pladner to send home one of his telling right-hand crosses that have carried him to so many triumphs. Sanstol, who has not fought for almost a year, surprised even his most ardent admirers. Many were of the opinion that he might not be well fitted for such a gruelling contest. He measured punches with his more rugged opponent and frequently drew him into clinches for a session at in-fighting. At the closer fighting Sanstol was surprisingly good and showed something that he had never previously done in Montreal that of delivering stiff right-hand jolts to the body and head.

In the early stages of the battle Sanstol's speed fairly bewildered Pladner. The French fighter was unable to cope with it, with the result that the Norwegian piled up a point score that against almost any other battler would have been impossible to overcome. [Our Note: Then Pete's foot injury started acting up, which will be documented as we read on.] Pladner never gave up and gradually solved the mysterious style of defence shown by Sanstol to come from a rally in the sixth round and win the next three which evened up the count....

Both boys were marked about the face from the consistent left-hand jabbing, both using their lefts with telling effect.... There was considerable clinching throughout the ten rounds, but in those clinches many a hard blow was landed, Sanstol using a right uppercut to advantage, while Pladner invariably sent over right crosses to the head.

Pladner's smouldering temper nearly cost him the fight.... Seated at ring-side were a group of Sanstol's French supporters, and from the start they hurled barbed taunts at the Frenchman, in his own tongue. Perhaps it was derision in French accents that stung, but at any rate, Pladner was infuriated. He continually glanced at his tormentors, and in the third round stepping back from a clinch, he dropped his hands to his sides and stood glaring at them, his slaty eyes fairly blazing. With any fighter less sporting than Sanstol, that might have been an expensive gesture, for Sanstol could have stepped in and landed heavily. But he quietly waited until Pladner recovered his poise before renewing hostilities.

Spider Pladner would go on to fight Panama Al Brown September 19, 1932, in Toronto for the bantam crown, but was KO'd in the first round. On November 14 he was again KO'd by Brown, in the second round. It seems that he is another one of those former greats who is unknown today -- a high-caliber boxer the boxing halls of fame should investigate for consideration for induction -- along with others such as Bobby Leitham, Rene DeVos, Eugene Huat, Art Giroux, Young Tommy and many more.

After the Pladner fight Pete had to rest his foot some more. During the battle Pete had been "humming along against Emil Pladner, only to slow to a walk midway, and barely eke out a draw," recalled one Montreal paper a year later. Pete headed back to the Laurentian Mountains with the Arne Rutquist family, where they stayed at the Laurentian Lodge in Shawbridge. Pete didn't have a fight for another two months. That foot just wouldn't stop tormenting him!

Again Pete finally felt ready; he was off to his old stomping grounds to open the Ridgewood Grove Club with a fight against Petey Hayes on September 17. A huge ink drawing of Pete was published in the paper with the headline "Old Idol Opens Grove" and the caption "The Ridgewood Grove's Greatest Attraction Returns to Top Opening Card." Pete beat Petey on points during the six-round affair.

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Then Pete had a match with Eddie Bowling at Fort Hamilton, New York. According to the New York Evening Journal:

Pete Sanstol, the Norwegian speedster, an outstanding contender for Al Brown's championship, gave Eddie Bowling a ten-round boxing lesson at Fort Hamilton, but the best he could get was a draw.

The verdict came as a complete surprise to the capacity crowd who witnessed Sanstol lacing his adversary by a wide margin in every round. Bowling made only two stands, once in the fourth and again in the sixth. In the fourth Eddie opened a slight cut over Pete's left eye and in the latter rounds succeeded in outpunching Sanstol in the final minute after losing the first two.

Controversy arose from the start. It was a five-fight program with Huat vs. Sanstol as the main attraction. Raoul Godbout was managing both Pete and another fighter on the bill, Roger Bernard, who was set to fight St. Louis' Joe Ghnouly. Both Huat and Ghnouly were managed by Gus Wilson, a man we shall learn more about later in "The Battle of the Gloves" page. Raoul was extremely concerned that Wilson's fighters were taping their fists with substances not usually employed, to the consequent detriment of his own fighters. Wilson took offense, asserting an unblemished 29-year record as a manager. Nothing became of it, and the fights were on.

On October 24, 1932, Pete was invited by the Imperial Broadcasting Company to broadcast a message to his fans. "Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am pleased to have this opportunity of saying a few words to you on the eve of my fight with Eugene Huat at the Forum tomorrow night. I can only say that I am in good condition and feel confident that I will win and get a chance to meet Panama Al Brown for the Bantamweight Championship of the World. Thank you, Miss Dow. Good-night."

When Pete headed to the ring he noticed Huat was wearing the same color trunks that he was wearing. He rushed back to his dressing room, put on a different colored pair and "bounced down the steps with one leap and from there to the hardwood floor... Hugo Quist's leg treatment certainly proved itself."

A sports reporter shares the following eye-witness account. "Never in the history of his many spectacular fights in Montreal rings did Sanstol give a more dazzling exhibition of straight boxing skill, amazing precision of distance in gauging his opponent's blows, and of lightning returns." He had Huat "plainly bewildered."

At one point "Huat swung so hard and missed completely that he spun right around in his tracks, upon which Sanstol shot a left with deadly speed to the head.... To use an old bromide of the ring, he gave Huat a boxing lesson."

In the seventh round Pete "was dancing back, hands down, when Huat suddenly plunged forward and lashed out with both hands and down went the blonde. He scrambled up without a count but the wallop from the hardest puncher in bantam ranks plainly weakened him, and he was tired and bleeding freely at the end of the session." Pete won the decision.

Eugene Huat
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Sanstol Shows Fine Boxing Display

Pete Sanstol was the old Blonde Dynamo last night -- the best bantamweight in the world, possibly barring gangling Al. Brown, who isn't so much a fighter as he is a physical freak.

Coming back to the ring wars under a cloud of doubt as to physical condition and stamina, the Norwegian perpetual motion machine stands out in the clear sunlight today. Blazing through a dramatic ten rounds, he gave a dazzling exhibition of speed and flawless boxing skill to set at nought the terrific punching power and endless aggression of grim-faced Eugene Huat of France.

Only once did Sanstol seem to falter -- that in the seventh round when Huat,,, plunging in, head down, fists flying, whipped a smashing hook that landed on Sanstol's mouth, split his upper lip right through and dropped him sharply on his haunches for the only knockdown of the fight. Pete was caught off-balance by the blow....

"It was a left he hit me with," said Sanstol, between swollen lips in his dressing-room right after. "It caught me high. If it had been flush it would have been just too bad."

From the seventh on, Sanstol fought with blood gushing down his chin, but he fought magnificiently. Though weakened by the blow, he still retained his boxing skill, and holding Huat even in the eighth as the frowning little Frenchman made his most desperate drive of the fight, Sanstol boxed so perfectly in the ninth that he took the round, and held Huat even in a furiously-fought final three minutes....

Sanstol, grim-mouthed, bleeding, was ready for no retreating battle and throughout they battled viciously, with nothing between them as both battered away. But Sanstol, in superb form, rallied in the ninth, took the round on points and the tenth was a bitterly-fought toss-up, an even break. Huat was twice warned for heeling in the tenth, but on the whole it was not only a great, but cleanly-fought, match; one of the most spectacular ever seen at the Forum.

Sanstol looked great. He shared in his come-back triumph, for his status was a bit beclouded after the weak fashion in which he finished against Pladner. Undoubtedly as good as ever and, in the opinion of many critics, he is even better. His slipping of punches by hair-breadth fractions, his feinting, and his speed of fist and foot were equal to anything he ever showed in a Montreal ring. Definitely, too, this fight proved that Sanstol's right foot has been completely cured....

A Sanstol-Leitham fight is now the talk of cauliflower circles, and may materialize. Leitham is off to Winnipeg shortly to defend his bantam title against Wolfram, the new western sensation, and if he comes through that bout successfully, will be in line for a Sanstol match. Sanstol is one of the few who has beaten Leitham, but that was well over a year ago and the Verdun Flash has improved vastly since then and is now a high-ranking bantam, one of the best in the entire division. Leitham and Sanstol would be a stand-out fight. There are a lot of other good bantams Sanstol can meet, and some good fights may materialize.

Matchmaker Aleck Moore is thinking, however, of bringing in some new bantamweight faces and may match Sanstol with another blonde, this one being "Baby" Arismendi, who is a Mexican through a blonde. The "Baby" last week gave a terrific pasting to Newsboy Brown at Los Angeles, Brown winning but one round in ten, and being on the verge of a knockout in three or four different rounds.

A DeGrasse-Sanstol fight is another that the fans are talking about. Here are two really brilliant fighters, and a clash between them would be an epic of ringdom here, with blinding speed and skill in complete control.

Then Pete KO'd Sergio Radam in the fourth round November 15 in New York. Pete was staying at the YMCA at 5 West 63rd Street in Room #901, from where he could see Central Park and Fifth Avenue,  according to his Norwegian-language journal.

Next he "whipped" Benny Schwartz in an unanimous decision at Portner's Arena in Alexandria, Virginia. The fight "shook the rafters from beam to beam and the crowd was in an uproar from the first left hand Benny tossed until the last Sanstol threw at the Jewish star."

(Let's pause here for a moment. How many boxing matches do we see today that inspire the crowd to stand and "shake the rafters"? If the fights broadcast on TV are any clue, apparently very few. Yet Pete was doing it often during his bouts.)

The article continues, "It was without doubt the greatest exhibition of leather-pushing ever seen here." "Only the tricks of the trade, locking Sanstol's mitts and elbows, laying on his shoulders and wrestling his way into clinches permitted Schwartz to remain erect at the finish. He had to dig deep down into his bag of ring lore to last out the battle."

The papers remind their readers that Pete Sanstol is "outranked in the bantamweight class only by the champion himself, Panama Al Brown." "The National Boxing Association, whose ratings in the past often have been about as reliable as Ananias, hasn't erred in ranking Sanstol number 2 among the world bantamweights and it required a Sanstol to interrupt the winning habits of Schwartz last night." (Ananias is a Biblical reference. He was a liar who dropped dead when Peter challenged him to admit the truth. Acts 5:1-6. Peter?!!)

So why, then, when Pete was once again the No. 1 Contender, didn't Brown allow Pete to fight him for the title during this period? Was he still afraid of losing his crown to Pete? You be the judge.

But Pete couldn't charm everyone. Dan Parker of the Daily Mirror, in his column entitled "Go Feather Your Nest," certified Panama Al Brown a "bona-fide champ" and Pete Sanstol "the needy Norwegian... who was never able to crash into the big time when he was really a classy little fighter... [and who was now] on the down grade."

Pete then went to nearby Washington, D.C., where he got to visit the capital of the United States, another dream. While in Washington he was invited to tour the U.S. Mint at the invitation of the Secret Service, and at one point held $120,000,000 in his hands. Perhaps it was during this visit that he decided he wanted to become an American citizen, too.

On January 10, 1933, Pete was scheduled to fight Philadelphia's Jimmy Mack. Interviewed in his hotel room on the eve of the fight he confessed, "Mack's Good, So Am I," (as the headline to his photo says). "He comes in, that's all I ask," is the caption.

Reporter Bob McCormick recounts:

Two boys with but a single thought will meet in the ring at Portner's tonight. They are Pete Sanstol, generally regarded the world's second best bantamweight, and Jimmy Mack. Their common idea concerns a bout with Al Brown, the world's bantam champion. Sanstol has already fought Brown. And, he says, he learned one specific thing that he believes will help him when they meet again. It was ring generalship.

Sprawled upon his hotel-room bed last night, Pete told of his first bout with Brown. And strangely enough, he blamed his defeat not upon the fact that the champion is 5-feet-11 and has tremendously long arms, but upon the fact that he is an extremely wise fighter.

"Not once," said Sanstol, "did Brown get himself in a hole. And not once did he waste a blow or the least little drop of energy. I've been practicing and when I fight him again I'll be the same way. Things may happen."
 

The headlines read "Sanstol Skill Stuns Mack" and "Norwegian Battler Shows Class in Taking Punches From Foe." Some of the text reads:

Jimmy's moniker must go down in the record books as being a victim of one of the greatest little fighters in the mitt market.... The biggest crowd of the season turned out to witness the eight-round battle at Portner's last night which was all Sanstol. The blonde-headed Norwegian, in a class by himself, punched holes in the Quaker City boy's body and face, but that made no matter to James. He took it all and kept coming back for more. Mack missed overhead rights, left hooks, straight rights until his arms nearly dropped off....

The best punches of the fight, however, were landed by Mack. In the first round, he reached Pete's chin with a sizzling right hand that shook the Norwegian from stem to stern. Again in the second, Jimmy cocked a right hand upon Pete's whiskers. Both were knockout punches, but Sanstol proved himself a great catcher by absorbing them both without disturbing his equilibrium.

In the third, Jimmy maneuvered Sanstol into the center of the ring, started a right-hand uppercut which missed Pete's chin by inches. The force of the blow sent Jimmy spinning and he nearly turned a somersault.

Eddie Borden's column, entitled "A Corner in the Fistic Market," in the March 1933 issue of The Ring magazine, mentioned these wins by Pete over Benny Schwartz and Eddie Mack.

On Wednesday, January 18, 1933, both the Montreal Daily Herald and Montreal Daily Star disclosed that Pete was back in Montreal from New York for two reasons. One, he was applying to Wesley Frost, the United States consul general, for the proper forms to become an American citizen. Two, he was seeking to buy out his contract with his good friend and manager, Raoul Godbout. Raoul, a genuine gentleman himself, released Pete from their contract with no quarrel whatsoever.

Pete had requested a release from his contract because he had recently met two old friends in New York. Both had promised to help him become the Bantamweight Champion of the World. But he would have to move to California. So, that's where he headed next, on his never-ending quest for adventure and for the undisputed Bantamweight World Championship.