January 1955 in Sports History

Events in Sport

Boxing Title Fight

Jan 7 20 year-old future world heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson scores a 5th-round TKO of Willie Troy in a non-title super middleweight bout at New York’s Madison Square Garden

Jan 8 Furman sets NCAA basketball single-game scoring record with 154 pt
Jan 8 Georgia Tech ends Kentucky's 130-game home basketball win streak
Jan 16 5th NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: Western Conference beats Eastern Conference, 26-19; MVP: Billy Wilson, SF 49ers, WR

NBA All-Star Game

Jan 18 5th NBA All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden NYC: East beats West, 100-91; MVP: Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics, G

Jan 27 1955 NFL Draft: George Shaw from University of Oregon first pick by Baltimore Colts
Jan 29 John Williams Cox buys Yankee Stadium, sells grounds to Knights of Columbus, later leaves structure to Rice University (1962)

Australian Men's Tennis Open

Jan 31 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Ken Rosewall wins his 2nd Australian title; beats Lew Hoad 9-7, 6-4, 6-4

Jan 31 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Beryl Penrose wins her only Australian singles title; beats Thelma Coyne Long 6-4, 6-3

Birthdays in Sport

Jan 1 LaMarr Hoyt, American baseball pitcher (AL Cy Young Award 1983; AL wins leader 1982-83; Chicago White Sox), born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 2021)
Jan 6 Chantal Langlacé, French runner (women's marathon & 100k world records), born in Amiens, France
Jan 8 Spiros Livathinos, Greek footballer, born in Patras, Greece
Jan 18 Mable Fergerson, American 4x400m runner (Olympic silver 1972), born in Los Angeles, California
Jan 21 Peter Fleming, NJ, tennis player (US Open Doubles 1979, 81, 83)
Jan 23 Ruth Haring, American chess player & president of the US Chess Federation, born on Cape Cod, Massachusetts (d. 2018)
Jan 24 James Montgomery, American swimmer (1976 Olympics 3 golds), born in Madison, Wisconsin
Jan 27 Brian Engblom, Canadian NHL hockey player, 1975-87 (Montreal Canadiens, and 4 other teams), and TV broadcaster, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jan 27 Koji Ushikubo, Japanese racing driver
Jan 29 John Tate, American boxer (WBA heavyweight championship 1979-80), born in Marion, Arkansas (d. 1998)
Jan 30 Curtis Strange, American golfer (US Open 1988-89), born in Norfolk, Virginia