While selling fruit for a day , he began boxing as a teenager at the Lenox Athletic Club in Meriden , turned professional in 1919 .
His family emigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire when he was five years old and settled in Meriden , Connecticut .
While selling fruit for a day , family began boxing as a teenager at the Lenox Athletic Club in Meriden , turned professional in 1919 .
His family emigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire when he was five years old and settled in Meriden , Connecticut .