Henri Deglane

Former World Champion in America, Canada and Europe, Henri Deglane made his professional debut in the late 1920s. Deglane appeared at the St. Nicholas Arena in New York on February 13, 1928 and wrestled Wladek Zbyszko to a thirty-minute draw. Deglane was seriously injured during a Boston match with claimant to the World Title, Gus Sonnenberg, on March 20, 1930. Deglane traveled to Kansas City and participated in the American Legion Tournament held by Gabe Kauffman at the Convention Hall. He was matched up against Ed Lewis on March 31st in the third round contest. The two ended up wrestling to a 60-minute draw. More than a year later, Deglane beat the heavyweight champion, Ed Lewis by disqualification on May 4, 1931 in Montreal. The Montreal Athletic Commission announced Deglane as the new World Champ, and backed him. 30,000 fans turned out to watch Deglane defeat Ed Don George to retain a claim to the World Heavyweight Title on July 14, 1931 in Boston at Braves Field. At the end of the month, Deglane returned to the same field to stop the challenge of Gus Sonnenberg. On January 13, 1933, he beat Sonnenberg with two-falls in front of 22,000 in Boston. Deglane later lost the World Title to George in Boston on February 9th. Deglane was also a fire-fighter in Paris. When he retired later in the 1940s, many of his fans were depressed. They did know that Henri Deglane was one talented wrestler. A Hall of Fame grappler at that.