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Elmer Ray

American boxer (1911-1987)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ5366651
Source-derived summary

Elmer "Violent" Ray (March 3, 1911 – May 20, 1987) was an American professional boxer who fought from 1933 to 1949. Ray, also known as "The Florida Thumper," was one of the hardest-hitting heavyweights of the 1940s. During a boxing career that included battle royals and alligator wrestling, he scored 69 knockouts. Ray never fought for the title, but did fight multiple exhibition bouts against Joe Louis. He also fought Jersey Joe Walcott, Lee Savold, and Ezzard Charles. In 2003, Ray made The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all-time at No. 44.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Elmer Ray” as american boxer (1911-1987). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Elmer, American and boxer.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1911, 1987, 1933, 1949—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1911-03-03. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Elmer, American and boxer providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Elmer Ray”, the useful work is to connect “american boxer (1911-1987)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5366651. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1911, 1987, 1933 and 1949.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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Three-step research path

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  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Elmer Ray” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.