Danny Hodge

Daniel Allen Hodge was an American wrestler and boxer. He was a perennial NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, holding the title eight times for a total of over ten years. Hodge is the only amateur wrestler to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated as an amateur wrestler.

About Danny Hodge in brief

Summary Danny HodgeDaniel Allen Hodge was an American wrestler and boxer. He is renowned for his wrestling career, both amateur and professional. Hodge is the only amateur wrestler to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated as an amateur wrestler. He was a perennial NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, holding the title eight times for a total of over ten years, longer than anyone else. In 2007, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He died, aged 88, on December 24, 2020, in Perry, Oklahoma, where he continued to live.

He won the silver medal in 1956, in Melbourne, Australia after being defeated at the final by Bulgarian Nikola Stanchev. In his professional boxing debut, he scored a first-round knockout victory over Norm Jackson on July 9, 1959. As a professional, he had a reported record of 8–2, although only 7 wins have been documented. On March 29, 2005, Oklahoma state lawmakers honored Hodge as an \”Oklahoma Sports Hero\”.