Editing Lew Jenkins (section)

===Taking the World Lightweight Championship, May 1940===
Jenkins defeated [[Lou Ambers]] in [[New York City]] on May 10, 1940, to become World Lightweight Champion.<ref name=BR/><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|title=Lew Jenkins Is Dead at 64; Held Lighweight {{sic|hide=y|reason=error in original}} Title in 1940|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/01/obituaries/lew-jenkins-is-dead-at-64-held-lighweight-title-in-1940.html|work=New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=November 1, 1981|page=40|access-date=November 23, 2018}}</ref> Ambers was down for a count of five in the first, briefly down again from a left in the second, and was down in the third before the referee stopped the bout when Jenkins landed a final solid right to Ambers' jaw.<ref>Ferguson, Harry, "Lew Jenkins Blasts Way To Lightweight Laurels", ''Cumberland Evening Times'', Cumberland, Maryland, pg. 6, 11 May 1940</ref>

After winning the World Lightweight Championship from Ambers, Jenkins lost his boxing discipline and spent time carousing at night and buying expensive automobiles. He drank recklessly, sometimes before bouts, and crashed several motorcycles and cars.<ref name=BR/><ref name=CBZ/><ref name=BRB>{{cite web|title=Lew Jenkins Boxing Biography|url=http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:9466|publisher=BoxRec|access-date=8 December 2016}}</ref>

On March 8, 1940, Jenkins scored a first-round knockout of [[Tippy Larkin]] in a non-title bout at New York's Madison Square Garden before a crowd of 11,542.<ref>"Lou Jenkins Kayoes Tippy Larkin in First", ''Arizona Republic'', Phoenix, Arizona, pg. 60, 9 March 1940</ref> "Tearing out with the bell, the slugger from the Southwest (Jenkins) took command immediately. He threw both fists without a stop, finally connecting with a series of solid lefts and rights and Larkin dropped in his corner."<ref>Feder, Sid, "Tippy Larkin Goes to Sleep During First Round", ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', Santa Cruz, California, pg. 4, 9 March 1940</ref> The knockout occurred at the end of the first, 2:41 into the round. Jenkins had scored five straight knockouts in his most recent New York fights. A noteworthy opponent, Larkin would take the World Light Welterweight Championship in 1946.<ref name=BR/>

On September 16, 1940, Jenkins managed to win a decision against [[Bob Montgomery (boxer)|Bob Montgomery]] in a non-title, ten-round decision, before a crowd of 12,900 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Jenkins was down in the third round for a count of nine. The United Press gave Jenkins five rounds to four for Montgomery, though ring officials gave Jenkins a somewhat wider margin.<ref name=BR/><ref>Cuddy, Jack, "Lew Jenkins Shows Heart in Rough Bout", ''The Pittsburgh Press'', Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 22, 17 September 1940</ref>  Montgomery would twice hold the NYSAC World Lightweight Championship in May 1943 and November 1944.

====World Lightweight Championship defense, November 1940====
On November 22, 1940, Jenkins successfully defended his World Lightweight Title against Pete Lello in a second-round knockout at New York's Madison Square Garden before a largely hostile audience of around 11,000. Jenkins knocked Lello down four times in the second, usually with strong blows to the jaw and at least twice for counts of nine. He said after the bout that he had little memory of the bout after his first knockdown in the second.<ref>"Pete Lello Put Away in Second Stanza", ''Ames Daily Tribune'', Ames, Iowa, pg. 3, 23 November 1940</ref> Lello had formerly knocked out Jenkins in a close bout that ended in an early seventh round victory in Chicago on March 24, 1939.<ref name=BR/>