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William David Conn (October 8, 1917 in
Pittsburgh-May 29, 1993), better known in the
Boxing|boxing world as Billy Conn, was a boxer who
was world's Light-Heavyweight champion. 

Conn debuted as a professional boxer on June 28,
1934, losing to Dick Woodard by a decision in four
rounds. His first win came almost a month later,
on July 20, against Johnny Lewis, by a
Knockout|knockout in three rounds.

Conn built a record of 47 wins, 9 losses and 1
draw (tie), with 7 knockout wins, before
challenging for the world's Light-Heavyweight
title. Along the way, he beat former or future
world champions Fritzie Zivic, Solly Krieger and
Fred Apostoli, as well as Teddy Yarosz and Young
Corbett III. 

On July 13, 1939, he met world Light-Heavyweight
champion Melio Bettina in New York City|New York,
outpointing him in 15 rounds and winning the
world's Light-Heavyweight championship. Conn
defended his title against Bettina, and twice
against another world Light-Heavyweight champion,
Gus Lesvenich, each of those three bouts resulting
in 15 round decision wins for Conn. Conn also beat
Bob Pastor, former world Middleweight champion Al
McCoy, and Lee Savold in non-title bouts during
his run as world Light-Heavyweight champion.

In May of 1941, Conn gave up his world
Light-Heavyweight title to challenge world
Heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Conn attempted to
become the first world Light-Heavyweight champion
in boxing history to go up in weight and win the
world's Heavyweight championship when he and Louis
met on June 18 of that year. The fight became part
of boxing's lore because Conn held secured lead on
the scorecards leading to round 13. According to
many experts and fans who watched the fight, Conn
was outmaneuvering Louis up to that point. In a
move that Conn would later regret for the rest of
his life, he tried to go for the knockout in round
13, and instead wound up losing the fight by
knockout in that same round himself. 

In 1942, Conn beat Tony Zale and had an exhibition
with Louis. World War II was at one of its most
important moments, however, and both Conn and
Louis  were called to serve on the Army. Conn went
to war and was away from the boxing rings until
1946. 

By then, the public was clamoring for a rematch
between him and the still world Heavyweight
champion Louis. This happened, and on June 19,
1946, Conn returned into the ring, straight into a
world Heavyweight championship bout. The fight, at
Yankee Stadium, was the first television|televised
world Heavyweight championship bout ever, and
146,000 people watched it on TV, also setting a
record for the most seen world Heavyweight bout in
history. Most people who saw it agreed that both
Conn and Louis' abilities had eroded with their
time spent serving the United States, but Louis
was able to retain the crown by a knockout in
round eight. Conn's career was basically over
after this fight, but he still fought two more
fights, winning both by knockout in round nine. On
December 10, 1948, he and Louis met inside a ring
for the last time, this time for a public
exhibition in Chicago, Illinois|Chicago. Conn
would never climb into a ring as a fighter again.

Retiring from the ring as a boxer did not mean
retiring as a public figure for Conn. As he became
an older citizen, he participated in a number of
documentaries for Home Box Office|HBO, and he was
frequently seen at boxing related activities until
his death in 1993, at the age of 75. 

Conn is now a member, along with Louis and Zivic,
of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in
Canastota, New York.

He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11
losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins by knockout.