When I last mentioned heavyweight boxer Johnny Risko (on this post), he was congratulating fellow fighter Tom Heeney on his victory over Gene Tunney in late July 1928.
Well, less than two weeks later, Johnny made the papers again – because he was about to start a brand new career, one of particular local interest.
So what was his new job? Read all about it in the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Times-Herald on August 7, 1928.
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JOHN RISKO APPOINTED MARSHAL OF SHEFFIELD
Johnny Risko, claimant of the world’s heavyweight boxing crown recently vacated by Gene Tunney, now has another title other than that of a “pug.”
For the erstwhile Cleveland baker boy is now a marshal in his home bailiwick of Sheffield Lake, a small village on Lake Erie a couple miles east of Lorain.
That is, he was appointed marshal Monday by Mayor Fred Hosford, and his appointment is expected to be ratified by councilmen when the village solons convene Tuesday night.
Hosford pinned a big gold shield on Johnny’s coat Monday afternoon, and with no little ceremony put him through the official hand-raising, oath-taking ritual. Johnny accepted the appointment with a big smile on his face.
It seems that the summer resort which is located near Johnny’s home on the east Lake-rd is the "hanging-out” place for a gang of “drunks” as the mayor termed them, and he expects the appointment of Risko as marshal of the village to scare them out.
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| The Risko name continues to live on in Sheffield Lake, at the location of Johnny Risko’s home |