Bob Beal, center, a member of the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame and the Illinois Martial Arts Hall of Fame, died May 27. He is pictured with his grandchildren Dylan Edwards (left) and David Edwards.
Courtesy of Andre Avanessian

If you've been punched by boxer and martial artist Bob Beal, you probably haven't gotten up.

Beal was once described as having fists “like hammers from hell.” In 2015, he was inducted into both the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame and the Illinois Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He died on May 27.

Beal, a 1997 graduate of Waller High School in Chicago – now Lincoln Park High School – lived in Des Plaines. He was 86 years old and had been married to his wife Josephine, known as “Jo,” for 60 years.

“He walked like a warrior,” said one of Beal’s three grandchildren, Dylan Edwards of Des Plaines.

He also lived like a warrior. Born Robert Brutus Beal, he was trained in boxing by his stepfather Frank Beal and his father Harold Lett at age seven in a homemade gym. Known in the ring as Ray Vegas, Lett once fought Jack Dempsey in a bare-knuckle exhibition match, reaching a draw.

At 13, Bob Beal trained in professional gyms under former world champions Johnny Coulon and Tony Zale. Beal became four-time heavyweight champion of the Catholic Youth Organization in Chicago.

At Coulon's gym, Beal was a sparring partner with the young Cassius Clay, according to Beal's former martial arts student and studio partner Fred Degerberg.

According to BoxRec, Beal had a reported amateur record of 291-9.

At the age of 17, Beal fought Pete Rademacher in a national heavyweight bout in 1955 that served as a qualifier for the 1956 Olympics. Beal knocked out Rademacher but broke his hand in the process, allowing Rademacher to advance to the Melbourne Olympics, where he won the gold medal.

Beal's enormous punching power led to recurring hand injuries and in the late 1950s he gave up boxing – to the displeasure of former undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, who, according to Degerberg, had come to Chicago with the offer to become Beal's manager.

Instead, Beal turned first to wrestling and then to martial arts, where he achieved grandmaster status and 10th Dan in Bushido karate.

Bushido, “the way of the samurai,” was a combination of boxing, wrestling, karate and various martial arts that Beal developed with the assistance of Degerberg, a fellow grandmaster and 10th black belt holder.

After meeting at former Marine Ted Amos' Byakko Do Karate Kai studio in the early 1960s, Beal and Degerberg created Bushido, the Midwestern predecessor of today's mixed martial arts.

“He was one of the first complete mixed martial arts fighters in the 1960s and 1970s,” said Dylan Edwards.

Beal later took over Amos' studio and renamed it Bushido Fighting Society. Over the course of his career, Beal operated studios in several different locations in Chicago.

Beal awarded Degerberg, who opened the Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts in 1980, his first black belt.

“He was a man and a half, I can tell you that,” said Degerberg.

“He didn't talk much because his hearing wasn't that good. He was more of a guy whose actions spoke louder than words. And he was the nicest guy,” Degerberg said.

Beal retired from professional training in 1997. At home, he was a master carpenter who loved watching classic horror movies, the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings.

Bob and Josephine Beal had two children, Cora and Jeanne, grandchildren Michael, David and Dylan, and one great-grandson, Colton.

“He was a great father figure to my brothers and me, and I was one of his last students,” said Edwards, who earned his black belt under Beal and Degerberg.

A celebration of Beal's life will be held July 27 from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Degerberg Academy of Martial Arts, 4717 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.