Which amateur boxing weight class did Billy Joel compete in as a teenager?

As a teenager, Billy Joel competed as a welterweight boxer. Growing up in Hicksville, Long Island, he took up boxing and entered the amateur Golden Gloves circuit while continuing his formal piano training.

Boxing was partly a practical response to the teasing and rough environment Joel experienced as a young musician. Although music ultimately became his career, he was a serious enough amateur competitor to win 22 of his 26 bouts. His brief boxing career ended after his nose was broken in a match.

That injury became a lasting part of Joel’s public image: photographs and biographies often mention the distinctive shape of his nose when recounting his teenage fights. He never became a professional boxer, and the sport remained an unusual footnote to the career of a singer best known for “Piano Man,” “Vienna,” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” His later musical success grew from the same teenage years in which he divided his time between piano lessons, school, bands, and boxing.