Hardwick began to box in Atlanta when he was fourteen years old under the tutorship and management of Edward Allen Robinson (Antonia's husband). He fought for the first time as a professional at the age of fifteen, on May 27, 1929, at the Elks' Restaurant, in Atlanta, against a boxer who went under the name of "Kid Moon" and was victorious in that encounter. In 1932,
Connecticut State Senator Harry Durant was among those present at one of his fights in
West Palm Beach. The Senator was impressed with Hardwick and sponsored his trip to
New Haven where Hardwick began to fight under the name of the "Cocoa Kid." Hardwick fought Williams thirteen times, winning eight, losing three, and drawing in two. The group came to be known as the "
Black Murderers' Row" or Murderers' Row and was made up primarily of highly rated African-American boxing contenders in the 1940s, who competed around the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. Hardwick was the only
Hispanic of African descent in the group. The term "murderers' row" was coined by writer
Budd Schulberg, screenwriter of
On the Waterfront. Amongst the many boxers whom Hardwick fought and defeated during his career were
Louis "Kid" Kaplan. The fight occurred on February 2, 1933, at the Arena in New Haven. Kaplan was a champion who held the World Featherweight title until 1927. On December 5, 1933, he faced
Lou Ambers and lost the match. From April through September 1940, Hardwick was the number one welterweight contender in the world. However
Henry Armstrong, who held the World Welterweight Championship, refused to give him a title shot. He made four defenses of the title. On September 22 of that year at the same venue, he defeated Jackie Elverillo on points in 10 rounds. On June 11, 1937, at the Coliseum Arena in
New Orleans, Hardwick fought his old nemesis Holman Williams, prevailing in a close fight, winning a decision in the 12-rounder.
Ring Magazine had donated a championship belt for the bout. Hardwick successfully defended his title against
Black Canadian boxer Sonny Jones at the
Valley Arena in
Holyoke, Massachusetts on November 15, 1937, in a bout refereed by then former world heavyweight champion
Jack Sharkey. Hardwick scored a technical knock out in the sixth round of their 15-round bout. He had devastated Jones in the third with a right to his jaw and with a right opened a cut over Sonny's left eye. Sharkey stopped the fight when Jones could barely see. The ascension of
Henry Armstrong as the
world welterweight champ on May 31, 1938 (when he beat
Barney Ross) seemingly made the title redundant (the World Colored Heavyweight Championship expired when Joe Louis became world heavyweight champ in 1937 and the
World Colored Middleweight Championship became defunct for 10 years after
Gorilla Jones lost the world middleweight title in 1932), but continued to be contested during Armstrong's reign. Hardwick lost the title to Charley Burley on August 22, 1938, at Hickey Park in
Millvale, Pennsylvania. Burley won a unanimous decision in the 15-round bout, knocking Hardwick to the canvas three times and defeating him decisively, taking his title. Burley never defended the title, probably out of a desire to get a title shot with Armstrong. To fill the vacant title, Hardwick and Holman Williams met in a rematch on January 11, 1940, at the Coliseum in
Baltimore, Maryland. Hardwick won a unanimous decision in their 15-round title bout, winning the title for a second time. Hardwick never defended his second title.
World Colored Middleweight Championship Hardwick faced Holman Williams for his World Colored Middleweight Championship on January 15, 1943, at the Victory Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hardwick took the title from Williams on points in the 12-round bout. He never defended the title, which became extinct. Instead, he met Williams at New Orleans' Coliseum Arena on September 15, 1944, for the "Duration Middleweight World Title". This time, the result was a draw after 12 rounds. It was his second fight after being discharged from the U.S. Navy.
The Hardwick – Billy Smith controversy In 1944, a controversy erupted between Hardwick and a boxer named "Oakland Billy Smith." When the fighters met on November 24, in the Civic Auditorium of
San Francisco, California, the betting odds favored the Cocoa Kid over Smith by 2 to 1. In 1949,
Sugar Ray Robinson entered into, and then broke, two agreements to fight against Hardwick. That same year of 1949, Hardwick was Robinson's sparring partner at the welterweight king's training camp in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Robinson was training for a fight with Steve Belloise and was at his peak. In one session, Hardwick landed a short overhand right to Robinson's chin and dropped him in the second round. By the end of his boxing career, Hardwick had fought a total of 244 professional fights, of which he won 176 with 48
knockouts (KO). He lost 56 fights, 7 by way of KOs and 10 of his fights were classified as draws (ties). Among the Champions which he faced during his career were: Louis Kaplan,
Johnny Jadick, Lou Ambers,
Christopher "Battling" Battalino,
Chalky Wright and Archie Moore. Of these he defeated Kaplan, Jadick and Wright in non-title fights. ==Later years==