[4] While selling fruit for five cents a day,[5] he began boxing as a teenager at the Lenox Athletic Club in Meriden, and turned professional in 1919.

Early in his career, Kaplan fought the popular local favorite and former New York State champion Charlie Pilkington.

By late 1924, World Featherweight champion Johnny Dundee vacated his title and a tournament was arranged to determine a successor.

Despite standing 5 ft 4 in., he was experiencing difficulty making the featherweight limit and decided to relinquish the crown to campaign as a lightweight in 1927.

Known as a rugged, pressing boxer who possessed tremendous stamina, the crowd-pleasing "Meriden Buzzsaw" died on October 26, 1970, in Norwich, Connecticut.