Zbyszko Double Crosses Trio

lewis-zbyszko-handshake

Rarely does one fundamentally alter their profession but Stanislaus Zbyszko did just that on April 15, 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Zbyszko defeated Wayne Munn in one of the last shoot (not staged) professional wrestling matches in the United States.  It was a shoot or legitimate match because Zbyszko double crossed the “Goldust Trio” wrestling promotion and beat Munn for the

Share
» Read more

Sam Langford KOs Battlin’ Jim Johnson

sam-langford

On Tuesday, December 12, 1916, Sam Langford defended the “Colored World Heavyweight Boxing Championship”, which he won from Sam McVea in February 1916.  Between 1904 and 1919, the best African-American boxers, or black Canadians like Langford, were stuck fighting each other for “Colored” Championship. If a white fighter did fight them, it was only to develop their own reputation to

Share
» Read more

Jeffries KOs Jackson

james-j-jeffries

James J. Jeffries dominated American heavyweight boxing from 1899 to 1904.  After winning the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship from Bob Fitzsimmons in 1899, Jeffries made 9 successful title defenses during the next five years.  He retired undefeated in 1905 before be lured back for an ill-fated comeback against the great Jack Johnson. Jeffries didn’t win his bouts with superior boxing

Share
» Read more

How Did Alex Aberg Die?

aleksander-aberg-title

I decided to start 2020 by using two examples from professional wrestling to discuss why you would change a historical account you wrote in the past.  In writing history, you are limited by the available sources on the subject matter.  Primary sources like diaries, official records and autobiographies are very valuable.  Other sources like newspapers are good as well but

Share
» Read more

Did Lewis Defeat Drunken Wrestler?

evan-strangler-lewis

Evan “Strangler” Lewis was a scary competitor.  Although he was not a large man at 5’09” and weighed 170 pounds, Lewis’ mastery of submissions made him an equal or better of most wrestlers of his era.  Jack Carkeek was a terrific wrestler but one match with Lewis almost caused him to retire. Lewis’ reputation was strongly related to his feared

Share
» Read more

Lewis Takes Title Back from Munn

ed-strangler-lewis-wrestling

On the same day Joe Stecher wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko for the recognized version of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in St. Louis, Ed “Strangler” Lewis challenged “Big” Wayne Munn for his disputed Michigan-Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.  Lewis dropped the title to Munn in February 1925.  In April 1925, Zbyszko defeated Munn in a famous double-cross.  The match between Lewis and

Share
» Read more

Fitz Dethrones Corbett in 1897

bob-fitzsimmons

On March 17, 1897, current World Heavyweight Boxing Champion James J. Corbett entered the boxing ring at Carson City, Nevada.  Corbett faced the challenge of former middleweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons.  Corbett entered as the favorite enjoying both an almost twenty pound weight advantage and slick boxing skills. “Ruddy Robert” as Fitzsimmons was sometimes known won the World Middleweight Boxing Championship in

Share
» Read more
1 24 25 26 27 28 67