Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On January 10, 1940, Rowland V. Lee released his low-budget feature film The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) through United Artists. Rowland V. Lee started directing films in 1920 and would make 59 films before retiring in 1945. In this film, Louis Hayward plays The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Dantes, Jr. The Count inherits his father’s money and the
On Monday, May 30, 1892, the great Peter Jackson boxed a gloved bout with former protégé Frank Slavin. Both men lived and fought in Australia, although fan interest led Jackson to tour the world to take advantage of the financial opportunities in the United States and England. As in Australia, Jackson often found white boxers unwilling to fight him. Few
St. Louis, at the beginning of the 20th Century, had a prominent professional boxing scene. Abe Attell, although born in San Francisco, was based in St. Louis. On February 1, 1904, Attell defended his World Featherweight Boxing Championship against frequent rival Harry Forbes. Forbes was also a regular on the St. Louis boxing scene. Forbes defeated Danny Dougherty for the
Jim Londos rose through the ranks of professional wrestling to become the biggest box office star of not only the 1930s but of all-time. However, if Londos had not come to St. Louis in the early 1920s, the story could have been quite different. Londos learned catch-as-catch-can wrestling while Londos performed as a strong man in the carnival circuit during
Sam Langford is considered one of the greatest pound for pound fighters of all time. Born on March 4, 1883 in Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia, he is considered the greatest Canadian boxer of all time. His fighting career stretched from 1900 to 1926. Langford only stood 5 feet six and half inches tall and weighed 185 pounds at his heaviest. He
The Gorilla (1939) is a comedy-mystery “B” film starring the Ritz Brothers, Joseph Calleia, Bela Lugosi and Lionell Atwill. The film was produced by Twentieth-Century Fox before they quit making “B” films, the first film on a double bill. The Ritz Brothers were active between 1925 and the 1960s, when Al Ritz the oldest brother passed away. The brothers made
On October 20, 1906, Fred Beell proved dynamite comes in small packages. Beell, light heavyweight wrestling champion, defeated former American heavyweight champion Dan McLeod. Beell parlayed an active 1906 into defeats of former American Heavyweight Champion Dan McLeod and current American Heavyweight Champion Frank Gotch. Beell won the American Middleweight (Light Heavyweight) Championship but remained out of the spotlight until
On November 7, 1908, Charles Olson met “Americus” Gus Schonlein for the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. The match proved to be as exciting as observers suspected it would be but it ended in controversy. Olson stood 6’01” but weighed only 170 pounds. Born Max Flaskamp in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia in 1879, he took the name Charles or Charley Olson
Giovanni Raicevich stood only 5’07” tall but weighed a muscular 220 pounds. Raicevich carried pro bodybuilder type muscle 50 years before the steroid era. However, when it came to wrestling, Raicevich’s skill set was not quite as developed as his physique. Raicevich was one of many foreign wrestlers, who traveled to America to take on Frank Gotch after he defeated
On Christmas Night 1911, Stanislaus Zbyszko met Giovanni Raicievich in a much-anticipated heavyweight wrestling bout. Zbyszko, who was campaigning for a rematch with World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch, agreed to throw Raicevich 3 times in 90 minutes or be declared the loser. As the men entered the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City, Zbyszko was clearly the