Oliver Kirk and the 1904 St. Louis Olympics

oliver-kirk-st-louis-boxer

Oliver Leonard Kirk has the distinction of being the only Olympic boxer to win a gold medal in two separate weight classes in the same Olympic Games.  Oliver Kirk accomplished this feat at his hometown Olympics in 1904. St. Louis hosted the third Olympiad during the 1904 World’s Fair Exposition.  Like the Paris Games four years before, St. Louis gave

Share
» Read more

Gotch Crushes Jenkins for Title

frank-gotch

On Thursday, January 27, 1904, Tom Jenkins defended his American Wrestling Championship against an up-and-coming wrestler from Iowa.  After the first fall, the fans realized it was the toughest match of the c Frank Alvin Gotch, the Humboldt, Iowa farm boy who would defeat Georg Hackenschmidt for the World Heavyweight Championship in 1908, was Jenkins’ challenger.  Jenkins had defeated Gotch’s

Share
» Read more

Whistler and Ross Disgust Crowd

clarence-whistler

After several months of wrangling, Clarence Whistler met Duncan C. Ross on Monday, November 7, 1881 in a best three-out-of-five falls match.  Two falls were to be conducted in catch-as-catch-can wrestling, which both men were considered adept at.  Two falls were to be conducted in collar-and-elbow wrestling, which was a Ross speciality.  The final fall would be conducted in Greco-Roman

Share
» Read more

The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935)

donald-cook-from-public-enemy-1931

The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935) is an adaptation of one of the Ellery Queen novels. Two cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee, who wrote a number of detective novels under the pseudonym of the title character. In this film, Ellery Queen is taking a vacation to California with his friend Judge Macklin. Of course, they are not long into their

Share
» Read more

Was Lewis or Gotch Better?

young-ed-strangler-lewis

In January 1921, Ad Santel started a minor controversy by claiming Ed “Strangler” Lewis was a better wrestler than the late Frank Gotch.  Santel trained with both Gotch and Lewis, so he did have an insider’s knowledge.  Was he right though? Gotch was the last Undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.  Gotch won the title by defeating the great Georg Hackenschmidt. 

Share
» Read more
1 36 37 38 39 40 70