Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On Thursday, October 7, 1884, Colonel James Hiram McLaughlin wrestled Henry Moses Dufur for what both men claimed would be the last time. The 40-year-olds specialized in collar-and-elbow wrestling. The men wrestled in Detroit, Michigan, the home territory of McLaughlin. The match took place at the Detroit Opera House in front of a small crowd. Professional wrestling had not developed
On Thursday, September 7, 1876, Tom Allen defended his World Heavyweight Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship against fellow Englishman Joe Goss. Allen, originally from Birmingham, England, settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Allen eventually became a U.S. Citizen. Allen showed a pugnacious personality, inside and outside the ring, making powerful enemies amongst the sporting men in the United States. Allen particularly irritated
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/eeqc2peen7iscvva/Episode_578wxzc.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss the upcoming podcast schedule and revisions to kenzimmermanjr.com. Update I removed many of the Legacy posts around genealogy, family life, and film. I discuss why in this episode about why I started blogging and how the website has changed over that time. You can leave a comment or ask
If he had been bigger, Fred Beell would have been a dominant heavyweight in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Instead, larger opponents often defeated Beell only because the opponent outweighed Beell by thirty to fifty pounds. On the rare occasions that Beell wrestled a middleweight, Beell crushed his opponent. On January 13, 1905, Beell wrestled H.P. Hansen in
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/3uewyeeu5ttfgfnv/Episode_56bcopi.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss wrestlers and jiu jitsu fighters working matches in Brazil. We also review WWE’s King and Queen of the Ring. We had a few audio issues in this episode but the audio was still usable. We should correct the issue in June. We will be back to the normal recording
During November 1921, John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled a legitimate contest with Marin Plestina to settle a promotional war between Jack Curley and boxing promoter Tex Rickard. Pesek fouled an injured Plestina, who was helpless to defend himself. After the match, Rickard returned to boxing while the New York State Athletic Commission banned Pesek from wrestling in New York.
In the 19th century, most states banned bare-knuckled prizefighting and professional gloved boxing. Police often arrested fighter, managers, and promoters to stop prizefighting. A unique aspect of geography turned St. Louis into an ideal fight venue to get around the authorities’s activity to stop professional prizefighting. In the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois, the river’s current created a handful
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/5gwxgnrsz7i5byj8/Episode_5566kga.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I talk about the 1924 match between Jim Browning and Taro Miyake. Update Our Memorial Day episode will be the full crew. This episode and that episode will tie together with a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) crossover and how gambling schemes affected pro wrestling and why it is a worry for
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/xn66mjpb7vj56fpm/Episode_549cl3b.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadTechnical difficulties led to this podcast being more of a compilation. We discuss an odd decision by the New York State Althletic Commission in 1921. Update In our original update we covered most of the main wrestling stories since Dan went in to the hospital. Unfortunately, none of the audio was useable from this
In 1919, John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek found himself in the same position as Marin Plestina. The dominant wrestling trust would not give Pesek a match with one of the “Big Four” – Earl Caddock, Joe Stecher, Ed “Strangler” Lewis, and Wladek Zbyszko. Unable to secure a match with Stecher, Pesek wrestled Jim Londos in Omaha, Nebraska on October 10,