Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
John Morrissey claimed the World Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship in a controversial bout with Yankee Sullivan in October 1853. After beating a murder charge for his participation in the murder of Bill “The Butcher” Poole, Morrissey decided to defend his title against John C. Heenan, “the Benicia Boy”. “Old Smoke” Morrissey defeated Heenan in the October 1858 bout held in
The first Mr. Moto film starring Peter Lorre as Japanese jujitsu expert Kentaro Moto sees Mr. Moto tracking down a smuggling ring leader. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation released Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937) on July 27, 1937. Peter Lorre would play Mr. Moto seven more times for Twentieth Century – Fox. Mr. Moto disguises himself as a peddler and
On Monday, December 13, 1920, Ed “Strangler” Lewis won the first of six World Heavyweight Wrestling Championships from Joe Stecher. The fact he won the title from his biggest rival and business enemy must have been particularly satisfying. A year before this match, Stecher and Lewis met in a match lasting over three hours. Lewis made a mental error in
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy star in one of my favorite holiday films, Babe in Toyland (affiliate link) or March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934). It is normally shown around Thanksgiving. This film features Stan Laurel as Stannie Dum and Oliver Hardy as Ollie Dee, who are trying to help Mother Peep, the little old women in the shoe. Barnaby, the wicked
The Mosblechs have very large families as a rule. My great grandfather Eduard Mosblech was one of twelve children. Eduard had fourteen children and his brothers had twelve and thirteen children respectively. While I have not yet been able to verify the size of the other two families, both Mom and I remember it the same way. Grandma Ellis had
On October 14, 1938, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation released the fifth of eight Mr. Moto Films starring Peter Lorre as Interpol Policeman Kentaro Moto. In Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938), Mr. Moto infiltrates a prison and helps a prisoner escape to discover the plans of his criminal organization. Mr. Moto breaks international criminal Paul Brissac, played by Leon Ames, out of
“Terrible” Terry McGovern proved to be a rare fighter at the turn of the Twentieth Century. While smaller boxers packed no power in their punches, McGovern, who scaled between 110 and 126 pounds, possessed tremendous knockout power. “Terrible” Terry often finished his opponents in the first four rounds. On July 1, 1899, Brooklyn based McGovern met Chicago’s Johnny Richie at
Theodore Roosevelt made a fateful decision on Election Day 1904. He announced after being elected to the Presidency in his own right after ascending to the office upon the assassination of William McKinley that he would not run for another term in 1908. Roosevelt had served almost a full term before his election as McKinley was assassinated in September 1901.
On Friday, October 21, 1904, one of the greatest tragedies in St. Louis Police history occurred when two train robbers and three St. Louis Police detectives died in a shootout. The gunfight occurred in a small hotel room on Pine Street. Two days later on Sunday, October 23, 1904, a burglar attempted to gain entry to a realty office at
An age old question in combat sports is “Who will win between a boxer and a wrestler?” The speculation around this question led to several boxer versus wrestler matches through out history, most notably the disaster between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki in 1976. The matches are mostly no-win affairs except at the box office, which is why both promoters