Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about bare knuckle prizefighting and professional boxing contests from the 1850s to 1930s.
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
In March 1893, newspapers across the country carried the story of a proposed match between current world light heavyweight boxing champion Jack McAuliffe and Saint Louis boxing instructor Mike Mooney. Although the match would seem odd because Mooney was such a lightly regarded challenger, the lure of $2500 a side is probably what brought the champion to the table. Adjusted
On Wednesday, April 27, 1910, reigning World Middleweight Boxing Champion Stanley Ketchel fought a six-round, non-title match with African American boxer Sam Langford. Langford is one of the greatest boxers of all-time. However, Langford found himself frozen out of world title fights by promoters and boxers adhering to the “color line.” Promoters and boxers used the “color line” to prevent
Mike “Twin” Sullivan claimed the Welterweight World Boxing Championship, when he decisioned Honey Mellody in April 1907. Possessing both heavy hands and better than normal boxing skills, Sullivan claimed victories over the great Joe Gans and future Welterweight World Boxing Champion Harry Lewis during his career. Lewis won the welterweight title, when Sullivan could no longer make the 147 pound
1909 saw Stanley Ketchel continue his torrid pace through all the top fighters around the middleweight limit. In March 1909, Ketchel faced a rare challenge, when he fought reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion Philadelphia Jack O’Brien. O’Brien was a slick boxer, who used his speed and elusiveness to pummel Ketchel in the early rounds. Despite O’Brien’s size advantage, Ketchel was
On Tuesday, February 22, 1910, Ad Wolgast challenged World Lightweight Boxing Champion Battling Nelson for Nelson’s title at Richmond Arena in Point Richmond, California. The 28-year-old Nelson won the title by knocking out the great Joe Gans in 1908. Boxing experts did not expect Wolgast to defeat Nelson even though Wolgast held a newspaper decision over Nelson in 1909. Pundits
Tom Allen was born in Birmingham, England but fought some of his most famous fights in America. In 1867, Allen moved to St. Louis, the largest city west of the Mississippi. Allen never left and would use St. Louis as his home base to train for prizefights. Allen fought mostly in bare knuckle prizefights as American boxing would not be
No one took advantage of the No Decision era of professional boxing like Battling Levinsky. Levinsky was a skilled defensive boxer, who took little damage during his fights. When Ring Magazine asked him why he was so active, sometimes taking 3 fights in a day around New York, Levinsky said, “I like money and I never get hurt.” Levinsky was
On Friday, March 13, 1891, Jake Kilrain fought George Godfrey at the California Athletic Club in San Francisco, California. The men fought for a trophy and $5,000. The men entered the ring at 9:52 p.m. William Muldoon, former World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, seconded Kilrain, who Muldoon trained for this fight. Muldoon trained Kilrain’s opponent, John L. Sullivan, for their 1889
Charles Henry “Jack” Blackburn achieved his greatest fame as the trainer of World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis from 1934 to 1942. Louis is widely considered to be one of the top three to five heavyweights in professional boxing history and some consider him the best heavyweight fighter. “Jack” Blackburn developed the talents of the young champion and helped him