Kampfsporthistoriker und Kampfkünstler
Posts about bare knuckle prizefighting and professional boxing contests from the 1850s to 1930s.
On December 8, 1903, Sam Langford fought the reigning lightweight boxing champion in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to fighting Langford, most boxing experts felt Joe Gans could not be beaten in a legitimate bout. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Gans was able to break the color barrier by winning the World Lightweight Boxing Championship. Sam Langford is often considered
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” Bis Zur, 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
“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 und 126 Pfund, possessed tremendous knockout power. “Terrible” Terry often finished his opponents in the first four rounds. Im Juli 1, 1899, Brooklyn based McGovern met Chicago’s Johnny Richie at
John Camel Heenan was known to 19th Century bare knuckle prizefighting fans as “the Benicia Boy”. Despite an 0-1-1 record as a professional fighter, Heenan claimed the World Prizefighting Championship based on a draw with Tom Sayer in an 1860 English prize-fight. Heenan’s first professional fight had been with the reigning World Heavyweight Prizefighting Champion John Morrissey’s last professional fight
Tom Hyer won the American Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship in 1841. Like most prizefighting champions of the Nineteenth Century, he did not fight very often. Hyer normally paid his bills as an enforcer for political parties in New York. Originally, Hyer setzte seine Talente für die Whigs ein, wechselte aber zu den Whigs “Know Nothing Party” with his friend William
Am Oktober 12, 1853, 23 year-old John Morrissey would meet 40 year-old “Yankee” Sullivan for the American and possibly World Heavyweight Prizefighting Championship. Sullivan had been considered the champion since Tom Hyer, who had beaten Sullivan previously, retired instead of fighting Sullivan in a rematch. Sullivan claimed the title and was backed by Hyer, who had made peace with Sullivan.
In July 1854, the World Bareknuckle Prizefighting Champion John Morrissey, who also severed as Tammany Hall enforcer, challenged William “Bill the Butcher” Poole to a no holds barred street fight. The result was a terrible beating and several month recovery for John Morrissey. Morrissey would have likely won a bareknuckle prizefight with Poole, a part-time prizefighter himself. Morrissey made a
Im Juli 26, 1854, die Bare Knuckle Champion John Morrissey erfüllt gelegentliche Bare Knuckle Kämpfer William Poole in einer nicht-Regeln Schlägerei. Was folgte, würde die schlimmsten fünf Minuten John Morrissey Leben sein. Am Oktober 23, 1853, die 22-jährige Morrissey schlagen Yankee Sullivan für die Welt Bare Knuckle Meisterschaft in einer umstrittenen Entscheidung. Sullivan actually knocked Morrissey out
Jack Johnson hat für mich schon immer ein hartes Thema. Ich bewundere seinen Mut und seine Stärke in der Konfrontation mit Hass und Bigotterie in einer Zeit, dabei hat sein Leben in Gefahr. Er weigerte sich, die weißen Amerikaner entsprechen und akzeptieren eine Position der Unterlegenheit. Noch, like many human beings he was a flawed man. He beat his first wife
In this post, which was previously a podcast, we will discuss the epic sixty-one round draw between James J. Corbett and Peter Jackson in 1891. This bout prepared Corbett for his successful challenge of John L. Sullivan in 1892. Im März 21, 1891, the most serious contender for the inactive John L. Sullivan’s world championship broke the color line to