Posts about 19th Century bare knuckle prize fighting, gloved professional boxing contests from 1890 to 1940 as well as martial arts history and concepts with a particular emphasis on mixed styles bouts.
I was recently honored to be a guest on The Martial Culture Podcast. Coach Rene Driefuss and Matt Peters were excellent hosts. I truly enjoyed my time on their podcast. We spoke about one of my books, Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt: The Matches That Made and Destroyed Legitimate American Professional Wrestling in particular. However, we spoke in general about the history […]
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On May 11, 1900, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion James J. Jeffries fought his former employer James J. Corbett. Corbett held the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in the early 1890s. Corbett hired the powerfully built Jeffires to help him prepare for his title challengers. Jeffries went on to win the world title from the man, who beat Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons. Corbett […]
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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 […]
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From late 1921 to 1923, John Contos promoted professional wrestling in St. Louis, Missouri. However, Contos decided to leave promotion to focus on managing the career of budding star Dan Kolov. Prior to leaving St. Louis, Contos sold the promotion to Tom Packs, his nephew and assistant in the promotion. Packs’ first card was scheduled for Friday, January 4, 1924. […]
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William Muldoon was the reigning World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and a noted physical culturist, when Muldoon was engaged by John L. Sullivan’s backers to get their fighter in shape. Sullivan was the reigning World Heavyweight Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Champion. Sullivan signed an agreement to meet his toughest challenger, Jake Kilrain, in July 1889. Sullivan admitted he was in bad shape, […]
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On Friday, June 10, 1910, World Middleweight Boxing Champion Stanley Ketchel fought his last fight against unheralded Jim Smith. Ketchel has cleared out the middleweight division, so boxing promoters struggled to find suitable competition for Ketchel. At only 24 years old, Ketchel lived hard and fought constantly causing an early breakdown of his body. After fighting Smith, Ketchel intended to […]
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John L. Sullivan had dominated the prize ring during his career. Possessing a record of 40 wins, no losses and two draws, “The Boston Strong Boy” was considered invincible. Sullivan won the world championship in 1882 and dispensed all challengers culminating with the Fight of the Nineteenth Century with Jake Kilrain. After defeating Kilrain in this epic bout, John L. […]
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An ad was printed in the January 16, 1921 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch advertising a mail order course on Jujitsu from Capt. Allan Smith. Capt. Smith was originally born in Scotland but was fascinated with demonstrations of Japanese Jujitsu (actually Judo) he saw in England. Smith traveled to Japan with a company and learned Judo reaching 1st degree […]
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On February 7, 1882, John L. Sullivan fought Paddy Ryan for a title, which was certainly the American Heavyweight Prizefighting Championship but probably not the World Title as it was billed. In 1880, Paddy Ryan won the title in his first and only prize fight before facing the ferocious power puncher Sullivan. The men met in Mississippi City, Mississippi around […]
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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 […]
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