Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about combat sports history from 1870 to 1930.
For my birthday this year, I purchased one of my favorite books, The Way to Live in Health and Strength (affiliate link) by Georg Hackenschmidt. Georg Hackenschmidt set many weightlifitng world records before focusing on professional wrestling. Hackenschmidt would win the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1901. Hackenschmidt would reign as undefeated World Champion for 7 years until losing his
William Muldoon, a former New York City detective, won the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship by defeating Thiebaud Bauer. Muldoon reigned for ten years before retiring as champion. After retiring, he began to make a living as a personal trainer. Muldoon trained many wrestlers but really came to prominence after getting a woefully out of shape John L. Sullivan fit for
William Muldoon, the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion and physical culture proponent, came to Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 15, 1884 to face the local wrestler Fred Bauer. The match took place at the local Turnvereine Hall in Los Angeles. Muldoon was so confident of victory that he stipulated that he would throw Bauer ten times within an hour or he
On October 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
On July 26, 1854, the bare knuckle champion John Morrissey met occasional bare knuckle fighter William Poole in a no rules street brawl. What followed would be the worst five minutes of John Morrissey’s life. On October 23, 1853, the 22-year-old Morrissey beat Yankee Sullivan for the world bare knuckle championship in a disputed decision. Sullivan actually knocked Morrissey out
I first read about William Muldoon in a biography of John L. Sullivan, the last bare knuckle heavyweight champion. Sullivan ushered in gloved boxing by refusing to take part in any more bare knuckle bouts. The last major bare knuckle bout was fought by Sullivan against Jake Kilrain in 1889. Odds were against Sullivan, a binge drinker indulging heavily between bouts. He was
Anderson Silva, widely recognized as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, lost his rematch with Chris Wiedman for the UFC Middleweight Title on December 28, 2013. Wiedman had defeated Silva for the title on July 6, 2013. It was Silva’s first loss in seven years with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the middleweight champion for over 6
Sam McVey, who was considered the Idol of Paris, during his boxing career from 1902 to 1921, is largely forgotten today. One of the greatest black heavyweights of his time, he was frozen out of fighting for the world title even after Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns in 1908. McVey lost to Jack Johnson three times early in his career
How often have you heard it best to use short copy or long copy for Internet marketing. Some proponents advocate short copy, some advocate long and some try to strike a middle ground. It seems everyone has an opinion though. One person who believed in the use of long copy for selling his services was William Muldoon. Muldoon was