Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about bare knuckle prizefighting and professional gloved contests from the 1850s to 1930s.
Oliver Leonard Kirk has the distinction of being the only Olympic boxer to win a gold medal in two separate weight classes in the same Olympic Games. Oliver Kirk accomplished this feat at his hometown Olympics in 1904. St. Louis hosted the third Olympiad during the 1904 World’s Fair Exposition. Like the Paris Games four years before, St. Louis gave
In December 1920, robbers killed Patrolman Charles Daly at the entrance to his home in the 4000 block of Forest Park Boulevard. St. Louis Police aggressively investigated the murder but it was never solved. Prior to his death, the Daly name was already well-known in St. Louis. Charles Daly was the son of professional prizefighter Dan Daly, who fought in
While famous for fighting John L. Sullivan in the last world championship prizefight contested under bare knuckle rules, Jake Kilrain also took part in many gloved bouts. Prizefighting was transitioning from bare knuckle rules to gloved bouts under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules (early amateur and professional boxing) in the late 19th Century. Like Sullivan, Kilrain would fight in major
As I have written in several posts, the best heavyweight boxers between 1900 and 1919 were the African-American boxers forced to fight each other for the “Colored Championship”. Even after the great Jack Johnson finally broke the color line and won the World Heavyweight Championship, he would only defend the title against white contenders. As a result, the toughest challengers
Sam McVey would win the World Colored Heavyweight Boxing Championship in an era where the three best fighters were black and frozen out of the title picture. He started 1903 out so well, he would put pressure on World Heavyweight Boxing Champion James J. Jeffries to give him a match. Jeffries refused to break the “color line” by giving a
On November 30, 1910, reports came from England that former World Heavyweight Prizefighting Champion Jem Mace had died at 79 years of age. Mace was world champion from 1860 to 1862 and again from 1866 to 1876. After reportedly earning a million dollars in a career that spanned 1857 to 1909, Jem Mace died penniless. He was laid to rest
“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
This post is an excerpt from the revised book Morrissey vs. Poole: Politics, Prizefighting and the Murder of Bill the Butcher. The hot air laid stagnant in the room as the man in the corner tried to sleep. Giving up on the possibility of sleep, the “Troy Giant” pulled himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed.
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
In 2010, St. Louis was the 58th largest city in the United States and the 19th largest metropolitan area. Around the turn of the century, it was the fifth or sixth largest city in the United States and the largest west of the Mississippi River. St. Louis had one of the largest clothing, shoe and beer manufacturing industries in