Kampsportshistoriker og kampsportskunstner
Posts about professional boxing and prizefighting in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
Sam Langford betragtes som en af de største pund for pund krigere af hele tiden. Born on March 4, 1883 i Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia, he is considered the greatest Canadian boxer of all time. His fighting career stretched from 1900 til 1926. Langford only stood 5 feet six and half inches tall and weighed 185 pounds at his heaviest. Han
Den maj 10, 1870, 39-year-old prizefighter Jem Mace met 30-year-old prizefighter Tom Allen in Kennerville, Louisiana for the World Heavyweight Prizefighting Championship. Claims to the championship were very murky at the time. Thuggery and dirty tricks often obscured who was actually American Champion. Jem Mace, who was considered World Champion twice while fighting in England, was signed to meet Tom
Monte Attell was the younger brother of World Featherweight Boxing Champion Abe Attell. Monte would always be stuck in the shadow of his older brother but was a talented fighter in his own right. Monte would win the World Bantamweight Boxing Championship during his career and establish himself as a world class fighter. I 1904, he was a 19-year-old up-and-coming
During his first run as World Featherweight Boxing Champion, Abe Attell was based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Besides having his camp in St. Louis, Attell defended his title several times at St. Louis’ West End Athletic Club. At the time, St. Louis was the largest city west of the Mississippi River in the United States. Born Abraham Washington Attell
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
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
Som jeg har skrevet i flere indlæg, de bedste sværvægtsboksere imellem 1900 og 1919 blev de afroamerikanske boksere tvunget til at kæmpe mod hinanden for “Farvede Mesterskab”. Selv efter at den store Jack Johnson endelig brød farvelinjen og vandt World Heavyweight Championship, han ville kun forsvare titlen mod hvide kandidater. 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
På November 30, 1910, reports came from England that former World Heavyweight Prizefighting Champion Jem Mace had died at 79 år. Mace was world champion from 1860 til 1862 and again from 1866 til 1876. After reportedly earning a million dollars in a career that spanned 1857 til 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 og 126 pounds, possessed tremendous knockout power. “Terrible” Terry often finished his opponents in the first four rounds. På juli 1, 1899, Brooklyn based McGovern met Chicago’s Johnny Richie at