Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Legacy posts about St. Louis history with a particular emphasis on building and police history.
Tom Allen was born in Birmingham, England on April 23, 1840 but he became famous as a heavyweight bare knuckle prizefighter in America. Settling in St. Louis around 1867, Allen won the American Heavyweight Championship in 1873 and held the title until 1876. He returned to England for a year before returning to St. Louis for good in 1878. Back
In March 1893, newspapers across the country carried the story of a proposed match between current world light heavyweight boxing champion Jack McAuliffe and Saint Louis boxing instructor Mike Mooney. Although the match would seem odd because Mooney was such a lightly regarded challenger, the lure of $2500 a side is probably what brought the champion to the table. Adjusted
Johnny Reagan was an important fighter in the St. Louis boxing scene during the first decade of the 20th Century. Originally from Brooklyn, Reagan moved to St. Louis to train under Jack McKenna. McKenna based his operation out of St. Louis, where his fighter primarily fought at St. Louis’ West End Club. Reagan was a rising bantamweight at the time
On Saturday, April 9, 2022, the Franklin County Missouri Historical Society invited me to give a PowerPoint presentation on the Union Missouri Bank Robbery of 1902. The book covers the robbery, the investigation, two nationwide hunts for the fugitive and a daring break from the St. Louis City Jail. Two daring robbers, not yet 23 years of age, pulled off
After averaging 9 fights a year over the past 7 years, World Middleweight Boxing Champion Stanley “The Michigan Assassin” Ketchel was exhausted. Ketchel took a vacation on the Missouri ranch of his friend Colonel R. P. Dickerson in an attempt to regain his strength and enthusiasm for fighting. Ketchel never returned from vacation as he was shot and killed at
Abe Attell was a tough boxer. He won the World Featherweight Boxing Championship twice. He and his brother Monte were the first brothers to be world boxing champions at the same time after Monte won the World Bantamweight Championship. Abe Attell won his first title when he was based out of the West End Boxing Club in St. Louis, MO.
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. In 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
Frank Gotch took the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from Tom Jenkins in December 1903. Gotch intended on following up this triumph with a match for World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from George Hackenschmidt. Gotch wanted to meet “Hack” in St. Louis during the 1904 World’s Fair. Unfortunately for Gotch and St. Louis, the match would not occur until 1908 in Chicago,
St. Louis, at the beginning of the 20th Century, had a prominent professional boxing scene. Abe Attell, although born in San Francisco, was based in St. Louis. On February 1, 1904, Attell defended his World Featherweight Boxing Championship against frequent rival Harry Forbes. Forbes was also a regular on the St. Louis boxing scene. Forbes defeated Danny Dougherty for the