Paul Pons Hometowned in 1900

Paul Pons was a French Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion.  He was good enough to give George Hackenschmidt a run for his money in several tournaments.  However, when he came to Chicago in 1900, he was “defeated” by a local wrestler.  The circumstances of the loss leave a lot to be desired.

Paul Pons traveled to the United States in 1900.  One of the men that he agreed to meet was John J. Rooney, “The Giant Gripman”.  Rooney was a good wrestler but not considered the equal of Pons.  Pons thought he had reached an agreement to face Rooney.  Shortly after arriving in Chicago, he found out that Rooney had rejected the agreement.

Eager to secure a match with Rooney, Pons agreed to meet Rooney in Chicago on Monday, December 10, 1900 in  a two out of three falls Greco-Roman wrestling match.  Pons also agreed to no strangle holds.  The Tuesday, December 11, 1900 edition of the St. Paul Tribune (Minnesota) carried the story of the bout.

Pons had a more difficult struggle with Rooney than he expected.  It took him almost twenty minutes to get Rooney to the ground.  Pons ground on Rooney but was not able  to pin him.  With superhuman effort, Rooney got to his feet and both men fell into the ropes.  The ring was poorly constructed and they fell out of the ring.

As they got back into the ring, the referee George Siler ruled that Rooney was the winner.  Siler felt that Pons could have kept the men from falling out of the ring.  Pons was furious and left the ring.

Pons suspected that the referee was in cahoots with the Rooney camp.  He refused to continue the match unless the decision was reversed.  The referee refused.  Pons declined to continue the match and was disqualified.  The paper did not say whether Pons paid Rooney the $1,000 side bet.

This story shows the problem for both professional wrestling and professional boxing at the turn of the century.  Fixed fights, fixed judges and crooked referees unduly influenced many bouts.  Eventually wrestling would become a completely predetermined spectacle.  The underhanded tactics in professional boxing have continued to modern times.  Fortunately, it has not come into mixed martial arts.

The referee likely “hometowned” Pons.  It is hard to see how one wrestler was more responsible for falling out of the ring than the other.  Pons had proven himself in many international tournaments.  While Rooney troubled Pons more than he expected, Pons was never in danger.  He dominated the contest.

What do you think?  Was the decision a fair one or did the referee help Rooney?  You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook page and Twitter profile.

Pin It