Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about professional boxing from 1890 to 1930.
When the great Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, the boxing establishment started searching for a “white hope” to defeat Johnson. In desperation to find someone to defeat Johnson, promoters and sports writers started lobbying former World Heavyweight Champion James J. Jeffries to end his retirement to fight Johnson. Jeffries retired undefeated in 1905. After
On Friday, March 11, 1932, wrestlers George Tragos and Rudy Dusek faced boxers, Stanley McRae and Tom Pivac in wrestler versus boxer bouts. It took the fans longer to get to their seats than it took the combatants to complete the bouts. The men fought the pair of bouts in Memphis, Tennessee at the Auditorium. Fans know George Tragos, a
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/ezswfi6nskgzp6hb/Episode_69arvtq.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss Martin “Farmer” Burns training James J. Jeffries for his bout with Jack Johnson on July 4, 1910. Update Dan and I talk about my new project and how an earlier writer unfairly portrayed Joe Stecher’s world title run from 1925 to 1928. Shooter in a Worked World is available
On Friday, June 10, 1910, World Middleweight Boxing Champion Stanley Ketchel fought his last fight against unheralded Jim Smith. Ketchel has cleared out the middleweight division, so boxing promoters struggled to find suitable competition for Ketchel. At only 24 years old, Ketchel lived hard and fought constantly causing an early breakdown of his body. After fighting Smith, Ketchel intended to
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/4gvdnq/Episode_477tfz4.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss the careers of Jim Londos and Primo Carnera leading into a review of the 1950 wrestling match. Update We start off with an update about our recording schedule. One of the team is on the injured reserve, so we will be recording on Skype for the next several episodes.
In mixed style bouts between wrestlers and strikers, the adage is once the wrestler gets his hands on the striker, the fight is over. In most mixed style bouts between wrestlers or grapplers and boxers, the grappler normally wins after dragging the striker to the ground. Ray Steele defeated Battling Levinsky. “Judo” Gene LeBell smashed Milo Savage. In modern
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/n9e7e9/Episode_4382qwo.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadUpdate I have finished writing Origins of a Legend: The Making of Ed “Strangler” Lewis. After editing, it should be released in late January/early February 2024. We briefly discuss Vince Russo’s ideas for a women’s wrestling organization. We try to figure out the market for this material. We also suggest a therapist is probably
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
On Friday, November 27, 1891, former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Joe Acton wrestled future World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Bob Fitzsimmons in San Francisco, California. The men wrestled for a reported $1,000.00 purse. Acton usually gave up size to his opponent but Acton outweighed the 148-pound Fitzsimmons by seven pounds. The men wrestled a two-out-of-three falls match according to catch-as-catch-can wrestling
On February 22, 1918, former World Bantamweight and Featherweight Boxing Champion “Terrible” Terry McGovern died in New York City’s Kings County Hospital. McGovern checked in a few days earlier with what McGovern thought was a severe upper respiratory infection. However, doctors diagnosed pneumonia. McGovern went from walking and talking to unresponsive in just one or two days. McGovern never recovered.