Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about professional boxing from 1890 to 1930.
On a March night in San Francisco, heavyweight contender Marvin Hart proved pure aggressiveness could sometimes win a decision. After 20 rounds of boxing, referee Greggains, the only judge, awarded the decision over the great Jack Johnson to Hart. Hart met Johnson on March 28, 1905. Johnson entered the ring as the betting favorite. He also entered as one of
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
On Tuesday, February 22, 1910, Ad Wolgast challenged World Lightweight Boxing Champion Battling Nelson for Nelson’s title at Richmond Arena in Point Richmond, California. The 28-year-old Nelson won the title by knocking out the great Joe Gans in 1908. Boxing experts did not expect Wolgast to defeat Nelson even though Wolgast held a newspaper decision over Nelson in 1909. Pundits
On January 10, 1910, recently arrived Polish wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko took on Charlie “The Kid” Cutler in a best two-out-of-three falls match. Cutler had been a boxer in a troupe run by John L. Sullivan before transitioning to wrestling. While Cutler was extremely tough, Stanislaus Zbyszko had been wrestling since his youth. Zbyszko would use these skills to overcome Cutler
On Friday, March 13, 1891, Jake Kilrain fought George Godfrey at the California Athletic Club in San Francisco, California. The men fought for a trophy and $5,000. The men entered the ring at 9:52 p.m. William Muldoon, former World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, seconded Kilrain, who Muldoon trained for this fight. Muldoon trained Kilrain’s opponent, John L. Sullivan, for their 1889
Charles Henry “Jack” Blackburn achieved his greatest fame as the trainer of World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis from 1934 to 1942. Louis is widely considered to be one of the top three to five heavyweights in professional boxing history and some consider him the best heavyweight fighter. “Jack” Blackburn developed the talents of the young champion and helped him
On Tuesday, December 12, 1916, Sam Langford defended the “Colored World Heavyweight Boxing Championship”, which he won from Sam McVea in February 1916. Between 1904 and 1919, the best African-American boxers, or black Canadians like Langford, were stuck fighting each other for “Colored” Championship. If a white fighter did fight them, it was only to develop their own reputation to
James J. Jeffries dominated American heavyweight boxing from 1899 to 1904. After winning the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship from Bob Fitzsimmons in 1899, Jeffries made 9 successful title defenses during the next five years. He retired undefeated in 1905 before be lured back for an ill-fated comeback against the great Jack Johnson. Jeffries didn’t win his bouts with superior boxing
Jake Kilrain is best known as the last and toughest challenger to John L. Sullivan in the last bare knuckle world championship fight. Despite Kilrain’s inability to beat John L. Sullivan, he had a successful career both before and after the bout with the mighty Sullivan. Fighting for 10 more years in gloved bouts, Kilrain was mostly successful but on
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