Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about professional boxing from 1890 to 1930.
“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 and 126 pounds, possessed tremendous knockout power. “Terrible” Terry often finished his opponents in the first four rounds. On July 1, 1899, Brooklyn based McGovern met Chicago’s Johnny Richie at
In 2010, St. Louis was the 58th largest city in the United States and the 19th largest metropolitan area. Around the turn of the century, it was the fifth or sixth largest city in the United States and the largest west of the Mississippi River. St. Louis had one of the largest clothing, shoe and beer manufacturing industries in
In the 1910s, American professional wrestling permanently moved from legitimate wrestling contests to prearranged exhibitions. Fan interest, promoter control and less wear and tear on the wrestlers all played a role in this transition. Another less talked about pressure was outside of the sport itself. Prior to the 20th Century, professional boxing was illegal in the United States. Bare knuckle
On Thursday, February 26, 1903, Jack Johnson defended his World Colored Heavyweight Boxing Championship against the undefeated Sam McVey. McVey brought a 6-0 record with six knockouts into the championship match. Since boxing promoters refused to let Black fighters compete for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, the best boxers around the turn of the Century fought for the World Colored
On August 11, 1915, current World Colored Heavyweight Boxing Champion Sam McVey fought Sandy Ferguson in Boston, Massachusetts at the Atlas Athletic Association gym. McVey fought in an era where promoters froze out all the African American boxers, except the great Jack Johnson, from fighting for the world championship. McVey defeated most of the other great Black fighters of this
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
On July 3, 1905, Marvin Hart entered the fight for the vacant world title as a 3 to 1 underdog. Jack Root who would be the first light heavyweight championship was the favorite to succeed the recently retired James J. Jeffries. Jeffries would referee this title match to replace him. Marvin Hart had recently beaten Jack Johnson. Widely considered the
“Terrible” Terry McGovern earned a reputation as one of the most powerful punchers in the history of the lighter divisions of professional boxing. McGovern weighed between 112 and 126 pounds. Unlike his fellow smaller fighters, who overwhelmed their opponents with punching volume, McGovern possessed exceptional knockout power. McGovern proved his power on Tuesday, September 12, 1899, when he fought British
An age old question in combat sports is “Who will win between a boxer and a wrestler?” The speculation around this question led to several boxer versus wrestler matches through out history, most notably the disaster between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki in 1976. The matches are mostly no-win affairs except at the box office, which is why both promoters
After Jack Johnson became champion, a lack of strong contenders caused public pressure to mount on James J. Jeffires, the retired former heavyweight champion, to end his retirement and fight Johnson. Jeffries was considered the first and most credible of the “White Hope” contenders. In his prime, Jeffries probably couldn’t beat Johnson. At 35 years of age and nearly 300