Ten seconds of sunlight

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 26 Apr 2004, 13:24

What a great photo eh? Bonecrusher posted this at ESB:

Ok the guy on the canvas was highly rated Heavyweight prospect Luther McCarty, billed as the Great White Hope at Heavyweight.
This was taken in his fight against Arthur Pelky on 24/5/1913.
Before the bout started the promoter of the fight Tommy Burns asked a local Minister to deliver an invocation. The Minister said:
"In the midst of life, we are in death. Even these huge athletes are not immune. The giants and the weaklings must obey the inevitable law. These men , sitting here, awaiting the start of this fight, do not know when they will be struck down. Let all of us then, resolve to live our lives so that when we are called, we shall not be found wanting".

Minutes after delivering this the fight began. After a few brief exchanges McCarty suddenly collapsed, from what seemed to be a very light blow, and was gasping for breath. He was counted out.
The promoter, Tommy Burns, had specially built the arena out of a barn to host the bout and was holding 10,000 fans.
They fought a fix was on and had been swindled, fights broke out and police had to clear the arena. Meanwhile, the 21 year old McCarty was still unconscious on the canvas, and was eventually pronounced dead.

The picture I posted was captured as McCarty lay on the canvas, being counted out by the referee, and it was reported the ray of sunlight that had broken through the wooden roof, you can see shining down on McCarty's prone body lasted for 10 seconds, the 10 seconds McCarty was been counted out by the referee
In that time frame this famous picture was captured, it was determined after the fight that McCarty died from a hemorrhage of the brain, caused not by a blow in the fight, but a injury he sunstained when he fell from a horse before the fight.

http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/mccarthy.htm

wouter · Post by **wouter** » 26 Apr 2004, 13:30

Nice picture, but I remember an article in Boxing Monthly making it very likely that it's a fake.

dempseyfire · Post by **dempseyfire** » 26 Apr 2004, 16:23

Not positive it's a fake but I;ve seen photos of individuals crowfing around Luther's body after the fight and it's clearly outside not inside, suggesting the fight was held in an outdoor ring. Also pre-fight photos show the boxers are outside in the sun.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 26 Apr 2004, 16:44

I think the picture is real, but the ray of light was added to it by someone.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 26 Apr 2004, 16:48

From http://www.antekprizering.com/mcartystory.html

This is the picture of the two squaring off before the fight... looks like it is indoor in a barn.

On the same webpage, it shows the "sunlight" picture and a caption below it reads:

"But, then above all this sordid business was the picture, the famous ethereal picture of the single ray of light piercing the stadium roof to form a halo over young Luther McCarty's prostate form. That was certainly a sign, a sign above reproach, Luther a devote and faithful Catholic had just that week presented a nearby church with a much needed bell. In all of this tragedy and chaos, and cowardice, and confusion and avarice, there was the picture that somehow cleansed the entire scene. And, so it was to remain, until years later, when very strong evidence was put forth that the ray of light was actually a feature added to the photograph by the an inventive developer.

Thus, it appears that the business of redeemer is best left to other than mere mortal men."

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 26 Apr 2004, 16:52

More pictures of that fight:

Shaking hands.

Here's the pic someone was talking about before. Apparently, they took McCarty outside to tend to him.

dempseyfire · Post by **dempseyfire** » 26 Apr 2004, 18:18

The Keed wrote:More pictures of that fight:

Shaking hands.

Here's the pic someone was talking about before. Apparently, they took McCarty outside to tend to him.

Yeah, those were the ones. Guess it coulda been inside. I was just going by memory . . .

perrycarter · Post by **perrycarter** » 26 Apr 2004, 19:39

Thanks for the pics guys. I had heard about his fight and McCarty's story but had never seen a picture of him.

Jaclem · Post by **Jaclem** » 27 Apr 2004, 01:37

i had a blow up of that picture years ago but it got lost in moves from hither to yon. it's a well known story....this is the first time i've ever read a suggestion that it's a fake. it seems to me that if it were,contemporary newspaper reports would say the fight was held inside, so i take it as being legit.

wouter · Post by **wouter** » 27 Apr 2004, 07:24

The fight was held indoors, no problem there. The ray of light was supposedly added later. Why isn't there any light from those other windows?