Tunney's hometown

[Jukejar]

Pardon the anal retention, but Gene Tunney's hometown was Greenwich Village NY rather than CT as listed. Somebody might care, somewhere.

[boxingfan2004]

Gene Tunney's hometown was Greenwich Village NY rather than CT as listed. Somebody might care, somewhere.

Yes. Tunney was born and raised in Greenwich Village in New York City, and he lived most of his adult life in Stamford, Connecticut which happened to be very close to Greenwich, Connecticut.

There is also a mistake regarding the 'Long Count' on Tunney's record. It says:

"Tunney down in the eighth, Dempsey down in the ninth. Famous for The Long Count."

Tunney was actually down in the 7th round, and Dempsey was down in the 8th round.

Also, Tunney fought and won against 'Fighting' Bob Martin when they were both in the military during World War I, but it's not listed on Tunney's or Bob Martin's record.

Tunney actually wrote extensively about his fight with Bob Martin in his first autobiography, 'A Man Must Fight.' You can read it on Bob Martin's and Tunney's websites.

'Fighting' Bob Martin was the A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Forces) Heavyweight Champion when Tunney was the A.E.F. Light-Heavyweight Champion. There's information about it on Tunney's and Martin's web sites at:

http://www.genetunney.org/fights.html

and

http://www.tunney.org/bobmartin/

Also, Tom Heeney who was the last boxer to fight Tunney, has an extensive web site with a lot of photographs and biographical and career information at: http://www.tunney.org/heeney/

[delisa]

Tunney fought about 20 military bouts but these are not pro bouts and should not be included in boxrec. And, notwithstanding nat Fleischer et al. -- Tunny was NOT the AEF champ when he fought Martin -- he won the SOS and then the AEF titles afterwards. He hurt his hands and did not compete in the Inter-Allied tournament that July 1919.

Here are some of his bouts -- I also posted in his bio section
1919
-Tunney defeated 20 opponents in France in a
Light-Heavyweight elimination series throughout France

1919
Jan 31 "Fighting" Bob Martin Paris, Fr W 4 (military bout)
--- Indian Lewis Tours, Fr KO 1 (military bout)
Mar 31 Dare Davis Tours, France KO 3 (SOS Final)
Apr 14 K.O. Sullivan Paris, Fr W 10 (AEF Semi)
Apr 26 Ted Jamieson Paris, Fr W 10 (AEF Final)
-Tunney won the Light-Heavyweight Championship of the AEF



I beleive the following were also "military bouts"

--- Hank Wuerhl Romarantin, Fr KO 3
Nov Johnny Newton Romarantin, Fr KO 6
Dec 5 Victor "K.O." Marchand Paris, Fr KO 2
Dec Howard Morrow Romarantin, Fr KO 6
Dec Tommy Gavigan Romarantin, Fr D 12

[boxingfan2004]

Tunney fought about 20 military bouts but these are not pro bouts and should not be included in boxrec. And, notwithstanding nat Fleischer et al. -- Tunny was NOT the AEF champ when he fought Martin -- he won the SOS and then the AEF titles afterwards. He hurt his hands and did not compete in the Inter-Allied tournament that July 1919.

Here are some of his bouts -- I also posted in his bio section
1919
-Tunney defeated 20 opponents in France in a
Light-Heavyweight elimination series throughout France

1919
Jan 31 "Fighting" Bob Martin Paris, Fr W 4 (military bout)
--- Indian Lewis Tours, Fr KO 1 (military bout)
Mar 31 Dare Davis Tours, France KO 3 (SOS Final)
Apr 14 K.O. Sullivan Paris, Fr W 10 (AEF Semi)
Apr 26 Ted Jamieson Paris, Fr W 10 (AEF Final)
-Tunney won the Light-Heavyweight Championship of the AEF



I beleive the following were also "military bouts"

--- Hank Wuerhl Romarantin, Fr KO 3
Nov Johnny Newton Romarantin, Fr KO 6
Dec 5 Victor "K.O." Marchand Paris, Fr KO 2
Dec Howard Morrow Romarantin, Fr KO 6
Dec Tommy Gavigan Romarantin, Fr D 12

Thanks for your quick response!

I knew that he wasn't the AEF champion at the time that he fought Bob Martin, but I indicated it to let people know that Bob Martin wasn't just an ordinary military fighter. I think it's a very significant win because it was the only loss for Bob Martin during his military career - and he usually won by KOs, and he fought a lot of men.

Thanks for adding that information to the biographical page and his record.

While I have your attention, I wanted to also let you know that there is a dead link on that biographical page. The 'seconds out' link:

http://www.secondsout.com/legends/legends_31500.aspin 1978

is no longer working.

Also, Tunney is listed as only being 6' tall. I know that there are different places which indicate different heights for him. He might have been 6' when he first started fighting professionally before he entered the Marines, but Tunney stated that he was 6' 1-1/2" in his first autobiography, 'A Man Must Fight.' He said that he gained height as well as weight while in the military.

Thanks again for your quick response to my post!

[delisa]

No problem -- in looking now at Tunney's writings, seems that all except possibly the Paris bout are indeed military bouts.

I am not a Tunny expert but I did confirm the dates for post 1919 military bouts in the Stars & Stripes.

[klompton]

Actually Bob Martin WAS indeed little more than a military fighter. He milked his status as AEF champ for all it was worth by fighting a string of bums and running up his KO percentage. When he stepped up to second and third raters he usually either lost or was KOd. I dont think the record that boxrec has posted actually reflects Martins entire career and skill level. By the time he lost to Fay Kaiser in Baltimore, two years after turning pro, he was considered something of a bust in terms of his post war hype.

[boxingfan2004]

By the time he lost to Fay Kaiser in Baltimore, two years after turning pro, he was considered something of a bust in terms of his post war hype.

That was at the end of 1921. According to his obituary, he almost died in an automobile accident in 1922. Perhaps that's the real reason that his career went downhill.

"Twice he was given no chance to live--once after an auto accident in 1922 and again in 1925 when a brain problem, apparently the result of an old boxing injury, put him in Walter Reed Hospital in Washington."

[klompton]

If he was already considered a flop by Sept. 1921 why would a car accident in 1922 or 1925 have anything to do with that? The guy was simply overrated and living off of his record as an AEF champ. The biggest names he fought were all completely shot and when he did face a halfway decent contender in Bob Roper he lost. Again I dont think Boxrecs record accurately reflects his win/loss ratio or his complete record.

[delisa]

Martin had TWO severe accidents -- the second was on Jan 1, 1922 in Terra Alta, West Virginia.

The newspaper report said that he plunged down an embankment on a sharp curve, "a half mile from the spot where Martin was injured in a similar accident earlier in [1921]."

So, Martin may have been injured BEFORE the Keiser fight.