bits and pieces scrapbook

[Counter-puncher]

some great, great stuff on there doug.ie, thanks

[doug.ie]

some great, great stuff on there doug.ie, thanks

thanks.

[doug.ie]

A 13 round fight.
Doug DeWitt beat Tony Thornton over 13 rounds in 1987.
The result after 12 rds. was a draw so an extra round was fought to decide the winner...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVERyfOxMdk


*which also happened when sanderline williams fought ronnie esset the following year

[doug.ie]

winners and losers - iran barkley once spoke about how after his 1989 fight of the year split decision loss to roberto duran, duran went on to fight sugar ray leonard for a 10 million dollar payday, while he fought micheal nunn for what he said was 6,000 dollars.

[doug.ie]

1966...former world champion sonny liston, was now living and boxing in sweden, and was preparing for a fight when a new sparring partner was brought in...none other than the lesser-known, lesser-talented younger brother of floyd patterson....ray patterson......ray never did that much as a boxer at world level....but that day, behind closed doors, the younger brother of the man who was beaten twice in one round in world heavyweight title fights by liston, did this...

[doug.ie]

rocky marciano speaks about joe louis and jersey joe walcott in this personal letter from 1968...

[doug.ie]

This painting depicts the occasion when Jimmy Wilde outpointed Joe Lynch of America after a battle over 15 rounds. At the end, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) stepped into the ring and congratulated the tiny Welshman on his victory. This was the first time Royalty officially entered the ring and thereby had given their official patronage to boxing, a sport which had been illegal in the days of bare knuckle fighting and was still looking for acceptance.

[doug.ie]

[doug.ie]

The history of boxing turned a page in June 1948 when Rocco Marchegiano appeared in Al Weill's office. Weill telephoned Charley Goldman and told him to set up a sparring session so they could gauge Rocco's potential. Later that day, Marchegiano stepped into the ring at a CYO gym on 17th Street in Manhattan with a heavyweight from Florida named Wade Chancey.

Marchegiano didn't look like a professional fighter. He was short for a heavyweight; five feet ten inches tall. His hands were huge, but he had stubby arms that would make it difficult for him to develop an effective jab.

A. J. Liebling later likened what Weill and Goldman saw 'to the understander in the nine-man pyramid of a troupe of Arab acrobats. He has big calves,' Liebling wrote. 'Forearms, wrists, and a neck so thick that it minimizes the span of his shoulders. He is neither tall nor heavy for a heavyweight, but gives the impression of bigness when you are close to him. His face, like his body, is craggy. Big jaw, big nose askew from punching, high cheekbones; and almost always when he is outside the ring, a pleasant asymetrical grin.'

Marchegiano was also two months shy of his twenty-fifth birthday; old for a novice fighter.

'Al and I often looked over green kids who thought they could become fighters,' Goldman reminisced years later. 'I'll eat my derby hat if I ever saw anyone cruder than Rocky. He was so awkward that we stood there and laughed. He didn't stand right. He didn't throw a punch right. He didn't block right. He didn't do anything right. Then he hit Chancey with a roundhouse right which nearly put a hole in the guy's head, and I told Weill that maybe I could do something with him.'

'Charley Goldman,' Michael Silver later wrote, 'found a block of marble and sculpted it into The Pieta.'

Marchegiano entered the ring as a professional for the second time on July 12, 1948. The site was Providence, Rhode Island; twenty-five miles from Brockton. The opponent was Harry Belzarian. Marciano won on a first-round knockout. His purse was forty dollars.

Years later, Belzarian recalled, 'The first time he knocked me down, he broke my tooth. Then he knocked me down again. Then I don't remember anything.'

Soon after, at Weill's suggestion, Marchegiano changed his name to Rocky Marciano. But Weill wasn't sold yet on his new fighter. He was using him to test other prospects.

On August 23, 1948, in his fifth professional fight, Marciano fought a 15-0-1 heavyweight named Eddie Ross. Rocky was the 'opponent' that night. Prior to fighting Ross, Marciano had traveled from Brockton to New York to train occasionally with Goldman, but the trainer hadn't attended his fights.

Marciano knocked Ross out at 1:03 of the first round. Seven days later, when Marciano fought Jimmy Weeks in Providence, Goldman was in his corner.

Marciano fought eleven times during the last six months of 1948, scoring eight first-round knockouts and two in the second stanza. One opponent made it into the third round.

Rather than work with the fighter at Stillman's Gym (which was a hub of boxing commerce in New York), Goldman continued to sculpt his creation at the CYO gym on 17th Street.

Marciano had poor balance, minimal defense, and little understanding of how to throw a jab or hook. Goldman taught him how to stand properly for balance and maximum leverage on his punches. Turning Marciano's lack of height into an advantage, he taught him to fight from a crouch, which made him harder to hit and forced opponents to lower their hands to hit him. He taught him the rudiments of defense and schooled him to go to the body.

'You got to realize,' Goldman said later, 'when I took him over, he didn t know what a body punch was. In the first ten fights I handled him, he didn't throw a single one. Some of those early fights when he didn't know how to fight; he won them all, but I was afraid he'd get killed.'

But Marciano had a great equalizer; his right hand. Goldman gave him just enough moves and enough of a jab to get inside and use it.

'I got a guy who s short, stoop-shouldered, and balding with two left feet,' the trainer said. 'They all look better than he does as far as the moves are concerned. But they don t look so good on the canvas. God, how he can punch.'

(By Thomas Hauser)

[doug.ie]

Dec. 4, 1961

The first clean punch Liston landed was a crisp left hook that caught the aggressive Westphal coming in. He didn't stagger long. Sonny caught him with a huge right to the chin. Albert spun like a pole-axed bull into a full face-plant, layout position. Referee Zack Clayton could have counted 100. At 10, Westphal rolled over slowly and lay staring at the ceiling through unseeing eyes. Liston emerged from a neutral corner to admire his glove work. He just gazed impassively at the timbered German.

(by Bill Conlin)

[doug.ie]

I have no other info on this one....maybe one of you may know more about it....
I have no more of that article either, so haven't got the missing text.....Boxing has all the best stories :)

[doug.ie]

The first time the World Heavyweight Title was contested over a scheduled 12 rounds...

[doug.ie]

"I was at home watching 'Kojak' on tv when the phone rang.
"Chuck! Chuck!"
She was all excited.
"Mom, what is it? I told you to never call me during 'Kojak'"
"Did you see the paper? Did you see that news ??"
"No, I didn't Mom...What's in it ?"
"Go out and get it"
"Mom, tell me what's in it. I'm not just going to run out."
"On the back page....the whole back page!!...it says 'Ali to defend against Wepner in Cleveland March 24.' "
So I put my clothes on and ran up to the Embassy Theater at Forty-seventh and Broadway. The kid had four papers left. They sold them in front of Theaters in them days. I said "Give me those four papers". I turned over and sure enough..."

(Chuck Wepner)

[doug.ie]

29 Aug 1960

A fight between spectators, officials and boxers ended the European Heavyweight title fight between holder Dick Richardson and former European Champion Brian London, at Porthcawl, Wales. Trouble started when referee Andrew Smyth stopped the match after the eighth round due to London's badly cut left eye. He awarded the fight to Richardson, whereupon London dashed across the ring and attacked his victor.

Richardson's trainer was knocked to the floor by London, spectators swarmed into the ring and the battle began. It took 20 policemen to control the two rivals and their supporters.

(Source - REUTERS)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCr519cSQvw

[doug.ie]

"I watched Beau Jack climb down from the ring apron and move in a
half-trot across the floor, shoulders swaying with his rolling gait,
right leg dipping to accommodate old pain. I approached him. ''You
fought in battle royals, didn't you?'' I asked.
''Yes, sir,'' he said, eyeing me.
''How did it feel?''
''They should still have them,'' he said. ''They'd be a lot of fun
for people who ain't seen them. But they can't. Guys ain't tough
enough anymore.''
''I'd like to write a story about you,'' I said.
''All right, sir,'' he said quietly. A maroon cap hid most of his
balding head with its white stubble of hair, and a T-shirt with the
words FORWARD MOTION covered his still-muscular chest. ''They think
they can tire me out,'' he said, as if he had been one of the men in
the ring. ''They can't. I can outlast them all. They try to kill me,
and I be relaxin'. I know how to breathe and how to throw punches.
You're not in condition, you're gonna get your brains scattered to
the wrong part of your head. Can't never quit in a ring. All that
crap about defense -- take it and put it up your butt.
Conditioning.'' He threw a combination at a heavy bag and walked over
to two women lying on tables, doing leg lifts. ''Everybody gets sick
when they first come here,'' he warned one. ''It'll go away. Tomorrow
I'm gonna murder you.''
His tone turned gentle now, as if he were an old man telling his
assembled grandchildren a story before bed. I moved closer to hear.
''You know, if you didn't get your ticket before Friday when I
fought,'' he said, ''forget about it. They was none left. I had 2,000
ladies came to see me. They'd yell, 'Uh- oh, here comes that tiger
again.' And anyplace I go now I hear people say these same words: 'We
been watchin' and we been lookin', tryin' to find another Beau Jack,
but we ain't never seen another one. How did you keep throwing
punches from one end of the bell to the other, Beau Jack?'
''Well, you have to love people to do that. They kept screamin'
'Beau Jack, Beau Jack,' '' -- his fists began to punch the air --
''so I loved 'em and had $ to fight harder and harder and harder.
Didn't want no people talkin' about me like I was a dog. I had to do
good for my guests. I love every human being God put on this earth.
We're here for one reason -- to attract each other. I fought that
way, for love.''

Pools of dusk had begun to form in the corners of the gym; in ones
and twos the boxers toweled their sweat, called goodbye to Beau Jack
and departed. ''That bone tried to jump up and get away, but I chased
it down and caught it, and I ain't even got no teeth, that's how good
that chicken was you cooked for me,'' he said to one of the two women
he was conditioning. ''You comin' back to work out tomorrow, aren't
you?''
When she was gone, I asked if I could accompany him home. I wanted
to meet his wife and the 15 children that people said he had
fathered. ''No need for that,'' he said. ''We disbanded. Sometimes
it's best to just disband yourself.''
''Who do you live with?''
''Nobody. Myself.''
''Where?''
''One-room place, few blocks from here. Don't need nothin' else.''
I asked what he did alone at night.
''I play blackjack against a dead man's hand,'' he said. ''When I
win, I put the cards on my side. He wins, I put 'em on his side.
Funny, 99 times out of a hundred, the dead man wins.''
Carefully he reached under a desk in his shabby corner cubicle,
pulled out his boxing plaques and awards, and tucked them into a
black bag. He placed it on his shoulder, locked up the gym and headed
home. A block away, he paused. At the night air, he threw a pair of
punches."

(by Gary Smith - Sports Illustrated)

[doug.ie]

March 27th, 1982.

Both Wilfredo Gomez and Jeff Chandler respectively defended their world titles, winning in the 6th round, on the same night.
Both fights officially ended at 2:28 of the round!!

[doug.ie]

[doug.ie]

Oct 28, 1920.

"Harry Greb, light-heavyweight of Pittsburgh, won the newspaper decision over Mickey Shannon of Newark N.J. in their ten round bout here Thursday night. Greb scored a knockdown in the ninth round, but Shannon recovered and was able to stay the limit." (Decatur Daily Review) The Pittsburgh Post reported that Greb went in and simply traded blows with the heavier Shannon, making little effort at defense. Shannon held his own in the first round and clearly won the second. Greb handed out a lot of punishment in the next four rounds. Shannon rallied in the 7th, but Greb fought back and cut his eye. Greb socked Shannon all over the ring in the last three rounds, flooring him for a 3-count in the 9th. Shannon was badly marked at the end.

And these are the gloves that Greb wore...

[doug.ie]

He received his first opportunity to win a world title in his 87th fight, in 1913. Although he fought the champion, Johnny Kilbane, to a draw, he would not receive another shot at a title until 1921. By this time he had fought an astounding 264 fights. He won the title when his opponent, George KO Chaney, was disqualified in the fifth round. Johnny Dundee thus became the first universally recognized world junior lightweight champion in ring history.

[doug.ie]

Jack Dempsey of Salt Lake was knocked out at Murray, a suburb of Salt Lake City, Tuesday night by Jim Flynn of Pueblo, Colo., ten seconds after the men shook hands. Flynn pushed down Dempsey's guard with his right and swung his left to the jaw. The Salt Lake man sunk down for the count and it was twenty seconds after Flynn had been declared the winner before Dempsey regained his feet.

(San Antonio Light)

....................................................


Dempsey was insensible for several minutes and when brought back from the land of nod he evidently thought he was still in the prize ring and attempted to slug his seconds.

Before the fighters entered the ring, the gate receipts were split after considerable wrangling, but those connected with the affair will not say who got the big end of the money. It is understood, however, that Flynn's demands were met and when he got into the ring he cut loose for a knockout, outclassing his opponent in every respect.

During the time the men had been in the ring after shaking hands, Dempsey was hit twice on the left side of the head and twice on the right and the finish punch which closed the short but brutal contest between two giants.

After being hit twice, Dempsey appeared dazed and he was helpless as a baby against the final rain of blows. Dempsey appeared ready to do battle at the opening gong and rushed in with all his speed, but the hammer punches ended his aspirations to finish a winner.

Johnny and Alex Bratton, nine year old twins, appeared in a preliminary bout. The boys fought in the same ring as the heavyweights. They fought and slugged away but being equipped with soft gloves neither was hurt, but despite this, there was the spirit of the occasion present and the thousands of fight rooters cheered loudly as though the boys were heavyweights.

(Deseret Evening News)

......................................................................


It was the thirteenth day of the month and Jack Dempsey forgot to duck.

The "pride of Utah" will therefore have ample reason to shy at the baker's dozen day in the future for he lasted just about twenty-five seconds before Jim Flynn at Murray last night. A right hook square on the chin apparently sent Dempsey to the place where the birdies sing and it was curtains.

After a whole lot of unnecessary delay, both fighters finally entered the ring somewhere nearer midnight than 9 o'clock and much to the discomfiture of the audience and, apparently, themselves as well, Jack forgot to shake hands, but Flynn insisted on this little formality, all of which took up about five seconds. Jack rushed at Dempsey as if he, too, had a last car to catch. Jack bent over and covered up. Flynn rushed again. In fact he tore into the local man, pushed him into position with one hand and laced him with the other. Dempsey acted as if he might be content to let well enough alone, perhaps in the hope that Flynn might tire, step back or finally give him a chance to straighten up. Dempsey did not appear to be in any distress, at any rate. Then came the end like a flash. With Dempsey still bent over and walking toward Flynn, both forearms and gloves covering his face, Flynn rushed again. The Pueblo battler gave Dempsey's head a quick shove toward his right and sent a short right hand hook through Dempsey's guard and straight to the point of the chin. He stepped back at the same instant and Jack went down face first in his gloves. It was all done in a flash, but those close to the west side of the ring could plainly see the punch and all grabbed their hats and coats for the bout was over before it had gotten started.

Dempsey entered the ring as if scared out of his wits and shook like a leaf as the seconds were putting on his gloves. No one realized this any more than Flynn did and the latter was not slow to take advantage of it.

(Salt Lake Telegram)

.............................................................


Salt Lake, Feb. 14.--Exit Dempsey! A "one-two" to the jaw was about all there was to the much-advertised battle at Murray last night. There was only one redeeming feature to the entire bout, and that was the fact that the dope books will carry down to posterity the information that Jim Flynn was engaged in one of the shortest bouts in history. The contest lasted twenty seconds and in that time Jack Dempsey never laid his glove on the "Pueblo trial horse." The men shook hands, Flynn put his head down and bored in. He got a left to Dempsey's face and had the local boy covering up and not knowing what to do. As Jack dropped his guard from his chin and peeked out, Jim put a right swing to the local boy's jaw, followed quickly with a right to the same spot, and Referee Ralph Armstrong counted ten. It was all over except hauling the "local pride" to his corner.

(The Ogden Standard)

[doug.ie]

Silver belt won by boxer Jem Carney in 1887 *

..........................

When this fight was made, it was to unite an undisputed lightweight world champion. McAuliffe was the current USA lightweight champion and Carney was the current British Lightweight kingpin. Carney's reputation was as a mean-spirited mauler who was there to wear you down. He had previously participated in bare-knuckle matches.
The bout was originally scheduled for May of 1887, but was postponed due to McAuliffe's failure to come up with the money for the stake. It was re-scheduled for October of that year--but, due to an illness, McAuliffe got an additional six weeks until the bout. It finally took place in November.

For the first ten rounds of the bout, McAuliffe dominated Carney with his obvious advantage of boxing skill. Carney, though losing, was also applying his fight plan of wearing down the champion since this was a fight to the finish. When the 20th round arose, McAuliffe was showing signs of fatigue, although his defense and boxing skills were still making it very difficult for Carney. In the 26th, the ruthless Carney headbutted McAuliffe in the midsection and knocked him over. McAuliffe's handlers jumped into the ring and for a moment it looked as if a riot would break out, but the action was finally restored. In the 60th, McAuliffe looked very unsteady and nearly exhausted; Carney had done an effective job of wearing him down. But McAuliffe, in the 62nd, produced one of his last brilliant fighting surges by dropping Carney with a right hand. In the 70th, Carney dropped McAuliffe with a shot that nearly finished the bout.

McAuliffe's supporters jumped into the ring and delayed time for their fallen and nearly beaten fighter. Action was resumed however. Again in the 74th McAuliffe was dropped hard and once again his supporters jumped into the ring.

Referee Stevenson had seen enough of this wild battle, and called it a draw to prevent a serious riot that would probably result in arrests, since prize-fighting was illegal in this jurisdiction. Both Carney and McAuliffe were ready to continue and both had legitimate cases that they should have won. Carney's position was that McAuliffe couldn't last three more rounds with him and was too weary to put forward much of a fight if it were to be resumed. McAuliffe believed that Carney had fouled him throughout the bout, and had kneed him, even bit him. Both arguments appeared true but the environment was too unpredictable and dangerous to host this fight much longer. So one of the most controversial fights in boxing history went into the books as a 74-round draw.

(by Nat Fleischer)

*Carney claimed the title in Britain and Europe





(i'm getting different reports on different pages about this belt.... fellows the auctioneers state - "After 70 plus rounds, the fight was disrupted as McAuliffe's party broke into the ring. The fight was thus declared a draw and, as a letter sold with the belt reveals, both Carney and McAuliffe were awarded a belt." ....but i am surprised there would be two belts of that quality made.
however, its stated here that Carney got the belt...
http://www.paulfrasercollectibles.com/N ... 17739.page )

[doug.ie]

A dear friend of mine, Seymour Sorkowitz, recalls personal memories of going to boxing matches at Madison Square Garden in the 1940's / 50s and visiting the classic Stillman's gym...

lots more videos from him on this page...

https://www.facebook.com/classicboxings ... 7882294897


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4wSvphrwRE

[doug.ie]

1941. NBA Middleweight Champion, Tony Zale, wins The Ring Middleweight Championship and unifies the Middleweight title after beating Georgie Abrams.

It was a sensational fight. Abrams was the outstanding challenger courtesy of three wins over former NY champ Billy Soose. Zale was knocked down in the 1st round for a "9" count. Judge George LeCron scored it 8-7 on rounds for Zale, and so far the other two votes have not been located. According to Jack Kincaid, all the newspaper reporters whose opinions he read thought that Zale won decisively, despite the knockdown, giving Abrams a bad beating to the body.

"Tony Zale of Gary, Ind., became undisputed middleweight champion of the world tonight by blasting out a 15 round decision over Georgie Abrams of the Naval Air Corps before 12,000 fans at MSG. Zale, already recognized as 160 pound king by the NBA, gained recognition also by the NY commission through tonight's unanimous decision - a verdict which he won after rising from the floor in the 1st round and fighting back from groggyland in the 8th. Zale treated the fans to one of the finest exhibitions of right hand punching to body and chin that any middleweight ever turned in, as he provided the division with its first universally recognized ruler since Mickey Walker relinquished the title in 1931." -United Press

[doug.ie]

What happened to the film of this 'Extra Feature' ?...

[doug.ie]