Any info on Joe Grim?

zojo · Post by **zojo** » 22 Jan 2006, 19:03

I just came across him on Boxrec and he was like 2-51 and very rarely was KOed. In fact, there was a note that doctors believed he had such a poor nervous-system that his brain did not register the punch untill well after he was hit. This made it hard to get KOed.

I can't see him passing a CAT scan today.

perrycarter · Post by **perrycarter** » 22 Jan 2006, 19:37

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 20:07

I've read the article on eastside and it's pretty inaccurate. The writer told me that he based the article on "The Iron Man," by Robert Howard, who brought us "Conan the Barbarian," but "The Iron Man" was a fictional book loosely based on Joe Grim however Howard did write another called “Men of Iron” which he talks about the actual fighters that inspired his fictional boxing stories!

Joe Grim was as tough as they come. He fought the very best of his era missing only a few greats...he never faced Sam Langford, who I would really like to have seen him try to last against. Grim was probably knocked down well over 100 times in his career, but it was not until the end that anyone put him down for the count. He use to stand in the ropes and yell to the crowd, “Me Joe Grim, nobody knock down Joe…Inja-Rubber man fear no one!” and then he would proceed to take a beating like no one else could and at the end he would again tell the crowd, “Dago-Joe fear no one!”

His first three years he did have moderate success and won a fair share of bouts, but he realized that he just did not have the talent to become a great, or top fighter so he did what he knew he could do and that was take a beating. Bob Fitzsimmons and Jack Johnson beat the hell out of him, probably as bad as anyone ever did, but other greats punchers like Gans, Walcott, Peter Maher, Dixie Kid and a host of other tried their best to lay him low without any success, though they usually did put him down anywhere from five to twenty times in a bout, but never for the count.

He always proclaimed to have no fear, but when he faced Tommy Burns well Grim felt something. When Burns stripped down to be weighed, Grim had second thoughts as Burns evidently must have looked like a steel machine. The bout was originally scheduled to be six, three-minute rounds, but Grim said he would not go on unless the promoter changed that to three, one-minute rounds, which his wish was granted and Burns beat him like the other greats did, dropping Grim several times, but never for the count, but then again, Burns did not really have time to get anything done. The fact that Grim had the power to make a promoter change the stipulations of the bout showed just how popular he was. People loved to go and see Grim take a beating hoping to witness the first fighter to knock him out, but they would have to wait 100+ bouts before it finally happened and the man who finally turned the trick was one Sailor Burke, who was a very solid middleweight of the day.

Grim never weighed more than 165 that I know of and he often fought much bigger men, which he welcomed with glee. Grim had many more bouts that have yet to be recorded, but what has been recorded gives him a total of 180 bout of which he won 40, lost 116, drew in 21, scored 15 knockouts and had a No Contest and two ND’s which the newspaper decision has not been found for. There are many incorrect myths about Grim, such as some claiming that he never won a fight, which is just not true because he did win several, but one thing can be agreed on…very few have been tougher!

Randineous · Post by **Randineous** » 22 Jan 2006, 20:40

barry wrote: Grim had many more bouts that have yet to be recorded, but what has been recorded gives him a total of 180 bout of which he won 40, lost 116, drew in 21, scored 15 knockouts and had a No Contest and two ND’s which the newspaper decision has not been found for. There are many incorrect myths about Grim, such as some claiming that he never won a fight, which is just not true because he did win several

Barry, there was an issue of The Ring from about 15 years ago which featured an article on Grim and included in it was an extensive record for him. From memory the record that they listed backs up everything you've said here (including the apx number of wins, fights, etc.).

So I'm just wondering if you've read or even currently have in your possession that issue from The Ring, and if so, could you list the date of it?

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 20:48

I do recall an article back around the time you mention and I'm sure I have the magazine so I'll search it out and get back to you with the date, or if you like I'll scan the article and e-mail it to you. I've read several articles on Grim in the Ring over the years, but I'm almost certain the record is not the same. The record I have was compiled by Luckett Davis, which appeared in an earlier IBRO Journal of which I have went back and added details to several of the fights in the record, but I've never seen it listed anywhere else other than in the IBRO Journal, but it's without a doubt the best record for Grim I've ever seen.

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:00

It's the December 1990 issue of Ring, but it doesn't have a record for Grim in it. It's a pretty long article though and it was written by Pete Ehrmann.

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:12

Hopefully these images will load, but if not send me a pm with your e-mail.
I haven't read the article yet, so I do not know if there are any inaccuracies, or not.

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/43911803_6a ... DBo7t.AY8O

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:13

Image 2

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/43911803_6a ... DBZn5SoPAv

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:13

Image 3

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/43911803_6a ... DBt1b5WFp8

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:14

Image 4

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/43911803_6a ... DB2KNqQnAc

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:15

Image 5

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/43911803_6a ... DBtx1dLDij

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:21

I have some other articles from some 20s, or 30s Rings, which are pretty good, but they to pass on some of the incorrect, tall-tale myths which have been passed down through the ages. If you guys want to read them I'll try to track them down and post them also.

barry · Post by **barry** » 22 Jan 2006, 21:28

Photo of Joe Grim from 1903:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?c ... 002146:@@@

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c ... ammem_EpRK::

Randineous · Post by **Randineous** » 23 Jan 2006, 01:56

Barry, old age must be creeping up on me because I could've sworn that particular article featured a fight-by-fight listing of Grim's record along with it, which obviously wasn't the case.

It was very kind of you to post that article and I must give you my thanks for doing so.

barry · Post by **barry** » 23 Jan 2006, 07:42

No problem...Glad to do it!

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 23 Jan 2006, 08:02

Grim has always interested me, I think he must have been a tough sob to fight the guys he did, part of his act may well have been to go down purposely after being hit solidly, thereby avoiding being hit again etc... this would partly explain why he would be floored so many times but not stopped (till the tail end of his career). I've probably said this before elsewhere but I have a good article on Grim in which a friend of his says that he had a strangely oily skin, and this was perhaps one of the attributes that made him almost impervious to punishment.
All in all I think Grim must have been quite a canny guy in his way, certainly not the punch-drunk idiot that some seem to think...
I'd be interested in any articles you can put up here on Grim Barry...