Gunboat smith's crazy tough resume

[Caractacus]

In preparing for his fight with Jess Willard in 1913 ,Gunboat Smith used Bob Armstrong and Al Kaufman for sparring partners.
( 4 rounds each).

[Caractacus]

It has been said that Gunboat Smith's last fight were he looked at his best ,was his bout with Georges Carpentier July 1914 at the Olympia in London(England)
Carpentier had knocked down Smith in the fourth round ,but Smith survived it
and (depending on the sources) Smith knocked down Carpentier with a right hand in the sixth,
Carpentier dropped to his knees and then when Carpentier tried to stand back up,Smith cuffed him
with another right.
However Carpentier's corner claimed that Carpentier swung and missed and fell and then as he was getting up Smith clocked
him with a devastating right and Carpentier was too dazed to continue.
If Gunboat Smith had won this fight most likely he would have faced Jack Johnson for the World title
instead of Jack Murray January.1.1915 in Buenos Aires ,Argentina (or perhaps even in Tijuana Mexico as originally planned the year earlier,
but it sounds like Jack Johnson may have been behind schedule while on the lam).

BTW I think Gunboat Smith's bouts with both Bombadier Wells and Georges Carpentier were filmed for the cinema,
but probably no longer exist.

[Caractacus]

It was Jack Johnson who "discovered" Gunboat Smith when he hired him as a sparring partner
when Smith was discharged from the Navy and looking for a job back in the Summer of 1909.
Johnson had said that Smith was as hard as a hitter as he had ever faced.
What made the Gunner known was
that there was a story in the newspapers that Smith had knocked Johnson down (if not out)
in the last round of a four round exhibition at the Seal Rock House in San Francisco in early October 1909 with a right overhand punch coming out of a clinch.
Reportedly Johnson was going on the offensive and talking to someone outside the ring at the same time when the punch landed.
He reportly got on his feet just after the count but his manager cut the round short because he was still in a daze.
Smith said in the 1970 interview that he had only knocked Johnson out through the ropes
and almost out of the Seal Rock House)
as Smith was hired as Johnson's chief sparring partner for his bout with Stanley Ketchel and also for the Jim J. Jeffries .

Gunboat Smith challenged Jack Johnson for the title in 1914 when Johnson was on the lam in France
originally it was set to fight in Tiajuana Mexico July 4th 1914 and then January 1st 1915 also In Tiajuana.
However Gunboat Smith was a popular fighting and even toured the country and Canada with a vaudeville act,
sparring,bag punching,skipping rope,shadow boxing etc.
The knock on Gunboat Smith was he had the power but not the speed to have been any kind of a real threat to Jack Johnson.

[Kalan]

No actually it was the same "High-Ballin" Levinsky the boxer who turned truck driver after retiring from Boxing.

Too bad Trucking Levinsky didn't meet Monica Lewinsky... She could have released a lot of his tension in that cab on the long hauls.

[barry]

In terms of resumes it is hard to beat the overall competition of Harry Greb. Maxie Rosenbloom has a fantastic resume also as do a slew of the earlier fighters.

[Kalan]

Greb fought more good boxers in more fights than anyone ever did -- with the possible exception of Archie Moore.

On the other hand, I don't think Robinson fought anybody who was really good ... especially at Middleweight and above.

[Caractacus]

here is some rare film footage of Gunboat Smith moving around in the Boxing Ring
(as referee anyway at age 44 yrs at MSG November 1931).

[Caractacus]

reportedly Victorio Campolo was 6 ft 9".
He made Primo Carnero mad saying he was going to defeat him badly in front of his own crowd.
It was the first time Carnera came into a fight angry.

[Caractacus]

Gunboat Smith also referred this fight too.( if you wanna call it "a referringing job " anyway).