Mysterious Billy Smith

[HomicideHenry]

Probably one of the more unique nicknames in boxing history, but appropriate. Apparently, as the lore goes, a newspaper reporter when hearing about the lineup on a card asked, "Who is this mysterious Billy Smith?", because nobody had heard of him.

Labeled as "The Dirtiest Fighter Who Ever Lived", he used every imaginable foul. Knees, elbows, low blows, rabbit punches, kidney shots, head butts, the whole nine yards. Such tactics caused him to be disqualified thirteen times in his career.

He won the world Welterweight Championship in his 9th fight as a pro in 1890 and would lose the title in 1902 to Tommy Ryan, generally considered one of the top twenty best middleweights in history.

Smith fought a "Who's Who" of boxing history, including: Jack Root, Joe Walcott, Young Peter Jackson, George "Kid" Lavigne, Mike Donovan, Kid McCoy, as well as heavyweights like Peter Maher!

Certainly one of the most popular fighters of the early 20th century, when the sport was chalk full of superstars like "Nonpareil" Jack Dempsey, "Philadelphia" Jack O'Brien, Bob Fitzsimmons, and Jim Jeffries. Excessively deep was the talent across the board in the sport then.

[APerno]

Got to give credit where credit is do . . .Mysterious Billy Smith took his fouling seriously.

[BitPlayer]

I think his rep is exaggerated. The rules were enforced pretty loosely back then.

There's a few challengers for dirtiness like LaBlanche, and Kid McCoy.

[APerno]

Doesn't Kid McCoy's reputation make the point about just how dirty Smith actually was? -- One has to go some distance to get DQ fighting Kid McCoy, Mysterious Billy Smith found a way to do that.

[BitPlayer]

Doesn't Kid McCoy's reputation make the point about just how dirty Smith actually was? -- One has to go some distance to get DQ fighting Kid McCoy, Mysterious Billy Smith found a way to do that.

I'm not sure it really does, a couple people lost by DQ to Billy Smith. Smith is certainly up there, Tommy Ryan called him his dirtiest opponent, but it's nto as clear cut as sometimes made out.

Kid McCoy got his brother to spray ammonia in the face of an opponent
LaBlanche had a habbit of throwing opponents to the ground, and against one precided to kick his opponent.

[APerno]

Doesn't Kid McCoy's reputation make the point about just how dirty Smith actually was? -- One has to go some distance to get DQ fighting Kid McCoy, Mysterious Billy Smith found a way to do that.

I'm not sure it really does, a couple people lost by DQ to Billy Smith. Smith is certainly up there, Tommy Ryan called him his dirtiest opponent, but it's nto as clear cut as sometimes made out.

Kid McCoy got his brother to spray ammonia in the face of an opponent
LaBlanche had a habbit of throwing opponents to the ground, and against one precided to kick his opponent.

LOL we are arguing who is a bigger scumbag. Over on the Boxing Scene board there was this big argument regarding Dempsey and the 'loaded gloves' issue (classic). Kid McCoy kept coming up (McCoy's trainer ended up Dempsey's for a while), with one story after another about how dirty McCoy was. It seems he bragged about loading his gloves (every chance he got . . . to load his gloves and to then brag about it afterward.)