Any old historians out there ?

[semtexreilly]

My friend phoned me earlier,said his great great grandfather boxed at Madison square garden around 1912 1913,his name was john Rourke and he thinks he was either a heavy or light heavyweight,but that's all the info he has,he got called up to fight in the first world war and that was the end of his career,he asked me if I could check if there's a chance someone would mabye have any info on here thanks in advance

[Onetimeonly]

Search him in the database. I can't say I've heard of him.

[semtexreilly]

I tried that cheers,there was a johhny o'rourke around that time ,not sure if it was him or not 2 fights 2 losses

[Controversial]

My friend phoned me earlier,said his great great grandfather boxed at Madison square garden around 1912 1913,his name was john Rourke and he thinks he was either a heavy or light heavyweight,but that's all the info he has,he got called up to fight in the first world war and that was the end of his career,he asked me if I could check if there's a chance someone would mabye have any info on here thanks in advance

The only similar name that fits that time line I can find on boxrec is Johnnie O'Rourke but he was from California (which is thousands of miles from MSG) and he was only a welterweight (date 1912). Of course the database doesn't have a record of everyone and its not uncommon for fighters to box under false names. A search of the old newspaper archives is probably your best bet. The USA entered WW1 in 1917. See if you can find out where he was from too. Good luck.

[semtexreilly]

Thank you my friend is from Scotland but his roots go back to Ireland,needle in a haystack stuff but hes adamant he boxed at the garden back in the day,his mum thinks jack Johnson topped the bill

[Caractacus]

Is he sure it was at Madison Square Garden in NYC ?
Could it have been at the New York Athletic Club in NYC instead ?
You had mentioned Jack Johnson
he didnt fight but he was in ring-side attendance at the Great White Hope Tournament
that was held at the New York Athletic Club on May.26.1911.
from what I had heard it mostly included Heavyweights
but lesser weights also participated who may have had "Dynamite in their Fists".
( see the "Last of the Great White Hopes" thread for more info)

[APerno]

The New York Athletic Club Great White-Hope Tournament Night on May.26.1911 results

[semtexreilly]

Thanks for the info

[Caractacus]

Maybe he just didn't make it as far as the preliminaries ?
( maybe there was a pre-preliminary)
Reportedly 23 people entered the tournament, but apart from Al Palzer,
I only counted 10 people in the list there.