Jimmy Britt, overlooked Ligthweight ATG?

[BitPlayer]

Wins over Kid Lavigne, Frank Erne, Young Corbett II and went 2-1 against Battling Nelson.

Also battered Gans in a fight before being DQ'd, but it may have been a fix, really hard to know what to make of that one.

[Duran1970]

1904 fight was a fix. Was agreed Britt would be DQ for a low blow saving the embarrassment of being whooped in his hometown.. Gans admitted to two fixes: a dive against McGovern and 1904 Britt.
Gans was beating Britt soundly in rematch when Britt quit after 5th round claiming a broken left wrist...

[prewarboxing]

I posted this picture of Johnny Summers putting Jimmy Britt onto the canvas in their July 1909 fight at The Memorial Grounds, West Ham, some years ago

It is probably worth posting again here

Miles Templeton

[Controversial]

I posted this picture of Johnny Summers putting Jimmy Britt onto the canvas in their July 1909 fight at The Memorial Grounds, West Ham, some years ago

It is probably worth posting again here

Miles Templeton

Great pic, you wouldn't want to fall out of that ring onto the concrete !!

[BitPlayer]

1904 fight was a fix. Was agreed Britt would be DQ for a low blow saving the embarrassment of being whooped in his hometown.. Gans admitted to two fixes: a dive against McGovern and 1904 Britt.
Gans was beating Britt soundly in rematch when Britt quit after 5th round claiming a broken left wrist...

It wasn't a low blow, he repeatedly hit Gans on the ground.

That story doesn't sound right to me. Britt had been battering top Lightweights, so I don't see why he'd agree to throw that fight, when before hand he had as much reason as anyone to think he could match Gans, especially with it being at 133 ringside, which weakened Gans

Looking now, Gans' manager at the time of the fight, Al Hertford, said he knew nothing of it being a fix, but Gans was sick.

Jimmy Britt also denied it being a fix.

Loads of the papers also called out the Gans-McGovern fight as a fix the next day, I've no seen any calling the Gans-Britt fight a fix.


I'm not saying it wasn't a fix, but from what I've seen it's far from clear it was.

[Duran1970]

Both managers had an agreement before the bout...Britt on his best day couldn't beat Gans on his worst day...as was evident in the rematch where a sickly Gans mopped the floor with britt...fighters and managers aren't in a hurry to admit to fixes although a few years later Gans admitted to it..
Ive studied and researched Gans pretty extensively over the decades and I stand by my information...I'll give more facts and info on Gans) Britt later.

[Duran1970]

Britt was a son of a state senator and had a prolonged amateur career which was rare for the times but he came from a family with means..learned his craft out of the Olympic club as an amateur as did Corbett.
He was referred to as"the native son" and "Sir James Edward".. appeared regularly in vaudeville...called Gans "133 lbs of black meat"
In October 1904, a fight was fixed in favor of Gans, as Herford had arranged a scheme with Willus Britt, Jimmy's brother and manager. Britt would strike a low blow and be disqualified, thus eliminating the embarrassment of being severely beaten in front of his hometown.
Gans told reporters in February 1906 that he had been involved in two fakes. The dive vs McGovern didn't surprise anyone. The Britt fix of 1904 came as news. Britt fans were skeptical of the story. Gans thought the confession would bring forgiveness..he was wrong.
1907 rematch Gans was the favorite, but Britt fans felt otherwise....18,000 in attendance at recreation park, another 4,000 were turned away. Gans was reported to look "sickly" by reporters..
"Gans whipped the native son badly. The crowd even turned against Britt when he quit after the 5th round claiming he broke his left wrist. Doctors could not agree on the nature of the injury..most suspected that Britt took the easy way out."
Was Gans' biggest payday $16,156.

[BitPlayer]

Britt was a son of a state senator and had a prolonged amateur career which was rare for the times but he came from a family with means..learned his craft out of the Olympic club as an amateur as did Corbett.
He was referred to as"the native son" and "Sir James Edward".. appeared regularly in vaudeville...called Gans "133 lbs of black meat"
In October 1904, a fight was fixed in favor of Gans, as Herford had arranged a scheme with Willus Britt, Jimmy's brother and manager. Britt would strike a low blow and be disqualified, thus eliminating the embarrassment of being severely beaten in front of his hometown.
Gans told reporters in February 1906 that he had been involved in two fakes. The dive vs McGovern didn't surprise anyone. The Britt fix of 1904 came as news. Britt fans were skeptical of the story. Gans thought the confession would bring forgiveness..he was wrong.
1907 rematch Gans was the favorite, but Britt fans felt otherwise....18,000 in attendance at recreation park, another 4,000 were turned away. Gans was reported to look "sickly" by reporters..
"Gans whipped the native son badly. The crowd even turned against Britt when he quit after the 5th round claiming he broke his left wrist. Doctors could not agree on the nature of the injury..most suspected that Britt took the easy way out."
Was Gans' biggest payday $16,156.

Britt didn't hit Gans low, he hit Gans while he was down.

Is there any evidence of it being a fix other than Gans' claim it was?

[Duran1970]

If you add up all the pre fight (odds etc) the way the fight played out, Gans effort, all the post fight stuff and how the 2nd fight went it seems very plausible.
Also Willus Britt was known for those type of shenanigans as he pulled the same stunts with various fighters he trained..ie Ketchel...