Luther McCarty

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 07 Jun 2006, 08:32

Here is the most famous man to ever come from my hometown of Sidney, Ohio. So I know alot about his career, even though he isn't really remembered by historians, except as a minor foot note in history, which is a great shame in my opinion, as I feel he was better than any of the other 'white' fighters of the time. *

Luther 'Lucky' McCarty was a giant in the era he fought, having a reach that was 80" and being 6'4". He was not clumsy like most big men of the time, but knew how to use his reach affectively, using his long jab and right crosses to tear his opponents down.

He blew away fellow giants Carl 'Freight Train' Morris with relative ease, and had a NC against Jess Willard even though most believed it was an even draw. He blew away Al Kaufman and Fireman Jim Flynn as well as Frank Moran, all men who would later try and dethrone Johnson.

His career was cut short however, when he died in a match with Arthur Pelkey, an obscure Canadian Heavyweight who nobody had heard of. The cause of death was not from Pelkey's punches, but from a brain hemmorage, that was caused from a rodeo accident McCarty participated in the night before.

If McCarty would have lived and defeated Pelkey, which there is no reason to believe he wouldn't, he was in line for a shot at "Bombardier" Billy Wells, who himself was also gunning for Jack Johnson's title.

On a side note, Tommy Burns arena was burned to the ground the next day, it was believed to have been caused by angry fans, due to their champion's death (McCarty won the 'White Heavyweight' title).

In two short years it was said he amassed a fortune of 60,000 dollars. By today's standards McCarty would have made over a million dollars, a small fortune even today.

What's ironic, is that McCarty won recognition as the 'White' champion, when in fact he was a Native American and his father was a chief. *

How do you all, if you know anything about him at all, think he would have faired if he had not died? In my own opinion I believe he would have been the #1 contender for Jack Johnson's title, not Willard, and could have been champion, and possibly a better one than Willard was.

pound per pound · Post by **pound per pound** » 07 Jun 2006, 09:46

McCarty is remembered by historians as a leading contender for Jack Johnson's crown. Or as it was known in the day, he was a " white hope "

McCarty was just as you described him. He died very young. It is likely he would have improved a bit as he approached his physical peak.

The irony of the white hopes is the two best never fought Johnson. McCarthy died young. Gunbaot Smith certainly deserved a shot over any man Johnson defended his title against, and that includes McCarty and Willard. Indeed a quick review of who Smith beat while Johnson was champion proves this to be true.

Willard was the man to defeat Johnson, but Johnson being past his best had a lot to do with that.

Incidentally, if your sir name is McCarty, boxing may not be for you. I have heard that five McCarty's have died in the ring. The photo of Luther McCarty being knocked out by Pelky is haunting to the bone. Not even Picasso who was a true master of colors could have painted such as eerie picture. McCarty lies flat on his back. His seconds rush to his aid. A beam of light from an arched window above shines down on the exact spot where McCarty has fallen. It’s a halo like effect on a fallen man who was doomed to die.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 07 Jun 2006, 09:46

Great topic for a thread. From what I’ve read he was a very hard puncher, particularly with the left hook, and there is no denying that he fought and beat some very good fighters. I’ve never seen any footage of him fighting. Are any of his fights on film?

I seem to recall an article on him in either World or Int’l Boxing back in the 70’s that claimed many of the period considered him the best of the “white hopes” prior to his tragic death. I don’t remember the riding accident the day before the Pelkey fight, but I certainly don’t doubt it. However, I do think that Pelkey was actually a pretty good fighter, and at one time was one of the leading “white hope” contenders.

Hopefully others with more complete (and accurate) information will add to this thread, because I think McCarty’s was an interesting career. Short, but interesting.

dempseyfire · Post by **dempseyfire** » 07 Jun 2006, 10:03

McCarty was certainly one of the leading White Hope fighters, but some have overblown his viability to over-take Johnson, who I think he would've never defeated. His ND decision with Williard was actually a newspaper loss (when Jess was similarly experienced) and I think Smith would've defeated him had they met.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 07 Jun 2006, 10:06

hyperlink to his record for those interested...

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=39623

A No Contest (Maybe a draw?) with Willard and win over Fireman Jim Flynn.....
From Culbertson Montana and Fargo North Dakota to appearances in Madison Square Garden....quite a story.

barry · Post by **barry** » 08 Jun 2006, 00:37

It was recently found that McCarty was knocked out by Joe Grim! McCarty had just started boxing, but nonetheless, the legendary "Italian Who Never Sleeps" turned out the lights for him!

RowanSmith · Post by **RowanSmith** » 08 Jun 2006, 10:33

McCarty was not knocked out by Grim. he seems to have fouled him in the last round, which should have brought on a DQ but did not.

McCarty was brought out by Billy McCarney who discovered him in Chicago fighting for Sig Hart. McCarney brought him out to Springfield, Missouri to fight Joe Cox, who was a local hero, and at that time considered one of the better white hopes in the land. McCarty, who was then fighting under the name of Walter Monohan, knocked Cox out and immediately became a star in and around the Joplin and Springfield areas. Large, strong and impressive in physique, McCarty was still very raw and had much to learn about the fight game. In December of 1911 he was given a neat boxing lesson by the 160 "grey ghost" Jeff Clarke who knocked him down in the third round and basically white washed him for the remainder of the bout. McCarney was so impressed with Clarke's domination of his new star that he hired the Ghost to teach McCarney some of the tricks of the trade. That he did. "Everything that Lute learned of the game, he learned from Clarke" said Jimmy Bronson, who handled Clarke for a good portion of his career. In his next fight, McCarty was again "outpointed", this time by Cincinatti heavyweight Harry Wuest in 10 rounds at Springfield. Lute showed improvement but was still green enough to be out-boxed by the venerable Wuest. In 1912, Luther, under the tuteledge of Clarke, began to turn things around, knocking out a few lesser lights until being matched with the orginal white hope Carl Morris. Thought to be "not quite ready" for tough Morris, McCarty displayed the talent he will forever be remembered for and knocked out the big ehavyweight in six rounds. Lute was now a full fledged white hope.

barry · Post by **barry** » 08 Jun 2006, 10:41

Doh! I thought he was knocked out...thanks for clearing that up!

klompton · Post by **klompton** » 08 Jun 2006, 15:33

The referee declared the McCarty-Grimm fight a draw after halting it early. It was not a KO or DQ or win for Grimm. The draw ruling by the referee was tantamount to no-contest however a draw would be the correct ruling rather than argue symantics.

klompton · Post by **klompton** » 08 Jun 2006, 15:40

I should also add that the famous photo of McCarty lying dead on the canvas with a shaft of light beaming down on him was faked. Its a real photo of the fight but the shaft of light was "created" by the photographer who selectively overexposed that area of the negative to give it an eerie supernatural quality. Cool photo but not real.

pound per pound · Post by **pound per pound** » 08 Jun 2006, 19:43

klompton wrote:I should also add that the famous photo of McCarty lying dead on the canvas with a shaft of light beaming down on him was faked. Its a real photo of the fight but the shaft of light was "created" by the photographer who selectively overexposed that area of the negative to give it an eerie supernatural quality. Cool photo but not real.

This is an amazing find. How did you learn this? It was a fake, then it better than 99% of the fake photos today.

Perhaps this was a cover story. The ring death of McCarty created quite a stir in the town that hosted the fight.

One more thing on McCarty. He only boxed for two years and died at the age of 21.

klompton · Post by **klompton** » 08 Jun 2006, 19:55

There was a short article about the photo in Ring magazine back in the 90's. I think it was in their "time capsule" section. Even before I saw the article I thought it was suspicious because one edge of the "shaft of light" is very sharp while another edge is soft, gives away the fact that it was selectively over exposed.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 08 Jun 2006, 20:22

http://www.pugilistica.com/BoxingArchiv ... elkey1.JPG

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 08 Jun 2006, 20:37

http://www.boxinggyms.com/news/willard1 ... es1913.jpg

wouter · Post by **wouter** » 09 Jun 2006, 04:13

klompton wrote:There was a short article about the photo in Ring magazine back in the 90's. I think it was in their "time capsule" section. Even before I saw the article I thought it was suspicious because one edge of the "shaft of light" is very sharp while another edge is soft, gives away the fact that it was selectively over exposed.

The picture was the topic of a two-page story in Boxing Monthly around 1990 and their conclusion was the same: 100% fake.

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 11 Jun 2006, 16:01

Wow, this is neat. I myself only seen a few pictures of McCarty. The only pic I ever seen of the two men fighting was with them both standing and it was like a minute before McCarty died.

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 24 Jul 2006, 05:15

I found much much more on Luther McCarty, and it does surprise me that many men, including Nat Fleischer, ranked McCarty was the best Heavyweight, other than Jack Johnson, in that time period and also said that even though his potential is hard to rank considering he died so young, but they felt that had he not died, he could have been one of the ATG Heavyweights.

I also found a few pictures, of him being dead in the ring, against Pelkey.

Ironically enough, unlike many of the other "white hopes", McCarty must have been very good, considering he faced #1 Black Heavyweight contender Jeff Clark.

It is written that his next few opponents, had he lived, would have been Ed 'Gunboat' Smith, "Bombardier" Billy Wells and that there was a deal made between him and champion Jack Johnson to fight on July 4th, 1913 at Las Vegas, New Mexico---but when McCarty died, "Fireman" Jim Flynn took "Lucky Luther's" place instead.

http://cyberboxingzone.com/images/w1102 ... spelky.jpg

This picture above is a minute or so before McCarty died in the opening round with Pelkey.

http://cyberboxingzone.com/images/w1102 ... nlight.jpg

This is a picture of when McCarty hit the canvas, ending his life.

http://cyberboxingzone.com/images/w1102mccarty-down.jpg

This picture is a mob of people around McCarty, as he lay dying, and people trying to bring him back to life and consciousness, but wasn't to be.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 04 Aug 2006, 01:52

The man standing back with his hands behind his head is McCarty's manager, Billy McCarney.

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