Some very interesting things have been discovered about this guy.
First and foremost...his spirit is haunting this season....and I think I know why.
This season was intended to start on April 1. And this British Boxer shares his birthday with this FW season.
Ben Jordan was born on 1 April 1873 in Bermondsey, London, the son of an English Minister.[2] According to one source, Jordan attended University College in London around 1890 at the age of seventeen and may have been a divinity student. His decision to pursue boxing as a career was not met with approval by his father. He fought a number of exhibitions around London prior to his completing his University education which caused a further rift from his strict father, and likely interfered with his completing his University studies.[3]
He started his better publicized professional boxing career around the age of twenty-one by winning three short preliminary fights at the National Sporting Club in Convent Garden London on 28 January 1895 against Jack Gray, Sid Phillips, and Jim Whelan.[1]
Taking the British Featherweight Title in London
Jordan first challenged for the British Featherweight Title against American Tommy White of Chicago on 29 November 1897 at the National Sporting Club in London, England, winning in an eighteenth round disqualification.[1] It was White's first appearance in England. They fought for a purse of 700 pounds or $3500 with a side bet of roughly $1,000.[4]
Jordan met British boxer Eddie Curry for the British Featherweight Title on 4 April 1898 again at London's National Sporting Club, winning in a seventeenth round disqualification in a scheduled twenty-round match.[1] According to the Los Angeles Herald, a purse of 300 British pounds was at stake, and the World Bantamweight championship was being contested.[5]
Defeating George Dixon in New York
George Dixon
On 28 May 1898, Jordan arrived in New York from England aboard the RMS Lucania to face American challengers. The Luciana was one of the fastest, largest, and most luxurious passenger liners at the time. Jordan was 24 years old and fresh from his knockouts of Eddie Curry and Tommy White. He had been able to continue his training during his voyage including sparring and hitting the bag as well as daily runs aboard Luciana's spacious decks.[6]
In a close bout, he defeated the great Canadian featherweight George Dixon on 1 July 1898 at New York's Lenox Club in a classic twenty five round points decision by referee Charley White. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Dixon did the leading but unlike many of those who had previously met the little Colored fighter, Jordan went at him and mixed it all the time." The bout was close, and many believed a draw would have been a better decision. Jordan was down on his hands and knees in the seventh from a blow by Dixon, but the bout contained relatively few knockdowns and no counts. The bout ended with a flurry by Dixon, but the referee did not feel it adequate to award him the decision. The Chronicle actually believed Dixon had the edge in the fighting.[1][7] The Los Angeles Times also agreed the bout was close and that "Both men fought well and there was little to choose between them."[8]
Taking the British World Featherweight Title
On 29 May 1899, Jordan took the British World Featherweight Championship in a ninth-round knockout against Harry Greenfield at the National Sporting Club in London, England.[1] At the time, the title was not recognized as a World Title in the United States, but it is listed by many sources today as a British World Title.
Unsuccessful attempts to match Jordan with American champions
Attempts to match Jordan with the American champion Young Corbett II were not successful. The Young Corbett bout would have taken place in San Francisco around November 1903, and would have been a Featherweight World Championship.[9][10] Talk of matching Jordan with the great American Terry McGovern around 1899 also never came to fruition. McGovern's representatives probably turned down the English fight as he was offered a purse of $2,500 after he had received offers as high as $15,000 to fight Young Corbett II in San Francisco.[11][12]