Kid McCoy

[JAHamilton77]

Boxing has one of the most colorful histories of any sport. Its history is littered with hundreds upon hundreds of interesting characters. I have recently read up on one of its most colorful characters, Norman Selby aka Kid McCoy. His caniving exploits inside and outside the ring is the stuff of legend.

So my question is what percent of the things written about him are actually just legend and how much of it do you guys figure actually has some truth to it?

Secondly, does the fact that he hustled, and played fast & loose with the rules enhance his spot in the ranks of boxers all time, or does it detract from his standing among boxers all time?

[Cap]

McCoy was one of the top draws of his day. He had tremendous skills, but a crooked brain that led him into all sorts of twisted deals. If he had stuck to boxing he could've been a real champion. He did decision heavyweight contender Gus Ruhlin "The Akron Giant" in 1898, Joe Choynski the following year, and KO'd Peter Maher "The Irish Hercules" in 1900. So the guy could fight when he put his mind to it. Trouble was some of his "fights" stunk out the joint, and turned local authorities against the sport.

Cap

[kick asner]

Boxing has one of the most colorful histories of any sport. Its history is littered with hundreds upon hundreds of interesting characters. I have recently read up on one of its most colorful characters, Norman Selby aka Kid McCoy. His caniving exploits inside and outside the ring is the stuff of legend.

So my question is what percent of the things written about him are actually just legend and how much of it do you guys figure actually has some truth to it?

Secondly, does the fact that he hustled, and played fast & loose with the rules enhance his spot in the ranks of boxers all time, or does it detract from his standing among boxers all time?

It can be a difficult question to discern what is fact and what has been embellished, especially when discussing a whole different era. I think a fair amount of zaney characters and the anecdotes about them make things interesting from a historical aspect as it leands fodder to a discussion and makes it fun for the fans who follow the sport.

Given the fact that boxing was still evolving at that time it is understandable that fighters played a little hard and fast with the rules. It is what helped to mold and shape the sport. I look at fighters like Mccoy as pioneers and a vital part of boxings evolution.