Mike McTigue: Ireland's Great White Hope and The Title Fix

[HomicideHenry]

Mike McTigue, for those who don't know him all too well, was not known for his offensive prowess but his defensive genius, a master tactician who loved to escape punches from all angles. By the time he was in line for a shot against Light Heavyweight champion Battling Siki he had a record of 84-25-7.

Nobody believed really that McTigue would take the title over Siki, despite the day of the fight being March 17th Saint Patrick's Day. The country was in civil war and gun shots cascaded the city of Dublin. Siki was even given death threats while in his stay in Ireland. Days before the fight the odds were 2-1 that Siki would win, but oddly enough on the day of the fight the odds were 7-5 that McTigue would win.

Even McTigue's own manager didn't believe in his own man, as he said that if and only if McTigue looked good with Siki that he would try to arrange a fight with the British Middleweight champion Roland Todd and then hopefully a shot at Johnny Wilson who won the Middleweight title.

The fight was a bore, so much so that soon after the advent of twenty round fights were abolished. Even the Irish press felt that Siki won at least 18 of the 20 rounds. But as 'luck' would have it, it was McTigue's hand that was raised in the air.

Was it a fix? Siki himself said he lost so much weight while on the boat to Ireland that he was down to Middleweight. But then again Siki also claimed that his fight with Georges Carpentier was set up for a fix, for him to lose, but he instead knocked out his fellow Frenchman.

For all intents and purposes not many in the boxing world wanted Siki around, even so much as declaring him as the "French Jack Johnson" and the press openly wished for him to not only be beaten but beaten within an inch of his life.

Though that didn't happen, he was robbed of whatever dignity he had, when he 'lost' to Mike McTigue in the Irishman's native country on its most celebrated holiday. After the loss, Siki fought off and on for a few more years, before he was shot down in cold blood at the age of 28, his murderer never caught or pursued.

McTigue himself would defend the Light Heavyweight title against the likes of Young Stribling (15 round draw) and eventually losing it to Mickey Walker and lost to Paul Berlenbach. McTigue would try again for the title in 1927, losing a 15 round decision to Tommy Loughran. He retired in 1930 with a record of 78 wins, 27 losses, 8 draws with 52 knockouts with well over 30 newspaper decision wins, 19 newspaper decision losses and 5 newspaper decision draws and 5 No Contests, a total of 172 fights.

Odds changing on fight night. Outrageous decision. Stories. Rumors. War all around. Murder. Makes for an amazing story. But was it a fix? The remaining 'film' of the fight is so heavily edited that no one can be for sure, but press, even in Ireland, called the fight a travesty. Pretty sad that a man's own country (McTigue) couldn't bring themselves behind him.