Tommy Burns article

[HomicideHenry]

Reassessing the career of the most underrated champion in history

Tommy Burns is remembered, when he's being remembered at all, as the guy who got mauled by Jack Johnson in Sydney. Most writers have based their view on Burns on the opinions of enraged journalists (such as Jack London) that followed his loss to a black man. Burns nevertheless had a stellar career, one that would seem completely alien and utterly impossible by modern standards, and his altruism proved to be his downfall.

Born from German ancestry in the small village of Hannover, Ontario in 1881, Noah Brusso made his mark early in Southern Ontario as a lacrosse player, which proved in handy, because, at the time, lacrosse games usually ended up in massive brawls. Brusso quickly made a name for himself by flattening men twice his size.

He got into boxing almost by accident. He moved to Detroit in the fall of 1900, working as a dockhand, playing for a local amateur lacrosse side, where he was spotted by sportswriter Joe Jackson, who suggested young Noah Brusso should try fighting for a living. He fought his first bout in December 1900, in real John L. Sullivan fashion, being called in from a ringside seat to replace a fighter who didn't show up. Brusso, barely a middleweight at that point, took off his Sunday clothes, and proceeded to knock out his opponent in three rounds, a promising black light heavyweight named Fred Thornton.

Brusso stayed around Detroit early on, winning his first eight bouts by KO, facing several black opponents. By the end of 1902, he fought an exhibition by visiting ex-heavyweight champion James Corbett. Brusso managed to stagger Gentleman Jim with a good hook to the jaw, but of course held back the KO punch. Corbett's visit changed the young fighter's perspective, and he started developing defensive tactics, such as his foot speed, to add to his excellent right hand power. A few weeks later, Brusso beat Tom McCune for the Michigan Middleweight title.

He lost his first fight early in 1903, a 10-round decision to Mike Schreck, who outweighed Brusso by over 30 pounds. But he survived this setback by going unbeaten the rest of the year, until on January 28th, 1904, he fought Ben O'Grady from Buffalo. The bout ended with O'Grady slipping into a coma and Burns being led by the Detroit police straight to jail. O'Grady awoke five days later, and Brusso left Detroit for Chicago and changed his name to Tommy Burns. He kept on winning, both in the ring and at poker, at which he was known to excel, and went up to Yukon to check out a mine he'd won during a game. While he was over there, he fought the legendary Klondike Mike Mahoney, a brutal lumberjack from Buckingham, Quebec, who terrorized mining camps all over North America. Burns fought Mahoney in an exhibition 'Lumberjack match' (in which kicking was allowed), won the first two rounds before being downed by a terrific solar plexus kick in Round 3.

When he came back to America, he moved to the West Coast. He lost a six round decision against future Light Heavyweight champion Philadelphia Jack O'Brien late in 1904, in the first part of a bitter trilogy. He spent 1905 measuring himself against the greatest middleweights of the era, fighting Jack Sullivan, Hugo Kelly and Dave Barry. He didn't have such a good year, losing a rematch to Sullivan, but Burns wouldn't stay a middleweight much longer anymore, his defeats being due in part to his difficulty in making weight. Despite his small 5'7" frame, he felt he could duke it out with the best. He was small enough to be a menace at heavyweight with his speed, had a good reach and a great punch, especially with his right hand.

In a heavyweight division in turmoil, he seized his chance and challenged Marvin Hart for the title the Kentuckian had inherited from Jim Jeffries' elimination match. The day of the fight, February 23rd 1906, Burns succeeded in throwing Hart off his fight plan before the bell even sounded. Hart noticed Burns had put a few extra layers of tape on his hands. Hart immediately demanded that Burns removed the tape at once. Burns then replied: 'Why, Mr. Hart, I didn't think that a big champion like you would mind that a little man like me would wear a little tape.' Burns had succeeded in enraging his opponent, poked him on the chest, and an infuriated Hart tried to hit Burns, even though the bout hadn't started. Burns, who ducked the blow Hart had aimed at him, went back to his corner and removed the tape, which had done it's job already. An angry Hart came out raging from his corner, and the smaller, lighter and faster Burns battered Hart thoroughly, setting him up with big shots before hopping out of range. Burns won 18 of 20 rounds according to ringside observers, to become the new Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Right off the bat, Burns made a statement that shocked the still very segregationist American society: 'I will defend my title as heavyweight champion of the world against all comers, none barred. By this I mean white, black, Mexican, Indian, or any other nationality, without regard to colour, size or nationality. I propose to be champion of the world, not the white, or the Canadian, or the American, or any other limited degree of champion. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don't want to hold the title.' Now this declaration was completely revolutionary: all the previous champions, from Sullivan to Jeffries, had drawn the colour line and held onto it. Corbett, back when he fought Burns in an exhibition, had warned the young man against fighting black men. But Burns would have none of it: by the time he won the world championship, he had already battled five black fighters, and despite the cries of journalists, collaborators, and even his wife, he'd continue to fight mixed race bouts if the occasion should arise.' (as cited by McCaffery in Tommy Burns, 2000, p. 117)

Less than a month after the Hart upset, Burns defended his title twice on the same night against Jim O'Brien and Jim Walker, knocking both fighters out in the first round. He then KO'd top heavyweight contender Jim Flynn in 15 rounds before engaging in his strange second fight against Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, who had become light heavyweight champion since they last met almost 2 years before. Former champ Jim Jeffries, the referee for the bout, had publicly stated he felt O'Brien would win the fight. Once again, there was a lot of arguing before the fight: Burns wore a belt while O'Brien had a bandage around his elbow. A 15 minute argument ensued, and Burns had to remove his belt, while O'Brien was allowed to keep his bandage, only to be met by a chorus of boos from the annoyed audience. The fight itself was completely one-sided, with most ringside observers giving 15 out of 20 rounds to Burns, with a bloodied O'Brien, who did everything he could to get out of Burns' range, out on his feet at the final bell. But referee Jim Jeffries, to the amazement of all parties, called the fight a draw.

While Burns was actively trying to get O'Brien to agree to a third match, he went to Philadelphia to fight an exhibition against the Legendary 'Indian Rubber Ball' Joe Grim. Grim, a 160-pound Italian fighter had fought nearly every major fighter of the turn of the century. A man with no boxing skills whatsoever, Grim rose to fame because he was downright impossible to knock out. For instance, when Jack Johnson fought Grim, he knocked him down 18 times, and Grim rose off the canvas every time, and was still on his feet at the final bell. Burns fought a 3-round exhibition, with rounds reduced to one minute at Grim's request immediately before the fight. Burns knocked him down 5 times in 3 minutes, but Grim, once again, was on his feet at the final bell.

After coming back to California after the Grim freak show, he got a word back from Jack O'Brien. When the two men met to discuss terms, O'Brien offered Burns the whole purse, $10,000, IF Burns took a dive. The champion took his time to consider the offer: he had no intention of throwing the fight, but knew this was the only way to get O'Brien into the ring. So Burns accepted the offer, but trained hard for the fight while O'Brien, expecting a walk in the park, took things more lightly. On May 8th 1907, Burns called promoter Tom McCreary an hour before the bout was scheduled to start, to ask him to tell the crowd that all bets were off. When the fighters entered the ring, Burns told O'Brien 'Fight your best, Jack, I'm out to beat you now. I've got you here at last, this is a real fight'. A stunned O'Brien would suffer a fate similar to their previous fight, with Burns attacking frantically, and O'Brien trying all he could to get out of the way. This time, the referee had no choice but to give the fight to Burns. Another fact seldom known, on the night of that fight, both men weighed under 182 pounds, so Burns could've claimed the Light Heavyweight championship, but refused to do so, insisting he didn't need it. It's also a fact that O'Brien never again defended the light heavyweight belt after that date.

While Burns was preparing for his third fight with O'Brien, the man touted as the next heavyweight champion arrived in America. The visit of Bill Squires was long expected, since for the last two years he was talked about in the States as a strong title contender. Squires, a tough Outback miner who posted a record of 26-0 (23 KO), came to San Francisco to fight for the title. Not Burns', though. Squires called out Jeffries to come out of retirement and fight him for what he considered the 'real' heavyweight title. After Jeffries laughed in his face, Squires decided to stoop down and fight Burns instead. Immediately, he was the overwhelming betting favorite, towering four inches over the Canadian, and his spectacular run of KOs made Burns' title reign look like it was on its twilight. They fought on July 4th 1907, and the crowd was treated to one of the quickest KOs in heavyweight title history. The Canadian relied on his foot speed to stay away from the Australian in the early going, moving in and out of range, before he noticed that the Aussie kept his chin up, feinted a left to the body, and then hit him with his sledgehammer of a right hand square on the jaw, and Squires went down, only to bounce right back up. Squires went down again a few moments later with a left hook, got up once again but Burns peppered the groggy Australian with straight right hands until he went down with a thud, at 2:08 of the first round. A humbled Squires would later join the Burns entourage as a sparring partner, and Burns would give him two more shots at his title during the world tour he was now in the process of preparing.

But while he was getting ready to hop on the next steamship to England, he received a telegram from challenge from Jack Johnson, challenging him to fight for his title. True to the word he gave after he beat Marvin Hart, Burns accepted to discuss terms. But Johnson's manager, Sam Fitzpatrick, demanded that the gate be split in half, something that was downright hilarious for the champion. The ordinary arrangement was that the champion would get 75% of the gate, and the challenger 25%. That's what Jeffries and Fitzsimmons had, and that was something Burns insisted he would have as well. Especially in Johnson's case, who was offered a title shot on a golden plate, while the next man would've immediately drawn the color line to get him out of his way. While he waited for Johnson's camp to come back to it's senses, he set off to become the first true World Champion in history.

Arriving in London, greeted by Lord Lonsdale, he accepted to defend his title against the reigning British heavyweight champ Gunner Moir. Moir, at 6'0 tall, 200 lbs, seemed like Goliath in front of the pudgy Canadian, and immediately Londoners began to fantasize about having one of theirs as heavyweight champion again. But at the National Sporting Club, in front of most of England's aristocracy, Burns dismantled a courageous, but outclassed Moir in 10 rounds. He then stayed in London to fight Jack Palmer, one of the best contenders for Moir's crown, this time winning in the fourth round.

It was around this time, in the winter of 1908, that Jack Johnson arrived in London, asking Burns for a title fight. The media battle between the two men was huge in the UK, with even King Edward VII making public statements supporting Johnson's demands. Burns was still willing to fight Johnson, but when Lord Lonsdale offered him a purse of 2500 pounds (roughly $5000) to stage the fight, Burns, who wanted $30,000 to fight Johnson, knew full well he'd get a much better offer elsewhere if he just waited long enough, declined Lonsdale's offer, which started a media outcry accusing Burns of cowardice. But he ended up winning on his stand: Australian promoter H.D. MacIntosh offered Burns $30,000 to fight Johnson in Sydney in December, an offer both he and Johnson agreed upon. The famous story of Johnson chasing Burns all over the world is a fabrication: when Johnson left London to go back to America, he already had his title shot.

Meanwhile, Burns kept himself busy, traveling to Ireland to take on the Irish heavyweight Champion Jem Roche in Dublin on St-Patrick's Day 1908, a fight that established a world record that still stands to this day. In front a massive crowd in the Theatre Royal, Burns disposed of Roche at 1:28 of the first round, the fastest KO in a heavyweight championship fight. It was also Burns' 4th consecutive KO and his 10th title defense. Burns then adjourned to Paris, where, after a proposed bout with hall of famer Sam McVey fell through, he took on 'Jewey' Smith, the African champion, and knocked him out in the 5th round. Two months later, still in Paris, he knocked out Bill Squires again, this time in 8 rounds, before traveling to Australia to prepare for his showdown with Jack Johnson.

Burns was given the warmest reception of his career in Australia. They took the small man to their hearts immediately, even though the first thing he did after was jumping off the boat was knocking out their former hero Bill Squires a third time in 13 rounds. Two weeks after that fight, Tommy had his last tune-up fight, against rising star Billy Lang. The 6th round KO of Lang established another mark Burns still holds to this day: he made his 8th consecutive title defense by knockout. He then trained arduously for Jack Johnson, knowing full well the challenge in front of him. Johnson was 6 inches taller, 30 pounds heavier, but Burns held a small half-an-inch reach advantage over the Black heavyweight champ. Once Johnson arrived to town, the two started hyping the fight, shouting insults at each other in newspapers.

All went fine until, about a few weeks before the fight was scheduled to go on, Burns fell sick. No one knows what the illness was to this day, but Burns' yellowish hue observed by ringsiders in Rushcutter's Bay on Boxing Day 1908 suggests it might have been jaundice. The fight nevertheless went on in front of 25,000 people, including thousands of US Navy sailors stationed in Australia for the holidays. The fight was one-sided, but it wasn't the complete slaughter that was heralded by American media, most of whom weren't present at the fight. Australian journalists had the bout a lot closer, but still clearly dominated by Johnson. The Galveston Giant floored Burns in the first round after he hit him during a clinch. The inexperienced H.D. MacIntosh, who acted as referee and was involved in boxing for the first time in his life, didn't know the proper way to separate the fighters, and held Burns' left hand. Johnson then hit him with a mean uppercut, and Burns fell down. He got up and kept fighting, and most observers felt that the bout was tied after 6 rounds. That's where Johnson finally got the upper hand in the fight, but the Canadian kept fighting back, breaking Johnson's ribs in the 12th round. It was after the 13th round that the police came up to the ring and told MacIntosh they were considering stopping the fight. MacIntosh then went to Burns' corner where the champion told him he was OK to continue. But a tiring Johnson, watching the whole scene, seized his opportunity. He started the 14th round throwing everything he could at Burns, until he caught him and Burns went down for an 8-count. But the police halted the bout at that moment, and MacIntosh justly ruled that Johnson had won the bout and the World Heavyweight championship.

Burns, pretty much barred from the USA after he lost to Johnson, kept fighting on-and-off until 1920. He dabbled in many things in retirement, including the promotion of the infamous fight between Luther MacCarthy and Arthur Pelkey, in which MacCarthy died following a light blow in a clinch in the beginning of the first round, due to a brain hemorrhage caused by a cervical fracture he suffered a few days before the fight. After the arena he had built in Calgary was burnt by criminals following the MacCarthy bout, he moved to Vancouver, joined the British Army at the outbreak of World War I, then got involved in several business ventures until his death in 1955.

Burns' legacy was tarnished by journalists who, in their attempt to explain how a black man, still considered as a part of an inferior race at the time, could wound up as heavyweight champion, unjustly turned Burns into the sorriest excuse for a champion that ever lived. They hit him with everything they could: the caliber of his opponents, the fact that Johnson had destroyed him, his size, allegations of fixed fights, and the fact that many people still considered Jim Jeffries as the real heavyweight champion. Writers at the time didn't want to acknowledge Johnson's greatness, but now that they did, and that most of today's writers place Jack Johnson in their Top 5 of all time, why is still Burns considered by many people as the worst heavyweight champion in history ? Losing to a fighter of Johnson's caliber isn't exactly something to be ashamed of.

Jack London wrote about the Johnson fight, fight he did not attend, in a clear attempt to undermine Burns' credibility that 'There was no fraction of a second in all the fourteen rounds that could be called Burns's. So far as damage is concerned, Burns never landed a blow, he never fazed the black man.' London failed to mention, surely though because he was not even aware of it, that Johnson secretly spent a week in a Sydney hospital to recuperate from his broken ribs, and apparently had blood in his urine, while Burns went back home after the fight.

At a time when champions sat on their laurels, Burns seemed hyperactive. Jim Corbett defended his title successfully only once in five years. Bob Fitzsimmons lost his first title defense after two idle years, while Jim Jeffries had seven defenses in five years. Burns, on his part fought 14 times in little over two years, a record that would stand until Joe Louis knocked out Abe Simon in 1941. He took on all comers, all over the world, most often without any prior information on the man he was facing. He also gave weight in every one of his defenses, not to mention height. Yet he was beating them all, knocking out most of them. In the process, by beating the champions of England, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and the United States, he became the first real World Champion.

Imagine if Marvin Hagler had gone up in weight and become heavyweight champion. When you're done laughing at that, consider this: Tommy Burns was two inches smaller than Hagler. And started off at the same weight.

[robert.snell1]

thanks very much for this very detailed article, one of the best I have read on this topic in some time.

[bill.lockhart]

I remember this quote from a book I have on the Heavyweight champions. But the career of Tommy Burns is marked. It says a man who was never big enough to be called a heavyweight, was fighter enough to rule the heavyweights as champion. I have been to Hanover, & their is a plaque to comemmorate Burns.

[funso banjo baby]

finally some recognition for this little warrior