Matter of Pride: The Life and Tragic Death of Andre Anderson

[HomicideHenry]

Remember the famous scene from ON THE WATERFRONT? Where the two brothers are talking and the man laments how he 'could have been a contender?' and how his career was ruined because he took a dive against a top flight contender named Wilson? And how he was never any good after that night? And how he got a 'one way ticket to Palookaville'?

If there has been a fighter who promptly deserves the resemblance to the main character in that classic boxing flick, its the late Andre Anderson. Who? I thought some of you would wonder that. Maybe the name does sound familiar to you, but you can't place him. Who could blame you? The man never really stuck out, except for 'failing' against top flight contenders.

Who did he 'lose' to? The list goes on like a 'Who's Who' of boxing history:

Sam Langford, Gunboat Smith, Tiny Jim Herman, Carl Morris, Homer Smith, Joe Jeanette, Sam McVey, Tom Cowler, Fred Fulton, Jack Dempsey, Bill Brennan, Battling Jim Johnson, Charlie Penwill...

The rub is this; Anderson was paid off for the majority of these fights. It really is hard to tell if he actually lost to these men or was paid off to take the dive so that the 'better' more 'fabulous' fighter with the charisma, talent and most importantly 'the look', would get ahead in the game.

Anderson had boxed for well over 10 years, had met with the best in the game but never quite had his mark in the books or on the sport. But on that fateful day (December 23rd, 1925) Anderson finally took a stand (and rightfully so) though it would lead to his demise...

His opponent? Former college football sensation and 'world' wrestling champion "Big" Wayne Munn. The grid iron star was 6'6" and 'won' the wrestling title over champion Ed 'Strangler' Lewis, who rarely did 'works' and won all but 33 of his 6,200 matches legit. Munn's management figured that they could be a triple threat: a force in football, wrestling and boxing. So they laced the gloves on Munn and Anderson was the man they picked.

Just like with Ed Lewis, they wanted Anderson to take a fall, so that the more lucrative, prosperous prospect would get his foot into the door. Hell, Anderson had fought all those greats, right? He was a name, right? If Munn got the punch in on Anderson, who knows, a title shot could have been in the wings [irregardless if Munn was blasted in a round or whatever wouldnt make any difference at all, as money and publicity was the only real issue at stake, if he got a shot at the belt].

For Anderson, this was the last straw. Boxers he could lose to. Didn't matter if they were 0-0-1, 1-0-0, 5-20-0, etc. They were boxers for crying ot loud. But this? An over grown college boy who made a few touch downs and won a phony rasslin title, they wanted him to lose to? He might as well have been facing a god damned circus clown!

No. Anderson had too much pride. He knocked Munn out in a single round and spoke triumphantly: "I'm through throwing fights and laying down whenever they want me to." And earlier in the day Anderson had said: "I'm going to knock out Munn in one punch, if I can."

All Munn could say was "I guess I wasn't cut out for boxing, I'll stick to wrestling." Who knows, maybe the poor bastard never even knew a fix was ever planned and was just told Anderson was a straight up bum and old and over the hill and would be no threat to him. Whatever the case may be, Munn never boxed again. [Despite BoxRec having a pro bout before facing Anderson, its false. It was a propaganda move on Munn's management's behalf to make Munn sound more legit].

Three months later: Anderson was gunned down, by mobsters, because he refused to throw the fight against Munn. Surely Anderson would have known how much money was at stake, riding on this new prospect, this man they called the wrestling champ, if Anderson would have pulled out all the stops...and surely he would have known the consequences.

The right move? or the wrong move to make? Guess it all depends on which side you see it on. Every man dies, but not every man ever really lives or gets to live out any sort of life, dream at all. For that one fight, Anderson stood up for what was right, not just for the sport, but for himself. And for that, that makes him a good man, a just man, a righteous man, though for the better part of those 10 years, he was just another punching bag for some other silver spoon fed pug.