Fight Missing From The Career of Luther McCarty

[HomicideHenry]

Bump needs more research.

[delisa]

Agreed. I've never been able to locate anything except the first cited article about this bout in Sydney, OH.

[HomicideHenry]

January 11, 1913
The Tacoma Times from Tacoma, Washington · Page 2
Mentions the contest

January 18, 1913
The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware · Page 8
Mentions the contest

January 8, 1913
The Day Book from Chicago, Illinois · Page 9
Also mentions the contest took place

I'm sure other syndicates ran the story across the nation. According to the articles I've read the fight went as follows:


Giant Laborer Knocked Lute Out But Incidentally Made Him a Champion.

SIDNEY, O., Jan. 17. "Wham!" said a man near the ring side, as a left hand swing, delivered by Harry ' Hollinger, an obscure laborer in a local tannery, knocked out Luther and made McCarty champion of the world. Hollinger, a giant, put over the epoch making punch in a vacant store in this town one August night in 1911. Incidentally McCarty's remuneration for the pummelling was a quarter, and he explained. "I needed two bits to buy some hash."

In this, his first boxing contest, McCarty was literally beaten to a pulp. When he regained consciousness Luther offered his hand to the victor and exclaimed: "You made a dub of me, Harry, but I'm going to stick to the game and show up some of you fellows before I'm through."

"I guess 'Lute' made good all right!," said Hollinger discussing the Sidney lad's career, "but remembering the soft pickin' I had I honestly would take another try at him. I believe it was the beating I gave 'Mac' that started him toward the championship. He left town soon after we fought and the next we heard be was fighting preliminaries out West."

The book WHITE HOPES: THE QUEST TO DEFEAT JACK JOHNSON (Greame Kent) also mentions Harry Hollinger beating McCarty and even offering McCarty a second chance to remove the loss of his record (McCarty ignored the offer).

[HomicideHenry]

From what I understand, being from Sidney Ohio myself, that Hollinger and Will O'Leary (the town sheriff) were two of the more accomplished boxers in the area at that time. O'Leary himself was 6' and 220 pounds and apparently was in several contests bareknuckle and gloved. If McCarty was 6'4" and Hollinger was described as a giant, he surely was much taller than Luther.

[Caractacus]

bump

[Caractacus]

Did you find out anything about his sister "Hazel" the womans world's champion bag-puncher ?

[Caractacus]

Have you seen the book WHITE HOPES AND OTHER TIGERS by John Lardner
published in 1947 by Lippencott Press ?
I think that may have been the main source for Grahem Kents book.
That and the newspaper "Ohio State Journal".