BoxRec

It ran from 1900 to 1920 in the U.S

It must have encouraged uncompetitive "fights"
and collusion between both fighters to "go easy" and still get paid....

Yeah probably. Not to mention in many cases the fights taking place might've even been illegal in the given state or area they're taking place in, and sometimes everyone needs to get the f*ck out of dodge real quick like

Quite a few fighters in that era were arrested for even participating in a Boxing match.

Pretty crazy era of the sport really.

You do have to take some things into consideration. There usually were several reporters who were covering the fight for newspapers. Fighters wanted to look good in the newspapers, as well as looking good in front of the fans at the fight. And of course, you didn't want to get to complacent, because the other guy could knock you out.

Also important to remember that many states did have official decisions. New York most notably, did not for a while.

Ambling Alp II wrote: ↑08 Jul 2023, 17:46 You do have to take some things into consideration. There usually were several reporters who were covering the fight for newspapers. Fighters wanted to look good in the newspapers, as well as looking good in front of the fans at the fight. And of course, you didn't want to get to complacent, because the other guy could knock you out.

Also important to remember that many states did have official decisions. New York most notably, did not for a while.

I would imagine any of these guys that fought like 25 or 30 times a year. Sometimes they're gonna be giving their all, and sometimes they're gonna be going through the motions, and I don't even think it'd necessarily be a case of them trying to throw the fight or take it easy necessarily it'd just be a case of....goddamn they're tired

It really is an insane schedule these guys had to keep to put bread on the table back then.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑08 Jul 2023, 17:54

I would imagine any of these guys that fought like 25 or 30 times a year. Sometimes they're gonna be giving their all, and sometimes they're gonna be going through the motions, and I don't even think it'd necessarily be a case of them trying to throw the fight or take it easy necessarily it'd just be a case of....goddamn they're tired

It really is an insane schedule these guys had to keep to put bread on the table back then.
[/quote]

I'm not sure, there were that many boxers back in the day, with the kind of insane schedules we like to talk about in a history forum like this. It's probably a result of this nostalgic view we have of the old-timers... who we of course all love and adore (I say this with no sarcasm; I admire and respect them as much as the next guy!), and want to picture in our minds as these tough, courageous men, who battled through hard times in order to make a little money to make ends meet... often with little time to recuperate from their last fight. But is this really true - or just a fantasy of ours?

Certain jurisdictions forbade decisions if both men finished on their feet, (often with limited rounds) but fighters could still win by KO, TKO or DQ. Titles could even potentially change hands on a non DQ stoppage in a no decision bout. The patrons still bet on the newspaper writers' decisions in the paper, if it went the distance, so the intended clampdown on gambling didn't really do much. The round limitations naturally favored fast starters (preferably also heavy hitters).

Heading into the 1903 season IIRC 24 States in the US allowed prizefighting. Every state had it, but 24 "allowed" officially it in some form. In Boston and most surrounding towns you could fight to a decision, in Philly it was 6 round no decisions. In Philly though, if you got your man out of there you got the official win. It didn't necessarily encourage or discourage side-agreements between athletes although it complicated side-bets between fighters/managers on the result. Even in decision states, fighters sometimes fought a pre-arranged draw meaning if both finished on their feet it was ruled a draw and they split the purse evenly.

In the early 1900's you could find fights booked for anything from 2 to 45 rounds. Wild times!