Bernie McCoy on Harry "Kid" Matthews

[BoxBuzz]

I found this to be an excellent read....Hope you do as well.

So Long, Kid
By Bernie McCoy
March 22, 2003

The headlline was over an AP story datelined March 13. There was nothing unusual about the headline or the story, eighty year old men die every day. In fact when you reach that age, it can be fairly understood that you're not only on the "back nine" of life, but, indeed, you're probably "putting out on 18". What attracted my attention about the headline was it concerned a fighter named Harry Matthews. The headline read "Harry 'The Kid' Matthews, boxer who fought Marciano dies at 80". It took me a moment, but I soon got it. What was troubling was that during his career, Harry Matthews was never known as "The Kid", he was always Harry "Kid" Matthews and he was so much more than a boxer who had once fought Rocky Marciano. Thus, sadly, at the end, Harry Matthews was eulogized by an AP writer who probably never saw him fight and maybe never really heard of him and that's a shame. Worse, probably the vast majority of the people reading the story didn't recognize the Harry Matthews name and that's an even bigger shame. A shame, but nonetheless understandable, because Harry Matthews was from a different era.

It was a time where a career in boxing deserved the label. Harry Matthews fought, professionally, for more than twenty years, starting in 1936. He climbed into the ring 104 times and walked out a winner 87 times, 61 by knockout. Today, those "stats" would represent the combined careers of two, probably three top fighters. Harry Matthews' era was a time when a fighter would fight sometimes fifteen times in a calendar year, often within two or three weeks. It was a era when there was only eight championship belts and the title meant exactly that; the fighter was the champion of all those competing at a given weight at a given time. Harry Matthews was from a different era.

It was a time when if a fighter moved from one weight division to another it was a major move, not some slender excursion from "junior" to "super" weight class. In 1952, while still competing as one of the prime light heavyweight fighters in the world, Matthews moved up into the heavyweight division to challenge for the title. The way to the title went thru a devastating slugger from Brockton, MA, Rocky Marciano, in retrospect one of the "holy trinity of fearsome heavyweight punchers, along with a young Mike Tyson and Jack Dempsey. Following a brief campaign as a heavyweight, Matthews and Marciano came together in a "heavyweight elimination" match in the storied old ballpark in the Bronx, New York, Yankee Stadium. On that steamy July night in 1952, Matthews took the first round and then, possibly with a bit of "Billy Conn brio", tried to trade punches with the Brockton slugger and didn't finish the second round. Two months later, Marciano won the heavyweight title from Jersey Joe Walcott. As part of his "training" for the Marciano, Matthews fight took a fight with another leading heavyweight contender. Seven weeks prior to the Marciano bout, Matthews went ten tough rounds to a win over a very good Salt Lake City fighter named Rex Layne. Imagine the difficulty it would be convincing a modern day fighter to take a fight like that seven weeks prior to the biggest fight of their career. Harry Matthews was from a different era.

It was a time, 1951, when Matthews, still campaigning as a light heavyweight fought a bout with one of the hardest hitters in the division, a southpaw knockout artist from San Diego, Irish Bob Murphy. It was early in the year, in the mecca of boxing at the time, Madison Square Garden in New York. The bout was part of the Friday Night Fight Series on national TV and I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch the fight as Bob Murphy was a particular favorite of my father. I also have no trouble remembering several things about the fight: Matthews and Murphy began hitting each other from the opening bell and didn't seem to stop until ten rounds were complete and never, not once, in the entire fight, did the fighters come together in a clinch. Jimmy Powers was doing the blow-by-blow on TV in those days and I remember he actually lost his voice in the later rounds as he was forced to shout above a frenzied Garden crowd that only sat down between rounds. Matthews won the decision and Murphy was never the same fighter after that bout. Joey Maxim, the light heavyweight champion, had been scheduled to fighter the winner. Maxim, wisely, took Murphy instead in August of that year and won easily over 15 rounds. Harry Matthews never did get a chance with Maxim. Harry Matthews was from a different era.

It was a time when fighters continued to take on top flight opposition right to the end of their careers. In 1954, as his time in the ring was winding down, Matthews fought the highly regarded Englishman, Don Cockell, not once, but twice, within the space of five weeks, losing both times, once by decision, once by a late KO. Harry Matthews had been fighting for over 18 years when he fought Europe's best heavyweight twice in just over a month. Harry Matthews didn't go easily into the "good night" of retirement. Harry Matthews was from a different era.

That was the reason the headline announcing Harry Matthews' "final ten count" brought me up short. It was sad that the AP got it wrong as far as "Kid" Matthews' last story was concerned. He deserved to go out with a much better farewell from a national news agency. Instead the story got his nickname wrong and defined his career by one losing fight in a ballpark in New York. Harry Matthews was, indeed, from another era. He was from, and of, a long gone era in boxing that will never been seen again. It was an era when fighters like Harry "Kid" Matthews were called "pugs". On reflection, there should have been a better name for them, a much better name.


Bernie McCoy


Here is his remarkable record for those of you unfamiliar with it.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=012220

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

great article,


harry kid mathews was a very good light-H who was clearly ducked and avoided, which caused mathews to move up.

- its a shame when people mention contenders marciano beat, they fail to mention kid mathews because marciano took him out so fast, but in fact that was one of marciano best wins and preformances and it talks more about marcianos ability rather than kid mathews not being much of a fighter.

- mathews impressed me on film, very skilled boxer with quick hands.

mathews was clearly never the same after the marcianos fight, and drifted into a tailspin retiring soon after the cockell losses when mthews was 32 and by now past his prime.

- i have no doubt had mathews got a shot at light-H title he might have won it, certianly from mills and maybe from maxim.


- jack hurley mathews manager took all the credit for things and made a huge mistake stepping mathews up to heavy division, and that loss ruined mathews mentally. hurley always controlled mathews too much and too all the credit from his fighter.

- but yeah mathews defintley an underated light-H. i would have loved to see a bout between him and maxim, would have been close.