BoxRec

I haven't posted here lately, but this is going to be a revival of some thread(s) I had created a few years back. Fighters with similar names who fought more or less at the same time and perhaps could have (or should have or would have) faced each other in the ring, however for whatever reason didn't. In other words, "Philadelphia" Jack O'Brien vs. Jack Root, Bob Foster vs. Mac Foster, Earnie Shavers vs. Ernie Terrell, Tony Tubbs vs. Tony Tucker and so on.

This time around, it's Dan "Porky" Flynn vs. "Fireman" Jim Flynn in a battle of Flynns. Of course, that's somewhat interesting in itself because Jim Flynn's original name was (apparently, I have heard variations) Andrew Chairiglione. Some mystery still surrounds him possibly because he fought so long ago, wikipedia calls him a "bare knuckle boxer" when that era had mostly passed (he could have supplemented his gloved bouts with bare knucks outside of the rings). The Fireman fought when it seems there were not many other Italian or Italian-American boxers of note, at least heavyweights. Porky Flynn on the other hand was indeed an Irish-American, born Daniel F. Flynn.

So, Fireman vs. Porky. Who wins? They had opponents in common, obviously, fighting in the early 1900's and more particularly the 1910's. Both lost early to Jack Dempsey, though Jim Flynn also had an early win against the "Manassa Mauler" (aside: I am aware of the controversy surrounding the first Dempsey-Flynn fight, maybe deserving of a thread in itself, my own opinion for what it's worth might differ from many others). Fireman Jim Flynn, like so many others, probably did not know when to call an end to his career...still in his day was considered a legitimate contender. Even in some of his later fights, during the 1920's, he remained competitive (a reported victory over Tiger Flowers, the joint Flowers-Harry Greb site says Flowers won, I am not sure whether or not Flynn had a great size differential over the middleweight Tiger). And it's this that I think would make the difference, Jim Flynn in a hard-fought 6 round KO over Dan Flynn. Unless, as was frequent in their time, a no-decision/newspaper decision/draw situation intervened.

Anthony

With nicknames like this and the same last name, I just couldn't pass this up. Fireman Flynn vs Porky Flynn, does it get any better?
I would also pick Fireman to win. He seemed to be at least one level higher than the Porkster. Probably by knockout, but it wouldn't have been surprising if it had gone the distance.
Undoubtedly this titantic tilt would have been a fight for the ages.

The Fireman uses pressure to earn a newspaper decision over Dan Flynn. While Fireman Jim was a good puncher, a prime Porky Dan had enough to last the distance and make it a close fight.

Ambling Alp wrote:With nicknames like this and the same last name, I just couldn't pass this up. Fireman Flynn vs Porky Flynn, does it get any better?
I would also pick Fireman to win. He seemed to be at least one level higher than the Porkster. Probably by knockout, but it wouldn't have been surprising if it had gone the distance.
Undoubtedly this titantic tilt would have been a fight for the ages.

Flynn might've taken the first fight, but the rematch would come to be known forevermore as "Porky's Revenge."

Classic fights, classic movies.

Dan enters the ring far to overconfident....he spends too much time hamming it up while the Fireman carves himself a flaming victory. Roasting ol' porky who has to offer up the humble pie for dessert.

BoxBuzz wrote:Dan enters the ring far to overconfident....he spends too much time hamming it up while the Fireman carves himself a flaming victory. Roasting ol' porky who has to offer up the humble pie for dessert.

Porky expresses shock after the fight at how effectively Flynn worked his body over - says his trainers had told him Flynn was a guy who tended to "spare the ribs." Meanwhile, Flynn roundly enjoys having busted Poky's chops and brought home the bacon.

Thanks for the answers. Of course I left the second "n" off Porky's last name in the subject header, tried to correct it but the edit didn't take. Maybe cause it's the subject line.

Anyway, here's another question. Anyone know where Jim Flynn got his nickname? "Porky" is fairly obvious, yet I'm not sure about "Fireman." Was Flynn actually a fireman, in an era when boxers were known to often (outside the ring) have "blue collar" jobs? Examples: Bob Fitzsimmons=blacksmith, James J. Jeffries=boilermaker, Tom Sharkey=sailor, Gus Ruhlin=pressman, Joe Choynski=candy maker etc. Or did Jim Flynn just resemble a fireman in his fighting style, the way a modern relief pitcher might come on to "save" a game in late innings with a great finish? Or, somehow, both? Neither?

Anthony

Trajan wrote:Anyway, here's another question. Anyone know where Jim Flynn got his nickname?

According to his lady friends, it was because he had a great hose. The ladies would cry, "Someone help me put out the fire down below!", and Jimmy Flynn would always come a-running with his trusty Firehose.