Carl Knowles

Name: Carl Knowles
Birth Name: Carl Thomas Knowles
Hometown: Savannah, Georgia, USA
Birthplace: Lindale, Georgia, USA
Died: 1979-09-26 (Age:65)
Height: 179cm
Pro Boxer: Record

Obituary

Rome News Tribune

Carl Knowles' fists took him from the mill village in Lindale, where he was born Oct. 10, 1913 to Madison Square Garden.

One of the best fighters ever to come out of Floyd County, Georgia and certainly the most successful, he started his ring career when he was 15 years old, fighting his first professional fight in 1928 in Lindale against Roy "Kid" Smith. Not knowing the rules of the sport, he decided to sit down when he got tired in the third round, and lost on a TKO. He earned $10.

In the audience that night was Dr. Baron F. Haag, a Savannah fight promoter who was living in Rome at the time. He immediately recognized the young boxer's potential and took him under his wing. Before long Knowles had defeated all the local fighters in the middleweight class and began touring the South.

Knowles was known for a powerful left hook that accounted for 75 knockouts in 125 wins.

Knowles was a good all-around athlete with an abundance of natural talent. He even played baseball in the Textile League for Anchor Duck Mills when he was 13 or 14 years old.

Many people said Knowles was as good a ballplayer as a boxer. Knowles agreed, saying in a 1977 interview that "one of my biggest mistakes was quitting baseball. I feel now that I could have done a lot better in baseball than I did in boxing."