Del Baxter

Name: Del Baxter
Birth Name: Lew Delbert Baxter
Hometown: Cornish, Utah, USA
Birthplace: Ogden, Utah, USA
Died: 1983-09-01 (Age:74)
Height: 188cm
Pro Boxer: Record

• Dell Baxter is listed in Cornish, UT in the 1930 census. He was 20 years old and working for the railroad.

Del Baxter, the Utah boxing champion from Cornish

By Kenneth Godfrey For The Herald Journal Jan 28, 2017 (0)

On Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, The Herald Journal put together and published all the singled-out individuals from towns in Cache Valley found on Wikipedia. None of the 65 notables had Cornish roots.

However, for one decade, 1924-1934, a heavyweight boxer who resided in Cornish made news in more than 50 Herald Journal articles and was featured in newspaper stories that reached citizens in Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nevada and even California.

On Sept. 3, 1929, this Cornishite, Del Baxter, won the heavyweight boxing championship of Utah by beating Salt Lake City’s Tony Clawson in a Labor Day fight which also celebrated the opening of the Logan Airport.

Four hundred fans called the contest the best fight ever staged in Logan. Both men, powerful and well conditioned, fought to the final gong as Baxter, the Cornish giant was awarded the decision and the crown following eight fast rounds.

Called by reporters the “Big Boy of Cornish,” the “Slow Moving Plowboy,” the “Pride of Cache Valley,” the “Bronze Cornish Giant,” and the “Cornish Battler” in a plethora of articles, Del was the youngest of the 11 children born to F. Alexander and Emily Baxter. A man of few words, he had, a nephew remembered, huge hands.

Later in his life, he seldom talked about his decade-long boxing career. Still, many folk, especially boxing fans in the West, knew who he was and of his ability to compete with the best fighters of his era and region.

His opponents included a former United States Marine heavyweight champion, the Pacific Coast heavyweight champion, and exhibition matches with former heavyweight champions Jack Dempsey, Primo Camera and Max Baer.

That even these contests came with some risk is evidenced by the fact that Dempsey, called “the world’s greatest fighter” in his exhibition with Salt Lake City’s “Battling Lamoreaux,” broke Lamoreaux’s jaw in two places. Baxter, in contrast, “got off with little punishment” in his one round with the Manassa Mauler.

Baxter made “a great hit with Utah ring fans” in his three other exhibition bouts against Dempsey. Well pleased with his power, Jack hired the Comish heavyweight as a sparring partner, and Baxter spent two weeks in Reno “working out with the old mauler.”

As Dempsey attempted a comeback, he and Baxter fought an exhibition in University Stadium in front of 4,000 spectators. Baxter not only fought exhibition bouts with Dempsey in Rock Springs, Wyoming, but also in Logan at the Utah Agricultural College Stadium, where he was cheered by his loyal Cache Valley fans.

A local newspaper headlined his UAC appearance with the words, “Logan (Baxter never resided in Logan) boxer has sparred three champs.” In the article following the headline, a reporter wrote, “Del Baxter, Logan heavyweight, perhaps has the distinction that no other heavyweight in Utah ever had, that of boxing three heavyweight champions of the world.”

In his Aug. 17, 1934 Ogden bout with Max Baer, Del was knocked to the canvas once then got up and was cheered for his gameness. In his one-round Logan exhibition with Signor Primo Camera, another heavyweight world champion called the Elephantine Italian, “Baxter stood up for two minutes like it was nobody’s business.”

As the date of Baxter’s Salt Lake City match with Ed Prante, former United States Marine heavyweight champion drew near, fans did not forget that Del in three exhibition bouts had stayed two full rounds each with the former title holders. “That’s a record,” a reporter wrote.

Del stood, according to some reports, 6 feet 2 inches and weighed about 200 pounds. He began his decade-long boxing career in Richmond, Utah with a second-round knockout. His opponent, Frank Cederholm, called Fort Douglas home.

In his next fight held in Preston, he lost a five-round decision to Grant Merrill. Then in his fourth bout held in the 1928 fall, Bob Brinton of Salt Lake City knocked him out in a match held in the state’s capitol city.

In the following 24 months, Baxter either won or was credited with a draw in 12 successive matches, which culminated in his winning the state heavyweight boxing crown in 1929 by defeating Salt Lake City’s own Tony Clawson. Clawson only agreed to fight Baxter provided the bout would be for the championship. Clawson declared that he had “cleaned up all the heavyweights in Salt Lake City” and Baxter was the only stumbling block in his path to the title.

The fight was a good one. Reporter Jack Christiansen called the match the most aggressive and bitterly fought battle seen in Logan for many many moons.

With the country well into what historian Timothy Egan called The Worst Hard Time, Baxter traveled to Denver, Colorado for a Sentinel Relief Fund-sponsored battle with George Manley. Manley, a reporter noted, carried Denver’s hope for a world light-heavyweight championship. A first class showman and a great fighter, Manley gave fans “a real monies worth” as he flashed about Baxter sinking stinging lefts to the body and rights to the head.

In the seventh round, Del was on his heels and his manager threw in the towel. Manley had just returned after a successful campaign in California and though Baxter was big, strong and tough, Manley possessed the greater boxing skills.

In an effort to improve his skills, Del went through what a reporter called real training in Butte, Montana working out with skilled boxers. Then he agreed to fight a “hard hitting” Butte heavyweight, Frank Prusich. Behind on points, Baxter in the third round connected with Prusich’s chin, stretching him out on the canvas.

Before ending his career, Del engaged in several Los Angeles boxing shows. In one held at the Wilmington Bowl, he knocked out his opponent in the first round. Returning to Cache Valley, Del spoke to the members of Logan’s Junior Chamber of Commerce and was credited with giving a very enjoyable talk.

After ending his boxing career, Del, his wife Myrtle and their four children moved to Pocatello, Idaho where he worked for a construction company. Then the Baxters followed the sun to Los Angeles, where he ran a tire company.

Though he may have seldom spoke about his decade-long boxing career, his skills brought entertainment to the Rocky Mountain region as residents sought something more than thinking of the Great Depression.

The author thanks Thaya Gilmore, a Del Baxter relative, and the ”Eggleston Cousin Connection” family letter she compiled, which made this article possible.