Eddie Bowen

Name: Eddie Bowen
Birth Name: Edwin Auckland Bowen
Hometown: Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Birthplace: Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: 1985-10-00 (Age:80)
Pro Boxer: Record

Eddie Bowen was born on December 6, 1904 in Scranton, PA. His full name was Edwin Auckland Bowen, son of 1896 immigrants from Wales, Harry Bowen and Mary Catherine Mathias. Eddie had an 8th grade education according to U.S. Census records. When Eddie began his pro boxing career in 1922 his first two bouts were in Maryland, but with his parents living in New Castle, PA he fought all but ten of his next sixty bouts in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Eight of those ten 1920's bouts are listed as being held in Washington, DC. Results were included with sports news in local newspapers. Professional boxing was not legalized in the District of Columbia until 1934.

During the buildup to his third bout with Ray Schauer in the span of two months (March to May 1924) local newspapers made much of Eddie's undefeated record. He had one six round decision win against Schauer, but their second bout was a ten round draw. The winner of their rubber match would meet Midget Mike O'Dowd. Plans were being made for the winner of that bout to meet World Flyweight Champion, Pancho Villa, in a title bout in the Sharon or New Castle area to take advantage of the local boxers' popularity and insure a big gate. Villa, from The Philippines, who had fought in Pittsburgh, was a very popular action fighter. He was fighting in Brooklyn, NY as tentative plans were made. When Bowen shellacked Schauer in their third bout, scoring six knockdowns and winning all ten rounds, the stage was set for the pivotal bout with O'Dowd.

Mike O'Dowd and Eddie Bowen had a total of four fights. Bowen had two more bouts in the month leading up to his June 17, 1924 encounter with O'Dowd to remain undefeated. According to the Lima News, by June 17, 1924 Eddie Bowen had been beaten only once in 16 bouts, and had scored 9 kayoes. O'Dowd won by a TKO in the ninth round as Bowen suffered his first loss. They met again on July 16, 1924 and O'Dowd won a ten round "newspaper decision." They had a third fight in Youngstown, OH two months later on September 3, 1924. After Eddie was knocked down four times his corner threw in the towel in the ninth round. They did meet in Sharon, PA one more time the following June 22, 1925 which was declared a no contest in the third round. O'Dowd had won the first two rounds, but suffered an arm injury in the third round resulting in the referee stopping the bout.

A year later Eddie fought a ten round draw with Mike's brother, Phil O'Dowd. He couldn't get past him either, and neither Eddie, or Ray Schauer, or Mike O'Dowd ever fought for a world championship. Mike O'Dowd did lose an eight round decision in 1931 to Barney Ross two years prior to Ross winning his first of four world championships in four weight divisions. A little over a year after the failed plans were being made for the flyweight championship bout with Villa, Pancho tragically passed away on July 14, 1925 in California. Ten days after losing a ten round decision to Jimmy McLarnin he died from Ludwig's angina, a type of skin infection that occurs on the floor of the mouth, under the tongue, that spread to his throat. It is caused by a mouth injury. He was only 23 years old.

Eddie's pro boxing career essentially ended with four bouts in 1928. One was at the Congressional Country Club in Rockville, MD, another in Washington, DC, a third in Greensboro, NC, and a fourth in the Majestic Theater in Danville, VA.

Eddie had only two bouts after his November 14, 1928 marriage to Frances Neugebauer (November 1905 - January 9, 1992), from Pittsburgh, PA at St. Peters Catholic Church in Washington, DC. Three months later on February 9, 1929 Eddie and his brother Andy fought a three round exhibition at Carroll Hall in Washington, DC. Eddie was TKO'd in his one 1929 bout late that year in Lima, OH. The 1930 U.S. Census identifies Eddie and Frances as homeowners in Detroit, MI where he was employed as an inspector at the Kelvinator Plant. Their daughter, Maryann Bowen, was born in Detroit, MI on May 26, 1930. She passed away on December 29, 2001 in Accokeek, Prince George's County, MD. By 1931 the family was living in Washington, DC where Eddie became a taxi cab driver. His final pro boxing contest was a late 1932 TKO loss at the Post Gymnasium in Fort Benning, GA. That bout occurred five days before his 28th birthday. He and Frances were divorced in the 1930's.

The Bowen family was well known in boxing circles as the "Fighting Bowens." Eddie was one of six brothers, each of whom became a boxer. There was one non-boxing sibling. Their sister, Sarah Augusta Daisy Bowen Lockard, born in Wales in July 1893, became a naturalized American citizen in 1908. She worked in a Washington, DC hotel as a waitress following her divorce in the 1920's. She passed away in Washington, DC on April 29, 1976.

Eddie's brothers were:

• William T. "Willie" born March 22, 1891 in Wales - died September 11, 1972
• George Reuben Bowen born April 3, 1892 in Wales - died February 3, 1975 in Los Angeles, CA
• Henry Harold (Andy) Bowen born March 6, 1898 in Rhode Island - died April 4, 1950 in Washington, DC
• Raymond born in Scranton, PA 1906
• John born in Scranton, PA 1907

Ray Bowen was the first boxer licensed to fight professionally in Washington, DC and fought in the first legal bout on May 23, 1934, winning a six round decision over Sailor McKenna at the Anheuser-Busch Warehouse. He became a boxing referee in the Washington, DC area for decades following his boxing retirement later in 1934.

Eddie had a difficult 1931 as a taxi cab driver. On March 1, 1931 Eddie's taxi struck 80 year old Mary Torrence at Nineteenth street and Pennsylvania avenue as she was crossing the street. It was reported in the March 2, 1931 Evening Star that she was taken to Emergency Hospital for serious head and internal injuries. Eddie was arrested and held at the third precinct pending the outcome of the woman's injuries. Mary Elizabeth Torrence died of natural causes at her Washington, DC home on March 14, 1932.

The September 30, 1931 Evening Star said that Eddie Bowen, taxi driver, faked a story that he was robbed of $7 and had his cab stolen. When he saw two policemen examining his unlawfully parked vehicle he made up a story that two African-Americans engaged his cab, then produced a gun, took his money, and then took off with his cab. Eddie later gave a signed statement to two police detectives that he fabricated his original story to avoid getting a ticket.

Social security death records indicate he died in October 1985. Burial was at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suitland, Prince George's County, MD.