Herbert (Maori) Slade
Name: Herbert Maori Slade
Birthplace: Kaeo, New Zealand
Died: 1920-00-00 (Age:68)
Height: 185cm
Pro Boxer: Record
- Herbert Slade Gallery
- Managers Jem Mace, Henry J. Rice
- Trainer Jack Brighton
December 19, 1883 Herbert Slade was arrested at Lawrence Kansas for public drunkenness. He was part of a travelling show with John L Sullivan and others. In a touch of irony, he was bailed out by Sullivan, a notorious drunk.
Bob Fitzsimmons later claimed to have bested Slade in a glove contest in 1882 some six months before Slade met Sullivan..
Career Overview
Infamous for his historic match with the renowned John L. Sullivan, the New Zealand-born Slade was a much-hyped protege of former bare knuckle champion Jem Mace. In America, he was known as the "Maori Half-Breed," but this identification was entirely false. He grew up on a farm and, as a young man, briefly earned a living as a butcher. An abnormally large man for that era, Slade was an accomplished athlete, skilled at running, wrestling, and vaulting. He had gained some notoriety in 1881 by repeatedly wrestling William Miller, a popular British wrestler of the period who also claimed to be Australia's heavyweight boxing champion. Subsequently falling under Mace's wing, Slade fought several exhibitions with his new mentor through 1882.
Based on advice from Mace, Richard Kyle Fox, publisher of the National Police Gazette in America, began hyping a bout between Slade and world heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan. Slade and Mace arrived in San Francisco on December 26, 1882. The fight with Sullivan happened before ten thousand people at Madison Square Garden on August 6, 1883. Amateurish and clumsy, Slade was humiliated and badly beaten throughout the match until police stopped the fight after the third round. Sullivan would later name him as one of the toughest men he ever faced. A month after the loss to Sullivan, Herbert was just as easily disposed of by England's champion, Charley Mitchell. Though he went on to box several more exhibitions against both Sullivan and Mitchell, Slade never won another prize fight and retired from the ring in 1901.
Sources: Isenberg, Michael T. John L. Sullivan and His America Boxing Zone profile