Kid Lavigne vs. Joe Walcott (1st meeting)
Joe Walcott 131 lbs lost to George (Kid) Lavigne 131 lbs by PTS in round 15 of 15
- Date: 1895-12-02
- Location: Empire A.C., Maspeth, Queens, New York, USA
- Referee: Tim Hurst
On December 2nd, 1895, not only did two great warriors collide, but two exceptional managers in Sam Fitzpatrick (manager of Lavigne) and Tom O'Rourke (manager of Walcott) came together as well to produce possibly the greatest fight the whole sport of boxing has ever known. Fitzpatrick, a very smart negotiator, responded on the overconfident O'Rourke who had bet a tremendous fortune on Walcott to knock out Lavigne by making a deal which may or may have not prevented Walcott from becoming lightweight champion. The deal was that if Walcott was unable to knock out the reigning champion in 15 rounds, Lavigne would automatically retain his title. Fitzpatrick also made it clear that Walcott, who had outgrew the lightweight limit quite a while ago, come in at 133lb at most. This he did, but his condition payed a heavy price. For the five rounds, however, Walcott's condition wasn't a factor as he hammered away to the head and body of the "Saginaw Kid", bruising and cutting him badly. Lavigne's ear was also badly swollen. Lavigne finally fought back with some effect in the 6th when Walcott was beginning to fatigue as a result of the perilous struggle he had to take in order to make weight. Walcott, so tired, missed a right hand and fell on his knees. Walcott recuperated and hurt Lavigne with a right in the proceeding round. Lavigne was taking a horrible beating to this point and his facial features were beginning to look grotesque. In the eleventh, Walcott landed an uppercut which tore open Lavigne's ear (allah Sebastion Lujan versus Margarito). Another shot nearly tore it off. Even James J. Corbett sitting at rimngside had a hard time viewing the slaughter and the crowd was pleading in vain for Fitzpatrick to throw in the sponge. He didn't and Lavigne made it out of the round. Walcott continued to punish Lavigne in the 12th, looking for that knockout O'Rourke gambled on. In the 13th, Walcott trying desperately for a knockout, left himself open for a right which downed him. He was up but groggy as Lavigne tried to finish the wounded warrior. In the 14th, Walcott took such a horrible beating that he constantly used the ropes for support. After the round, he told O'Rourke to throw in the sponge and said he couldn't go on. O'Rourke was infuriated and refused to do so and sent Walcott out for the final round. And what a tremendous finish it was as they went at it with a reckless abandon in a round which climaxed one of the greatest ring battles ever. The bout was inevitably awarded to the champion but Walcott gained a lot of credibility.
Source: Black Dynamite Volume III