Terry McGovern vs. George Dixon (1st meeting)
Terry McGovern 116 lbs beat George Dixon 116 lbs by TKO in round 8 of 25
- Date: 1900-01-09
- Location: Broadway A.C., New York, New York, USA
- Referee: Johnny White
Dixon, up to this point, had a remarkable career that was scarcely marred by setbacks. Those setbacks, however, took place later in Dixon's career most notably against Frank Erne, and Solly Smith. Dixon, being the great fighter he was, always came back and regained his featherweight title after the defeats. Terry McGovern, whom Dixon was scheduled to meet in a title defense, followed the same road young Dixon followed earlier in "Little Chocolate's" career. Both were dynamic as bantamweights while holding the title and both were never reluctant to bang away with the strongest. Another ironic fact I must recite is that both were never downed against some of the hardest punching opposition a fighter can face. With all that said, there was only one disadvantage Dixon was facing in his title defense...youth. And ultimately youth carried McGovern to a victory but not without a struggle. In the early rounds, Dixon was surprisingly calm and steady against a fighter in which the younger Dixon would of bombed away with. However, this cooler approach played into George's advantage as he outlanded McGovern in the opening rounds. McGovern, who obviously had difficulty coping with the experienced champion, relied on clinching Dixon and pounding his body and heart. In the second, Dixon finally displayed his much-used rush with success as a drove his challenger into the ropes. In the third, Dixon connected with a left followed up by a right which shot Terry's head to the gap between his shoulder blades though McGovern regrouped and shaded Dixon in the fourth round which was highlighted by a right-left combination that staggered Dixon. In the fifth, Dixon landed an uppercut and then a left hook that floored McGovern for the first time in his career. However, McGovern arose to draw blood from Dixon's mouth by ripping to the body. Clinching and hard body punches initiated by McGovern was really all that took place in the following round as well as the seventh. In the eighth, McGovern pounded Dixon to the canvas. McGovern never let up when Dixon made it up and dropped the soon to be ex-champion twice more before manager Tom O'Rourke threw in the sponge. It turned out to be the highlight of McGovern's legendary career and the beginning of the end for Dixon's who went on to lose more bouts than he won after the defeat.
Source: "Black Dynamite Volume III: The Three Colored Aces" By Nat Fleischer