The Marquees of Queensberry gets all the press for his rules but back
in 1743 James Broughton wrote the first set of rules for boxing.
The first boxing magazine was "Boxing Reviewed" in 1790!!
The first ring fatality in a title bout (to my knowledge) was Walter Croots
who dies after a 20th round KO in 1897.
Did you know world champions Kid McCoy, Billy Papke, Freddie Mills and Randy
Turpin all died by committing suicide.
The largest purse Joe Louis ever received was $625,916.00, that was
for his second fight against Billy Conn.
Did you know world champions Stanley Ketchel, Battling Siki, Young Perez,
Clemete Sanchez and Eleoncio Mercedes were all murdered.
No wonder boxing is in bad shape, back when ESPN put on weekly boxing shows
the highest rated one was when Tommy Morrison fought Tim Tomashek. Jeepers
creepers that sucks! Oh yeah second place was Tommy Morrison vs. Bob Quarry
and third was Virgill Hill vs. Mike Peak.
The 4 largest USA Tuesday Night Fights broadcasts were Foreman vs. Everett Martin,
Foreman vs. Ken Lakuska, The final show and Larry Holmes vs. Ray Mercer on
tape delay.
Speaking of TV. Sacramento's channel 3 in 1980 covered the weigh in for the Pete
Ranzany vs. Sal Lopez fight live. The problem was that Ranzany had trouble making
weight and got on the scales completely naked, yep no one warned channel 3 and
Mr. Ranzany was shown to Sacramento in his birthday suit.
They say Mike Tyson was a big boxing fan/historian (which is true) but how
could he then rate Pinklon Thomas as a better boxer than Larry Holmes when
asked to rank his top 10 heavyweights in June of 1985? His number 3 selection
was David Bey...... urgh we should have seen the signs earlier :-)
A lot of people like George Foreman for being honest, here is a case where it
cost "Big" George $30,000. In November 1975 Foreman was sued by Erma Compton
who claimed Foreman had struck her while at a hotel in the Catskills. Foreman
who had just become a preacher answered truthfully "yes" when asked if he struck
the women. And with that one word he lost $30,0000.
Correct me if I am wrong but I think that the Galaxy brothers Khaosai
and Khaokor of Thailand were the first twins to become world champions.
Speaking of family, Floyd "Pretty Boy" Mayweather Jr. dad, Floyd Mayweather Sr.
ring nickname was "Joy". His ring career was cut short by the fact that he
was shot in the leg and had to have 5 surgeries. He was shot in the leg by
the shotgun wielding brother of his girlfriend.
Carmen Basillio once lost a close contest 599 to 533...... no that was not
the punchstats. It was the votes cast for Mayor of Chittenango, New York.
In 1980 HBO refused to use a boxer on one of it's shows because "His trunks
were too long and he didn't look like a fighter". Man guess Naseem Hamed and
Roy Jones are in luck with the current bunch of HBO executives.
Did you know Marvin Hagler is the all time middleweight knock out king
with a .788 % KO percentage, Stanley Ketchel had a .766 % KO percentage.
I think Kid Dixie was the first champion to loose his crown because he
was sent to prison? That was back in 1905.
The first women to be licensed as a referee was Mrs. Bear James of Kansas
City in 1978.
Zora Folley died a strange death. In 1972 while playing around at poolside,
picked up his friend to throw him in the pool. But the 41 year old Folley
slipped and hit his head on the side of the cement pool causing his death.
Talk about a tought neighborhood! 80's World Champions Milton McCrory,
Duane Thomas and Jimmy Paul all grew up on the same street! It was Marx
Street in Detroit.
The first title fight held in a Las Vegas Casino was between Roberto Duran and
Esteban DeJesus at Cesars Palace in 1978.
Do you realize that Primo Carnera still holds the record for most KO's
in a career by a heavyweight champion at 69. Ezzard Charles is second with
58. Charles also holds the record for most bouts in a career by a heavyweight
champion at 122.
Thank you to Duane Thomas for these boxing facts
Fighting as a middleweight early in his pro career future WBA heavyweight
champion Jimmy Ellis lost a 10 round decision to none other than Rubin "Hurricane"
Carter. Well how did that not get in the movie!
When Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johannson meet in their rubber match in
1961 it was the first and only that the same 2 men fought for the heavyweight
title 3 fights in a row.
Bill Brady was the 1st manager of 2 heavyweight champions James Jeffries and
Jim Corbett, it took Don King nearly 90 years to equal that feat.
The smallest attendance at a heavyweight title fight was between Muhammad Ali
and Sonny Liston II with only 2,434 people attending the fight because of
threats of violence.
March 21, 1963 is a unique date in boxing. It is the 1st and only time that
two "undisputed" world champions lost their titles on the same day.
Emile Griffith lost his title to Luis Rodriguez and Sugar Ramos lost to
Davey Moore.
Joe Frazier became well known in America because of his Gold Medal win
the Olympics, but it should not have happend! Joe was allowed to participate
in the Olympics because Buster Mathis who won the Olympic box offs broke
his thumb in a fight and could not go. The ironic part is that it was
Joe Frazier's head that he broke it on in the finals of that tourney.
Talk about adding insult to injury!
Here is a odd fact, the great Carlos Monzon had 60 KO's in his career but
never scored on in the first round. Talk about a slow starter.
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When Rocky Marciano died he left behind no will, no insurance and little in assets.
Rocky was known for his peny pinching and as much as 1 million dollars in cash is
still missing. One time Rocky went to the movies with his daughter and stashed a
brown bag under the seat while they watched the movie. Rocky forgot about the bag
but his daughter remembered and handed the bag to her father. In it was $40,000 in
cash! Rocky hated banks and always kept cash hidden.... perhaps it is buried
somewhere in Brockton?
What heavyweight holds the record for most knockouts?
George Godfrey with 76 (Archie Moore while he fought at heavyweight was never a
full fleged heavy)
Primo Carnera is the record holder for knockouts among heavyweight champions with
68.
Jack Dempsey's heaviest fighting weight was 194 1/2 pounds.
Joe Frazier when asked how he would fare against his son in a boxing match said
"If I said 'Fall down', he's gonna fall down. I'm still his father."
In a case of taking it too far South African boxing fanatic Tony Wolf committed
suicide after his favorite boxer Gerrie Coetzee was beaten by John Tate for the
heavyweight title.
Light heavyweight great Billy Conn was payed $2.50 for his first pro fight.....
his manager took $2.00 of it because "You lost the fight, and besides you got to
eat!"
This might seem impossible but Don King was actually silent once! In a appearance
before a federal Grand Jury in 1981 Don King took the fifth amendment (The right
not to imcriminate one self by making a statement) 350 times!!
I think the quickest kayo in a pro bout for the history of Madison Square Garden
was the 54 seconds it took Gerry Cooney to knock Ken Norten out. E-mail me if
you know of a faster one.
What boxer refereed a heavyweight title fight 8 years before he participated in
one? Geroges Carpentier refereed the Jack Johnson vs. Andre Spoul fight in 1913
and fought Jack Dempsey in 1921 for the heavyweight title.
Speaking of Carpentier, amazingly he scored a knockout in every weight division
from flyweight to heavyweight.
In the fight to the finish days the most number of rounds fought was 276 rounds!!
The bout was between Patsy Tunney and Jack Jones and took place in 1825 in Chesire,
England.
Speaking of fights that went some 75 rounds or more, you must take this into
account. Back in the pre-Queensberry rules a round was ended when one boxer fell
or was wrestled to the ground, then they had 30 seconds to return to scratch and
fight again.
What was the strangest way a bout was stopped? This might qualify. 1981 in Liberal
Kansas a womens fight (yes it was around back then also) was stopped because Robin
Haukaas bra broke!! Angie Lopez won by....... BKO :-)
"I've got it made! I've got a wife and a TV set...... and they're both working."
Willie Pep.
The last title fight to go past 15 rounds was the light heavyweight bout between
Mike McTigue and Battling Siki, McTigue won the title on a 20 round decision.
Victor McGlaglen who won a Academy award for his role in the movie "The Informer"
fought heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six round no decision.
Actors Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Dean Martin were also boxers.
Al McCoy was the first left handed boxer to win a world title when he won the
middleweight title in 1914.
Who is the only heavyweight champion to be knocked out in his pro debut?
Mike Weaver (WBA heavyweight champ) who was knocked out in the third round by
Howard Smith.
The Jack Dempsey vs. Bill Brennan heavyweight title fight was the first scheduled
for 15 rounds.
What was John L. Sullivans middle name?
Lawrence
The great Young Stirbling in 202 fights never fought in the same city twice in a
row.
In a bout between former heavyweight champ Jack Johnson and Jack Thompson in 1923
the referee (Villanmil is the only name mentioned) became so disgusted by the
slowness of the bout that he walked out of the ring! The promotor had to finish
refereeing the bout.
Here are the Real names of some famous boxers
Barney Ross - Barnet Rosofsky,
Jack "Kid" Berg - Judah Bergman,
Kid Chocolate - Eligio Sardinias,
Gerrie Coetzee - Gerhardus Christian Coetzee,
Rocky Graziano - Thomas Rocco Barbella,
Stanley Ketchel - Stanislaus Kiecal,
Benny Leonard - Benjamin Leiner,
Joe Louis - Joseph Louis Barrow,
Rocky Marciano - Rocco Francis Marchegiano,
Archie Moore - Archibald Lee Wright,
Willie Pep - Guglielmo Papaleo,
Sugar Ray Robinson - Walker Smith,
Max Schmeling - Maxmillian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling,
Dick Tiger - Richard Ihetu,
Pancho Villa - Francisco Guilledo,
Jersey Joe Walcott - Arnold Raymond Cream,
Tony Zale - Anthony Florian Zaleski,
For all you English fans. Did you know that John Conteh would have fought Carlos
Monzon if only a 10,000 pound fine for Monzon failing to take a urine test after
his Napoles fight in Paris would have been lifted by the EBU in 1975.
What were the only other two world title bouts to take place in Africa BEFORE the
Ali-Foreman rumble in the jungle?
Dick Tiger vs. Gene Fulmer in Nigeria and Sugar Ramos vs. Floyd Robinson in Ghana.
Hogan "Kid" Bassey was a world traveler. Born in Nigeria he won the featherweight
title while boxing out of England. When he retired he coached amateur boxers for
Yugoslavia of all places? Before returning home to teach Nigerian boxers.
The record for most knockdowns in one non-title bout (or any bout probably) had
to be when Battling Nelson (one of the toughest boxers ever) was knocked down 7
times..... oh yeah his opponent Christy Williams was knocked down 42 times!! And
they thought Nelson was tough. The fight ended in the 17th round with Nelson
declared the winner by knockout.
Did you know Willie Pep fought Sugar Ray Robinson! According to Pep he and Sugar
Ray fought as amateurs in Norwich, Connecticut in 1938. Robinson supposedly won
the decision and weighed in at 128 to Willie's 110.
Did you know Archie Moore suffered a serious back injury after he retired? He had
a car accident...... in Nigeria!
Muhammad Ali was not only a great pro boxer he was also a great amateur. He lost
only one bout in the amateurs to a boxer named Amos Johnson.
Did you know that Angelo Dunde the great trainer of Muhammad also worked the corner
of Jimmy Ellis? That is not unusual..... but he worked the Ellis corner AGAINST
Ali! Angelo Dundee worked with both boxers at the time but since he was only the
"trainer" of Ali and the cornerman for Ellis he decided to work with the camp that
needed him the most.
American president Gerald Ford used to be the boxing coach for Yale University.
In 1926 every world champion was American.
WBA jr. middleweight champ Davey Moore was in the crowd at the Marvin Hagler
knockout win over Caveman Lee and was asked if he would consider moving up in
weight for a fight with Hagler. His reply "No, I'm gonna to starve myself."
Here is proof that boxing and politics do not go together. In 1979 Venzuelan WBA
lightweight champion Ernesto Espana was in Washington D.C for a title fight (that
was cancelled) and tried to deliver a gift to president Carter. A pair of boxing
gloves inscribed "To Jimmy Carter a true world champion of human rights." Espana
was rebuffed by security guards and they also refused to take the gloves to give
to the president at a later time. Espana left after being threatend with arrest.
After his loss to Muhammad Ali British champ Joe Bugner became angry with English
reporters who claimed he did not try hard enough to beat Ali. Bugner screamed out
"Get me Jesus Christ, I'll fight him tomorrow!". Hugh McIllvanney of the London
Observer replied "Ah, Joe, you're only saying that 'cause you know he has bad hands."