The Boxing Bulletin History Corner: February 5 - 11, 1910 & 1920

By Andrew Fruman

We're back with another edition of the History Corner.  Today, we've got news and fight reports from February 5 to 11, for the years 1910 and 1920.  Tomorrow, we'll be moving on to 1930, 1940 and 1950.

Check out last week's editions of the History Corner: January 29 - February 4, 1910 & 1920
& January 29 - February 4, 1920, 1930 & 1950

Featured in the edition...

• Sam Langford vs Jim Flynn, Los Angeles - Feb 8, 1910
• Benny Leonard vs Johnny Dundee, Jersey City - Feb 9, 1920
• More news from the upcoming Battling Nelson vs Ad Wolgast lightweight title clash, plus plenty more fight reports.

1910

February 7...

A riot broke out in Cincinnati involving 500 spectators after a 10 rounder between local fighter "Kid" Ashe and Jack Morgan of Indianapolis. There were reports of policemen being badly beaten, while many in attendance were injured in the fracas. As for the fight, Ashe received the newspaper decision.

February 8…

Before a sold out crowd at the Naud Junction Pavilion in Los Angeles, Fireman Jim Flynn (pictured left, Library of Congress Collection) eschewed the finer points of ring etiquette in rushing and mauling his way to a 10 round newspaper decision over Sam Langford. While the majority of papers scored the bout for Flynn, the Los Angeles Times scored the fight for Langford, feeling his clean punches were more effective than Flynn’s battering ram tactics.

Langford was expected to knock Flynn out, and there was some talk afterward that he may have been holding something back in order to secure another match with the Fireman. Langford’s manager Joe Woodman didn’t care much for those rumors or the way Flynn was allowed to circumvent the rules...

All this talk about Langford holding himself in for another match is rot; he simply did the best he could in the kind of a fight Flynn was permitted to put up. That cut over his eye was made by Flynn’s head in the first round; not by a blow and the cut on the nose was made by the heel of Flynn’s glove. I admit that Langford fouled, but not until after Flynn was permitted to get away with it round after round. I can’t see my way clear to come back here with Langford while those conditions prevail. It was a contest of wrestling, butting and rough and tumble work, such as is rarely seen in the ring. - Joe Woodman

February 9…

Owen Moran turned the tables on Matty Baldwin at the Armory Athletic Association, winning a clear cut 12 round decision. The local fighter couldn’t keep up with the Englishman, who was much improved from the rusty fighter that lost to Baldwin a couple weeks earlier. Baldwin had a difficult time finding the range on the clever Moran who mixed in some hard right hands to the body along with his sharp left jab.

February 10...

With the city of Alameda refusing to allow the staging of the lightweight title bout between champion Battling Nelson and challenger Ad Wolgast, nearby Richmond stepped in to host the contest. Special arrangements have been made to transport fans from San Francisco and Oakland to the arena in Richmond.

Despite nailing down a location, all matters still haven’t been settled for the contest as arguments have sprung up between Wolgast’s manager Tom Jones and promoter Sid Hester over the film rights. Hester reportedly believes since he’s guaranteed the fighters a certain fee to battle it out, he doesn’t owe the parties any extra money for what profits the films might bring.

February 11…

Philadelphia’s 18 year old bantamweight Pal Moore continued to draw rave reviews as he dismantled sturdy veteran Mickey Delmont at the Olympic Athletic Club in New York. Despite Moore’s dominance, he was a gory sight at the finish, his nose having bled from the first round on. Delmont was also "bleeding profusely" at the close, a right hand to the mouth cutting his lips in the 9th.

With every punch that Moore landed Delmont fought back viciously but unsuccessfully, which means that he fought viciously almost all the time. Moore seldom gave him a chance to get set for return punches. The Philadelphian was here, there, everywhere except where Delmont wanted him to be. – New York Times

The bout was the youngster’s sixth – all victories - of the year and his second ten round outing within a three day span. The heavy schedule has raised some eyebrows, and there was feeling among many spectators that Moore was fighting too frequently and would need to ease up or "go stale under the brunt of his work."

1920

February 6…

In Baltimore, referee "Pop" O’Brien needed a police escort to safely ferry him from the ring after declaring Roy Moore the winner over Memphis Pal Moore...

The Memphis boy gave Roy a boxing lesson and landed as many as five blows in succession frequently throughout the bout without getting one back. He used Roy’s face as a target and seldom missed with either hand. – United Press

According to another wire report, the decision against the "tall, scientific Southerner" was the "rankest, most unfair and startling decision ever rendered in Baltimore."

February 9…

Fighting in front of his hometown Montreal fans, Canadian middleweight champion Eugene Brosseau made a successful return to the ring with a 3rd round stoppage of Wilkes-Barre fighter Jack Holland. The visiting fighter was decisively beaten, touching down 4 times in the final round.

Considered a coming threat in the middleweight division with world title aspirations, Brosseau had not fought since suffering temporary paralysis to his left arm after a bout with George Chip the previous November.

* * * *

Angry boos turned to cheers after promoter Dan Hatfield announced to the crowd in Bridgeport, Connecticut that Irish Patsy Cline’s purse would be donated to charity instead of being paid to the fighter. Cline had just been disqualified by referee Dave Fitzgerald in the 9th round of a scheduled 12 against hometown fighter Lou Bogash for "not trying to box".  Fitzgerald had warned the Irish fighter several times to show some more action, and while Cline "did show a little spurt of speed after the warnings, they were short lived and he contented himself with covering up..."

Many oldtimers who surrounded the ringside were loud in their praise of Dave Fitzgerald’s action and the consensus was that the salutary lesson given Cline will have a wholesome effect upon men of this type who either enter the ring to stall or are out of condition when the time of the contest arrives. – Bridgeport Telegram

* * * *

Lightweight champion Benny Leonard (136 ¼) dominated familiar foe Johnny Dundee (131 ½) over 8 one sided rounds before a capacity crowd of 6,000 at the 4th Regiment Armory in Jersey City.

Dundee came out aggressively and held the title holder on even terms through a give and take opening frame, but by the second round the gulf in class between the two fighters had become apparent. Leonard used his quick left jab to full effect, while mixing in hard right hands that Dundee had no answer for…

From the third round to the finish one round was a repetition of another. Dundee invariably opened with a strong attack, but for the most part his blows fell short or went around the champion’s neck. Leonard, on the other hand, took a turn at offensive work and drove Dundee before him in a shower of blows to the face and body alternately. Frequent sessions of free swinging were furnished, the boxers standing flat-footed and lambasting each other in whirlwind fashion. In these spells Leonard landed more cleanly and oftener, although Dundee’s arms worked in quicker fashion. – New York Times

February 11...

British light-heavyweight champion Noel "Boy" McCormick remained undefeated on his American tour after battling his way to a draw with Tommy Gibbons (pictured right, Library of Congress Collection) at the Arena in Milwaukie, Oregon. It was a fast 10 rounder, in which McCormick "rushed repeatedly" while Gibbons looked to counter. Most of the visible damage was done by Gibbons, and by the close of the action the Englishman’s face was "cut considerably."

Check back in tomorrow for more of The Boxing Bulletin's History Corner as we move on to the years 1930, 1940 and 1950 for the week of February 5 to 11.

e-mail Andrew Fruman