The Boxing Bulletin History Corner: May 7 - 13, 1910 & 1920

By Andrew Fruman

We're back with another edition of the History Corner.  Today, we've got news and fight reports from May 7 to May 13 for the years 1910 and 1920.  In a couple days, we'll be moving on to 1930, 1940 and 1950.

Check out last week's editions of the History Corner: April 30 - May 6, 1910 & 1920
& April 30 - May 6, 1930, 1940 & 1950

In this edition...

• Johnny Coulon vs Phil McGovern - New York, May 12, 1910
• Cyclone Johnny Thompson vs Petter Sullivan - Salt Lake City, May 12, 1910
• Joe Beckett vs Bombardier Billy Wells - British heavyweight title - London, May 10, 1920
• Lew Tendler vs Georges Papin - Jersey City, May 12, 1920
• Jimmy Wilde vs Battling Murray - Philadelphia, May 13, 1920
• Plus plenty more fight reports and pugilistic news of the times...

1910

May 9…

The crowd of fight followers that gathered at the Seal Rock House to watch Jack Johnson (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring) open his training camp in preparation for his July 4 battle with Jim Jeffries, were disappointed when the heavyweight champion decided he would wait a few more days before beginning sparring sessions…

The colored man is anything but anxious to start training, and he will not allow any one to interfere with his plans. He has his own ideas about conditioning himself and he intends to carry them out.

– J. J. Slattery, San Francisco Call

Johnson, who said his weight was 226 pounds, has been limiting his conditioning activities to road work while shedding some of the excess poundage. He did appease the crowd by posing for photographs, and reportedly looked in better shape than previous dispatches had indicated.

The question of who will referee the contest has continued to fill the news pages, although Slattery dismissed the controversy as being irrelevant to the outcome of the bout…

The big battle does not figure to be one that a referee will have to decide. Nobody seems to think a referee will have anything more to do than to count the loser out and keep out of view of the spectators. Both fighters are easy men to referee for.

– J. J. Slattery

May12…

At Sulzer’s Harlem River Casino in New York, World 115lb champion Johnny Coulon won a decisive ten round newspaper decision over Phil McGovern (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring).

McGovern, the younger brother of former bantam and featherweight king Terrible Terry McGovern, was competitive in the early going, managing to drop Coulon with a right to the chin in the third round, but was badly outclassed as the bout moved along. Despite the increasingly one sided nature of the contest, the youngster kept storming out from his corner to start each round, but these aggressive bursts were easily dealt with by Coulon, and McGovern took a bad beating in most of the rounds.

Every round saw McGovern getting weaker, but his ability and bravery in taking the punishment were little short of marvellous.

– New York Times

* * * *

An accident injuring as many as one hundred spectators overshadowed the victory by Cyclone Johnny Thompson (pictured, Cyber Boxing Zone) over local fighter Peter Sullivan at the Saltair Coliseum in Utah…

Above the babel of the voices of nearly 5000 excited fight fans who were leaving the amphitheatre at Saltair about 11 o’clock last night, after the Sullivan-Thompson boxing contest, a crack of breaking boards was heard, followed closely by a deafening roar as the floor under the stairway leading over the saucer bicycle track gave way, allowing the stairway and about 100 persons to crash into four feet of water.

– The Evening Telegram, Salt Lake City

Thompson’s ninth round knockout sent the crowd rushing for the venue’s only exit in the hopes of catching the next train back to the city. A still groggy Sullivan had just been helped to his stool at the time the floor - some distance from the ring - gave way under the surge of people…

As the stairway tumbled into the lake, a panic followed. Men rushed in the direction of the gap, in the floor and fell headlong into the salt water. Women went into hysterics.

Persons who had sufficient presence of mind, formed into human life lines and attempted to pull the struggling men and women out of the water. Others brought long boards and pushed them to those in the water, who had strength enough to hold on while they were dragged to safety.

– The Evening Telegram

At least fifteen individuals suffered serious injuries, although remarkably there were no fatalities. Reportedly the presence of many members of the police department on hand to watch the fight prevented the accident from becoming far more serious, as their knowledge of how to handle the crowd was critical in organizing quick rescue efforts.

May 13…

Matty Baldwin (pictured, Library of Congress) was disqualified by referee Joe Hess in the eighth round of a scheduled ten round clash against Leach Cross at the National Sporting Club in New York. Baldwin’s offense had been to intentionally raise his head up sharply after getting it underneath Cross’ chin while entangled in a clinch.

The New York Times felt that despite the obvious foul, the decision was a little hasty as Cross himself had been "none too clean" during the numerous moments the fighters had become tied up.

The crowd, and the big building was comfortably packed when the main bout started, was up in the air for a moment following the referee’s final action. Arguments waxed rife as to the why and wherefore of his act and as to the correctness of it. That was perhaps, the best feature of the bout, which was in itself none too interesting.

– New York Times

1920

May 10…

In front of "an enormous crowd" at the Olympia in London, Joe Beckett retained his British heavyweight title with a third round knockout over Bombardier Billy Wells. Beckett (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring) had ended Wells long reign as champion a year earlier with a fifth round stoppage.

It was a torrid three rounder, with Wells forcing the pace and having slightly the better of the opening three minutes, only to be hammered to the canvas by a left hand "jolt" in the second session. Wells managed to use his jab to hold off Beckett’s charges for a time in the third, before another crunching shot – this time a right hand to the jaw – dropped him for the full count.

According to the Daily Mail's preview of the bout, blow by blow bulletins would be flashed on "88 screens in 49 different cities and towns."  The Daily Mail explained how the system was to work...

An expert "running report" of the contest will be telephoned from the ringside to The Daily Mail Offices, Carmelite House, E.C., and re-transmitted by a squad of telephone operators over special and emergency trunk lines to the bulletin stations in each town on the list.

As they arrive these messages will be written out as lantern slides and slipped into "reflex" or direct lanterns, and will be instantly visible on large screens.

- The Daily Mail

May 11…

Only five days after losing his middleweight crown, Mike O’Dowd was back in action with a ten round newspaper decision win over Jackie Clark in Camden. The New York Times had O’Dowd winning eight of the ten rounds, reporting that the action was "fast and furious."

May 12…

A full house at the 4th Regiment Armory in Jersey City saw classy Lew Tendler (131) knock-out overmatched Frenchman Georges Papin (135) in the sixth round of a scheduled twelve. Tendler (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring) dropped Papin three times in the fifth round, before finishing matters in the sixth with a left hook.

It was the American debut for Papin, who had entered the bout amid much fanfare thanks to his manager Francois Descamps. He started confidently enough, but a stinging left hand mid-way through the first round put him on the defensive, and for the remainder of the bout he found it impossible to mount any sort of offense as he struggled in vain to fend off Tendler’s aggressive southpaw style.

From the very start Papin was outclassed. He was boxing in a new world, amid strange surrounding and under conditions to which he had not had time to become completely familiar. These conditions might be considered if there were any necessity for finding an alibi for the Frenchman’s downfall. But the bout determined that Papin does not measure up to the standard of America’s first rank lightweights.

– New York Times

May 13…

A crowd of 4,000 spectators saw Georges Carpentier in a three-round sparring session with Jules Leonares at the Arena in Syracuse. The exhibition was the wind-up to a show that also featured five other bouts, although the large gathering was no doubt due to the appearance of the French star.

Carpentier did not disappoint the crowd, his smooth boxing skills drawing rave reviews from all present, though his ability to lift the crown from the head of Jack Dempsey was questioned by the Syracuse Herald’s boxing man…

And yet, marvellous boxer that he is for a heavyweight, as fast as any lightweight, it is hard to conceive Carpentier, clever and speedy as he may be, conquering the great Dempsey – the bull-like rushing Dempsey. The writer has seen Dempsey in training and in battle. The champion is a born fighter, a two-handed aggressive mauler just in his prime.

Carpentier can box rings around Dempsey, but has he the punching power to hurt the champion, who despite his tornado attack never forgets to protect his jaw? And again, is he rugged enough to repulse Dempsey’s rushes?

…Certain it is Carpentier is a wonder boxier, but it is hard to conceive the Frenchman as being the one who will wrest the championship from Dempsey, at least if Dempsey remains the Dempsey he was when he fought Willard and Fulton.

– C J K, Syracuse Herald

* * * *

Jimmy Wilde (107) continued his American tour in Philadelphia, with a second round stoppage of local fighter Battling Murray (110) at the National Athletic Club. The two fighters had met three weeks earlier in Camden with Wilde winning via an eighth round TKO.

As was the case in the previous meeting, Murray started very promisingly…

He landed a right swing to the head that mussed little Wilde all up. Then Murray sailed in and had Jimmy on the ropes several times. The Englishman was forced to resort to all his cunning as a ring general to extricate himself from what looked like perilous positions. It looked as if Wilde was in for a bad night of it judging from the opening session.

– Philadelphia Inquirer

Not surprisingly, Wilde pulled himself together by the start of the second and went about his business as had been expected. Calmly pushing forward, he seized control with a stiff right hand. The punch opened up a cut over the underdog’s left eye and forced Murray to hold. Wilde then drilled home another right, and the follow-up left to the chin had Murray flat on his back…

It looked as if the fight had ended, but when "Pop" O’Brien counted nine Murray rolled over and jumped up. He was no sooner on his feet than Wilde a bound landed another left to the jaw and Murray went down until carried to his corner.

– Philadelphia Inquirer

For more great boxing photos of the past, make sure to visit Antiquities of the Prize Ring.

Check back in a couple days for more of The Boxing Bulletin's History Corner as we move on to the years 1930, 1940 and 1950 for the week of May 7 - 13.

e-mail Andrew Fruman