On This Day: Frankie Conley Remembered

By Frankie Conley

Frankie Conley was a strong and durable fighter, who fought many of the worlds top bantamweights during his career. Born Francesco Conte on April 21, 1890, in Platania, Calabria, Italy, Conley came with his family to live in America while still a child, settling in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Conley’s boxing career started in 1905 and became known as the 'Iron Man' of Kenosha. His ability to take a beating and punishment in a fight was renowned. and during his career, he faced fighters such as Chuck Larson, Willie Gardner, Johnny King, Ad Wolgast (Conley faced the future world lightweight champion three times) Charley White, Pete Savoy, Frankie White, Danny Webster, Monte Attell, Joe Mandot, Abe Attell, Johnny Coulon, Joe Coster, Patsy Kline, Johnny Kilbane, Mexican Joe Rivers, Johnny Dundee, Ernest Lucien, Benny Chavez, Benny Kaufman, Owen Moran, and Alvie Miller.

On February 22, 1910, Conley gained some recognition as World bantamweight champion after he stopped Monte Attell in 42 rounds, to win the ‘McCarey' Diamond Belt World bantamweight championship. Conley retained this recognition until February 26, 1911, when he was beaten on a point's decision after 20 rounds, by Johnny Coulon. (Coulon was already recognised as the World bantamweight champion before this fight and would soon establish himself as the undisputed champion.) Johnny Coulon would comment years later on the constant head-butting by Conley "I had a tooth longer than the others, and as sharp as a tiger's fang. I must've made 20 holes in Conley's head before he quit butting."

Frankie Conley carried on fighting until 1923, having his last contest against Billy Kautz, who beat Conley on a 4^th round stoppage after Frankie retired in his corner with a broken hand. Conley’s final record was (34-15-11, 16koes) though like many boxers of his era he is likely to have had many other fighters, which have gone unrecorded.

Copyright © 2017 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

On This Day: Mexican Joe Rivers: World Lightweight Contender

By Peter Silkov

‘Mexican’ Joe Rivers was one of  boxing’s first Mexican-American stars, and one of the forerunners for the many great Mexican, and Mexican-American fighters who would find fame and glory in the ring after him.  Rivers was born Jose Ybarra, on March 19, 1892, with Castillian and Native American Indian ancestry in Los Angeles, California.  Beginning his professional boxing career in 1908 and starting out as a featherweight, Rivers proved to be a fast and strong, with an abundance of heart, and quickly rose up the rankings. 

On July 4, 1912, at just 20 years of age, Rivers took part in the most famous and infamous fight of his career, when he moved up to the lightweight division, and challenged ‘The Michigan Wild Cat’ Ad Wolgast for Wolgast’s World lightweight championship. It proved to be one of the most savage and vicious title fights ever seen in modern times, with Rivers taking an early lead in the action, before a battered Wolgast started to turn things around in the later rounds.  The match came to a abrupt and controversial conclusion in the 13th round, with the fight evenly poised, as both men fought toe-to-toe, swapping punch-for-punch, when suddenly, each man landed simultaneous blows, which sent both tumbling down onto the canvas, in a heap. 

Faced with both fighters laid out upon the canvas, the referee, Jack Welsh, who had handled a number of Wolgast’s fights previously, reached down and picked up the dazed Wolgast, who had fallen on top of Rivers, before proceeding to count out Rivers, as he lay prone on the canvas.  Welsh then declared Wolgast the winner and still champion, before fleeing the ring as the crowd threatened to riot after what they had seen.  Welsh was later to say that he had helped Wolgast up, as he was the last to hit the canvas.  In the aftermath of the controversial fight, both fighters would claim that they had been fouled.  The controversy surrounding the Wolgast vs. Rivers title fight continues to this day. 

Rivers would have one more shot at the world title on July 4th, 1913, when he challenged Willie Richie for the World lightweight championship. Again Rivers made a bright start, but after the tough and clever Richie had figured out his style, he turned the fight around, and knocked Rivers out in the 11th round.

‘Mexican Joe’ would continue to fight at the top level until 1924.  During his career, Rivers met the best featherweights and lightweights of his time, fighters such as Johnny Kilbane, Frankie Conley, Ad Wolgast, Joe Mandot, Leech Cross, Knockout Brown, Willie Richie, Freddie Welsh, Johnny Dundee, and Richie Mitchell.

Out of the ring, Rivers was a bright and colourful character, who spent the money he earned, as quickly as he threw his punches in the ring.  Rivers wore expensive rings, the best clothes, and drove one of the earliest cars.

Rivers’ final fight was a 4 rounds point's defeat to Young McGovern on July 30, 1924. He retired with a final record of 38(20koes)-24-13. Although, he is likely to have had many other fights that haven’t been recorded.

Despite earning around £250,000 during his career, the money soon ran out for Rivers in retirement, and in his later years, he was reduced to living in a windowless hotel room, with his only possession being a 200 year old violin, that had belonged to his Father.

Fate was not kind to Ad Wolgast either, who had been confined to a sanitarium, after losing his mind due to the blows that his head had taken during his great, but savage fighting career. One of the few people to visit Wolgast regularly, was his once bitter opponent, Mexican Joe Rivers. 

Mexican Joe Rivers died on June 25, 1957, aged 65.


Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Boxing History: Battling Nelson: The Durable Dane

Remembering...Oscar “Battling” Nelson
June 5, 1882 - February 7, 1954 

Oscar “Battling” Nelson, otherwise known as the “Durable Dane” was one of the toughest fighters who ever lived. He was a rough and tough fighter, who was seemingly immune to punishment. Turning professional in 1896, Nelson would face the greatest lightweights of his era during his career. It was an era in which the lightweight division was full of a varied array of outstanding fighters, from slick and speedy boxers, to dynamite punchers, rough and tumble brawlers, and then some boxers who could do a bit of everything. The men whom Nelson squared up to, or chased down in the ring, included men such as ‘Cyclone’ Johnny Thompson, Adam Ryan, George Memsic, Aurelio Herrera, Young Corbett 11, Jimmy Britt, Abe Attell, Kid Sullivan, Terry McGovern, Joe Gans, Dick Hyland, Ad Wolgast, ‘Philadelphia’ Pal Moore, George ‘One Round’ Hogan, Leach Cross, Jimmy Reagan, and Freddie Welsh.

Nelson was born Oscar Mattheus Nielson on June 5, 1882, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Nelson’s parents move to Chicago when Oscar was a baby. During his career, Nelson built up a tremendous reputation as being seemingly invulnerable to pain or punishment. In an era where fighters were incredibly tough, Nelson was a man who stood out from the crowd. He was a true iron man whose durability was equaled by his ability to hand out frightful beatings to his opponents. He was a potent puncher who favoured fighting on the inside, and could wreck an opponent’s body with a few well placed left hooks. Nelson favoured hitting his opponents as hard, and as often as he could, until they finally wilted, and collapsed. Some went early, others hung around and tried to fight it out with the ‘Durable Dane’. Very few could succeed going toe to toe with Nelson. Yet to try and outbox Nelson was also a nightmare because he would never stop coming forwards, always on the attack. 

Nelson is most renowned for his 3 fights with the legendary Joe Gans. Nicknamed ‘The Old Master’ Gans was a boxer with a superlative mixture of speed, cleverness and dynamite, and Nelson would be his greatest rival. The two men first fought on September 3, 1906, in a brutal epic bout in the desert of Goldfield, Nevada. By this time, Nelson had beaten just about every other top contender in the lightweight division, while Gans had held the World lightweight championship since 1902. The temperatures rose over 100 degrees, the two men fought for over 40 rounds, with Gans pitting his skills and brain against Nelson’s strength, and almost demonic determination. The finish came in the 42nd round when a worn down and seemingly close to defeat Gans was awarded the victory on a foul, thereby retaining his World lightweight title.

Nelson was bitter about his loss to Gans, and had to wait almost 2 years before he could gain revenge. His chance came on July 4, 1908, when he faced Gans once more for the World lightweight championship. Gans was by now suffering from tuberculosis, and after a brave stand, was knocked out in the 17th round. Nelson underlined his superiority over the ailing Gans two months later when he beat him again, this time knocking out the ‘Old Master’ in 21 rounds, after Gans had put up a brave yet, ultimately doomed performance.

Nelson held his world title until February 22, 1910, when he came face to face with a mirror image of himself in Ad Wolgast, who managed to out-slug, and outlast Nelson in one of the most thrilling and brutal contests ever seen in a boxing ring, finally stopping Nelson in the 40th round. At the finish, Nelson was still on his feet, but was blinded with both eyes cut and nearly shut, as well as being covered in various other cuts and bruises. In the end, the referee stopped the match, to save the blind and groggy Nelson any more punishment. Nelson of course protested bitterly at the stoppage. The match itself was probably the nearest thing to a battle to the death that has been seen in the modern ring, and neither man was ever the same fighter again. 

Battling Nelson carried on fighting until 1917, with the increasingly vain hope of somehow regaining the world title, but although he continued to fight at the top level, the spark had gone from his fighting armor. Nine months after losing his world title to Ad Wolgast, Nelson was counted out for the first time in his career when England’s Owen Moran knocked ‘The Durable Dane’ out in the 11th round. The former iron man had finally become a mere mortal inside the ring. However, he still fought with courage and determination in the ring, and despite being past his best, would never take the full count again. Nelson finally retired in 1920, with his last fight being a 12- round point’s win over Slugger McLaughlin. 

Battling Nelson’s final record was 59(49koes)-19-22. He died on February 7, 1954, aged 71.

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 Copyright © 2016 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com

Ad Wolgast: The Michigan Wild Cat

 By Peter Silkov

Ad Wolgast stands in boxing history as one of the bravest and toughest individuals to ever lace on a glove.  Nicknamed the “Michigan Wild Cat,” Wolgast lived up to his name as one of the wildest and ferocious of fighters, during an era when life was hard and boxers were altogether a harder and tougher breed when compared to the fighters of today. 

Born Adolphus Wolgast, on February 8, 1882, in Cadillac Michigan, Wolgast turned professional in 1906, and almost immediately began mowing through the lightweight class with an almost frightening violence. Wolgast quickly earned himself the reputation of an ultra-tough man of the ring at a time when boxing was over flowing with hard bitten tough guys.  However, Wolgast  took his toughness to almost hitherto unparalleled levels.  He seemed impervious to both pain and punishment, while at the same time, being able to dish out a devastating amount of punishment himself.  Wolgast had a good punch in both fists, and his body attacks alone could wreck a man. 

There was just one man in his division who could rival Wolgast in toughness and ferocity, and that was Battling Nelson.  It was fitting then that after fighting his way up the ranks of contenders, and leaving few standing in his wake, Wolgast eventually came face-to-face with Nelson in 1910 to battle for Nelson’s World lightweight crown.  The two men had actually fought a non-title 10-rounder the previous year, which Wolgast had won on points, but that fight was just a preliminary warm up compared to their world title fight on February 22, 1910.  The fight has been described as the most savage battle ever fought in modern times, and its mixture of violence and endurance is unrivalled in modern boxing history.  Both men did their best to tear each other to shreds for 40 rounds, before the referee finally stopped the contest in favour of Wolgast, with Nelson having been rendered helpless and blind by the beating he had endured, but still defiantly on his feet. 

Wolgast was to hold onto his world title for a little over two years, but there is little doubt that the war with Nelson left a permanent mark on him, and it is interesting to note that he would lose 3 of his next 5 fights, albeit in non-title bouts.

On November 28, 1912, Wolgast lost his World lightweight title to Willie Richie, when he was disqualified in the 16th round for a foul blow. It would be the beginning of a long slide downhill. During his peak years Wolgast had earned £240,000 from his fights and vaudeville appearances on stage, but as he stubbornly continued to fight on, despite an obvious slippage in form, Wolgast’s life began to fall apart.

After losing his title to Richie, Wolgast went a sad 19-25-10 in his final fights. 
The terrific punishment which he had absorbed in so many of his fights had taken a terrible toll, and in 1917 he was admitted to a sanatorium having suffered a mental breakdown.  Eventually he was discharged, but by then his wife was taking steps to divorce him and he soon found himself stripped of most of his assets.  Ad returned to the only thing he knew and continued fighting until September 6, 1920, when he was held to a 4-round draw by Lee Morrissey. 

By this time Ad’s mental decline had become so acute that he was put into the care of boxing promoter Jack Doyle, who housed Wolgast in a cottage on the  grounds of his house and allowed him to spend his days training in the gym that was just a few steps away from the little cottage.  Ad trained diligently everyday believing that he was getting ready for a comeback which would make him champion of the world once more.  Everyday Ad asked Doyle when was he going to get his fight, and every day Doyle answered ‘Tomorrow.’  Eventually in 1927, Wolgast became too much for Doyle to handle and was committed to the first of a number of mental institutions where he would spend the rest of his life.  The stories of Ad Wolgast’s final years are not pretty, he spent his final years still training for the fights that now existed only inside his battered mind, yet, his behaviour and illness apparently made him a easy target for many of the orderlies who were supposed to take care of him, and he is said to have endured frequent beatings. Ad Wolgast  passed away on April 14, 1955, leaving behind a story of triumph and glory won at a terrible price. Wolgast's final record was 59(40koes)-13-17 and newspaper decisiom record 22-21-6.

Copyright © 2015 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com