On This Day: Torpedo Billy Murphy Remembered

By Peter Silkov

 

‘Torpedo’ Billy Murphy was a dynamite punching fighter, who had a relentlessly aggressive style, which made him a huge favourite with the fan.s He was a dreaded opponent for fighters at or near his weight class. Although he was never more than a bantamweight, Murphy would regularly take on men two or more stones heavier than him, including heavyweights.

Born Thomas William Murphy on November 3, 1863, in Auckland, New Zealand, Murphy left school at the age of 12, and became an apprentice Tailor, yet his real ambitions lay in pursuing a ring career. Murphy started his fighting career in 1882, and for three years, fought all comers. At this point, Billy was boxing with bare knuckles, but by 1886 he had run out of opposition in New Zealand, and moved to Australia, where gloves were now used for most boxing contests. Murphy found that he hit just as hard with gloves on as he did without them and he soon became well known in Australia, and was trained by the renowned Australian fighter turned trainer, Larry Foley. ’Torpedo’ fought as often as he could, against all-comers, and was soon running out of opposition in Australia.

In  1889 Billy sailed to America, where his energetic and aggressive fighting style made him an instant hit with the fans. On January 13, 1890, Murphy knocked out Ike Weir in 14 rounds to win the World featherweight title. Murphy held the title until September 2, 1890, when he quit after 15 rounds against defensive genius Young Griffo in Australia. Although this fight was recognized as a world title fight in Australia and England, in America Murphy had been ‘stripped’ of his world title, for leaving America to return to Australia.

’Torpedo’ was so frustrated by Griffo’s hit and not be hit tactics that he ripped his gloved off and quit the fight, losing his world title in the process. 

Murphy tried to regain the World featherweight title from Griffo on July 22, 1891, but was beaten on a disqualification in the 22nd round.

The Torpedo continued fighting until 1909, taking on all-comers, and often giving away large amounts of weight. His last shot at a world title came on January 22, 1897, when he challenged George Dixon for the World featherweight title in New York, and was knocked out in the 6th round. 

When his fighting career had passed its peak, Murphy formed a booth, which he would take around Australia and New Zealand. 

Billy’s final fight was on August  24, 1909, when at the age of 46, he drew over 4 rounds, with Jimmy Ross.  Murphy’s final record was (100-53-27, 76 koes) Murphy’s impressive knockout record is a testament to why he was nicknamed ‘Torpedo.’

With his fighting career over Murphy returned to his earlier trade as a Tailor and clothes presser.

Billy Murphy is still the only New Zealand born boxer to win a world title.  He was also known during his career as ‘Australian’ Billy Murphy and had three brothers who also had careers as boxers, Tim Draffin Murphy, Bert Murphy, and Jimmy Murphy.  Tim Murphy held the Australian Middleweight title for 10 years.

Torpedo Billy Murphy died on July 26, 1939, aged 75.

Copyright © 2016 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

On This Day: Lou Ambers: The Herkimer Hurricane Remembered

By Peter Silkov

Lou Ambers was born Louis D’Amrosio on November 8, 1913, in Herkimer, New York. Ambers was an extremely tough box-fighter, combining guile and grit, and was a very popular fighter with the fans due to his busy, aggressive style, that earned him the nickname, “The Herkimer Hurricane."

By his own admission, Ambers was a ‘bad boy’ as a youngster, frequently in trouble, usually for fighting, but when he discovered boxing his energies became focused for the first time. In his mid-teens Ambers began spending a number of years fighting ‘bootleg fights.’ These were ‘unofficial’ boxing matches, which took place weekly at little clubs all over the country. Many boxers would start off their fighting careers fighting in these matches. Ambers changed his name from D’Amrosio to prevent his mother from finding out about his choice to box. 

From 1929 Ambers fought in these ’bootleg’ bouts every two to three weeks, earning 10 to 15 dollars per fight. It was a rough introduction to fighting for Ambers, but the money was a small fortune at that time and the fights themselves would prove to be priceless experience for when Ambers began his full fledged official boxing career.

During this time, when he was traveling around America fighting bootleg bouts, Ambers would live like a hobo, riding the trains and living as cheaply as he could between fights, all the while to help support his widowed Mother, and siblings during the Great Depression.

Once he had began his official boxing career in 1932, at the age of18, Ambers soon showed himself to be a tremendous force in the ring, and managed by Al Weill (who would later manage Rocky Marciano) and quickly rose up the lightweight rankings. Ambers was a busy fighter and by the beginning of 1935 Ambers already had a record of 42-1-5. 

On May 10, 1935, he fought the great Tony Canzoneri for the World Lightweight championship, but was beaten on points. Canzoneri was Ambers idol, and Ambers was nervous. Sixteen months later however, on September 3, 1936, Ambers gained a second shot at Canzoneri. This time, a more experienced and confident Ambers came out the winner on points, after a terrific fight, and the new Lightweight Champion of the World.

Over the next two years Ambers fought a number of non-title bouts and defended his world title successfully twice (including a 3rd fight against Canzoneri, which he won again on points.) On August 17, 1938, Ambers defended his title against the great Henry Armstrong. This proved to be a truly savage contest, despite all his toughness and Armstrong, who at this time was one of the greatest and fiercest fighters ever seen in a ring, out-gunned the brave Herkimer Hurricane. Ambers was out-pointed, losing his World Lightweight championship to Armstrong, who already held the Featherweight and Welterweight world titles. Armstrong became the first and only man to hold three world titles simultaneously in three-weight division. 

Despite losing, Ambers had given Armstrong one of his toughest fights, cutting his mouth so bad that Armstrong needed nine stitches after the fight, and had almost collapsed in the later rounds from sickness, due to the blood that he had been swallowing. 

One year later, on August 22, 1939, Ambers and Armstrong fought again, and once more, it was a savage affair, but this time Lou won a controversial point’s decision and regained the World Lightweight championship. Although Ambers regained the title on points, he was helped greatly by the referee Arthur Donovon who took five rounds away from Armstrong for perceived fouling.

After controversially regaining the world title, the wars with Armstrong left their mark on Ambers and after a few non-title fights, he lost his world title on his first defence when he was knocked out by Lew Jenkins in 3 rounds on May 10, 1940. Ambers gained a rematch with Jenkins nine months later, and this time was stopped in the seventh round, of what proved to be his final fight.
After he retired from fighting Ambers joined the Coast Guard during the war, then following the end of WW2 he took a job at Reynolds Metal in Phoenix, Arizona.

Lou Amber's final record official was 88(29koes)-8-6. Although he said himself that, including his bootleg fights, he had 238 fights in all.

Watch Henry Armstrong Vs. Lou Ambers. August 22, 1939, at Yankee Stadium:
 

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

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TBG Book Review: Slats: The Legend & Life Of Jimmy Slattery

 

 The Boxing Glove Sunday Book Review by Peter Silkov

 "Slats: The Legend & Life Of Jimmy Slattery" Written by Rich Blake

Alongside the era of the 1970s and 80s, boxing’s other great golden era is widely agreed to have been the 1920s and 30s. This was a time of million dollar gates, a multitude of talented fighters in every division, and numerous boxing clubs holding sold out fight cards every day of the week. At that time, the light-heavyweight division in particular held some of the most talented fighters of any weight in boxing.  Men like Tommy Loughran, Jack Delaney, Mike Mctigue, Paul Berlenbach, and Maxie Rosenbloom, but the man whom was thought by many to be the most talented of all the fighters in the 175 division was Jimmy Slattery.  

Born in Buffalo, New York, on August 25, 1904, and of Irish descent, Slattery was a unique and mercurial talent, with exceptional speed, mobility, and defensive wizardry.  Slattery would fight with his hands down by his sides, as he bounced about the ring in a manner akin to how a young Muhammad Ali would box some 40 years later. The Irishman also had a good punch in both hands, and the ability to lash out with blinding combinations.  Add to this a toughness, which defied his handsome, yet fragile looking physique and it seems that Slattery had it all. At one point during the 1920s he was heralded as the next World heavyweight champion, and praised and admired by figures such as Jim Corbett and Gene Tunney.  Former World heavyweight champion, Corbett, had described Slattery as “the most perfect fighting machine I ever saw."

Despite all of his ability, Jimmy Slattery was fatally flawed with a love of the nightlife and an idiosyncratic attitude to the serious side of boxing. After turning professional as a lanky 17 year-old, he began to find success as a boy wonder. The adulation and success that quickly came his way soon found him being drawn towards the bright lights, fast cars and glamorous women, rather than the humdrum repetitiveness of training.  Although Slattery would go on to win the World light-Heavyweight championship twice and finish his career with an impressive 111(49koes)-13 record.  His was still a talent perhaps only half realised.  Finished as a top fighter by the age of 28, Slattery’s life soon descended into the chaotic twilight world of alcoholism.

Since his death in 1960, at the age of 56, Slattery has been all but forgotten by the wider boxing world. All of that is about to change now, with Rich Blake’s meticulous and engrossing biography of the wayward, yet, immensely talented boxer, who was being called a ‘Will o’ the Wisp’ of the ring by boxing writers 20 years before the great Willie Pep made that nick name his own.      

Rich has produced a biography that is not only fascinating for the detailed facts, which he uncovers about Slattery’s life, but it is crafted in such a way that it is really hard to put down once you begin reading it. While Rich’s admiration for ‘Slats’ is clear, within these pages, he does not let it colour his work, and is not blind to the fighter’s darker side.

Slattery’s life reads like a film script. An unknown, fragile looking teenager discovers that he can fight when standing up to the street bully, and within five years, he is facing the great Harry Greb, and despite losing to Greb, is being hailed as one of the greatest talents in his or any division.  In the end, however, Slattery’s success would prove to be the trigger of his own ruination and demise.

Slattery rose to fame like a character from Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”  With his fall from the heights being just as fast and spectacular, as his rise.  Slattery in many ways embodied the ‘roaring 20s’, and looked for a while as if he really might be able to burn the candle at both ends, and continue to be a success inside the ring. His boxing career eventually fell apart, just as the roaring 20s came to a devastating end with the wall street crash, and the beginning of the Great Depression.

Rich does a great job of bringing Slattery back to life within the pages of “Slats: The Legend & Life of Jimmy Slattery. Slattery is revealed to be a complicated, flawed, yet, courageous, and a good-hearted man. He succumbed to the pressures and temptations of a success and fame, which came too fast and too soon for someone who was still a teenager when he first started, to taste the forbidden fruits of the fast life.  Indeed, as you read through this biography, and read about the fame and fortune that Slattery’s fistic ability brought to him, it becomes clear how difficult it must have been for any young man to keep a clear head when faced with the intoxicating acclaim, and the increasing demands of the ever growing throngs of fans and ‘hangers on’ that increasingly surrounded him.

Slattery’s boxing career is very well described here, with many of his most important contests analyzed in great detail.  One thing that emerges from these pages is that, despite his flaws and self destructive nature, Slattery still achieved an outstanding career, with his victories over the very best light-heavyweights of his day, plus two reigns as world champion.  If he was a wasted talent, he was a wasted talent who still managed to achieve an awful lot in the short time that he made the boxing ring the stage for his talent.  Slattery’s greatest fights with the likes of Jack Delaney, Paul Berlenbach, and Tommy Loughran are all relived here in great style.  Rich also provides insightful portraits of Slattery’s greatest rivals and the overall effect is to bring back alive these great characters and fighters of the 1920s era.

Undeniably, this is a bittersweet biography.  After experiencing Slattery’s greatest triumphs inside the ring, and being entertained by his daring playboy lifestyle outside of it, we then witness his fall from grace, as both his boxing career and private life collapse, and his steady alcoholic decline to his early death in a tiny hotel room.

This book is a great read for anyone who is interested in boxing’s golden era of the 1920s, and one of that era’s most gifted and flawed characters.  In the end, Slattery was as golden and flawed as the era in which he tasted his greatest success.  Slattery’s life might be seen by some as a tragedy, but can someone who has achieved so much in his life ever be truly tragic?  One thing that Jimmy Slattery was not, is ordinary, he was an extraordinary man in an extraordinary time, and it is good to see him brought back to life here in such a stylish manner.

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

TBG Book Review: Tail of the Gator: The Craig Bodzianowki Story

 

The Boxing Glove Sunday Night Book Review by Peter Silkov

“Tale Of The Gator: The Craig Bodzianowski Story”

Written by  Mike Fitzgerald

“Tale of the Gator” is the inspiring autobiography of Craig Bodzianowski.  During the early 1980s, Bodzianowski was a rising cruiserweight prospect, unbeaten in 13 contests, and just about to break into contendership for the world championship.  He was seen as a very marketable fighter, with the kind of crowd-pleasing fighting style and engaging out-of-the-ring personality that promoters are always so eager to discover.

Then on May 31, 1984, Craig’s fate took a devastating turn when he was involved in a serious crash on his motorcycle. The accident left Bodzianowski with a crushed right leg, and doctors gave him the choice of enduring numerous operations in an effort to save the leg, or else, have it amputated just below the knee.  He was told bluntly that whichever option he took, his boxing career was most certainly over.

Bodzianowski decided on amputation, figuring that he would have a better chance of recovering more mobility with a prosthetic, rather than his severely damaged real limb.  While still in his hospital bed, Craig vowed to himself, his friends, and family around him that he would not only walk again, but that he would fight again in a boxing ring and resume his boxing career.

What followed was one of the greatest comebacks boxing has ever seen.  Bodzianowski did not just return to the ring for one more fight. He picked up his career from where it had been cruelly derailed, and in a plot turn worthy of the Rocky films, fought his way to a shot at the World cruiserweight championship.

This is an intense and emotional book about one man’s determination not to let a cruel twist of fate keep him from following his dreams.

Bodzianowski was born on February 7, 1961, in Chicago, and “Tale of the Gator” gives an entertaining account of his colourful family life, and his early years growing up.  It seems that life round the ‘Gator’ was never boring.

Mike Fitzgerald does a great job in this book of keeping things focused and smooth.  It races along, much like one of Bodzianowski’s fights.  There are many twists and turns along the way.  This is one of those books that once you start to read it, you don’t want to stop until you have finished it.  It is a gripping human-interest story, and the reader will probably be surprised that someone in Hollywood hasn’t bought the rights to this biography with the intentions of making it into a film.  But then again, isn’t that often the way with the film industry.  The greatest real life stories are often overlooked by the suits in Hollywood.

Craig himself comes across in these pages as an extremely intelligent and brave individual, who never allows himself to be beaten by the many obstacles, which appear before him, both before and after he loses his leg.  Boxing is well known as a tough and dangerous endeavour, where you often need more than a little luck, as well as courage and determination, to succeed.  “Tale of the Gator” gives us a fascinating insight into the world of boxing, inside the gyms, and the background politics that the fan does not see on a TV screen. As much as Craig wanted to carry on his boxing career after his accident, there were other people in boxing, some of them high profile, who wanted to see his comeback stopped. 

In the end, this is one of the most engrossing and entertaining boxing autobiographies that you will come across.  There is a nice collection of photos in the middle of the book. One thing that is sadly missing is Craig’s boxing record, but this of course, that can be found easily these days on the Internet.

Craig, himself, tells the story in the first person, and this structure works well, especially with someone like Craig, who really does have an interesting tale to tell.
The narrative is interspersed with interviews with various people from Craig’s life, ranging from family members, to friends, fellow boxers, and former opponents, all of which add to the books overall depth and insight.

Strangely, however, “Tale of the Gator” seems to be out of print at the moment and copies can be hard to find, but they are out there. This is definitely one of those books that is well worth searching out. It deserves to be read, and the memory of Craig Bodzianowski, who sadly died of a heart attack in 2013, deserves to be kept alive.  This is a life affirming tale about what is possible when you decide that you will keep fighting to reach your goals and dreams in life, even when it seems that luck and fate is against you.

The true champions in this world are the people who never give up and never give in to whatever the world throws at them.

“Tale Of The Gator: The Craig Bodzianowski Story” by Mike Fitzgerald was first published in 2000, and can be found second hand if you look hard enough.

Mike Fitzgerald also co-wrote the biographies of heavyweight legends Ken Norton “Going the Distance” and Ernie Shavers “Welcome to the Big Time.” 

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