On This Day: Leach Cross Remembered

By Peter Silkov

Leach Cross was an outstanding fighter, a tough and gutsy slugger, whose fighting style made him a huge hit with the fans. Known as ‘The Fighting Dentist’ Cross did not need to box for the money as he came from a comfortable family life and founded a successful private dental business. In an era where the lightweight division was overflowing with talented fighters of all styles, Cross fought most of the top names in the division, and proved himself to be one of the best lightweights of his time, and one of the best fighters to never fight for the world title.

Cross was born Louis Charles E Wallach on February 12, 1886, in New York, New York.

‘The Fighting Dentist’ began his professional career in 1905, and fought top names such as Sammy Smith, Young .Loughrey, Mike Glover, Dick Hyland, Harlem Tommy Murphy, Packey Mcfarland, Young Erne, Knockout Ko Brown, Mexico joe Rivers. Bud Anderson, Willie Richie, Charlie White, Joe Shugrue, Ad Wolgast, Gene Delmont, and Johnny Dundee.

Cross fought from 1905 to 1921, but never managed to secure a shot at the world title. Yet, he made a lot of money both in, and out of the ring, with his ring earnings, and his successful dental business, He was able to build his own apartment complex and also a gym, both of which he ran himself. Cross also worked as a very respected referee.

Leach Cross’s record was 33-10-4, 21 koes while his newspaper record (due to the fact that many of his fights came under the ‘No Decision’ rules of the time) was 56-28-13.

Leach Cross died on Sept 7, 1957, aged 71.

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On This Day: Frank Johnson: The Golden Boy of British Boxing

 By Peter Silkov

Frank ’Golden Boy’ Johnson, was a talented boxer-puncher, who during the early 1950s was one of Britain’s most popular fighters.  Born on November 27, 1928, in Manchester, Lancashire, Johnson turned professional in 1946, at the age of 18-years-old.  Johnson began his career as a featherweight, but soon moved up to lightweight and steadily worked his way up the rankings. He won 32 of his first 33 contests, until on July 25, 1952, in his 34th fight, Johnson won the British lightweight championship, by out-pointing Tommy McGovern over 15 rounds.  Six months later, Johnson added the Commonwealth title to his collection, when he traveled to Australia, and stopped Frank Flannery in 10 rounds.

At this point, Johnson was close to gaining a shot at the World lightweight title, but his world title hopes were dashed and his career suddenly veered off the rails. In his next fight after beating Flannery, five months later, Johnson was stripped of his British Lightweight title after he failed to make the weight for a defence against Joe Lucy.  The fight went ahead as a non-title fight and Johnson was out-pointed by Lucy, after giving a listless display.

Two months after this set back, Johnson suffered another blow when he lost his Commonwealth title to Pat Ford, when he was out-pointed over 15 rounds.  Only two months later, on  October 9, 1953, Johnson fought Ford again, in an effort to regain the Commonwealth title, but was defeated again, this time when he was knocked out in the 13th round.

However, Johnson came back with 4 victories in a row, and on April 26, 1955, he regained the British Lightweight title when he out-pointed Joe Lucy over 15 rounds.

Johnson then suffered another loss of form and lost 4 of his next 5 fights, including a rematch to Lucy on April 13, 1956, when he lost his British Lightweight title back to Lucy after being stopped in 8 rounds.

Johnson moved up to the welterweight division after this defeat, and won 4 bouts in a row, before challenging Peter Waterman for the British Welterweight title on December 17, 1956, but after a stirring effort, was stopped in the 10th round.

This proved to be Johnson’s final title fight, and he had just three more contests, of which he won one.  In his last fight on May 21, 1957, against Boswell St Louis, Johnson retired after the 5th round with a damaged hand.  His final record was 47(26koes)-11.

Frank Johnson died on June 7, 1970, aged only 41.

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

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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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Boxing History: Harry 'Kid' Matthews

Remembering....Harry 'Kid' Matthews

Harry Matthews

Harry Matthews was a talented fighter with good boxing skills, who during his professional career, fought from lightweight to heavyweight.  Born on December 9, 1922, in Emmett, Idaho, and turned professional in 1937.  By 1940, Matthews was a full-fledged middleweight. In 1942, a victory and a draw against former World middleweight champion, Al Hostak, put Matthews into the rankings, but defeats to Jack Chase, and Eddie Booker dented his progress. Matthews then joined the US army, and did not fight again until 1946.

Rocky Marciano Vs. Harry Matthews

On his return to the ring, Matthews was winning fights yet, finding it hard to progress up the rankings or earn good money, until wily manager, Jack Hurley, took him on in 1949.  Hurley changed Matthews’ style, from a safety first boxer, to a more aggressive fighter, and the victories started coming in quicker, and Matthews became an attraction.  Matthews put together a long winning run, which saw him climb up the rankings, as he moved up to light-heavyweight and then, heavyweight.  A victory over Rex Layne on May 19, 1952 put Matthews on the edge of a shot at the World heavyweight title, but a 2nd round knockout defeat two months later to Rocky Marciano took him out of the title picture.

Don Cockell & Harry Matthews

Matthews put together some more wins, but his hopes of a world title shot were ended for good when he suffered 3 defeats to England’s Don Cockell. He was out-pointed twice and then stopped in their third meeting. 

Matthews won his final 4 fights, including a 10 rounds victory over former World heavyweight champion, Ezzard Charles.  Matthews’ last fight was a 10-rounds point’s win over Alvin Williams, on November 9, 1956.  His final record was 90(61koes)-7-6.

Harry Matthews died on February 21, 2003, at 80 years old. 

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

Boxing History: Cowboy Eddie Anderson: The Wyoming Cowboy

Remembering...Cowboy Eddie Anderson
October 10, 1906 – February 12, 1970

Cowboy Eddie Anderson was a colourful, rugged fighter, who was born on October 10, 1906, in Wyoming. Although not a big puncher, Anderson was a strong fighter with a great stamina and a huge heart, and in his prime, was a formidable opponent for the very best. Anderson was born Edward Alfred Anderson, and turned professional in 1920, at 14 years old. From the beginning of his career, Anderson was fighting top opposition, and in a 16 year career, Anderson would fight many of the top names from bantamweight to welterweight.

Anderson fought top fighters such as Abe Goldstein, Memphis Pal Moore, Sammy Mandell, Mike Dundee, Frankie Garcia, Eddie Coulon, Red Herring, Ray Miller, Bushy Graham, Benny Bass, Joe Glick, Andre Routis, Babe Herman, Johnny Jadick, Tony Canzoneri, Mike Dundee, Eddie Martin, Sammy Dorfman, Danny Kramer, Eddie Mack, Tracy Cox, Ah Wing Lee, King Tut, and Kid Azteca.

Anderson was ranked highly at lightweight during the mid and late 1920s, and in 1926, had the honour of appearing on the front of “The Ring” magazine. Yet, despite his high ranking, and the quality of his opposition, he had just one aborted attempt at a world title. Anderson was due to challenge Benny Bass on June 10, 1930, for Bass’s World Junior Lightweight championship, but the fight lost it’s world title status when Anderson was unable to make the 130-pound weight limit, being overweight by a quarter of a pound. The two men instead fought a non-title fight, and Bass knocked out the weight drained Anderson in 3 rounds.

Anderson’s final fight was a 4th round knockout defeat to Bobby Venner, on September 23, 1936, he retired with a record of 137(30koes)-85-44.

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

Remembering Joe Velez: An Inspiration to the Sport of Boxing

By IDran James

Remembering….Joey Velez June 23, 1925 - December 7, 2002


The Joey Velez story is one of those epic American tales of a boxer who, despite many obstacles in his life, emerged as one of the most determined and talented boxers to come out of the Pacific Northwest. Velez was a lightweight and a featherweight contender who became very popular in the Spokane, Washington, area in the 1940s and 50s.

Born on June 23, 1925 in Seattle, Washington, Velez would have to face many difficulties in his life. When he was a toddler, ‘Lil’ Joey Velez would contract polio at 17 months. As a result, his left leg was deformed and it would not be until he was five years old that he would be able to walk with crutches, and at 9 years old, he was able to walk unassisted. This was not the end of his health problems. At the age of 10, he would catch pneumonia, and then tuberculosis. He would spend 18 months in hospital, missing more of his childhood that had already been mostly taken away because of his childhood illnesses. Despite this adversity, Velez would go to the gym and overcome his health issues through physical training, which included boxing at the local YWCA.

Like most people that were affected by the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Joey tried to sign up for the armed services, and do his duty for his country. When the Navy and Army turned Velez down at the start of WW2, he would turn to boxing. As an amateur, he would fight many times on military bases and was driven by the anger he felt because of the rejection from the armed forces. He had a very successful amateur career and turned professional in 1947. He would adopt the name ‘Lil` Joey Velez’ in the Pacific Northwest and because well known and respected in boxing circles. His physical disability never was a problem in the ring, and for a man that had so many health problems as a child, his reflexes, and skill did not reflect any of those problems of the past.

Velez would go on to fight such fighters as Joey Dolan, Buddy Washington, Harold Dade, Henry Davis, Pinky Cowan, and George Dunn. Velez would fight until 1953 with a final record of 33 (14kos)-5.

Photo: Jodi Velez-Newel

After he retired from boxing, Velez was successful as a teacher, boxing instructor, graphic artist, and entrepreneur. On December 7, 2002 he died of natural causes. His daughter, Jodi Velez-Newell, has created a wonderful tribute to her Father that is one of the best tributes we have seen. Please check out her site, it is very informative, creative, and a great chronology of the life of a boxer.We could have gone more in depth about his life, but nothing could top her tribute. Please follow the link to her site: http://www.award-graphics.com/joey/index.htm

Copyright © 2015 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes towww.theboxingglove.com

Panama Joe Gans: A Champion Denied a Crown

By Peter Silkov

Panama Joe Gans was one of the most talented fighters of the 1920s, but through a mixture of bad luck and the colour bar, which existed during this time, Gans was denied the chance of fighting for a world title.  Panama Joe was born Cyril Quinton Jr., on November 14, 1896, in Barbados.  When he was a young child his family relocated to Colon, Panama, but life was to be far from easy, especially after Quinton’s father died when Quinton was just 10 years old.  Quinton was soon getting into trouble on the streets as he tried to find money to help his mother feed the family, and things grew worse when Quinton’s mother met a new man, a stepfather whom Quinton despised.  Soon Quinton was living more on the streets than at home and mixing with a gang of petty thieves. 

When he was 12 years old, Quinton was caught by police stealing fish from a local market, and was placed into a detention centre where he would remain for the next 4 years.   

However, far from being the ruin of him, the detention center would turn out to be a positive influence upon Quinton.  The centre was run by the church, and while he was there, Quinton learned to read, write and most important of all, to box. This was the first place where he found that he was naturally gifted with his fists, and started to dream of making his fame and fortune as a world champion boxer.

Upon his release, at the age of 16, Quinton was soon participating in ’smokers’ unofficial fights, which usually took place in the back rooms of saloons.  It was while fighting in these ’smokers’ that Quiton first took on the name of Panama Joe Gans, after the late legendary World lightweight champion, Joe Gans. 

Quinton soon outgrew the ’smokers’ and in 1914 began his official boxing career.  He quickly became a big attraction amongst the Panama fans, and within a year was fighting main events scheduled for 15 and 20 rounds.  Quinton developed into a boxer worthy of carrying the name of Joe Gans. He was a brilliant all-round boxer with skill, speed, and a knockout punch.  But, as his boxing career developed, he would find that his ability, along with his colour, would prove to be his biggest obstacle to reaching the very top, and gaining the world title in which he dreamed.

Starting his career as a lightweight, Quinton soon developed into a welterweight.  His success soon found him forced to take on middleweights, and even light heavyweights, and for much of his career he would often give away weight to his opponents.  It was often the only way that he could secure a fight. 

After winning the Lightweight and Middleweight titles of Panama, Quinton had exhausted his competition in Panama and in 1917 moved to America, basing himself in New York’s Harlem.  In 1918, Quinton was conscripted for a time in the United States Army, reporting to Camp Upton, in Yaphank, NY.  When his boxing background was discovered, Quinton was put to work training the coloured recruit’s in the finer points of boxing.  During his time at Camp Upton, Quinton came to know the camp’s main boxing instructor, Benny Leonard, who had just recently won the World lightweight championship.  The two men would often spar, to keep Leonard trim. Leonard took Quinton under his wing, and taught him some invaluable tricks of the trade that he began to put to good use when he was discharged from the Army at the end of 1918.    

Part of Quinton’s reputation was made in 1919 when he drew praise for his work as a sparring partner for World heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, when Dempsey was getting ready for his title defence against Billy Miske.  Quinton gave Dempsey some of his hardest workouts, despite giving away 40 pounds to the heavyweight champion.

From early 1919 until October 1922, Quinton went 47-2-4 in 53 recorded bouts against an impressive array of top middleweights, and light-heavyweights.  His victories during this time included wins over top fighters such as Jeff Smith, Jamaica Kid, Frank Carbone, Allentown Joe Gans, Jackie Clarke, George Robinson, Tiger Flowers, Nero Chink, and Jack Blackburn. Quinton’s only defeats during this time were disputed newspaper decisions to Jock Malone and Mike Mctigue.   

Despite his success and popularity with the American fans, Quinton could not secure a world title shot, and found himself avoided by top white middleweights such as George Chip, Mike O’Dowd and even Harry Greb, all of whom would not meet him in the ring.  Many boxing people at this time viewed Quinton as being the uncrowned Middleweight champion of the world.  The fact that he never got a chance to challenge for the world’s title, is an indictment of the racist atmosphere of those times.  Ironically one of Quinton’s victims, Tiger Flowers, would himself gain a shot at the World middleweight title in 1926, and beat Harry Greb for the title.  Unfortunately, Flowers was an exception to the general rule of the time. Indeed, he was the first coloured world champion since Jack Johnson lost the World heavyweight title in 1915.

Instead, Quinton had to be content with winning the ironic ‘coloured’ Middleweight championship, which he won from George Robinson on October 8, 1920, after he out- pointed Robinson over 12 rounds.  Quinton would defend this title a number of times over the nest few years, often against other coloured contenders who, like him, were avoided by the top white fighters.

In 1923, Quinton went from being seemingly unbeatable, then his form noticeably dropped after he had suffered a bout of pneumonia, and went a moderate 9-5 in 1923.  Quinton suffered a second, near fatal, attack of pneumonia in late 1923. Although he recovered, defying doctors who had told him he would never box again, and returned to the ring in 1924, the illness left a permanent mark upon Quinton. He was never the same fighter he had been previously.

Quinton lost his Coloured Middleweight championship to Larry Estridge, on June 26, 1924. He then lost a rematch against Estridge two months later, with only his courage taking him the distance in both fights.  It was downhill for Quinton from there on, he went 4-8-2 in his remaining 14 contests, before finally hanging up his gloves in 1928.  He retired with a final record of 72(43koes)-20-7.  One of the most talented fighters of boxing’s golden era, yet, a victim of the times in which he lived. That and his misfortune to lose his athletic ability to illness while still his prime. 

Cyril Quinton died on June 28, 1968, at the age of 72.  He had long since been forgotten by most boxing fans, except for those who had seen or read about him during his heyday. Many considered Panama Joe Gans to be one of the finest fighters of his time.  A true champion who was denied a crown.

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

TBG Book Review: Flight of the Hawk: The Aaron Pryor Story

The Boxing Glove Sunday Book Review by Peter Silkov

"Flight Of the Hawk: The Aaron Pryor Story" By Aaron Pryor and Marshall Terrill

When people talk about the greatest fighters of the 1980s, the names usually mentioned are those of Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, or Thomas Hearns. However, there were many other great fighters who were active during what may well have been one of the last ‘golden eras’ that the sport of boxing will experience. One fighter, whose name was mentioned in the same breath as those of Leonard, Duran, and Hearns during the early 1980s, and who for a while looked as if he had the ability to eclipse the success and fame of all three previously mentioned men, was Arron “The Hawk” Pryor. 

In “Flight of the Hawk,” Aaron Pryor tells us his story, from a difficult and often traumatic childhood, to his discovery of boxing as a teenager. It is a story of how he used his talent as a boxer to achieve wealth, fame, and success, only to then self-destruct, and see everything he had built and achieve collapse around him. He ended up back on the streets of his childhood with nothing except a bad eye and a life threatening drug addiction.

Pryor was one of the most charismatic, and controversial boxers of this time. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 20, 1955, into a dysfunctional family that struggled with poverty and various abuse issues. Pryor was a fighter who seemed to have talent to burn, and burn it he did.  Style-wise he was a fast, free swinging, boxer-fighter.  He fought with the kind of pace and aggression which provoked comparisons with the legendary Henry Armstrong.  He would come forward, throwing punches with both hands from all directions, and as a fight went on, he only seemed to get stronger and faster. In addition to this, Pryor could also box with great skill. Along with these attributes, Pryor had a swashbuckling attitude, he didn’t just want to win his fights, and he wanted to entertain. He would disdain his boxing skills and go toe-to-toe with his opponents, often taking punches he didn’t need to in order to underline his superiority.  Fans quickly took up his chant, ‘Hawk Time’, at his fights, with every contest, he became more popular.

Some purists frowned at Pryor’s approach in the ring. The fans, however, loved it.
After a great amateur career, which saw him just miss out on a place in the 1976 Olympic Games, and compile an amateur record of (204-16, Pryor turned pro in late 1976, and started demolishing opponents with impressive ease. Although he was climbing up the lightweight division with every fight, Pryor found that the top men in the 135 division were not eager to meet him in the ring. So, Pryor moved up to the light-welterweight division and on August 2, 1980, he knocked out Antonio Cervantes, who had been a great world champion in his own right in the 4th round, to win the WBA world light-welterweight championship.

What followed would be 5 years of brilliance, chaos, and ultimately self- destruction.  Pryor would never lose his world title in the ring, instead he was gradually stripped of recognition as world champion by the various world boxing bodies, as his life spiraled out of control.

In all, Pryor made 10 defences of his world title, with his crowning moment being in his 6th defence in November 1982, when he defended the title against the legendary Alexis Arguello.  In a fight that has been recognised as one of the greatest fights of that decade or any decade in fact, Pryor displayed the true extent of his ability for perhaps the first and only time of his professional career. In this fight, Pryor showed clearly that he had the possibility of greatness.

After he had bludgeoned Arguello into a 14th round knockout defeat, the talk was of Pryor fighting the likes of Duran, or Leonard, in what would have been huge fights. Yet, just as he had truly arrived, and was at last gaining the recognition that his talent and hard work deserved, Pryor’s world started to crumble. Although he would make 4 more defences of his world title, including beating Arguello for a second time, in reality, it was all down hill for Pryor after the first fight with Alexis.

With Marshall Terrill, Pryor details his climb to the top, and then the devastating fall back down to earth. His story is an often harrowing one, which shows the true ravages and dehumanization that comes with drug addiction. But, what might have been a great tragedy, in the end, turns into an uplifting story of redemption. As Pryor shows that the strength and will power, which made him a success in the first place, could also lead to his recovery from his addictions.

“Flight Of The Hawk” is interspersed with a lot of interviews with Pryor’s friends, fellow boxers, and family members, which serves to build a detailed and compelling portrait of Aaron, both as a person, and as a fighter.

As is often the case with boxing biographies, this is a great study of the human spirit, and all the conflicting facets that make human beings so complicated. We see once more how one man can be so talented and dedicated, and yet at the same time, how that same single-mindedness that took him to success, could also undo everything he had achieved.

“Flight of the Hawk” was published in 1996, has a number of photos, and Pryor’s full boxing record in its back pages.

This is a fascinating study of one of the greatest boxers of the 1980s, and how a man survived the destruction of that talent, and his boxing career. Just as he was in the ring, Aaron Pryor’s autobiography is hard-hitting, unrelenting, and will hold your attention from the beginning to the end.

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

Billy Petrolle: The Fargo Express

By Peter Silkov

In the 1920s and 30s, Billy Petrolle was one of the toughest fighters of his era, and was one of the outstanding lightweights, at a time when the 135 pound division was the most talented in boxing.  Petrolle was a little dynamo of a fighter, seemingly impervious to punishment himself, he could dish out severe punishment of his own with both hands, and was especially deadly to the body. Within a 12 year professional career, that spanned from 1922 to 1934, Billy fought all the greats of his time, from featherweight to lightweight, including, Barney Ross, Sammy Fuller, Tony Canzoneri, Jimmy Mclarnin, Jack ‘Kid’ Berg, and Jimmy Goodrich, amongst others.
 
Petrolle was born William Michael Petrolle and had two brothers, Pete and Frank, who were also boxers.  But it was Billy who gained the greatest success during his career, with a aggressive and relentless come forward style, his nickname of ‘The Fargo Express’ summed up his fighting style perfectly, and also why he was such a huge hit with the fans.  Petrolle was managed by Jack Hurley, a manager who was full of angles and guided Petrolle into a huge number of profitable fights with fellow top contenders, which grew great crowds and generated a lot of money, even during the depression of the late 20s and early 30s.

Despite his success and popularity with the crowds, Petrolle found a world title opportunity elusive for many years, until Tony Canzoneri finally let him have a try at his World lightweight championship, on November 4, 1932.  Canzoneri was an all- time great, who won world titles at three weights, and put together one of the performances of his career, to outbox and outwork Petrolle for points win after 15 rounds. 

Although he never won a world title, Petrolle retired in 1934 with 200,000 dollars saved from his career. In retirement Petrolle owned an Iron Foundry in his home state of Duluth Minnesota, and also ran a religious goods, gift shop.

Copyright © 2014 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com