Despite the confidence expressed by Carlos Gracie and his brothers, it was well known that jiu-jitsu was vulnerable to punches. Next to the article mentioned in the above paragraph there was a picture showing Sam MacVea, the American boxer from California, standing over Matsuda. The caption explained that a “professional de luta Japoneza” named Matsuda was knocked out December 31, 1908, in Marigny, France, by a “cross” to the jaw in the first 8 seconds of the fight. The caption added that Matsuda “couldn’t do anything” [“não conseguiu fazer coisa alguma”].
The message was not lost on jiu-jitsu representatives. It was probably no accident that the boxers chosen to challenge jiu-jitsu were generally considered to be of “limted resources”.
Potential opponents were not in short supply. The São Paulo based middleweight boxer Paulino Costa accepted Omori’s open challenge. He said he would enter the ring as a “boxeur”, but would also use capoeiragem, of which he had profound knowledge.136
At the same time, George Gracie, with an enigmatic smile [sorriso enigmatico], accepted the challenge launched November 19 by Pedro Ivo Pereira de Carvalho, of the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil.
Like many other people, Pedro felt that the Gracies had only beaten fake and weak capoeiras. He also challenged Mario Aleixo, who had not yet met (and lost to) George Gracie. Pedro felt that he could represent the national game better than Mario Aleixo, who after all, was not a young man. Aleixo also accepted Pedro’s challenge, saying that it would be a pleasure to confront a capoeira who is said to be a marvel [maravilha]. George added that he would be happy to meet an opponent who is capable of offering resistance to his techniques and looked forward to entering the ring with a representative of the national game.137
On Thusday December 17, 1931 a scandal broke out [Um Escandalo Que Rebenta]. Fernandes alleged that Carlos and Omori went to his house at rua Aristides Lobo, n. 240, and told him “the fight will be arranged so that it ends in a draw“ [“luta combinada, que terminaria num empate”].
The next day Carlos denied the accusation. As later developments proved, “combinadas” were not unknown, and many fighters took part in them. Given the result of the Omori versus Fernandes fight when it finally did take place, the possibility that a “combinada” had been orchestrated can not be dismissed.138
Carlos showed that he learned his lessons from Tex Rickard well. The Grand Equation worked as well in Brazil as in the United States.
The Omori versus Fernandes fight did not happen as scheduled, but all that publicity did not go to waste. Carlos challenged Fernandes on behalf of one of his brothers (as was his custom), in this case Helio, who was 18, weighed 64 kilos, and had no previous public fights. If Fernandes managed to last three rounds against Helio’s jiu-jitsu, Carlos would consider him the winner and let him keep all of the prize money [“toda a bolsa”].
Not to be out-maneuvered by Carlos, Fernandes offered to fight four or all five Gracies in the same night and promised to take no more than 20 minutes to dispose of them. He also one-upped Carlos by offering to donate half of his winner take all purse to homeless Portuguese people.139
Winner-take-all offers were common, almost the rule. Whether they were genuine propositions or simply marketing tricks is an open question.140 Professional fighters knew there was always a possibility of losing, and they weren’t fighting purely for fun or honor. Promoters didn’t need to care, but managers did.
Many fights, perhaps most, ended with no winner. In that case, no one would get paid. Everything considered, it is unlikely that the “winner take all rule” was interpreted literally if indeed it was anything more than a marketing device.
When there was time left over from promoting and marketing fights, Carlos, George, and Helio gave demonstrations. One took place on December 18, 1931 at the academia de jiu-jitsu (referred to in the heading as Academia Gracie). Attending were Chief of Police Dr. Baptista Lusarda, Secretary of Police Dr. Manoel Gonçalves, future newspaper mogul Roberto Marinho, Oscar Santa Maria, and others.141
Perhaps they were angling for positions teaching the police. That had always been excellent grist for advertising. In any case, getting such high-profile people to attend guaranteed press coverage. All in a day’s work.
Steel Bars and Armlocks
Samsão (Sanson) was a big strong, young man from São Paulo, of German descent. He was famous for bending steel bars. In December of 1931, he promised that he would do to Geo Omori what he did to those steel bars. Moreover, he would do it “easily”.142 Omori didn’t consider defeat as even a hypothetical possibility. The son of the country of the Geishas [filho do paiz das ‘gheisas’] declared that Sanson didn’t have enough power to beat him.143
Omori was aware of Samsão’s reputation but was neither impressed nor intimidated. He was ready to fight the boy under any conditions, he said, but he had two conditions of his own. One was that the winner must take all. The other was that the fight must be decided by submission.144
The show was rounded out with three capoeiragem matches, one amateur “catch-as-catch-can” (or “luta livre”) match (all five rounds) and a demonstration of jiu-jitsu self-defense techniques by the Gracie brothers. The capoeiragem fights were Amilcar versus Saracura, and Velludinho versus Jackson (aka KO Jack), and finally Coronel versus Bahiano, both former Gracie opponents.
The catch match was fought between Vico and Machado. Vico was very experienced. It was Machado’s first public fight. He promised that, under the conditions, he would try, but couldn’t promise, to win, but he would in any case, win or lose, do his best to give the fans an exciting show.
The Omori versus Samsão fight took place Wednesday December 30, 1931 at Theatro Republica. It was an eight-round jiu-jitsu versus luta livre match.
Omori and Sanson spent the first two rounds exchanging spectacular techniques [com troca de golpes espectaculares], but to no effect [sem conseguirem seu objectivo]. Early in the third round Omori penetrated Sanson’s “guarda cerrada” [closed guard], took the mounted position and finished with an armlock [chave de braço].
A clear picture in A Noite shows that it was an “up-branching” ude-garami, often called chave de braço americana. Because of Sanson’s enormous belly, Omori was mounted very precariously and couldn’t get Sanson’s elbow in the now standard “paintbrush” position.
Nevertheless, it worked. Sanson was forced to give up in order to avoid a fractured clavicle.145
Capoeiragem demonstrations usually went over well. How well a capoeiragem fight went over depended on how skillful the capoeiras were. The capoeiragem and catch fights pleased the crowd, with the exception of the Bahiano versus Coronel fight [agradaram plenamente, com excepção da semi-final, travada entre os capoeiras Bahiano e Coronel]. Amilcar and Velludinho won their fights by scoring three consecutive take-downs [quedas]. Vico won in the third round with an elbow to the stomach [cotovelada no estomago].
The Gracie’s demonstration of jiu-jitsu was also well received.
The only part of the Bahiano versus Coronel fight, or rather the shameful exhibition that it was, that the fans liked was when the referee, Jose Maria, disqualified both capoeiras for incompetence. It was a clown act in five rounds [uma palhaçada em cinco assaltos]. One of the capoeiras actually seemed to be drunk [diz-se até que um delles foi lutar embriagado]. The fans applauded the referee’s decision.146
The Gracie brothers visited A Noite’s editorial offices to declare that they intended to donate a percentage of the profits from their next jiu-jitsu promotion to a fund in support of the Brazilian national team in the 15th Olympiad to be held the next year in Los Angeles. Their generosity was greatly appreciated.147
The Manassa Mauler
American fight promoter Tex Rickard arguably had a large influence on jiu-jitsu in Brazil. He died in January 6, 1929 in Miami.148 Jack Dempsey continued fighting, mostly exhibitions, and whatever Jack Dempsey did or said was newsworthy in Rio. On August 25, 1931 the Manassa Mauler fought four exhibition bouts i
n Portland Oregon, knocking out Bill Hartwell and Dave McRae, both in the second round and winning decisions over Denny Lenhart and Bob Mariels. Jack seemed slower than usual but none of his opponents had enough skills to test him, reporters decided.149 Dempsey finally gave up boxing for good in 1932 at the age of 37.150
Among the many boxers the Gracie brothers challenged, Jack Dempsey was not one of them. Possibly he was already retired by the time they thought of it. That was unfortunate. Unlike most other boxers, Jack Dempsey might well have taken them on.151
.Chapter 11 Notes
Chapter 12
1932
After winning one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal, all in shooting, in the 1920 Antwerp Olympic games, Brazil faltered in 1924 (no medals), and missed the 1928 games entirely. The 1932 games were to be held in Los Angeles, USA.1 Brazil’s elites wanted to send a team. Money had to be found to pay for it. A number of fund-raising events were conducted in Rio. One of those was an evening of professional fighting,2 promoted by the Gracie brothers. To maximize attendance the event featured super-star Geo Omori fighting a boxer. Carlos Gracie’s youngest brother Helio would make his ring debut, also against a boxer. The show would also offer boxing, luta livre, and capoeiragem matches, something for all tastes.
It wasn’t a total act of altruism or patriotism. Five percent of the proceeds would be donated to the Caixa Olympica (CBD).3 As fund raisers know, offering to donate X percent of the proceeds generally increases the total intake by more than X percent, for a net profit, not including the brand-building and good-will generating aspects of the act. People seeking to increase their name recognition can usually be recruited to donate their time. One such was the samba singer-dancer Carmen Miranda, in 1932 at the start of her career, later to be, for a while at least, a major Hollywood movie star.4
The event had been scheduled for January 15 at Theatro Republica. Omori’s opponent was first named as Tavares Crespo, later as Silvano Costa, and then changed back to Crespo by ring time. Helio’s opponent would be Antonio Portugal. The luta livre match was Jose Soares versus Victorinho (later replaced by Paul Brito), the boxing match was Antonio Moreno versus Jack das Neves. The capoeiragem match was Velludinho versus Corsico. The luta livre, boxing, and capoeiragem matches were five rounds.5
The boxing versus jiu-jitsu matches were to be six 3-minute rounds. The boxers would wear 4-ounce gloves. The jiu-jitsu men would wear kimonos. It was promoted as the first time that boxing had been tested against jiu-jitsu.6 In fact, boxing versus jiu-jitsu was not new, going back to December 31, 1908, when Sam MacVea knocked out Matsuda in Marigny, France.7
In 1908, jiu-jitsu representative Matsuda was an unknown quantity. But Sam MacVea was a boxer of the highest order, a vastly experienced (against top opponents) heavyweight with a major punch.8 The same could not be said about Crespo and Portugal. Crespo was a welterweight, Portugal was a lightweight. Neither had impressive records. Crespo’s boxing record (at the time of the fight) was 43-34-7. Despite his 31 KO victories, Crespo was not regarded as a big puncher. Portugal had less experience overall, but more experience losing, in relative terms, with a 5-12-1 record, with one win by TKO.9 Helio Gracie wasn’t risking his life in the ring with Antonio Portugal.
It was Portugal who challenged Helio, or rather any Gracie. Helio was selected. Despite his lack of boxing skills, Portugal might have felt confident, because he had already knocked out a jiu-jitsu man in Pará.10 Or so it was said, perhaps to hype the fight. Details were not provided. Crespo might have had more legitimate reason to feel lucky. He had had considerable luta livre experience. Of course, the 4-ounce gloves that the boxers would be wearing did not enhance their chances if the contest came to grappling. It was Helio’s first fight. Omori was said be a veteran of “300 combates”.11
In no way did anyone assume that jiu-jitsu was going to have an easy night. Even so, some observers (boxing partisans mostly, it seemed) did not believe that Crespo and Portugal were adequate representatives of the “arte nobre”. According to Diario Carioca, Crespo was technically “shot”. Portugal lacked energy and was technically flawed. But the writer had faith that even with their deficiencies, boxing would prevail. The reasons were simple [vencerá por simples razões]. The simplest reason, the newspaper explained, was that when the jiu-jitsu man got within reach of the boxer’s fists to try to apply his jiu-jitsu “chave”, the boxer, before he felt the effects of the “chave” would unleash his own golpe (punch), thereby winning the fight.12
Diario da Noite expressed similar sentiments on a daily basis between Jauary 11 and the day of the fight. Crespo, despite not being a notable puncher, [apesar de não ser um esmurrador notavel] his punch was violent enough, that if it lands on Omori’s “button”, he will certainly win the fight.13
A Batalha introduced the men who would defend the honor of the “sport de Dempsey” against the “mysterious Asian method of defense” [enigmatico meio de defesa asiatico].14 Tavares Crespo, facing Geo Omori, was the Portuguese veteran, known as the “wild cat” [gato selvagem]” for his fearlessness and courage [destemor e coragem]. Despite what some boxing mavens thought, Crespo’s punch continued to be devastating and no one could withstand his onslaught. Antonio Portugal was an experienced boxer, who also knew the secrets of jiu-jitsu.15
Omori was too well known to need comment. It was Helio Gracie’s first public fight, but he seemed to have the requisite knowledge of jiu-jitsu to win the fight.
Everyone wanted to get into the act. The policy of open challenges was also an open invitation for clowns and attention-seekers. Delmar Xavier and Olympia visited Diario da Noite on the afternoon of the fight on behalf of a friend Waldemar Passe, resident of Piedade a rua Joaquim Silva 119. Waldemar was a “a jogador de capoeiragem de grandes recursos” [a highly skilled capoeira], his friends guaranteed, and was prepared to step into the ring with any of the Gracies.
They promised that Waldemar had the “right stuff” and would not be submitted. Nothing came of it.
That they might not have been entirely serious was suggested by their comment that Waldemar only fought in “beach pyjamas” [pyjama de praia]. If their intention was simply to get their names in the newspaper, they succeeded. They also inadvertently (or not) succeeded in publicizing the fight and the Gracie brand.16
On the afternoon before the fight, at 2:00 p.m., Carlos, Helio, George, and Oswaldo took time out to assault 51 year old former luta romana champion João Baldi outside the Café Sympathia on avenida Rio Branco at the corner of rua Rosario. Apparently, Carlos had tested himself, on January 13 against Baldi at the Clube Carioca de Box on rua do Rosario, no. 133, and found his jiu-jitsu inadequate to the task [o campeão luta romana llevou a melhor]. Carlos wanted to even the score.
After jumping Baldi and bludgeoning him with a “’box’ do ferro” [steel box], the four brothers attempted to flee the scene. George and Oswaldo were collared on the spot by a passing army officer named Newton Medeiros and escorted to jail. Baldi called it “cowardly revenge” [“vingança covarde”], and added that “what they did was low and they didn’t even use ‘jiu-jitsu’ which is supposed be the best fight” [“no entanto fez isso de uma maneira baixo e sobretudo, sem empregar o ‘jiu-jitsu’ que diz ser o melhor arma do mundo….”].17
There was no indication that the brothers received any punishment for this act. Perhaps they thought the rules didn’t apply to them and that they could settle future disputes in a similarly direct manner. They were partly right, and partly wrong.
The reports varied somewhat as to who started it, how many Gracies were involved, and who was arrested. Diario de Noticias said that Baldi (according to his own testimony) left the café and was surrounded by Carlos, Helio, George, and Oswaldo who without saying a word, attacked him with punches [soccos], kicks [rasteiras], and other “methods of attack“ [outros meios de ataque] including a steel box [um ‘box’ de ferro]. Army lieutenant Newton Medeiros, passing by on a bus, jumped off and arrested George. Carlos, Helio,
and Oswaldo ran away. According to Baldi’s account, the incident may have originated in a dispute over money. He claimed that Carlos owed him 100$ for the November 1931 fight with Oswaldo. Baldi “respectfully” asked him about it at the Club Carioca de Box, on January 13, but Carlos refused, and apparently decided to attack Baldi on the street with the help of three of his brothers.18
Diario Carioca said that Carlos, George, and Oswaldo were arrested.19
Correia da Manhã and A Noite treated the story as a sort of joke and suggested that the incident was a one-on-one street fight between George and Baldi. Correia da Manhã said that both George and Baldi were escorted to the police station [conduzir os lutadores as autoridades do 1 distrito]. A Noite said that Baldi attacked George first and they were both “invited” by Newton Medeiros to go to the police station [convidou-os a irem á delegencia do 1 districto].20
Such conflicting reports were not unusual. The Diario de Noticias report, due to its detail, lack of sarcasm, and consistency with subsequent events, seems the most plausible.
Jiu-Jitsu versus Boxing
The fight took place January 16, 1932 at Colyseu Internacional, at Praça da Republica.21
Crespo weighed 71 kilos. Omori generally weighed around 68 kilos and was probably close to that weight on January 16. Helio Gracie versus Antonio Portugal was the semi-final. Geo Omori versus Tavares Crespo was the main event. Both fights were scheduled for six rounds of 3 minutes with a minute between rounds.
Omori took Crespo to the mat even before the gong stopped ringing and quickly finished the Portuguese boxer with a leg lock.22
Choque: The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil 1856-1949 (Volume 1) Page 17