Whether or not the favored Griffo was embarrassed by his poor showing against Gans or was simply frustrated from coming off three draws with George Dixon that could have gone his way, or the controversial decision that favored Jack McAuliffe the previous August, Griffo left the ring stating that the bout with Gans was a “fake.” He said “management” (Al Herford) had told him that Gans would not go on unless Griffo promised to let Gans stay the ten rounds.15 Such was the recorded beginning of Gans’ career of fighting to Herford’s direction. Before leaving Baltimore, Griffo challenged Gans to a fight to a finish. Regardless of Griffo’s claim of a prearranged fight, the resulting draw looked good on Gans’ record, precisely what Herford was crafting. Even decades later, boxing expert Nat Fleischer noted that Gans drew national attention by drawing with “the superbly clever ‘Young’ Griffo in ten rounds.”16
The final fight of 1895 earned Gans the imprimatur of “colored feather-weight champion of the South” when he beat nationally acclaimed George Siddons, who was brought to Baltimore from New Orleans by a Philadelphia backer to meet Gans, the black kid with the soaring reputation. The bout was set for 25 rounds with the men weighing in at 125 pounds. Gans beat Siddons with the repeated use of his straight left jabs and feints. Then, when there was an opening, Gans landed his right squarely on Siddon’s jaw. With his keen observation, Gans used the early rounds to study his opponent’s reach, nuances, favored punch, and to measure how best to get at his opponent’s head. By the third round, Gans had sized up Siddons and throughout the fourth to the sixth rounds, nothing seemed to block Gans’ left lead. When Siddons went for a body punch in the seventh, Gans knocked him to the floor with his right to the jaw. The press noted that by the timer’s watch Siddons was out for fourteen seconds, but the referee counted slowly and Siddons was up at nine. “Gans was at him in a flash,” and with his left and right “put him to sleep.”17
The exchange was billed as a “scientific exhibition” without the benefit of coaching from either side, and was the first time the Baltimore Sun covered a Gans event round by round. On November 29, 1895, the paper reported, “His victory last night gives him a just claim to the title.” “Joe Gans, colored, knocked out George Siddons in seven rounds at the Eureka Athletic Club last night. Gans’ victory was a most decisive one.... Gans is a natural fighter, never having had an instructor, and only lately has had the use of training apparatus.”18 This was a masterpiece of understatement, Gans having taught himself in a true up-from-the-bootstrap effort.
Although he had been called a champion lightweight, Gans had been fighting at 125 pounds, generally considered a featherweight limit. Gans never tried for the world featherweight title, held at that time by his good friend George Dixon, although Gans was considered the best fighter at that weight. More money was to be made in the lightweight division, where the best warriors of the day plied their trade.
The toughest, most athletic men in Gans’ day could be found boxing professionally in the lightweight division. Stripped of excess weight, the men of that era averaged in weight from 125 to 155 pounds, so the talent pool was full in the lower weight classes. Lightweight fights were action-packed and provided real entertainment.
In these early years of his fighting life, Gans was already so good that it was reported he could signal his black friends the round of his bout-ending blow. From this, they could exit the hall early to avoid being victimized by white spectators desiring a different outcome. (Many of the club fights denied attendance or membership to blacks. When they were allowed to attend public events, they were segregated into sections of back rows.) Gans was laying a foundation for athletes that would provide income, opportunity, and a source of hope for black Americans in the twentieth century. His grit, determination and professionalism are evident even in the 1890s newspapers, where denigration of African Americans was commonplace. All this time, Gans was creating a new art form, now taken for granted.
By January of 1896 Gans reached another milestone in his early boxing career: he became a traveling man. Gans was at the top of the ladder Herford had constructed, and he and his promoter anticipated spending the year fighting as the “colored featherweight champion of the South,” traveling away from Baltimore, meeting the challenges that his reputation had earned. Herford would spend the year 1896 protecting the Eureka Club from local legislative threats to boxing, growing his professional team, and trying to win big-name matches for Gans. But the steady progress upward was marked by events outside of their control, and before the year was out Gans would be forced to work his way back up the ladder.
The year started positively, with Herford reporting that his fighters were in great demand.19 James Wescott, manager of the Suffolk Athletic Club of Boston, wanted Gans to meet “Spike” Sullivan in Boston on February 10. Samuel Austin of the Lenox Club wanted Gans and Jack Ward, both managed by Herford, to meet challengers in their weight divisions for opening night on Long Island. Herford had matched William McMillan, of Washington, to meet the famous Kid McCoy at the Eureka Club on March 12. But Herford also faced the challenge of a political faction that wanted boxing matches halted in Baltimore. The ensuing controversy gave Herford as much publicity at the time as his boxers.
Political Threats to Boxing
Fight promoters in Baltimore were required to obtain a permit for their boxing matches; however, during the year, the mayor decided to stop issuing them. Many promoters moved outside the city limits, where politics forced the county commissioners to take a stand. By January 28, the president of the county commissioners issued an order to halt boxing matches. The state attorney, the marshal, and the county sheriff weighed in on the matter. The attorney said the law stipulated that if the matches became brutal or the crowd boisterous they were to be stopped. The sheriff reported that he was doing his job because he had stopped one match in the second round because he thought “the crowd would get to fighting.”20 The marshal doubted that the commissioners had ever been witness to a fight. In essence he said, “Let them come see one and judge for themselves.”
Sensing sporting opinion on his side, Herford stated in one interview, “I do not intend to break any law of the State, and boxing contests are not unlawful so long as they are conducted in conformity to the legal restrictions that exist; that is, so long as the gloves are of the prescribed size and the spectators are orderly.”21 He proudly announced to the news media that the crowds were not a problem at the Eureka Club. Herford’s financial success depended on his ability to promote fights. He preached his case, “Now, it is far better to have the matches under the management of a responsible, incorporated club, whose events are announced and can be supervised by the police, than to forbid boxing altogether and thus encourage fights to a finish in private, where no representative of the law can see them.” He ended his verbal sparring match with the commissioners in his typical, playful way, with a final joust, “Boxing is not half so brutal as football, and I may add that the long period in which boxing was publicly permitted in and around Baltimore has not been so productive of misfortune as has the short skating season of this winter.”
With a reputation for knockouts and having been undefeated for five years, Gans made his first appearance outside of Baltimore on January 11, 1896, meeting Benny Peterson in Philadelphia. It was the first time the Baltimore Sun devoted a column announcing the fight of the “undefeated featherweight of the South” and full coverage of his fight.22 Gans knocked his man down in the first, third, and (final) fourth rounds. When he returned to Baltimore, his last two fights in January were billed as “Scientific Glove Contests” and part of a “Boxing carnival.” He knocked out Joe Elliott January 17 in the seventh and beat Howard Wilson in the eighth with Samuel C. Austin of the New York Police Gazette refereeing the match.
Gans Attempts to Get Bouts with Top-Rated White Fighters
Gans was now fighting world-class opposition, having beaten the best black fighters in his weight category, but some of the best white fighters were still dr
awing the color line. His next two significant opponents scheduled at the 125-pound weight limit bowed out. “Spike” Sullivan of Boston, February 22, and Frank Erne of Buffalo, March 12, both failed to show up to fight, and Gans would not get the chance to fight Erne until 1900, four years later. When Sullivan failed to show, Gans fought 129-pound James Kinnard, the “St. Paul Kid,” to a Boston crowd of 4,000. The fight was stopped in the 6th round, with Kinnard considered out.23 The March 12 bout with Frank Erne was to be Gans’ first fight scheduled in New York at the new Manhattan Athletic Club. Tragically, Gans’ wife died four days before that scheduled bout.24 His weight shot up to 137 pounds. However, by the time he left for New York, his weight was down to 127, with Gans stating that he could be below the 125 pound limit by 3:00 P.M. the day of the fight. The publicity for this fight was so great that, for the first time, Gans’ fight history was listed in the papers. Frank Erne had beaten John L. Sullivan of Buffalo and George Siddons. He had fought draws with George Dixon and, like Gans, drawn with Griffo. Erne was climbing the lightweight ladder and considered a possible championship contender, and he saw Gans as a definite threat to this upward mobility.
The match between Erne and Gans was not to go forward, but the cause was not as subsequent histories have suggested, i.e. that Gans failed to make the weight. The Baltimore Sun reported that Erne was anxious to avoid Gans.25 By the 3:00 P.M. weight deadline, Erne weighed 128 and Gans 130—both fighters were clearly above the agreed upon 125-pound weight limit. Erne refused the match, and history has blamed only Gans’ weight for the cancellation, even though neither fighter made the original weight limit. Before leaving New York, Herford challenged Erne to a fight at $1000 per side, one more of Herford’s dogged attempts to get Gans in the ring with Erne.
Although Gans had trouble getting the big match, this period did witness a spike in popularity of the sweet science (one that Gans was at the forefront of creating). The Baltimore Sun now had a regular column titled “The Boxers.” So close to having a shot with a major title contender and losing it, Gans was forced to work his way back up the ladder. On June 8, he fought James Watson, champion of New Jersey, and beat him so thoroughly that by the 10th round, Watson had to be carried to his corner.26 On June 29, Gans got another opportunity to fight in New York, but it would be in a preliminary to Erne’s main event. Before Erne would fight with Jack Downey of Brooklyn at 135 pounds, Gans would fight Tommy Butler of Brooklyn at 130, and Jack Ward, another of Herford’s charges, would fight Jack McKeck, at 110. Gans’ win in a 12-round “hard fight” made news on the same page as Robert Fitzsimmons’ challenge to Tom Sharkey. Fitz was in London when he issued the challenge, and speculation was that the battle might be held in Mexico.27 Both Gans and Erne were now fighting as lightweights, Gans at 130 and Erne at 135. These two up and comers were headed for an eventual showdown.
While in preparation for another marquis preliminary fight, this time in Baltimore with New Yorker Danny McBride in late August, Gans fought “Professor” Jack Williams of Pensacola, Florida. This match was really a favor of Gans to the professor in that Herford had previously refused to match him with Gans, infuriating the “Professor,” who wanted a chance to “stop the colored man.” On August 20, 1896, Williams showed up at Gans’ training quarters with the press requesting a match. Gans was playfully called “Pocahontas” for the bout and displayed his clever footwork in the first round. When the gong rang to open the second round, Gans sent a direct right to the professor’s jaw and knocked him so hard against the ropes that he refused to continue.28 The match with McBride was considered one of the best and most clever boxing matches Baltimore had witnessed. “Fifteen hundred lovers of fistic work” attended the 20-round official draw, the Baltimore Sun announced. The paper noted that McBride was the best fighter Gans had met to date. Gans out-pointed his opponent that night, according to the newspapers.29
By the end of September 1896, Herford was again drawing offers for Gans, one from Tom O’Rourke of the Broadway Athletic Club in New York. But Gans’ remaining bouts for the year had already been scheduled. Gans fought Jack Ball of Newark in Philadelphia on September 28 and knocked him out in the 3rd round. (Ball would die a few years later in an opium den.) Gans had been scheduled to fight two men that night, but the unnamed second contender failed to show.
One of the greatest left-hookers of all time was Gans’ next opponent. In New York on October 6 Gans fought a main event at the 130-pound weight limit with Dal Hawkins of San Francisco, who was originally slated to fight Frank Erne. When Erne dropped out, Gans was recruited to fill in. Gans had severely weakened Hawkins by the end of the sixth. While Hawkins delivered more punches to the body than Gans, Hawkins could not reach Gans’ face. When he did connect, the press called them “taps.” Gans landed repeated hard lefts and rights to Hawkins’ jaw. After fifteen rounds, the referee gave the decision to Hawkins, a decision which “drew hisses from the audience that thought the match should have been called a draw.”30 On the spot Tom O’Rourke offered a rematch to the men, to take place at the Broadway Athletic Club; however, it would be several years before this would happen. When it did, Gans would avenge the decision by knocking Hawkins out in the 2nd round.
Toward the end of 1896 boxing purses were increasing. By December 1, Martin Julian had negotiated a $10,000 purse for Bob Fitzsimmons for a 10-round match in San Francisco with Tom Sharkey. Fitzsimmons was able to get $500 for training expenses. At this time Gans was only able to negotiate a $500 side for a 20-round battle with Jerry Marshall, the “colored featherweight champion of Australia.” The bout was scheduled during the week of the Preakness at Pimlico to attract the horsemen. It was noted that Gans was on the heavy side, even appearing “flabby.” The sportswriter assumed that had Gans been in better shape he could have won the battle before twenty rounds. By the end of the 19th round the Australian was clearly fatigued and Gans made a frustrated statement to Herford when he went to his corner. “I can’t put him out. I can’t get at him.” When they met at the center of the ring for the final round, Marshall pleaded, “Don’t do it,” asking Gans not to knock him out.31
For the last fight of the year, Herford and Joe Gans went to San Francisco to scout out possibilities in the Wild West. Fighting on the same card as Jim Jeffries on December 14 at 132 pounds, Gans knocked out Charles Rochette in the fourth round. Again it was Gans’ powerful straight left that staggered the opposing fighter. Before he could recover Gans had hit him squarely in the jaw with a right.
1897—Rumors of a Fixed Fight
The next year Gans crossed the country fighting in New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. On April 13, Gans fought Howard Wilson at the Polo Athletic Club and knocked him out in the ninth by a left uppercut that “nearly took him off his feet,” followed by two straight rights to the face and jaw.32 In August, Gans faced Isadore Strauss of Philadelphia, who seemed invincible in his recent wins. Both fought at 133 pounds. Gans was called both the “Southern champion” or the “colored lightweight champion of Baltimore.” The match drew a crowd of 400 to Baltimore, along with strong wagering. As in most of his fights, Gans used the initial rounds to study his opponent and was clever at avoiding Strauss’ leads. Through round 4, Gans had avoided Strauss’ reach. Strauss grew weary by the 5th round and Gans landed 3 quick blows to his face, and his opponent went down after a feint and final blow to the chin.33
Although Griffo had previously stated that he wanted to fight Gans to a finish, in September Young Griffo and Gans met again, this time at the Olympic Club in Athens, Pennsylvania, for another 15-round bout to be called a draw if both were left standing. Gans appeared to instigate most of the fighting and the 7th round was vicious. The fight was otherwise considered relatively tame until some brisk action in the 12th, and again rather tame until the 15th, when it was declared a draw. This time Griffo did not call the fight a fake.34
Gans’ second career loss came on September 27, 1897, to Bobby Dobbs at Greenpoint Sporting Club of Long Is
land, New York, when Gans confidently out-boxed his opponent causing him to fall into repeated clinches. The match was initially called a draw by the referee and after some local pressure, the referee changed the decision to a win for Dobbs.35 Bobby Dobbs would go on to found several boxing schools and become known as the father of boxing in both Germany and France. The great heavyweight champion Max Schmeling and the great French middleweight titlist Marcel Cerdan can trace their roots to Dobbs’ work. Schmeling’s life was a whirlwind of controversy as he went from champion to Nazi poster-boy and finally to a hero who saved holocaust victims and became a wealthy philanthropist. Cerdan’s boxing prowess (he was a top fighter during World War II), along with the music of his chanteuse girlfriend Edith Piaf, helped to buoy the spirits of Nazi occupied Europe and keep the resistance alive. Strange as it may seem, later historians accuse Gans of throwing this fight against Dobbs, which most observers thought he won.
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