One Step Ahead of the Law
Boxing in Gans’ day was, in fact, illegal in most venues where it was practiced. And so elaborate preparations were made by police and the fight crowd as to how to properly choreograph the arrests of the pugilists, while allowing the crowd to enjoy its collective self and make arrangements for the use of Thomas Edison’s new invention of moving pictures. It is a shame that there are no rooms full of Gans’ fight films. Despite the scarcity of footage of the Old Master, his moves have been passed down through the years. His art endures. Muhammad Ali’s spectacular “floating like a butterfly” and “rope-a-dope” stratagems, by contrast, have not been copied by modern boxers.
When Gentleman Jim Corbett defeated John L. Sullivan to become the first heavyweight champion under the Marquis of Queensberry rules, boxing was illegal in every one of the United States. Fights were usually staged close to borders so that if necessary fighters could pick up and move to another locale quickly. On July 7, 1889, when the governor of Louisiana prevented the Sullivan-Kilrain fight, the parties moved the fight to Mississippi. When Sullivan fought Corbett, they fought on a barge in New Orleans harbor, to give the authorities the excuse that it was not in their jurisdiction. This was typical of the arrangements that allowed boxing to flourish in the 1890s. Private clubs like Baltimore’s Eureka Athletic Club provided a venue for boxing matches where the law, strictly viewed, only prohibited “public displays of boxing.” When the Eureka Club moved out of Baltimore City and to the outskirts of the county to avoid more strident rules imposed by city officials, one of the officials lamented the loss of revenue to the city in the way of $50 per event permits.
Gans’ professional record cites several instances where a bout was scheduled but the police intervened. This was actually considered a faux-pas, bad form on the part of the police. The accepted way to handle the matter was that, prior to the fight, arrest warrants would be issued. The police serving the warrants typically watched the fights. After all, they were on police business. When the match was over, if no one had died in the ring or been critically injured, and the crowd had behaved, the boxers and managers would scram and the police would go on to other business.
Occasionally, as when Jack Johnson fought Joe Choynski, the fighters would actually be put in jail, a risk all pugilists faced and why few blacks were willing to fight in the South for fear that they might be jailed and lynched. And every now and then, a blow-hard politician made a speech about the immorality of professional pugilism and maybe got a few votes for his efforts.
Although the event itself was illegal, betting rules on prizefighting were scrupulously followed. As many permutations of results as could be imagined could be bet upon. “Three-to-one it won’t go five rounds.” “Gans within six rounds,” they bet at even odds. “Four-to-one it won’t go past seven.” Men who killed for a living or cheated people every day in business would not even consider welching on a boxing bet. The infamy of such an act would stain their reputations for a lifetime. Professional boxing, like cock-fighting, was considered a sacred rite. In his novel Cockfighter, Charles Willeford explains the mentality of the followers of the sport. When the protagonist of the story loses everything he owns on one “hack,” he is much more troubled by the implication that he would try to welch:
“Please accept my apology, Mr. Mansfield. I don’t know why, but I guess I expected an argument.”
Either he was plain ignorant or he was trying to make me angry. A handshake by two cockfighters is as binding as a sworn statement witnessed by a notary public, and he knew this as well as I did. For a long moment I studied his red face and then concluded that he was merely ill at ease on account of Dody’s presence and didn’t know what he was implying. But a bet is a bet.2
Later Willeford delivers the Cocker-Creed: “I am a full-time cockfighter. My goal in life was that little silver coin, not quite as large as a Kennedy half dollar. On one side of the medal there is an engraved statement: Cockfighter of the Year. To a noncocker, this desire might sound childish, but to a cockfighter this award is his ultimate achievement in one of the toughest sports in the world.”3 Mr. Willeford’s description of this single-minded quest applies also to a fighter in quest of a title. As they used to say on the Wide World of Sports, boxing’s appeal can be found in “the human drama of athletic competition, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.” Many times, this agony has included grim episodes of death.
Death in the Ring, in the American Living Room
In 1962 Emile Griffith and Benny “Kid” Paret fought a trio of unforgettable welterweight title bouts, all on national television. The two scrappers, like Barbados Joe Walcott before them, both hailed from Caribbean countries, Griffith from the Bahamas and Paret from Cuba. Their bodies were chiseled like black supermen, more muscular than professional body builders, the long powerful muscles of fighters, not weight lifters.
On three separate occasions, these cat-quick gladiators fought long punishing rounds for the American and world audiences. Griffith, a fearsome puncher at that time, won the first fight, coming from behind to starch Paret with a left hook. Paret took the second bout by decision.
The third fight between the two brilliant Caribbeans has haunted several generations of fight fans, as death was visited upon American living rooms. Before the fight an incident occurred at the weigh-in that would be debated for years. Paret called Griffith “maricon,” faggot in Spanish. He also reportedly brushed behind Griffith in a sexually predatory gesture. As famed New York columnist Jimmy Breslin would later say, “He went looking for trouble and he found it.”
That night Griffith fought like a man possessed and was well ahead in the middle rounds when a snapping left hook to the point of his chin dropped him, but he was saved by the bell. After a few more rounds, Griffith had regained control.
Whatever has been said about Griffith since that tragic night, by all accounts he was a very popular champion, and the loss of the second fight to Paret had sent him into depression. His determination to win the rubber match with Paret was absolute.
The last round of the third fight would spell the end of Benny Paret’s life. As a horrified nation watched, Griffith hurt Paret with a combination, then backed him into a corner. Paret’s left arm got caught behind the ring rope, and Griffith hit him with so many rapid-fire, concussive right-hand punches to the head that later, reporters would say they counted as many as 30 head shots within a few short seconds.
The calls for boxing’s abolition had never been more shrill; Griffith would continue boxing and winning but was never again a knock-out puncher. The coverage of Paret’s death-throes was merciless, as television and newspapers flooded the American psyche with images of the fallen, dead champion. Griffith seemed a broken man after that awful eve. One night, years later while walking the streets of New York, Griffith was beaten senseless by a gang of punks, resulting in his permanent brain damage.
In an effort at a modern redemption song, Griffith was recently introduced to Benny Paret’s son. He asked wanly, a tentative smile on his old face, “Are you the son of ‘the Kid’?” The two men embraced, and then together celebrated the life, not the untimely death, of the great welterweight.
Just as the saga of Joe Gans’ fixed fight in Chicago sent shock waves through the boxing world in 1900, another drama of the lightweight division would shake pugilism to its core in the early 1980s. There have been few ring warriors in history who have exuded as much class as the Nicaraguan lightweight Alexis Arguello. In 1981 he defended his title against an exuberant youngster named Ray Boom Boom Mancini, who announced that he was fighting for the memory of his father, who by then suffered from dementia pugilistica. Boom Boom put up a heroic fight on national television, but was finally halted by the great Arguello. Afterward, Alexis paid tribute to Boom Boom and his father, and many hardened ring-siders had tears welling in their eyes.
A year later Boom Boom became lightweight champion when Arguello moved up to the 140-pound limit. One
hazy November afternoon, as the world watched the national television coverage, Boom Boom defended his crown against a tough Korean named Doo-Koo Kim. Kim had a unique training regimen, consuming large amounts of Ginseng and scribbling “Victory or Death” on his walls.
Sparks flew from the opening bell. Boom Boom got nailed with awkward counters from the strangely wily Korean, and looked out on his feet at several points. The tide turned several times during the fight, with the outcome in doubt until the bitter end, when a super-human well of strength within Boom Boom was exerted in the 14th round and Kim, defenseless, took the last barrage of blows. His legs were still driving him forward until he pitched forward, face first to the canvas, never to regain consciousness.
The viewing public was shocked. For years boxing aficionados had referred to the 13th through the 15th stanzas of a fight as “the championship rounds.” But after Kim’s death, fights longer than 12 rounds were outlawed and network television ceded the live-fight market to cable and closed-circuit television.
Yet amid the death, the scandals, and the fringe criminal element of boxing, its popularity remains in tact. Consider it well, this martial art dating back to the time of Homer.
Whenever there is a loud hue and cry over a “fake fight” it is the underlying dignity of the sport that makes the indignation possible. The same people who cry havoc over a fixed match will yawn at the obvious hoax of professional wrestling, or the steroid-induced record breaking in professional baseball. The amazing aspect of boxing is not the crookedness, but rather the sense of integrity and sportsmanship that has survived over the years. For every thuggish personality, there are several famous gentleman-gladiators such as Alexis Arguello, Sugar Ray Robinson, and the Old Master, Joe Gans.
As the 20th century yielded its place to the 21st, boxing’s popularity was again on a downward slope. But when the next clean-living, straight-hitting superstar like Joe Gans comes along, boxing will experience another renaissance.
Deaths in the ring before the age of television were more common, with the longer fights and the use of smaller gloves. At the turn of the century when the sport was under threat because of the number of deaths in the ring, enthusiasts went to great pains to show how boxing compared to other sports, particularly football. One of the first studies comparing the two was done during this time.4 Ring deaths were fewer than those on the gridiron.
Boxing Is an Essential Piece of Americana
The boxing ring has inspired poets and great writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Jack London and Ernest Hemingway. Boxers, themselves, have also shown a flair for the poetic. When told of a challenger’s amazing speed, a taciturn Sonny Liston asked rhetorically whether the speedster was “fast enough to kiss a bullet?”
The extent to which boxing influences American culture can be seen in the proliferation of boxing idioms in the language. These expressions bespeak the heart of their generation. When the newspapers said that the fans had seen the “Real McCoy” after one of the “Kid’s” great bouts, the phrase caught on in no small part because of the trickery that was so ingrained in the American experience during the gilded age.
When Gans’ mother told him that the world is watching and to bring home the bacon, it stood for more than just providing for his loved ones. By ushering in a future filled with opportunity for black athletes of generations to come, Gans was, as he stated in his famous telegraph to his mother, “bringing home the bacon with lots of gravy on it.”
Another idiom emanating from the world of boxing, and the cinema about the sport, that resonates for Americans is “going the distance.” In the first Rocky movie this goal and its achievement inspired millions of Americans with the grit and determination displayed by Sylvester Stallone’s character. He showed us that when you’re down you’re not out unless you think you are.
And of course there is the Garden. “Remember that night in the Garden.... I could have been a contender....” In Madison Square Garden stands a bronze statue of the ebony boxing master. When visiting Madison Square, one may remember Marlon Brando’s famous soliloquy from On the Waterfront, Bogart from The Harder They Fall, or even Benny Paret’s slow slide to death in his fatal bout against Emile Griffith. But the visitor should also point to the statue of Joe Gans and tell those who don’t know, “That is Joe Gans, the greatest fighter who ever graced the ring.”
Appendix:
Ring Record
The record does not reflect the number of Joe Gans’ amateur fights. The professional record used by the press during Gans’ lifetime begins with the year 1894. Win (W); Loss (L); Draw (D); Scheduled (SCH); No Decision (ND); Exhibition (EXB); Knockout (KO); Technical Knockout (TKO); Determined by Points (PTS); Disqualified on a Foul (F); Newspaper Decision (NewsD). Note: Pennsylvania allowed only newspaper decisions if the match resulted in anything but a knockout.
1894
Opponent: Dave Armstrong; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 12
Opponent: Arthur Coates; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 22
Opponent: Tommy Harden; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 7
Opponent: George Evans; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Opponent: Dave Armstrong; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Opponent: Jack Daly; Site: Pittsburgh, Pa.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 11
Opponent: Dave Horn; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 2
Opponent: Bud Brown; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 10
Opponent: John Ball; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 8
Opponent: Jack McDonald; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 7
Opponent: Dave Horn; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 11
Opponent: John Van Heest; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 9
1895
Date: Jan. 1; Opponent: Samuel Allen; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Date: Feb. 6; Opponent: Fred Sweigert; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: PTS; Rounds: 10
Date: Feb. 7; Opponent: Samuel Young; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 4
Date: Feb. 11; Opponent: John Coats; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: PTS; Rounds: 11
Date: March 4; Opponent: Max Wirsing; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Date: March 6; Opponent: Sol English; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 10 Halted
Date: March 16; Opponent: Howard Wilson; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 10 Halted
Date: March 20; Opponent: Harry Hunt; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 4
Date: April 1; Opponent: W. Edgerton; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: NewsD; Rounds: 6
Date: April 18; Opponent: Dave Armstrong; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 3
Date: April 25; Opponent: W. Edgerton; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 8
Date: May 4; Opponent: Frank Peabody; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Date: May 9; Opponent: Howard Wilson; Site: Washington, D.C.; Wins: W; Result: PTS; Rounds: 10
Date: May 20; Opponent: Benny Peterson; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 17
Date: July 15; Opponent: George Siddons; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: D; Result: PTS; Rounds: 20
Date: Oct. 21; Opponent: Joe Elliott; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 9
Date: Nov. 18; Opponent: Young Griffo; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: D; Result: PTS; Rounds: 10
Date: Nov. 28; Opponent: George Siddons; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 7
1896
Date: Jan. 11; Opponent: Benny Peterson; Site: Philadelphia, Pa.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 4
Date: Jan. 17; Opponent: Joe Elliott; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 7
Date: Jan. 28; Opponent: Howard Wilson; Site:
Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 8
Date: Feb. 22; Opponent: Jimmy Kennard; Site: Boston, Mass.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 6
Date: March 12; Opponent: Frank Erne; Site: New York, N.Y.; Wins: SCH; Result: No Show
Date: June 8; Opponent: Jimmy Watson; Site: Paterson, N.J.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 10
Date: June 29; Opponent: Tommy Butler; Site: Brooklyn, N.Y.; Wins: W; Result: PTS; Rounds: 12
Date: Aug. 20; Opponent: Jack Williams; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 2
Date: Aug. 31; Opponent: Danny McBride; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: D; Result: PTS; Rounds: 20
Date: Sept. 28; Opponent: John (Jack) Ball; Site: Philadelphia, Pa.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Date: Oct. 6; Opponent: Dal Hawkins; Site: New York, N.Y.; Wins: L; Result: PTS; Rounds: 15 Spect. said Gans won
Date: Oct. 19; Opponent: Jack Williams; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 3
Date: Nov. 12; Opponent: Jerry Marshall; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: PTS; Rounds: 20
Date: Dec. 14; Opponent: Charles Rochette; Site: San Fran., Ca.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 4
1897
Date: April 3; Opponent: Howard Wilson; Site: New York, N.Y.; Wins: W; Result: KO; Rounds: 9
Date: May 19; Opponent: Mike Leonard; Site: San Fran., Ca.; Wins: W; Result: PTS; Rounds: 20
Date: Aug. 24; Opponent: John Coats; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 5
Date: Aug. 24; Opponent: Jerry Marshall; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 8
Date: Aug. 24; Opponent: Jack McCue; Site: Baltimore, Md.; Wins: W; Result: TKO; Rounds: 6
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