give em what they want
These boxing cards seem to be real crowd pleaser. Here are two more. Notice how they both have American flags tied around their waists. Al Kaufman, on the left, fought Jack Johnson to a draw in 1909. (Jack Jonson was the first black man allowed to fight against these white guys)
What I want to know is when they quit bare knuckle fighting?
I got that a little wrong. Here’s what wikipedia says…
By 1902, Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating “Denver” Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. His efforts to win the full title were thwarted as World Heavyweight Champion James J. Jeffries refused to face him. Blacks could box whites in other arenas, but the heavyweight championship was such a respected and coveted position in America that blacks were not deemed worthy to compete for it. Johnson was, however, able to fight former champion Bob Fitzsimmons in July 1907, and knocked him out in two rounds.[1]
Comment by Rolston — October 9, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
PBS has a good biography on Jack Johnson. Ken Burns directed it. Too bad PBS doesn’t put any streaming content online. I’d rather watch that than Grey’s Anatomy or some crap like that.
Wikipedia claims bare knuckle boxing was out before the turn of the 20th century. Maybe these fighters were just drawn without gloves?
Comment by Lyle_s — October 10, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
dont know if you know or care, but early MMA (mixed martial arts) fights in Brazil (then called vale tudo) and the US (then called NHB or no hold barred fighting) were bare-knuckle. That was before they had to answer to state athletic commissions. The original UFCs features many fighters without gloves. Some gnarly fights.
Comment by Matt — October 13, 2007 @ 10:55 am
That sounds fairly recent. What dates are you talking about? And do you have a link to a good bare knuckle NHB fight?
thanks!
Comment by Rolston — October 13, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
a quick youtube search revealed that there are STILL bareknuckle fights going on in Brazil. What a country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ea3EcHOc-8
warning: its as gnarly and graphic as you’d expect a bare-knuckle fight to be. Not for the squeamish.
Comment by Matt — October 14, 2007 @ 10:05 am