These Are Fighting Words, Each and Every One of Them

Today’s Morning Briefing is devoted to excerpts from “505 Boxing Questions Your Friends Can’t Answer,” written by Berg Sugar and John Grasso and published by Walker and Company.

“Peter Jackson,the black Australian whom John L. Sullivan refused to fight, was considered to be ‘sharkproof.’ Jackson was a native of St. Croix in the (Virgin Islands) and when he was 12 years old and swimming in the sea, a shark surfaced near him and turned upon its side to attack. A yard or so from Peter the fish stopped and then streaked for the open sea. The only explanation for this was that he was ‘sharkproof.’ Only one other man among the 5,000 inhabitants of the island possessed that gift. The two would often swim together without fear in the shark-infested waters.”

“Ben Hogan,born Benediel Hagen in Wurttemberg, Germany, was an American heavyweight title claimant in 1872. He was both a Union and a Confederate spy during the Civil War as well as an oil magnate, theatrical producer and gambling house operator during his lifetime.”

“Gene Tunney received a check for $1,000,000 for his share as champion in his second bout with Jack Dempsey. The bout drew 104,943 spectators at Soldier Field in Chicago with gross receipts of $2,658,660.

“Tunney was not entitled to $1,000,000 as his share of the bout. His share amounted to only $990,445, but he wanted to receive a check for a million dollars and wrote his own check to Tex Rickard, the promoter, for the difference.”

Trivia time: What champion fighter scored victories over a father and his son 14 years apart? “Henry Armstrong defended his welterweight championship five times within one month in October, 1939, including two defenses within five days on two occasions. He fought in five different cities and had bouts on Oct. 9, 13, 20, 24 and 30.”

“Willie Pep, featherweight champion from 1942 to 1950, and Lauro Salas, lightweight champion for five months in 1952, were the only champions whose last names read the same backward and forward. (Pep qualifies with an asterisk, as his given name is Guglielmo Papaleo.)”

“Joe Louis was able to trace his family tree back to his great-great grandfather, who was a full-blooded Indian chief named Charles Hunkerfoot.”

“Big Ben Moroz,7 feet 1 inch, 302 pounds, and Gilbert Stromquist, 7 feet, 253 pounds, met three times in 1943 and 1944, with Moroz winning all three by knockout. Moroz compiled a record of 20-16-1 and Stromquist 5-14.”

“Vittorio Campolo knocked down Miguel (the Human Yo-Yo) Ferrara 36 times in five rounds (on Sept. 7, 1925, at Buenos Aires) for an average of more than seven knockdowns per round, or a knockdown less than every 25 seconds.”

Trivia answer: Jersey Joe Walcott knocked out Phil Johnson in Philadelphia on June 22, 1936, in the third round. Johnson’s son, Harold, was stopped for the first time in his career on Feb. 8, 1950, by Walcott, also in Philadelphia.

“Muhammad Ali,in his years as Cassius Clay, the heavyweight contender, would write poems predicting the demise of his opponents. A sample, written before the Archie Moore bout:

Archie had been living off the fat of the land I’m here to give him his pension plan When you come to the fight don’t block aisle or door ‘Cause y’all going home after Round 4. “Clay won in the fourth.”