MEET Joe Gans
First-Ever African-American Boxing Champion and Greatest Lightweight of all time!
Gans started boxing professionally in early 1891. Starting in Baltimore, he gained many fans within the boxing world, both white and black alike, with his "scientific" approach to fighting.
Unlike the more brutish and adrenaline-fueled fighting styles more prevalent in the time, Gans’ fighting method involved learning an opponent's strengths and weaknesses to compete with a game plan. He fought through much adversity and unfair stipulations for certain fights. On three separate occasions in 1895, he had to fight an extra round after going the distance. In a fight versus Johnny Van Heest, "Gans had Van Heese whipped to a standstill in the eighth round, but Mr. Daniel Carr, the referee, ordered an extra round. Though Van Heese had none the best rounds of the last few rounds, he was given the decision. Against Bobby Dobbs, "Gans had to stop Dobbs in 10 rounds or get the loser's end of the purse (25 percent) and also had to pay Dobbs $50 for every round after 10th that the latter was able to stay. Dobbs asked his seconds to throw up the sponge in the middle of the 14th round, claiming a sore hand. Dobbs was down repeatedly, either from knock-downs or going down on his own. In the fight with Buddy King in 1903, they fought in the drizzling rain.
A slender man, never weighing
over 137 pounds, Gans
frequently fought heavier
boxers, thus adding to the
legend of his scientificfighting
technique. He became known as
a true student of the sport,
earning him the nickname “Old Master.”
On March 3, 1900, at the Broadway Athletic Club in New York, Gans quit with an eye injury in the twelfth round and lost via TKO while challenging lightweight champion Frank Erne in Gans' first title fight.
However, in their rematch two years later at International A.C., Fort Erie, Canada, Gans knocked Erne out in one round to convincingly take the world lightweight title. ""In the exchange, Gans got both hands to head, and Erne seemed a trifle dazed. Gans felt him out with a left shove to the face, drawing blood to nose. Erne seemed dazed, and Gans rushed and exchanged, putting right plump on Erne's jaw. Erne fell slowly to the floor with his mouth and nose bleeding, rolled over on his stomach, and was counted out before he could attempt to regain his feet." (wire report)" Gans had thus become the first-ever African-American boxing champion; he had also become the first black title holder since the Canadian born, George Dixon won the bantamweight world title in 1892 and the island-born Barbados Joe Walcott won the World Welterweight title on December 18, 1901. Gans reigned as champion from 1902 to 1908.
On January 6, 1902, Gans defeated the former World Welterweight Champion Canadian born Eddie Connolly. Connolly lost in a five-round bout at the Washington Sports Club in Philadelphia.
"Gans had thus become the first-ever African-American boxing champion"
"Joe Gans died on August 10, 1910 of tuberculosis; he was only 35."
Information in this article came from the Joe "Old Master" Gans Wikipedia site.
One reporter noted that Connolly "did nothing but hug and wrestle, adding variety to his performance in the third by deliberately trying to butt the Baltimorean (Gans)." The reporter also noted that Connolly clinched frequently and "wrestled" rather than boxed, probably to protect himself from the fierce assaults of Gans. By the time the referee ended the bout in the fifth, Connolly had been "rendered practically helpless" by the powerful punching of Gans.
Gans also defended his Lightweight World Title against other talented boxers such as Steve Crosby and Gus Gardiner. There was also Charley Sieger, Kid McPartland, Rufe Turner, Charles "Elbows" McFadden, and Frank Erne.
In an important title defense, he defeated the "Durable Dane" Oscar "Battling" Nelson in 42 rounds on September 3, 1906, in Goldfield, Nevada. This blockbuster fight, arranged by legendary promoter Tex Rickard, would eventually be honored with a historic memorial.
On September 15, 1905, Gans fought to a 15 round pre-arranged draw with future Welterweight World Championship claimant Mike "Twin" Sullivan. Most people reporting on the fights believed that Sullivan deserved the decision. In an immediate rematch, he defeated Sullivan by knockout on January 19 and March 17, 1906, in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Although recorded as a Welterweight Title match and the bout supposedly had a weight limit set at around 142 pounds (which was estimated to be Sullivan's weigh-in), Gans' weigh-in was estimated to have been seven or eight pounds lighter. Gans' defeat of the heavier Sullivan, a strong puncher by reputation, showed his mastery in the ring. In this well-attended bout, Gans share of the gate was a considerable $2,425.20, and Sullivan's was $1,616.80. Gans reportedly had bet another $1,700 on himself, which, if accurate, made his earnings on the fight quite considerable.
Gans and Battling Nelson fought for the World Lightweight title twice in Colma, California: first on July 4 and September 9 of 1908. Gans lost the first fight by KO in the 17th round of 45, ending his multi-year reign, and subsequently lost the immediate rematch via KO in the 21st round of 45.
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Joe Gans died on August 10, 1910 of tuberculosis; he was only 35 and had died not long after his final fight. He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery (Baltimore, Maryland) in Baltimore. His monument is maintained by the International Boxing Commission and sits just to the left of the main entrance of the cemetery.
It reads: "I was born in the city of Baltimore in the year 1874, and it might be well to state at this time that my right name is Joseph Gant, not Gans. However, when I became an object of newspaper publicity, some reporter made a mistake and my name appeared as Joe Gans, and as Joe Gans it remained ever since."
