Patrick "Packey" McFarland, early 1900s Chicago lightweight who retired with a record of 70-0-5 with 50 knockouts. He was one tough Irish SOB with good knockout power, although he abandoned his desire to knock out his opponents later in his career, preferring to outbox them.
One of several excellent World War I-era fighters who never won titles, Packey McFarland held his own with the very best. Not a brawler by nature, McFarland gained experience fighting in the Chicago stockyards. When he knocked out a fellow employee in a lunch-hour match, McFarland decided to adopt boxing as his vocation. Turning pro at the age of sixteen, McFarland initially fought on handball courts in the Irish neighborhoods of Chicago.
Because the crowds demanded it, McFarland employed a fine knock-out punch in his early encounters. Later, as his career developed, McFarland became better known for his boxing skill. In fact, he expressed a distinct lack of interest in knocking out opponents, preferring to win by decision. Going east for the first time, McFarland decisioned highly touted Bert Keyes in Boston in 1908. He then won a decision over Freddie Welsh before fighting him to a 25-round draw in a rematch in Los Angeles. A third bout with Welsh in London also resulted in a draw.
Though McFarland was highly regarded, he was never given a shot at the lightweight title held by Battling Nelson. In 1908, the two nearly came to blows outside the Hotel Astoria in New York. In fairness to Nelson, McFarland usually fought above the lightweight limit, which was then 133 pounds.
McFarland fought Jack Britton three times. The first bout, held in Memphis, was called a draw, although Chicago newspapers declared Britton the winner. In two no-decision rematches, Britton and McFarland fought very evenly. McFarland closed his career by fighting in a much ballyhooed contest with the clever Hall of Famer Mike Gibbons, but the ten-round fight was a flop with neither fighter landing any significant punches.
In retirement, McFarland managed his sizable investments, was director of two banks, and also served on the Illinois State Athletic Commission.
Some of the greatest boxing photos ever taken, Henry Cooper during his fight with Muhammad Ali in 1966. The fight was stopped after Cooper began to bleed profusely from cuts. Cooper was a damn savage, he didn't want the fight to be stopped.
Wilfredo "Bazooka" Gomez training. You don't need to guess why he was called "Bazooka", Gomez was one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. He had 48 fights in his career, and only 6 men escaped being iced by Gomez. His final career record was 44-3-1 (42 KO). He was primarily known as a super bantamweight (junior featherweight) and also competed as a featherweight and super featherweight during his boxing career. But he is considered one of the greatest super bantamweights of all-time, holding the WBC title in that division from 1977 to 1981, a belt he defended 17 times via knockout, a record which still stands.
The whole story of Tiger Jack Fox is pure insanity. In 1939, Tiger Jack Fox, one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, got his first and only shot at the light heavyweight title, and lost it thanks to black magic, a woman with a knife, and a manager with a knack for hypnosis. John Linwood Fox, a.k.a. Tiger Jack Fox, was a superstitious man. He was a late-night playboy. But before all else, he was as powerful a boxer that has ever fought. A light heavyweight who boxed professionally from 1928-1950, Fox is distinguished as one of Ring magazine’s Top 100 hardest punchers in history. His 24 first round knockouts rank him second all-time, behind only Jack Dempsey. He was a showy and unorthodox boxer who often fought with his hands down at his knees, sometimes sticking his chin out or making opened-mouthed gestures in a ploy to lure opponents into attack, at which time he’d open up, punching wildly. Journalists thought it was funny. His opponents did not. On January 13, 1939, Fox got his only career shot at the light heavyweight title against Melio Bettina. Problem was, with the fight a month away, Tiger Jack Fox was in Harlem Hospital, lying “near death,” according to the New York Daily News, after being knifed just below the heart with a 10-inch blade wielded by 23-year-old Edna Boyd, in his room at the Woodside Hotel. Fox told police he’d been stabbed in his sleep. Boyd said she’d been detained against her will. Hotel personnel who broke down the door after hearing screams found a blood-spattered room and Fox on the attack. Boyd was charged with felonious assault; Fox got an ambulance. But the Fox camp – likely to keep the chance-of-a-lifetime fight from being canceled altogether – soon turned down the volume, telling the press the cuts were "superficial." A week later, Fox entertained reporters in his hospital room. The fight was hastily rebooked for Feb. 3. Even so, as the date approached reporters remarked on Fox favoring his right side. And that wasn’t the end of his worries, to hear him tell it. Melio Bettina’s manager was Jimmy Grippo, a relentless self-promoter but also an acclaimed magician and hypnotist, and he boasted that he could put a hex on opponents – and Tiger Jack was a sucker for the mystical. Fox lost the fight against Bettina, losing his only career shot at the light heavyweight title, and Fox would allege to his death that he was a victim of Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo putting a hex on him. Fox, who believed in black magic, went as far as hiring Benjamin "Evil Eye" Finkle to perform a hex on Bettina, to counter the hypnotic powers of Grippo. Finkel refused to help Fox, claiming that he would never work against a fellow craftsman.
A photo of Melio Bettina and Tiger Jack Fox at the weigh-in before their fight, notice that Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo is standing right behind Fox. God, what an insane story.
Another shot of Tiger Jack Fox with Melio Bettina sitting in the chair. Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo is standing behind Fox, putting the "hex" on him.
Tiger Jack Fox was one hell of a fighter though, a legend in the sport. To be stabbed below the heart by a 10-inch blade and return to the ring and fight for the light heavyweight title a few months later is insane, shows you what the guy was made of. He had brutal power, he finished his career with a record of 160-23-10 (109 KO).
One more Tiger Jack Fox story, he always maintained that he got his start in boxing when the great pound-for-pound fighter Young Stribling, "King of the Canebrakes", picked him up on the side of the road hitchhiking in Georgia one day. The story goes, Stribling was traveling from town to town and enagaging in boxing matches, basically meeting all comers. Stribling offered Fox a job as a sparring partner. Although he had no experience, Fox, out of work and hungry, accepted the offer. His first sparring session with Stribling almost ended his boxing career. Stribling toyed with him, and eventually knocked him senseless with a right hand to the jaw. Fox claimed he didn't sleep that night, re-living the events of the day, and studying how to avoid a similar fate the next day. Fox concluded that if he stepped forward when Stribling threw his right, he would be inside the punch and in position to hit Stribling with his left. The next day, the two sparred again. This time when Stribling threw his right, Fox was waiting and executed his maneuver to perfection. Surprised by Fox's left hook, Stribling's knees buckled. Fox then jumped in and hit him with another left hook, which sent Stribling to the canvas. Although he was fired on the spot, Fox thought that if he could knock Stribling down, he could hold his own with anyone.
Since I brought up Young Stribling, the "King of the Canebrakes", I might as well talk about him. He was an all-time great pound-for-pound fighter, started out his career at featherweight and fought all the way up to heavyweight, he was one of the most prolific fighters in history, participating in over 300 fights in his career, he could also whack, he has 125 knockouts to his credit, that's the second most knockouts of all-time in boxing history. Young Stribling lived fast, and tragically died young at the age of only 28, but he left his mark on boxing history.
King Of The Canebrakes
October 3, 2024 Daniel Attias
On this day way back in 1933, a young man, a boxer, lies close to death in a hospital bed in Macon, Georgia. The room is quiet, morose even, such a contrast to the thrill seeking, hundred-mile-an-hour life that the young pugilist had led. The dying man is a mere 28 years of age.
The physicians believe his ‘tremendous vitality’ is the only thing that keeps him from passing, but soon it is apparent that this won’t be enough. The young fighter cannot win this battle and he dies with his wife — a patient in the same hospital, having just given birth to their third son — at his bedside. His last words are, “I am going, old girl,” a final goodbye to his beloved.
William Lawrence Stribling Jr,. or Young Stribling as he was known in the ring, lived his short life to the fullest. From fast cars, planes, speedboats and motorbikes, to taking on a plethora of the best middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight contenders the fight game had to offer, he lived fast and, sadly, died young.
Despite his young age, Stribling was a veteran of close to three hundred prizefights when he died. His fistic career began as a featherweight in 1921 when he was just 16-years-old, before be eventually moved up to the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He competed in various countries during his twelve year career, including Cuba, England, France, Australia and South Africa, and throughout the United States.
Stribling on the cover of Ring magazine
He was world titlist once, for a few hours at least. The year was 1923 and a then 17-year-old Young Stribling, astonishingly the holder of a 64-3-12 record, went into the ring in Columbus, Georgia to face the light heavyweight champion of the world, Mike McTigue. The bout was shrouded in controversy, the kind boxing knows only too well. The New York Times in fact reported that McTigue was forced to compete that night despite a broken thumb: “McTigue issued a statement declaring that he had been forced into the ring with a broken thumb at the point of pistols, and Joe Jacobs (McTigue’s manager) stated that spectators had threatened to hang him to a tree…”
The controversy continued after the final bell when referee Harry Ertle deemed the bout a draw, only to change his verdict to a victory for challenger Stribling. But the newly crowned champion would lose the title as quickly as he had gained it as Ertle later recanted the decision, as reported in The New York Times:
“Ertle declared the bout a draw at the end of the tenth and final round. The spectators closed in on the ring, demonstrating their disapproval. Ertle, after a conference with newspaper men, changed the decision and the match and the light heavyweight championship was awarded to the Macon high school boy, who had sat in tears in his corner during the excitement. Tonight, three hours after the fight, Ertle again spoke, this time declaring that his original decision, that the fight was a draw, was correct.”
Despite the defeat, Stribling continued to compete with a frequency unheard of in today’s fight game. He racked up victories over fighters both good and bad, including a rematch win over McTigue in March of 1924, a six round draw with future champion Paul Berlenbach, and a six round decision over future Hall of Famer Tommy Loughran at Yankee Stadium, a match appearing on the undercard of the Harry Greb vs Ted Moore fight and witnessed by some fifty thousand.
Stribling spars with Jack Dempsey
It was in 1925 when Stribling was dubbed ‘The King of the Canebrakes’, a moniker given to him by famed sportswriter of the times Damon Runyan, in reference to his popularity in rural areas. This popularity was far from unanimous though as Stribling was one of the many boxers of the time to draw the colour line, refusing to take on black challengers.
Many of the young Georgian’s fights were against lesser quality opposition but he was a fan favourite, if not for his performances, then for his bravado outside the ring. He wasn’t adverse to a publicity stunt and one of the more famous ones occurred when he flew a plane over New York City and circled the Empire State Building. Not all of Stribling’s opponents were pushovers though. He defeated Tommy Loughran for a second time in March of ’25, went 2-1 against Jimmy Delaney, beat Johnny Risko in July of that same year, and in 1926 went 1-1 with future Hall of Famer Jimmy Slattery.
The New York Times accredited Stribling’s victory over Slattery to his tricky style and superior strength: “Stribling was once an acrobat and the traces of that calling are still discernable in his work. He cannot be compared to Slattery as a boxer. But Stribling is strong, resourceful and tricky, and these were the elements which decided the battle in his favor. The Southern lad was stronger than his rival at all stages of the fight and at the final bell.”
Newspaper account of Stribling’s win over Slattery.
Stribling fought another seven times in that first half of 1926, winning all before gaining a second chance for the light heavyweight title against new champion Paul Berlenbach. Berlenbach was a formidable puncher and had defended the title three times since he had defeated McTigue for the crown. The New York Times declared the fight a real pick ‘em match: “The betting odds, which earlier in the week were favoring Stribling at 7 to 5 and 6 to 5, continued to shorten yesterday, with even money finally prevailing.”
Stribling trained hard and came in at a slim 171 pounds while Belenbach weighed in at 174.5. The training methods employed by the challenger were questioned by the State Athletic Commission’s own doctor who declared that Stribling had “killed himself” to make 171 pounds.
The bout started well for Stribling and he took the opening two rounds but in the third stanza the champion began to find his mark and his brutal punching became the deciding factor, as The Times reported: “Berlenbach failed to score a knockout only because Stribling, hurt and stung early in the fray, forgot all about the boxing skill and tricks he has picked up in five years of steady fighting, and turned desperately to a strictly defensive fight. He broke and ran before the champion, clinched at every turn and hugged and mauled Berlenbach on the slightest provocation.”
Stribling the aviator.
The decision after fifteen rounds was a unanimous one and Stribling had once again fallen short of winning a world crown. But he fought on and returned to his winning ways, beating his next seventeen opponents, including the likes of Hall of Famers Battling Levinsky and Maxie Rosenbloom. Tommy Loughran was the man to halt the streak. In May of 1927 the light-heavyweight boxing master won a unanimous decision over Stribling at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.
But Stribling was now taking on much bigger men and it was paying dividends. The heavyweight scene had always been boxing’s jewel and with it came fame and fortune. Stribling and his manager, who happened to also be his father, initiated an audacious plan to seize the heavyweight championship of the world. After an eighteen month period in which Stribling fought 57 times and suffered no defeats, he became the number one contender as ranked by The Ring magazine.
Gene Tunney, the man who took the title from Jack Dempsey, had retired in July of 1928 and the search was on for a new champion. Promoter Tex Rickard set about staging a series of bouts to crown a new champion and Stribling was to play his part. At one point he had been matched to fight Tunney but the financial arrangements had fallen through, so upon hearing of Tunney’s retirement, Stribling’s father laid a claim to the title based on Stribling’s victory over Johnny Risko and the two wins against Australian heavyweight Gene Cook, who had twice beaten Tom Heeney.
In February of 1929, Young Stribling got his first real chance to prove he was indeed worthy of the title of heavyweight champion when he faced Jack Sharkey in a ten round bout in Florida. The match was to be the last organized by the larger than life Tex Rickard, who had died on January 6th of the same year. Some thirty-five thousand fans attended and the thunderous applause began even before the main event as the referee for the bout, Jack Dempsey, was introduced to the packed house.
A hulking Primo Carnera stands over Stribling in the third round of their 1929 clash, which likely was not on the level.
Stribling falls to Primo Carnera; the bout was likely was not on the level.
The fight itself was a battle of youth vs experience, speed versus size, and on this occasion it was the experience and superior strength of Sharkey that shone through. Alan J. Gould of The Southeast Missourian summed it up: “In a ten round match that was alternately fast and dull, hard fought and close, but punctuated with few real moments of throbbing excitement, Sharkey overcame a big lead … and won with a strong finish through the last four rounds.”
The loss put Stribling out of the title picture but that didn’t stop him from frequenting the ring, fighting on with much success and for the remainder of 1929 and 1930 lost just two fights, both by disqualification. One of those occurred in November of 1930 against the mob-controlled behemoth, Primo Carnera. Stribling lost by disqualification but then won the rematch less than three weeks later in the same fashion. Both matches are thought to be fixed.
With wins over heavyweight contenders such as Otto von Porat, Phil Scott and Tuffy Griffiths, men all ranked in the top ten in 1929 and 1930, Stribling secured the biggest fight of his career, a shot at the heavyweight champion of the world, Max Schmeling. Stribling had his doubters and there were those who said he lacked the heart to compete with the better heavyweights, a view inspired by the safety-first approach on display in some of his higher profile bouts, but his second round knockout of Englishman Phil Scott convinced many he deserved a chance to face Schmeling.
UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 18: Young Stribling, the American boxer defeated Phil Scott, the British Champion, early in the 2nd round of their fight at the Wimbledon Stadium after knocking him down four times. The winner will probably meet Max Schmelling for the heavyweight championship of the world.
Stribling stands over Phil Scott in 1930. This win secured a title shot.
The hype in the lead-up to the match was befitting that of a heavyweight championship bout and much of it surrounded the issue of Schmeling’s apparent refusal to rematch Jack Sharkey following the German having taken the vacant heavyweight crown by disqualification. Stribling then created a stir by flying his plane over the champion’s Pennsylvania training camp.
In a New York Times report on June 26, 1931, the challenger outlined his plan of attack: “For the first five rounds the lean, powerful Southerner will pile into Schmeling throwing every punch he has in an effort to win the title on a knockout. It will be a campaign of aggression, a charging attack built around left hooks to the body, left jabs to the head that Bill believes will prop the German up for the right-hand smashes to the chin which have foundered most of Stribling’s 127 knockout victims.”
The plan started off well enough as Stribling took charge and threw all he had at the champion, but after four rounds it was clear Schmeling’s punch resistance was more than up to the task while his own blows were taking a toll on the challenger. Stribling was a broken man by the middle rounds and he fell back to old habits of clinching, mauling and running to avoid further punishment.
Stribling (left) and Max Schmeling rumble in 1931.
In the final round Schmeling dropped the challenger with a hard right to the jaw. Stribling was down for the count of nine but bravely fought on before Schmeling once again laid it on thick and, with just fourteen seconds left, referee George Blake stopped the bout to save the challenger from further punishment. The dream of becoming heavyweight champion, one that Stribling’s father had held dear ever since his son had been born, was shattered. Many suspected this was Stribling’s last shot at championship glory and they would be proved right.
Despite this huge setback, Stribling was back in the ring just three months later and went on to win three bouts in succession, looking impressive against less than stellar opposition. But it was clear his days as a top contender were at an end when he faced heavyweight Ernie Schaaf in February of 1932 and was badly beaten over ten rounds.
But Stribling fought on, competing in America, Canada, Australia, South Africa and France and losing just once, against European heavyweight champion Pierre Charles, via disqualification. His level of opposition was again questionable, but he did defeat the classy Australian Ambrose Palmer, albeit with a sixteen pound weight advantage. Stribling fought his final bout on September 22 in 1933 against Maxie Rosenbloom, winning a ten round decision against the future Hall of Famer.
Only the great Archie Moore has more KOs than Stribling.
A month later a tragic accident took the young fighter’s life. While driving his motorcycle to the hospital to be with his wife, Stribling waved to his friend, Roy Barrow, in a passing car and failed to see another car behind that of Barrow’s. The collision severed his left leg and crushed his pelvis, but amazingly Stribling had the presence of mind to demonstrate his quick wit to Barrow, the first to reach him, when he remarked: “Well kid, I guess this means more roadwork.”
"King of the Canebrakes" is one of the coolest nicknames in sports history, Young Stribling was quite popular, quite the celebrity in his day, and the media gave him that nickname because of his popularity in rural America.
This is one of the most intense boxing photos I've ever seen, Young Stribling on his motorcycle, dressed in boxing gear. This is an eery photo because Stribling died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 28. I'll say this though, Stribling was a beast, to be laying in the road with your leg severed and your pelvis crushed and your first reaction is to say, "Well kid, I guess this means more roadwork.”
Comments
Lloyd Marshall and Jake LaMotta.
Actual footage of the great Lloyd Marshall.
Mike Tyson playing his video game in the 80s.
Patrick "Packey" McFarland, early 1900s Chicago lightweight who retired with a record of 70-0-5 with 50 knockouts. He was one tough Irish SOB with good knockout power, although he abandoned his desire to knock out his opponents later in his career, preferring to outbox them.
One of several excellent World War I-era fighters who never won titles, Packey McFarland held his own with the very best. Not a brawler by nature, McFarland gained experience fighting in the Chicago stockyards. When he knocked out a fellow employee in a lunch-hour match, McFarland decided to adopt boxing as his vocation. Turning pro at the age of sixteen, McFarland initially fought on handball courts in the Irish neighborhoods of Chicago.
Because the crowds demanded it, McFarland employed a fine knock-out punch in his early encounters. Later, as his career developed, McFarland became better known for his boxing skill. In fact, he expressed a distinct lack of interest in knocking out opponents, preferring to win by decision. Going east for the first time, McFarland decisioned highly touted Bert Keyes in Boston in 1908. He then won a decision over Freddie Welsh before fighting him to a 25-round draw in a rematch in Los Angeles. A third bout with Welsh in London also resulted in a draw.
Though McFarland was highly regarded, he was never given a shot at the lightweight title held by Battling Nelson. In 1908, the two nearly came to blows outside the Hotel Astoria in New York. In fairness to Nelson, McFarland usually fought above the lightweight limit, which was then 133 pounds.
McFarland fought Jack Britton three times. The first bout, held in Memphis, was called a draw, although Chicago newspapers declared Britton the winner. In two no-decision rematches, Britton and McFarland fought very evenly. McFarland closed his career by fighting in a much ballyhooed contest with the clever Hall of Famer Mike Gibbons, but the ten-round fight was a flop with neither fighter landing any significant punches.
In retirement, McFarland managed his sizable investments, was director of two banks, and also served on the Illinois State Athletic Commission.
A few more photos of the great Packey McFarland.
The Packey McFarland knockout of Jimmy Britt.
Health & Strength
‘The Life & Fights of Packey McFarland’,
Boxing Magazine (1909).
Some of the greatest boxing photos ever taken, Henry Cooper during his fight with Muhammad Ali in 1966. The fight was stopped after Cooper began to bleed profusely from cuts. Cooper was a damn savage, he didn't want the fight to be stopped.
Wilfredo "Bazooka" Gomez training. You don't need to guess why he was called "Bazooka", Gomez was one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. He had 48 fights in his career, and only 6 men escaped being iced by Gomez. His final career record was 44-3-1 (42 KO). He was primarily known as a super bantamweight (junior featherweight) and also competed as a featherweight and super featherweight during his boxing career. But he is considered one of the greatest super bantamweights of all-time, holding the WBC title in that division from 1977 to 1981, a belt he defended 17 times via knockout, a record which still stands.
Let's get some Bazooka Gomez photos in here.
Wilfred "Bazooka" Gomez, destruction.
The whole story of Tiger Jack Fox is pure insanity. In 1939, Tiger Jack Fox, one of the hardest punchers in boxing history, got his first and only shot at the light heavyweight title, and lost it thanks to black magic, a woman with a knife, and a manager with a knack for hypnosis. John Linwood Fox, a.k.a. Tiger Jack Fox, was a superstitious man. He was a late-night playboy. But before all else, he was as powerful a boxer that has ever fought. A light heavyweight who boxed professionally from 1928-1950, Fox is distinguished as one of Ring magazine’s Top 100 hardest punchers in history. His 24 first round knockouts rank him second all-time, behind only Jack Dempsey. He was a showy and unorthodox boxer who often fought with his hands down at his knees, sometimes sticking his chin out or making opened-mouthed gestures in a ploy to lure opponents into attack, at which time he’d open up, punching wildly. Journalists thought it was funny. His opponents did not. On January 13, 1939, Fox got his only career shot at the light heavyweight title against Melio Bettina. Problem was, with the fight a month away, Tiger Jack Fox was in Harlem Hospital, lying “near death,” according to the New York Daily News, after being knifed just below the heart with a 10-inch blade wielded by 23-year-old Edna Boyd, in his room at the Woodside Hotel. Fox told police he’d been stabbed in his sleep. Boyd said she’d been detained against her will. Hotel personnel who broke down the door after hearing screams found a blood-spattered room and Fox on the attack. Boyd was charged with felonious assault; Fox got an ambulance. But the Fox camp – likely to keep the chance-of-a-lifetime fight from being canceled altogether – soon turned down the volume, telling the press the cuts were "superficial." A week later, Fox entertained reporters in his hospital room. The fight was hastily rebooked for Feb. 3. Even so, as the date approached reporters remarked on Fox favoring his right side. And that wasn’t the end of his worries, to hear him tell it. Melio Bettina’s manager was Jimmy Grippo, a relentless self-promoter but also an acclaimed magician and hypnotist, and he boasted that he could put a hex on opponents – and Tiger Jack was a sucker for the mystical. Fox lost the fight against Bettina, losing his only career shot at the light heavyweight title, and Fox would allege to his death that he was a victim of Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo putting a hex on him. Fox, who believed in black magic, went as far as hiring Benjamin "Evil Eye" Finkle to perform a hex on Bettina, to counter the hypnotic powers of Grippo. Finkel refused to help Fox, claiming that he would never work against a fellow craftsman.
Great boxing photo of Melio Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo messing with Tiger Jack Fox, putting a "hex" on him.
A photo of Melio Bettina and Tiger Jack Fox at the weigh-in before their fight, notice that Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo is standing right behind Fox. God, what an insane story.
Another shot of Tiger Jack Fox with Melio Bettina sitting in the chair. Bettina's manager Jimmy Grippo is standing behind Fox, putting the "hex" on him.
Tiger Jack Fox was one hell of a fighter though, a legend in the sport. To be stabbed below the heart by a 10-inch blade and return to the ring and fight for the light heavyweight title a few months later is insane, shows you what the guy was made of. He had brutal power, he finished his career with a record of 160-23-10 (109 KO).
One more Tiger Jack Fox story, he always maintained that he got his start in boxing when the great pound-for-pound fighter Young Stribling, "King of the Canebrakes", picked him up on the side of the road hitchhiking in Georgia one day. The story goes, Stribling was traveling from town to town and enagaging in boxing matches, basically meeting all comers. Stribling offered Fox a job as a sparring partner. Although he had no experience, Fox, out of work and hungry, accepted the offer. His first sparring session with Stribling almost ended his boxing career. Stribling toyed with him, and eventually knocked him senseless with a right hand to the jaw. Fox claimed he didn't sleep that night, re-living the events of the day, and studying how to avoid a similar fate the next day. Fox concluded that if he stepped forward when Stribling threw his right, he would be inside the punch and in position to hit Stribling with his left. The next day, the two sparred again. This time when Stribling threw his right, Fox was waiting and executed his maneuver to perfection. Surprised by Fox's left hook, Stribling's knees buckled. Fox then jumped in and hit him with another left hook, which sent Stribling to the canvas. Although he was fired on the spot, Fox thought that if he could knock Stribling down, he could hold his own with anyone.
Since I brought up Young Stribling, the "King of the Canebrakes", I might as well talk about him. He was an all-time great pound-for-pound fighter, started out his career at featherweight and fought all the way up to heavyweight, he was one of the most prolific fighters in history, participating in over 300 fights in his career, he could also whack, he has 125 knockouts to his credit, that's the second most knockouts of all-time in boxing history. Young Stribling lived fast, and tragically died young at the age of only 28, but he left his mark on boxing history.
King Of The Canebrakes
October 3, 2024 Daniel Attias
On this day way back in 1933, a young man, a boxer, lies close to death in a hospital bed in Macon, Georgia. The room is quiet, morose even, such a contrast to the thrill seeking, hundred-mile-an-hour life that the young pugilist had led. The dying man is a mere 28 years of age.
The physicians believe his ‘tremendous vitality’ is the only thing that keeps him from passing, but soon it is apparent that this won’t be enough. The young fighter cannot win this battle and he dies with his wife — a patient in the same hospital, having just given birth to their third son — at his bedside. His last words are, “I am going, old girl,” a final goodbye to his beloved.
William Lawrence Stribling Jr,. or Young Stribling as he was known in the ring, lived his short life to the fullest. From fast cars, planes, speedboats and motorbikes, to taking on a plethora of the best middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight contenders the fight game had to offer, he lived fast and, sadly, died young.
Despite his young age, Stribling was a veteran of close to three hundred prizefights when he died. His fistic career began as a featherweight in 1921 when he was just 16-years-old, before be eventually moved up to the light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He competed in various countries during his twelve year career, including Cuba, England, France, Australia and South Africa, and throughout the United States.
Stribling on the cover of Ring magazine
He was world titlist once, for a few hours at least. The year was 1923 and a then 17-year-old Young Stribling, astonishingly the holder of a 64-3-12 record, went into the ring in Columbus, Georgia to face the light heavyweight champion of the world, Mike McTigue. The bout was shrouded in controversy, the kind boxing knows only too well. The New York Times in fact reported that McTigue was forced to compete that night despite a broken thumb: “McTigue issued a statement declaring that he had been forced into the ring with a broken thumb at the point of pistols, and Joe Jacobs (McTigue’s manager) stated that spectators had threatened to hang him to a tree…”
The controversy continued after the final bell when referee Harry Ertle deemed the bout a draw, only to change his verdict to a victory for challenger Stribling. But the newly crowned champion would lose the title as quickly as he had gained it as Ertle later recanted the decision, as reported in The New York Times:
“Ertle declared the bout a draw at the end of the tenth and final round. The spectators closed in on the ring, demonstrating their disapproval. Ertle, after a conference with newspaper men, changed the decision and the match and the light heavyweight championship was awarded to the Macon high school boy, who had sat in tears in his corner during the excitement. Tonight, three hours after the fight, Ertle again spoke, this time declaring that his original decision, that the fight was a draw, was correct.”
Despite the defeat, Stribling continued to compete with a frequency unheard of in today’s fight game. He racked up victories over fighters both good and bad, including a rematch win over McTigue in March of 1924, a six round draw with future champion Paul Berlenbach, and a six round decision over future Hall of Famer Tommy Loughran at Yankee Stadium, a match appearing on the undercard of the Harry Greb vs Ted Moore fight and witnessed by some fifty thousand.
Stribling spars with Jack Dempsey
It was in 1925 when Stribling was dubbed ‘The King of the Canebrakes’, a moniker given to him by famed sportswriter of the times Damon Runyan, in reference to his popularity in rural areas. This popularity was far from unanimous though as Stribling was one of the many boxers of the time to draw the colour line, refusing to take on black challengers.
Many of the young Georgian’s fights were against lesser quality opposition but he was a fan favourite, if not for his performances, then for his bravado outside the ring. He wasn’t adverse to a publicity stunt and one of the more famous ones occurred when he flew a plane over New York City and circled the Empire State Building. Not all of Stribling’s opponents were pushovers though. He defeated Tommy Loughran for a second time in March of ’25, went 2-1 against Jimmy Delaney, beat Johnny Risko in July of that same year, and in 1926 went 1-1 with future Hall of Famer Jimmy Slattery.
The New York Times accredited Stribling’s victory over Slattery to his tricky style and superior strength: “Stribling was once an acrobat and the traces of that calling are still discernable in his work. He cannot be compared to Slattery as a boxer. But Stribling is strong, resourceful and tricky, and these were the elements which decided the battle in his favor. The Southern lad was stronger than his rival at all stages of the fight and at the final bell.”
Newspaper account of Stribling’s win over Slattery.
Stribling fought another seven times in that first half of 1926, winning all before gaining a second chance for the light heavyweight title against new champion Paul Berlenbach. Berlenbach was a formidable puncher and had defended the title three times since he had defeated McTigue for the crown. The New York Times declared the fight a real pick ‘em match: “The betting odds, which earlier in the week were favoring Stribling at 7 to 5 and 6 to 5, continued to shorten yesterday, with even money finally prevailing.”
Stribling trained hard and came in at a slim 171 pounds while Belenbach weighed in at 174.5. The training methods employed by the challenger were questioned by the State Athletic Commission’s own doctor who declared that Stribling had “killed himself” to make 171 pounds.
The bout started well for Stribling and he took the opening two rounds but in the third stanza the champion began to find his mark and his brutal punching became the deciding factor, as The Times reported: “Berlenbach failed to score a knockout only because Stribling, hurt and stung early in the fray, forgot all about the boxing skill and tricks he has picked up in five years of steady fighting, and turned desperately to a strictly defensive fight. He broke and ran before the champion, clinched at every turn and hugged and mauled Berlenbach on the slightest provocation.”
Stribling the aviator.
The decision after fifteen rounds was a unanimous one and Stribling had once again fallen short of winning a world crown. But he fought on and returned to his winning ways, beating his next seventeen opponents, including the likes of Hall of Famers Battling Levinsky and Maxie Rosenbloom. Tommy Loughran was the man to halt the streak. In May of 1927 the light-heavyweight boxing master won a unanimous decision over Stribling at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.
But Stribling was now taking on much bigger men and it was paying dividends. The heavyweight scene had always been boxing’s jewel and with it came fame and fortune. Stribling and his manager, who happened to also be his father, initiated an audacious plan to seize the heavyweight championship of the world. After an eighteen month period in which Stribling fought 57 times and suffered no defeats, he became the number one contender as ranked by The Ring magazine.
Gene Tunney, the man who took the title from Jack Dempsey, had retired in July of 1928 and the search was on for a new champion. Promoter Tex Rickard set about staging a series of bouts to crown a new champion and Stribling was to play his part. At one point he had been matched to fight Tunney but the financial arrangements had fallen through, so upon hearing of Tunney’s retirement, Stribling’s father laid a claim to the title based on Stribling’s victory over Johnny Risko and the two wins against Australian heavyweight Gene Cook, who had twice beaten Tom Heeney.
In February of 1929, Young Stribling got his first real chance to prove he was indeed worthy of the title of heavyweight champion when he faced Jack Sharkey in a ten round bout in Florida. The match was to be the last organized by the larger than life Tex Rickard, who had died on January 6th of the same year. Some thirty-five thousand fans attended and the thunderous applause began even before the main event as the referee for the bout, Jack Dempsey, was introduced to the packed house.
A hulking Primo Carnera stands over Stribling in the third round of their 1929 clash, which likely was not on the level.
Stribling falls to Primo Carnera; the bout was likely was not on the level.
The fight itself was a battle of youth vs experience, speed versus size, and on this occasion it was the experience and superior strength of Sharkey that shone through. Alan J. Gould of The Southeast Missourian summed it up: “In a ten round match that was alternately fast and dull, hard fought and close, but punctuated with few real moments of throbbing excitement, Sharkey overcame a big lead … and won with a strong finish through the last four rounds.”
The loss put Stribling out of the title picture but that didn’t stop him from frequenting the ring, fighting on with much success and for the remainder of 1929 and 1930 lost just two fights, both by disqualification. One of those occurred in November of 1930 against the mob-controlled behemoth, Primo Carnera. Stribling lost by disqualification but then won the rematch less than three weeks later in the same fashion. Both matches are thought to be fixed.
With wins over heavyweight contenders such as Otto von Porat, Phil Scott and Tuffy Griffiths, men all ranked in the top ten in 1929 and 1930, Stribling secured the biggest fight of his career, a shot at the heavyweight champion of the world, Max Schmeling. Stribling had his doubters and there were those who said he lacked the heart to compete with the better heavyweights, a view inspired by the safety-first approach on display in some of his higher profile bouts, but his second round knockout of Englishman Phil Scott convinced many he deserved a chance to face Schmeling.
UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 18: Young Stribling, the American boxer defeated Phil Scott, the British Champion, early in the 2nd round of their fight at the Wimbledon Stadium after knocking him down four times. The winner will probably meet Max Schmelling for the heavyweight championship of the world.
Stribling stands over Phil Scott in 1930. This win secured a title shot.
The hype in the lead-up to the match was befitting that of a heavyweight championship bout and much of it surrounded the issue of Schmeling’s apparent refusal to rematch Jack Sharkey following the German having taken the vacant heavyweight crown by disqualification. Stribling then created a stir by flying his plane over the champion’s Pennsylvania training camp.
In a New York Times report on June 26, 1931, the challenger outlined his plan of attack: “For the first five rounds the lean, powerful Southerner will pile into Schmeling throwing every punch he has in an effort to win the title on a knockout. It will be a campaign of aggression, a charging attack built around left hooks to the body, left jabs to the head that Bill believes will prop the German up for the right-hand smashes to the chin which have foundered most of Stribling’s 127 knockout victims.”
The plan started off well enough as Stribling took charge and threw all he had at the champion, but after four rounds it was clear Schmeling’s punch resistance was more than up to the task while his own blows were taking a toll on the challenger. Stribling was a broken man by the middle rounds and he fell back to old habits of clinching, mauling and running to avoid further punishment.
Stribling (left) and Max Schmeling rumble in 1931.
In the final round Schmeling dropped the challenger with a hard right to the jaw. Stribling was down for the count of nine but bravely fought on before Schmeling once again laid it on thick and, with just fourteen seconds left, referee George Blake stopped the bout to save the challenger from further punishment. The dream of becoming heavyweight champion, one that Stribling’s father had held dear ever since his son had been born, was shattered. Many suspected this was Stribling’s last shot at championship glory and they would be proved right.
Despite this huge setback, Stribling was back in the ring just three months later and went on to win three bouts in succession, looking impressive against less than stellar opposition. But it was clear his days as a top contender were at an end when he faced heavyweight Ernie Schaaf in February of 1932 and was badly beaten over ten rounds.
But Stribling fought on, competing in America, Canada, Australia, South Africa and France and losing just once, against European heavyweight champion Pierre Charles, via disqualification. His level of opposition was again questionable, but he did defeat the classy Australian Ambrose Palmer, albeit with a sixteen pound weight advantage. Stribling fought his final bout on September 22 in 1933 against Maxie Rosenbloom, winning a ten round decision against the future Hall of Famer.
Only the great Archie Moore has more KOs than Stribling.
A month later a tragic accident took the young fighter’s life. While driving his motorcycle to the hospital to be with his wife, Stribling waved to his friend, Roy Barrow, in a passing car and failed to see another car behind that of Barrow’s. The collision severed his left leg and crushed his pelvis, but amazingly Stribling had the presence of mind to demonstrate his quick wit to Barrow, the first to reach him, when he remarked: “Well kid, I guess this means more roadwork.”
"King of the Canebrakes" is one of the coolest nicknames in sports history, Young Stribling was quite popular, quite the celebrity in his day, and the media gave him that nickname because of his popularity in rural America.
This is one of the most intense boxing photos I've ever seen, Young Stribling on his motorcycle, dressed in boxing gear. This is an eery photo because Stribling died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 28. I'll say this though, Stribling was a beast, to be laying in the road with your leg severed and your pelvis crushed and your first reaction is to say, "Well kid, I guess this means more roadwork.”
Young Stribling knocks out Otto Van Porat, sick knockout pose.
Young Stribling was a bit of a daredevil, here he is pictured on the left during parachute training in the Army.
Young Stribling poses for the camera during a break from training.
Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield, sitting in a fighter jet.