This is Johnny Coulon in his prime, during his fighting days. He was involved in boxing for his entire life.
Coulon, also called "The Cherry Picker of Logan Square," began boxing at only 8-years-old and trained under his father, Pop Coulon. Later he trained with Elbows McFadden, George Siddons and James Corbett. His early boxing experience helped him become one of the youngest title claimants of all time at 18, when he defeated Kid Murphy for a portion of the bantamweight title.
A two-fisted slugger, Johnny Coulon turned pro in 1905 just three weeks before his 16th birthday. He was born in Toronto, Canada but for most of his life he resided in Chicago.
Coulon won his first 26 bouts before losing a 10-round decision to Kid Murphy. In a rematch with Murphy in 1908, Coulon reversed the decision and earned recognition as the American bantamweight champion.
On March 6, 1910, Coulon captured the vacant world bantamweight crown when he defeated England's Jim Kendrick in 19 rounds. He defended the title against Earl Denning, Frankie Conley, Frankie Burns and Kid Williams. He finally lost the crown in 1914 when Williams stopped him in the third round.
There was eventually no question as to the strength of his claim and he held the championship until 1914, when it was said he was well past his best and had been weakened by illness.
But Coulon was a skilled and scientific fighter, and he later opened Coulon's Gymnasium with his wife in Chicago, with fighters like "Sugar" Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Carmen Basilio training there on occasion. Coulon even became one of the first ever former world champions to officially handle a current champion when he trained the great Eddie Perkins.
Throughout his life, Coulon stayed in shape. "I have never drank of smoked and I try to instill this in the boys, not by preaching but by just talking, and it seems to go over."
Coulon served in the U.S. Army during World War I, often instructing soldiers on how to fight. He boxed twice after his service stint and retired from the ring in 1920.
On his 72nd birthday, Coulon showed off for reporters by walking around the gym on his hands, it was similar to his "unliftable man" trick, he liked to show off his various tricks and skills .
When Coulon died at 84-years-old in 1973, he took an encyclopedia of boxing knowledge with him.
''The toughest opponent is me. A Iot of times, you don't want to train. You don't want to box. Sometimes, life hits you to the point where you don't even want to live. You have to fight with that person. You have to make yourself wake up in the morning. You have to make yourself watch your weight. That's how I fight with that person.'' - OIeksandr Usyk
Prime George Foreman at his most frightening, as he clubs Joe King Roman senseless.
Foreman made his first defense of the heavyweight championship with a brutal and cruel 1st round KO of Joe King Roman at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan in 1973.
Roman, a Puerto Rican heavyweight who fought out of Florida, was no match for Foreman. When Roman tried to move early, Foreman cut off the ring and trapped him near the ropes. A left hook caught Roman on the temple and sent him down into the ropes quite awkwardly, and Foreman then caught Roman with a right hand as he was down (pictured).
Action stopped as Roman's corner protested, but their fighter claimed to be okay, the referee ruled no foul was committed and Foreman appeared somewhat apologetic. When the fight resumed, a whirling right hand caught Roman and knocked him flat. He beat the count only to be caught with a few more punches, punctuated by an uppercut that crumbled him to the canvas, all but unconscious, where he was counted out.
William Rothwell, known as "Young Corbett II", early 1900s featherweight champion and Hall of Famer. It's a fascinating story, Young Corbett II pulled off a massive upset on this day in 1901 when he KO'd "Terrible" Terry McGovern in Round 2 of their fight in Hartford, Connecticut, to win the world featherweight crown. It's fascinating because Terry McGovern was one of the most feared fighters in boxing history, they didn't call him "Terrible" for nothing, he left a trail of destruction across two divisions on his way to the top of the bantamweight and featherweight mountains. Terry McGovern's reputation is well known to boxing fans, he was the Mike Tyson of his era. His ring record is littered with bodies, he was one of the hardest punchers in the history of the featherweight division and one of the most violent men to ever step foot in the ring. To say he was feared during his time would be an understatement. By 1901 McGovern had seized the bantamweight and featherweight titles by brute force, and was thought of as being invincible or damn near it. Enter Young Corbett II, he was from Denver, Colorado, and though Young Corbett had registered victories over former champion George Dixon and contender Oscar Gardner, he wasn't a well-known pugilist and wasn't given much of a chance to defeat the supposedly invincible featherweight kingpin, Terry McGovern. Corbett, who was trying to prove that he was by no means intimidated of McGovern's reputation, banged on the McGovern's dressing room door before their fight and jeered him by reciting some nasty remarks and insulting him. Now that takes some serious guts, and is one of the boldest things I've ever heard of, can you imagine someone busting through the door of prime Mike Tyson's locker room and taunting him before a fight? But Corbett did exactly that, then proceeded to back it up in the ring by knocking Terry McGovern out. The crowd was was absolutely stunned. It's insane to pull something like that off one time, but in the rematch in 1903, Corbett stopped him in 11, proving the first time wasn't a fluke.
Young Corbett II in his prime
Hall of Fame Athletes / 1978 Inductees / Young Corbett
Young Corbett, Denver’s first and only world boxing champion, was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame posthumously in 1978 after gaining national fame and becoming a hometown hero in Denver.
The recognition by his native state seems long overdue and comes after he took his place among the ring immortals by being elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1965.
Corbett received national attention when he knocked out “Terrible” Terry McGovern in the second round of a featherweight title fight in Hartford, Connecticut, November 28, 1901.
William H. Rothwell was born in Denver, October 4, 1880. It was on Swansea Street that he first learning to protect himself by using his fists. When he started fighting professionally at the tender age of seventeen, he took his ring name after his manager, Jimmy Corbett. Boxing was popular in the rip-roaring mining towns of Colorado and Corbett had several fights in such towns as Leadville, Cripple Creek and Aspen.
Standing only five-feet two-inches tall, he gained acclaim as a deadly puncher. In a memorable fight in Denver, he stopped Oscar Garner in the second round and then beat Kid Broad and ex-champion George Dixon.
After his forty-second fight, Manager Corbett figured the time had come to take his protégé east, and a title bout with Terry McGovern was negotiated. It was considered a mismatch by most eastern critics, as McGovern was viewed, pound for pound, one of the deadliest punchers in the boxing game. In the previous two years he had scored seventeen knockouts, including a string of twelve straight.
The betting gentry wagered the feisty twenty-one year old from the Rockies would take the count within five rounds. Although the featherweight limit was 122 pounds at the time, by mutual agreement the fighters agreed to scale in at 126 pounds. It was a slam-bang battle from the opening bell. Corbett ripped over a right to the jaw late in the first round and the champ went down but jumped up without a count.
Early in the second round another right to the jaw floored McGovern, but again he leaped to his feat without taking a count. The champion fought back, but Corbett refused to give ground, landing a vicious uppercut to the champ’s jaw and McGovern landed on his back and was counted out. A new champion was born.
Corbett’s victory touched off a wild celebration back home in Denver, and Corbett’s mother, two sisters and younger brother were the focus of national attention.
Unfortunately, Corbett’s fame was short lived. Unable to make his weight, he had to relinquish his featherweight title. Abe Attell, who fought many of his early fights in Denver, was recognized as the featherweight champion.
Corbett campaigned as a lightweight with moderate success, then returned to Denver for his last fight against Kid Broad in 1902. Corbett began instructing youngsters and retired in 1910 with a record of thirty-four knockouts in 104 fights.
Corbett died in April, 1927, only a few months after he had appeared in an exhibition at the Elks Club against Mike Mongone, an opponent in his early days in the mining camps.
This is another photo of Terry McGovern (left) and Young Corbett II before their 1901 fight, my god, look at Young Corbett II, he's built like a damn tree trunk.
On March 31, 1903, at Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco the rematch between McGovern and Corbett II took place, it was a violent fight, and Corbett knocked out McGovern in the 11th round, as was the case in their first fight, the finishing blow was an uppercut. There was controversy, the controversy stemmed from claims that McGovern might have been the victim of a faulty referee's count, though the fight result of Corbett winning by knockout in the 11th round is generally accepted.
"William Rothwell, better known as Young Corbett of Denver, showed decisively tonight that his victory over Terry McGovern of Brooklyn at Hartford a year ago was no fluke by defeating McGovern in the 11th round after a fight in which there was not a second of idleness for either man. In nearly every round Corbett, fighting like a machine, never overlooking an opportunity to send home his blows, had a shade the better of the argument, and when finally in the 11th round he got the Brooklyn boy fairly going he never let up on him, until Terry sank to the floor a badly defeated man. There was some question as to whether or not McGovern was down at the count of 10. McGovern tried to get up and was on his feet an instant after the timekeeper counted him out. As it was, it was nearly a minute after McGovern had been carried to his corner before he was able to sit up and understand what had happened." - The Boston Post
McGovern was also down once each in the first two rounds. The ring was momentarily invaded by McGovern supporters who believed McGovern had beaten the count, but the police immediately piled them through the ropes and restored order. Post fight comments:
"The final blow was a right uppercut to the jaw that put McGovern to the floor for the full count. Even had he been able to regain his feet before the count of 10 I would have had him out, as he was absolutely unable to defend himself." -Young Corbett II
"It was the greatest robbery in the history of the prize ring. I had Corbett beaten from start to finish. I landed on him when and where I pleased and surely would have had him out within a few rounds. I was not knocked out, but admit that the right uppercut to the chin dazed me and I took the count in order to save myself." -Terry McGovern
Like I said, "Terrible" Terry McGovern was no joke. He was an Irishman from Brooklyn, New York, they called him "The Brooklyn Terror", he struck fear in hearts of his opponents and up until he met his kryptonite in Young Corbett II, McGovern was a wrecking machine.
“Terrible” Terry McGovern
By: Monte D. Cox
The name Terry McGovern might not mean much to boxing fans today, but in his youthful prime he was one of the most awesome hitters in boxing history. His punching power put fear into the hearts of fighters from bantamweight to lightweight. McGovern was like a little Mike Tyson destroying opponent after opponent during his short, but devastating reign of terror.
Stylistically there are many similarities between Terry McGovern and Mike Tyson. Both were stocky built, swarming style hitters who came in low and wrecked their opponents with sharp and powerful counter punches. Like Tyson, McGovern had a seek and destroy mentality from the opening round.
Prior to the coming of Terry McGovern fans did not like to watch fights that ended almost as soon as they began. The boxing crowd and the gamblers who ran the sport liked to see drawn out boxing exhibitions that featured sparring for openings, masterful defense, and a relatively slow pace until an opponent made a mistake. The longer a fight went the more money that could be placed on bets by the gamblers and the fighter’s financial backers. It was common to see the elite fighters carry an opponent to cash in on the stakes. McGovern cared nothing for that. He came out of his corner like a hungry lion who was ready to feed and attempted to devour his opponents in the shortest amount of time. When McGovern exploded on the scene he electrified the crowds with his fast attacks and devastating, shocking early round knockouts. No one had seen anything quite like him before. McGovern scored 23 of his 44 career knockouts in 3 rounds or less.
The National Police Gazette characterized him thusly; “Terry’s style of fighting was a never ending source of delight to the thousands who saw him for the first time in a ring engagement. He was as fast as a streak of lightning, and the large crowd was amazed at his great footwork…Terry has wonderful control of himself in a mix-up and never gets rattled. He would go in like a steam engine and slip away like a snake. This was one of the most notable features of his work in the contest. He was always fighting but never let his opponent hit him to any extent.”
McGovern was a hand held high, ducking, slipping, and short armed puncher much like heavyweight Tyson. “Iron” Mike was known for his defense, slipping and countering to get inside. McGovern fought much in the same manner, the Gazette reported, “McGovern’s defense was perfect and his delivery fast and furious.”
After his fight with Billy Rotchford the Gazette described McGovern with the following, “He hooks fast and punches straight and has a remarkably swift punch, moving over the shortest possible space, and both hands are capable of working evenly, smooth and fast as two pistons. The position in which he had his mitts drew up his shoulder and protected his chin and neck. The elbows were ready to drop to stave off rib blows, and the hand, either right or left, prepared to slip inside any swing or wide hook an opponent might deal up.”
When Tyson was “on” he was a strong body puncher as in the Jesse Ferguson fight, but Tyson was never the pound for pound puncher to the body that McGovern was. Historian Barry Deskins wrote, “Short blows to the body followed by a viscous straight right is McGovern’s strongest asset, particularly his work to the body.” Old time fight announcer Joe Humphrey’s said, Sept 1936 Ring Magazine, “McGovern was a lightning fast feinter and a terrible hitter. He was a great body puncher, an art that seems to be lost to the present generation.”
Harry Lenny, an old time fighter and trainer who served as a sparring partner for lightweight champion Joe Gans and worked Joe Louis corner agrees with this assessment saying, “McGovern was a very powerful man, who hurt you with every punch. He was a great body puncher.”
Ducking and going to the body with quick two handed combinations McGovern would then come up with a powerful right to the head. The Gazette writer depicted McGovern in his fight with Casper Leon as having “a beautiful right hand cross-counter punch” that lands with “such marvelous force that something has to drop, and that something usually lays stretched out until the referee counts the fateful ten.”
When Terry McGovern challenged champion Pedlar Palmer for the bantamweight championship the boxing public expected a great boxer versus puncher match up. Instead they saw an annihilation. Like Tyson’s 1988 knockout of the previously undefeated Mike Spinks, McGovern’s 1899 knockout of previously unbeaten Palmer ended in the first round. McGovern stunned the crowd with a terrifying right hand to the chin that won the championship in record time. McGovern was just 19 years old.
George Dixon, one of the greatest fighters of all time, reigned as Featherweight champion for nearly 10 years and made 23 successful title defenses. His boxing skills were so highly regarded he was considered to be “a fighter without a flaw” during his prime years. Although Dixon was past his peak and wearing down from a long career he had never been knocked off his feet in a regulation match. McGovern gave him no respect attacking him with the same ferocity as he did all of his other opponent’s. McGovern laid a beating on Dixon taking away his title and sending him to the canvas twice in the 8th and final round. McGovern was now the world featherweight boxing champion and he was not done yet.
“Unconquered and unconquerable Terry McGovern, the Brooklyn whirlwind fighter, stands today without a peer in the pugilistic world” wrote the Gazette after McGovern defeated lightweight champion Frank Erne in a non-title match. McGovern vanquished Erne in three rounds. In the space of 10 months he had defeated the bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight world champions all by knockout. At one point he had knocked out 10 men in a total of 17 rounds and the victims included highly ranked contenders Pat Haley and Harry Forbes.
Like Tyson after him McGovern was considered an invincible puncher who could not be beat. Terrible Terry’s reign of terror over the lower weight classes ended when he was upset and beaten by Young Corbett. The Gazette wrote, “McGovern for the first time in his career, met an opponent who was not afraid of him, and a clear headed, strong, quick and shifty boxer who had a tremendous punch.” Corbett had won the battle of psychological warfare by incensing McGovern and causing him to lose his cool. Before the fight he went by McGovern’s dressing room and yelled, “Come on out you Irish Rat, and take the licking of your life.”
McGovern charged at Corbett during the opening bell but didn’t cover up and left himself wide open. Corbett landed a strong right hand counter that put McGovern on his pants. McGovern came back and decked Corbett the same round but he was making mistakes. In the second round Corbett again caught McGovern coming in wildly and knocked him down for the second time and soon finished him. Corbett also beat McGovern a rematch stopping him in 11 rounds to prove it was no fluke.
Neither McGovern nor Tyson were quite the same once their aura of invincibility was removed.
McGovern after being bested began to suffer from mental problems. He spent much of his later life institutionalized. Francis Albertanti, writer for The Ring Magazine and witness to hundreds of live fights, wrote in 1928, “We may never live to see a duplicate of the famous ‘Terrible Terry’. Fighters like McGovern come once in a lifetime.”
Next up, Terry McGovern vs George "Little Chocolate" Dixon in 1900. George Dixon is a legend and is one of the greatest fighters in boxing history. George Dixon competed in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, becoming the first Black world boxing champion and the first to hold titles in two different weight classes. He was the inaugural World Bantamweight Champion and won the World Featherweight Championship multiple times, making him a legend in both categories.
Credit: r/Boxing on reddit.com
Terrible’ Terry McGovern ended one of the greatest runs in boxing history when he knocked out ‘Little Chocolate’ George Dixon on this day in 1900.
McGovern had just won the bantamweight title in a shocking first round knockout of the highly regarded Pedlar Palmer, he was considered to be a “miniature Sullivan” with his relentless aggression and murderous power.
Dixon was seen by his contemporaries as being slightly past his peak due to being in so many long distance fights at the top level for the past decade, but there’s no doubt that he still had ability at this stage in spite of that. In 1898 he had just defeated the well regarded Oscar Gardner and Dave Sullivan, and in 1899 he’d beat another noteworthy contender from the period in Joe Bernstein. Dixon’s camp was confident; “Dixon is the Dixon of old…he thinks well of McGovern but believes he will beat him.” Evening Star
“When McGovern faces Dixon, he will meet the greatest fighter ever at the weight. As a ring general Dixon has no equal…[he] is a perfect fighting machine. He never misses a chance to inflict punishment.” St. Louis Republic
A letter from McGovern from the New York World:
“I expect to beat George Dixon tomorrow night, but I’m not looking for a picnic. I know he is the greatest little man we ever had in this country, but that will give me all the more credit for defeating him. When I beat Palmer, the English champion, it was so easy that lots of people thought it was no fight at all. The fight with Dixon won’t be like that. It will be a great battle, but if I didn’t expect to win I wouldn’t get into the ring. Dixon is bigger than I am, but I know he isn’t any stronger. He is taller, but I weigh as much as he does, and I’m ten years younger. He’s a champion, but a champion will fall down as hard as any other man if he’s hit in the right place.”
Newsmen covered the training camps of both men extensively, McGovern was sparring with fighters as big as 160 pounds. The New York World went as far as saying it would be, “the greatest contest between little men ever seen”. The fight was scheduled for 25 rounds, but only lasted 8. Dixon had the advantage early on, but McGovern’s toughness and grit came through in the end:
“Tonight Terry McGovern wrestled the world featherweight championship from George Dixon. To save Dixon from a KO, his manager threw up the sponge early in the 8th, when the negro was staggering helplessly, bleeding and weak, but as game as heretofore.
Dixon and McGovern stepped onto the scales this-afternoon weighing 118. Dixon seemed to be in the better condition. He looked...as if the weight did not trouble him whilst McGovern seemed to finely drawn. When he stepped into the ring, however, McGovern seemed in perfect condition, as they both did when stripped.
Dixon from on the first bash on the gong was on the aggressive, looking for the lead left, which McGovern consistantly stepped aside of and set to that champion’s lower works. McGovern’s attack on the body was a surprise to Dixon as no boxer who ever faced the negro was able to land on the wind, ribs, and kidney, as McGovern did tonight.
Dixon jarred McGovern multiple times throughout with cracks to the ear or jam but Terry was always back at his man in a jiffy relentlessly smashing with either hand to the body.
The seventh round was a disastrous one for Dixon. Terry broke Dixon’s nose in this round after which he sent a right hand smash that landed over the champion’s heart and George staggered to the corner with blood gushing from his nasal organ.
Dixon came up to scratch as game as ever in the 8th round which proved to be his last. Early in the round George slipped to the floor...Dixon was knocked to the floor in the aftermath taking the greater part of the count...Terry scarecely three feet away...Dixon went down again from a body blow, and in all went down eight more times in the round, the last five times being as the result of terrible body punches.
Just after this, Tom O’Rourke threw the sponge in on his man’s behalf - about right. McGovern was hailed by the crowd, but:
Dixon, as the ex-champion was not forgotten as round after round of applause was given for the lad who had defended his title so cleverly for nine years. He left the ring bleeeding and beaten after what might have been his last contest...Dixon was badly marked but McGovern was unscathed...Dixon felt his defeat very keenly.” The Saint Paul Globe
McGovern was now the bantamweight and featherweight champion, despite only being 20. He gave credit to Dixon after their fight:
“I have at last beaten the greatest fighter of them all, and the featherweight championship is mine. I have worked hard for it during the last two years. I have beaten some good men in that time and taken some heavy punches, but the hardest fighter and as game a man as I ever met in the ring is George Dixon.”
Dixon also gave McGovern his dues:
“I was outfought by McGovern from the end of the third round. The blows on my stomach and over my kidneys were harder than any I ever received. I have been fighting for fourteen years and I have met men in the light-weight class ten pounds heavier than McGovern was to-night, but not one of them could land a blow as hard as those that he sent in. He is a wonderful fighter and fairly won the championship. He has my best wishes.”
McGovern’s heinous beating of Dixon caused the end of Dixon as a contender, he would go on a string of losses and draws with few wins for the rest of his career.
“Battle will live in history as one of remarkable courage on the part of a ring veteran who found his match in the youth and vigor of an opponent in the very last bout of an extraordinary career of success.” - Boston Daily Globe
Comments
This is Johnny Coulon in his prime, during his fighting days. He was involved in boxing for his entire life.
Coulon, also called "The Cherry Picker of Logan Square," began boxing at only 8-years-old and trained under his father, Pop Coulon. Later he trained with Elbows McFadden, George Siddons and James Corbett. His early boxing experience helped him become one of the youngest title claimants of all time at 18, when he defeated Kid Murphy for a portion of the bantamweight title.
A two-fisted slugger, Johnny Coulon turned pro in 1905 just three weeks before his 16th birthday. He was born in Toronto, Canada but for most of his life he resided in Chicago.
Coulon won his first 26 bouts before losing a 10-round decision to Kid Murphy. In a rematch with Murphy in 1908, Coulon reversed the decision and earned recognition as the American bantamweight champion.
On March 6, 1910, Coulon captured the vacant world bantamweight crown when he defeated England's Jim Kendrick in 19 rounds. He defended the title against Earl Denning, Frankie Conley, Frankie Burns and Kid Williams. He finally lost the crown in 1914 when Williams stopped him in the third round.
There was eventually no question as to the strength of his claim and he held the championship until 1914, when it was said he was well past his best and had been weakened by illness.
But Coulon was a skilled and scientific fighter, and he later opened Coulon's Gymnasium with his wife in Chicago, with fighters like "Sugar" Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and Carmen Basilio training there on occasion. Coulon even became one of the first ever former world champions to officially handle a current champion when he trained the great Eddie Perkins.
Throughout his life, Coulon stayed in shape. "I have never drank of smoked and I try to instill this in the boys, not by preaching but by just talking, and it seems to go over."
Coulon served in the U.S. Army during World War I, often instructing soldiers on how to fight. He boxed twice after his service stint and retired from the ring in 1920.
On his 72nd birthday, Coulon showed off for reporters by walking around the gym on his hands, it was similar to his "unliftable man" trick, he liked to show off his various tricks and skills .
When Coulon died at 84-years-old in 1973, he took an encyclopedia of boxing knowledge with him.
''The toughest opponent is me. A Iot of times, you don't want to train. You don't want to box. Sometimes, life hits you to the point where you don't even want to live. You have to fight with that person. You have to make yourself wake up in the morning. You have to make yourself watch your weight. That's how I fight with that person.'' - OIeksandr Usyk
Prime George Foreman at his most frightening, as he clubs Joe King Roman senseless.
Foreman made his first defense of the heavyweight championship with a brutal and cruel 1st round KO of Joe King Roman at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan in 1973.
Roman, a Puerto Rican heavyweight who fought out of Florida, was no match for Foreman. When Roman tried to move early, Foreman cut off the ring and trapped him near the ropes. A left hook caught Roman on the temple and sent him down into the ropes quite awkwardly, and Foreman then caught Roman with a right hand as he was down (pictured).
Action stopped as Roman's corner protested, but their fighter claimed to be okay, the referee ruled no foul was committed and Foreman appeared somewhat apologetic. When the fight resumed, a whirling right hand caught Roman and knocked him flat. He beat the count only to be caught with a few more punches, punctuated by an uppercut that crumbled him to the canvas, all but unconscious, where he was counted out.
Another shot of that George Foreman clubbing, man that is brutal.
William Rothwell, known as "Young Corbett II", early 1900s featherweight champion and Hall of Famer. It's a fascinating story, Young Corbett II pulled off a massive upset on this day in 1901 when he KO'd "Terrible" Terry McGovern in Round 2 of their fight in Hartford, Connecticut, to win the world featherweight crown. It's fascinating because Terry McGovern was one of the most feared fighters in boxing history, they didn't call him "Terrible" for nothing, he left a trail of destruction across two divisions on his way to the top of the bantamweight and featherweight mountains. Terry McGovern's reputation is well known to boxing fans, he was the Mike Tyson of his era. His ring record is littered with bodies, he was one of the hardest punchers in the history of the featherweight division and one of the most violent men to ever step foot in the ring. To say he was feared during his time would be an understatement. By 1901 McGovern had seized the bantamweight and featherweight titles by brute force, and was thought of as being invincible or damn near it. Enter Young Corbett II, he was from Denver, Colorado, and though Young Corbett had registered victories over former champion George Dixon and contender Oscar Gardner, he wasn't a well-known pugilist and wasn't given much of a chance to defeat the supposedly invincible featherweight kingpin, Terry McGovern. Corbett, who was trying to prove that he was by no means intimidated of McGovern's reputation, banged on the McGovern's dressing room door before their fight and jeered him by reciting some nasty remarks and insulting him. Now that takes some serious guts, and is one of the boldest things I've ever heard of, can you imagine someone busting through the door of prime Mike Tyson's locker room and taunting him before a fight? But Corbett did exactly that, then proceeded to back it up in the ring by knocking Terry McGovern out. The crowd was was absolutely stunned. It's insane to pull something like that off one time, but in the rematch in 1903, Corbett stopped him in 11, proving the first time wasn't a fluke.
Young Corbett II in his prime
Hall of Fame Athletes / 1978 Inductees / Young Corbett
Young Corbett, Denver’s first and only world boxing champion, was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame posthumously in 1978 after gaining national fame and becoming a hometown hero in Denver.
The recognition by his native state seems long overdue and comes after he took his place among the ring immortals by being elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1965.
Corbett received national attention when he knocked out “Terrible” Terry McGovern in the second round of a featherweight title fight in Hartford, Connecticut, November 28, 1901.
William H. Rothwell was born in Denver, October 4, 1880. It was on Swansea Street that he first learning to protect himself by using his fists. When he started fighting professionally at the tender age of seventeen, he took his ring name after his manager, Jimmy Corbett. Boxing was popular in the rip-roaring mining towns of Colorado and Corbett had several fights in such towns as Leadville, Cripple Creek and Aspen.
Standing only five-feet two-inches tall, he gained acclaim as a deadly puncher. In a memorable fight in Denver, he stopped Oscar Garner in the second round and then beat Kid Broad and ex-champion George Dixon.
After his forty-second fight, Manager Corbett figured the time had come to take his protégé east, and a title bout with Terry McGovern was negotiated. It was considered a mismatch by most eastern critics, as McGovern was viewed, pound for pound, one of the deadliest punchers in the boxing game. In the previous two years he had scored seventeen knockouts, including a string of twelve straight.
The betting gentry wagered the feisty twenty-one year old from the Rockies would take the count within five rounds. Although the featherweight limit was 122 pounds at the time, by mutual agreement the fighters agreed to scale in at 126 pounds. It was a slam-bang battle from the opening bell. Corbett ripped over a right to the jaw late in the first round and the champ went down but jumped up without a count.
Early in the second round another right to the jaw floored McGovern, but again he leaped to his feat without taking a count. The champion fought back, but Corbett refused to give ground, landing a vicious uppercut to the champ’s jaw and McGovern landed on his back and was counted out. A new champion was born.
Corbett’s victory touched off a wild celebration back home in Denver, and Corbett’s mother, two sisters and younger brother were the focus of national attention.
Unfortunately, Corbett’s fame was short lived. Unable to make his weight, he had to relinquish his featherweight title. Abe Attell, who fought many of his early fights in Denver, was recognized as the featherweight champion.
Corbett campaigned as a lightweight with moderate success, then returned to Denver for his last fight against Kid Broad in 1902. Corbett began instructing youngsters and retired in 1910 with a record of thirty-four knockouts in 104 fights.
Corbett died in April, 1927, only a few months after he had appeared in an exhibition at the Elks Club against Mike Mongone, an opponent in his early days in the mining camps.
This is a photo of "Terrible" Terry McGovern (left) and Young Corbett II before their famous 1901 encounter.
This is another photo of Terry McGovern (left) and Young Corbett II before their 1901 fight, my god, look at Young Corbett II, he's built like a damn tree trunk.
An original newspaper article from 1901 after the first McGovern-Corbett II fight.
On March 31, 1903, at Mechanics Pavilion in San Francisco the rematch between McGovern and Corbett II took place, it was a violent fight, and Corbett knocked out McGovern in the 11th round, as was the case in their first fight, the finishing blow was an uppercut. There was controversy, the controversy stemmed from claims that McGovern might have been the victim of a faulty referee's count, though the fight result of Corbett winning by knockout in the 11th round is generally accepted.
"William Rothwell, better known as Young Corbett of Denver, showed decisively tonight that his victory over Terry McGovern of Brooklyn at Hartford a year ago was no fluke by defeating McGovern in the 11th round after a fight in which there was not a second of idleness for either man. In nearly every round Corbett, fighting like a machine, never overlooking an opportunity to send home his blows, had a shade the better of the argument, and when finally in the 11th round he got the Brooklyn boy fairly going he never let up on him, until Terry sank to the floor a badly defeated man. There was some question as to whether or not McGovern was down at the count of 10. McGovern tried to get up and was on his feet an instant after the timekeeper counted him out. As it was, it was nearly a minute after McGovern had been carried to his corner before he was able to sit up and understand what had happened." - The Boston Post
McGovern was also down once each in the first two rounds. The ring was momentarily invaded by McGovern supporters who believed McGovern had beaten the count, but the police immediately piled them through the ropes and restored order. Post fight comments:
"The final blow was a right uppercut to the jaw that put McGovern to the floor for the full count. Even had he been able to regain his feet before the count of 10 I would have had him out, as he was absolutely unable to defend himself." -Young Corbett II
"It was the greatest robbery in the history of the prize ring. I had Corbett beaten from start to finish. I landed on him when and where I pleased and surely would have had him out within a few rounds. I was not knocked out, but admit that the right uppercut to the chin dazed me and I took the count in order to save myself." -Terry McGovern
This is an actual ticket from the McGovern-Corbett rematch in 1903, awesome item.
This is my favorite photo of Young Corbett II, would love to own the original type 1 copy of it. He was a bada$$.
Like I said, "Terrible" Terry McGovern was no joke. He was an Irishman from Brooklyn, New York, they called him "The Brooklyn Terror", he struck fear in hearts of his opponents and up until he met his kryptonite in Young Corbett II, McGovern was a wrecking machine.
“Terrible” Terry McGovern
By: Monte D. Cox
The name Terry McGovern might not mean much to boxing fans today, but in his youthful prime he was one of the most awesome hitters in boxing history. His punching power put fear into the hearts of fighters from bantamweight to lightweight. McGovern was like a little Mike Tyson destroying opponent after opponent during his short, but devastating reign of terror.
Stylistically there are many similarities between Terry McGovern and Mike Tyson. Both were stocky built, swarming style hitters who came in low and wrecked their opponents with sharp and powerful counter punches. Like Tyson, McGovern had a seek and destroy mentality from the opening round.
Prior to the coming of Terry McGovern fans did not like to watch fights that ended almost as soon as they began. The boxing crowd and the gamblers who ran the sport liked to see drawn out boxing exhibitions that featured sparring for openings, masterful defense, and a relatively slow pace until an opponent made a mistake. The longer a fight went the more money that could be placed on bets by the gamblers and the fighter’s financial backers. It was common to see the elite fighters carry an opponent to cash in on the stakes. McGovern cared nothing for that. He came out of his corner like a hungry lion who was ready to feed and attempted to devour his opponents in the shortest amount of time. When McGovern exploded on the scene he electrified the crowds with his fast attacks and devastating, shocking early round knockouts. No one had seen anything quite like him before. McGovern scored 23 of his 44 career knockouts in 3 rounds or less.
The National Police Gazette characterized him thusly; “Terry’s style of fighting was a never ending source of delight to the thousands who saw him for the first time in a ring engagement. He was as fast as a streak of lightning, and the large crowd was amazed at his great footwork…Terry has wonderful control of himself in a mix-up and never gets rattled. He would go in like a steam engine and slip away like a snake. This was one of the most notable features of his work in the contest. He was always fighting but never let his opponent hit him to any extent.”
McGovern was a hand held high, ducking, slipping, and short armed puncher much like heavyweight Tyson. “Iron” Mike was known for his defense, slipping and countering to get inside. McGovern fought much in the same manner, the Gazette reported, “McGovern’s defense was perfect and his delivery fast and furious.”
After his fight with Billy Rotchford the Gazette described McGovern with the following, “He hooks fast and punches straight and has a remarkably swift punch, moving over the shortest possible space, and both hands are capable of working evenly, smooth and fast as two pistons. The position in which he had his mitts drew up his shoulder and protected his chin and neck. The elbows were ready to drop to stave off rib blows, and the hand, either right or left, prepared to slip inside any swing or wide hook an opponent might deal up.”
When Tyson was “on” he was a strong body puncher as in the Jesse Ferguson fight, but Tyson was never the pound for pound puncher to the body that McGovern was. Historian Barry Deskins wrote, “Short blows to the body followed by a viscous straight right is McGovern’s strongest asset, particularly his work to the body.” Old time fight announcer Joe Humphrey’s said, Sept 1936 Ring Magazine, “McGovern was a lightning fast feinter and a terrible hitter. He was a great body puncher, an art that seems to be lost to the present generation.”
Harry Lenny, an old time fighter and trainer who served as a sparring partner for lightweight champion Joe Gans and worked Joe Louis corner agrees with this assessment saying, “McGovern was a very powerful man, who hurt you with every punch. He was a great body puncher.”
Ducking and going to the body with quick two handed combinations McGovern would then come up with a powerful right to the head. The Gazette writer depicted McGovern in his fight with Casper Leon as having “a beautiful right hand cross-counter punch” that lands with “such marvelous force that something has to drop, and that something usually lays stretched out until the referee counts the fateful ten.”
When Terry McGovern challenged champion Pedlar Palmer for the bantamweight championship the boxing public expected a great boxer versus puncher match up. Instead they saw an annihilation. Like Tyson’s 1988 knockout of the previously undefeated Mike Spinks, McGovern’s 1899 knockout of previously unbeaten Palmer ended in the first round. McGovern stunned the crowd with a terrifying right hand to the chin that won the championship in record time. McGovern was just 19 years old.
George Dixon, one of the greatest fighters of all time, reigned as Featherweight champion for nearly 10 years and made 23 successful title defenses. His boxing skills were so highly regarded he was considered to be “a fighter without a flaw” during his prime years. Although Dixon was past his peak and wearing down from a long career he had never been knocked off his feet in a regulation match. McGovern gave him no respect attacking him with the same ferocity as he did all of his other opponent’s. McGovern laid a beating on Dixon taking away his title and sending him to the canvas twice in the 8th and final round. McGovern was now the world featherweight boxing champion and he was not done yet.
“Unconquered and unconquerable Terry McGovern, the Brooklyn whirlwind fighter, stands today without a peer in the pugilistic world” wrote the Gazette after McGovern defeated lightweight champion Frank Erne in a non-title match. McGovern vanquished Erne in three rounds. In the space of 10 months he had defeated the bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight world champions all by knockout. At one point he had knocked out 10 men in a total of 17 rounds and the victims included highly ranked contenders Pat Haley and Harry Forbes.
Like Tyson after him McGovern was considered an invincible puncher who could not be beat. Terrible Terry’s reign of terror over the lower weight classes ended when he was upset and beaten by Young Corbett. The Gazette wrote, “McGovern for the first time in his career, met an opponent who was not afraid of him, and a clear headed, strong, quick and shifty boxer who had a tremendous punch.” Corbett had won the battle of psychological warfare by incensing McGovern and causing him to lose his cool. Before the fight he went by McGovern’s dressing room and yelled, “Come on out you Irish Rat, and take the licking of your life.”
McGovern charged at Corbett during the opening bell but didn’t cover up and left himself wide open. Corbett landed a strong right hand counter that put McGovern on his pants. McGovern came back and decked Corbett the same round but he was making mistakes. In the second round Corbett again caught McGovern coming in wildly and knocked him down for the second time and soon finished him. Corbett also beat McGovern a rematch stopping him in 11 rounds to prove it was no fluke.
Neither McGovern nor Tyson were quite the same once their aura of invincibility was removed.
McGovern after being bested began to suffer from mental problems. He spent much of his later life institutionalized. Francis Albertanti, writer for The Ring Magazine and witness to hundreds of live fights, wrote in 1928, “We may never live to see a duplicate of the famous ‘Terrible Terry’. Fighters like McGovern come once in a lifetime.”
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Next up, Terry McGovern vs George "Little Chocolate" Dixon in 1900. George Dixon is a legend and is one of the greatest fighters in boxing history. George Dixon competed in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, becoming the first Black world boxing champion and the first to hold titles in two different weight classes. He was the inaugural World Bantamweight Champion and won the World Featherweight Championship multiple times, making him a legend in both categories.
Credit: r/Boxing on reddit.com
Terrible’ Terry McGovern ended one of the greatest runs in boxing history when he knocked out ‘Little Chocolate’ George Dixon on this day in 1900.
McGovern had just won the bantamweight title in a shocking first round knockout of the highly regarded Pedlar Palmer, he was considered to be a “miniature Sullivan” with his relentless aggression and murderous power.
Dixon was seen by his contemporaries as being slightly past his peak due to being in so many long distance fights at the top level for the past decade, but there’s no doubt that he still had ability at this stage in spite of that. In 1898 he had just defeated the well regarded Oscar Gardner and Dave Sullivan, and in 1899 he’d beat another noteworthy contender from the period in Joe Bernstein. Dixon’s camp was confident; “Dixon is the Dixon of old…he thinks well of McGovern but believes he will beat him.” Evening Star
“When McGovern faces Dixon, he will meet the greatest fighter ever at the weight. As a ring general Dixon has no equal…[he] is a perfect fighting machine. He never misses a chance to inflict punishment.” St. Louis Republic
A letter from McGovern from the New York World:
“I expect to beat George Dixon tomorrow night, but I’m not looking for a picnic. I know he is the greatest little man we ever had in this country, but that will give me all the more credit for defeating him. When I beat Palmer, the English champion, it was so easy that lots of people thought it was no fight at all. The fight with Dixon won’t be like that. It will be a great battle, but if I didn’t expect to win I wouldn’t get into the ring. Dixon is bigger than I am, but I know he isn’t any stronger. He is taller, but I weigh as much as he does, and I’m ten years younger. He’s a champion, but a champion will fall down as hard as any other man if he’s hit in the right place.”
Newsmen covered the training camps of both men extensively, McGovern was sparring with fighters as big as 160 pounds. The New York World went as far as saying it would be, “the greatest contest between little men ever seen”. The fight was scheduled for 25 rounds, but only lasted 8. Dixon had the advantage early on, but McGovern’s toughness and grit came through in the end:
“Tonight Terry McGovern wrestled the world featherweight championship from George Dixon. To save Dixon from a KO, his manager threw up the sponge early in the 8th, when the negro was staggering helplessly, bleeding and weak, but as game as heretofore.
Dixon and McGovern stepped onto the scales this-afternoon weighing 118. Dixon seemed to be in the better condition. He looked...as if the weight did not trouble him whilst McGovern seemed to finely drawn. When he stepped into the ring, however, McGovern seemed in perfect condition, as they both did when stripped.
Dixon from on the first bash on the gong was on the aggressive, looking for the lead left, which McGovern consistantly stepped aside of and set to that champion’s lower works. McGovern’s attack on the body was a surprise to Dixon as no boxer who ever faced the negro was able to land on the wind, ribs, and kidney, as McGovern did tonight.
Dixon jarred McGovern multiple times throughout with cracks to the ear or jam but Terry was always back at his man in a jiffy relentlessly smashing with either hand to the body.
The seventh round was a disastrous one for Dixon. Terry broke Dixon’s nose in this round after which he sent a right hand smash that landed over the champion’s heart and George staggered to the corner with blood gushing from his nasal organ.
Dixon came up to scratch as game as ever in the 8th round which proved to be his last. Early in the round George slipped to the floor...Dixon was knocked to the floor in the aftermath taking the greater part of the count...Terry scarecely three feet away...Dixon went down again from a body blow, and in all went down eight more times in the round, the last five times being as the result of terrible body punches.
Just after this, Tom O’Rourke threw the sponge in on his man’s behalf - about right. McGovern was hailed by the crowd, but:
Dixon, as the ex-champion was not forgotten as round after round of applause was given for the lad who had defended his title so cleverly for nine years. He left the ring bleeeding and beaten after what might have been his last contest...Dixon was badly marked but McGovern was unscathed...Dixon felt his defeat very keenly.” The Saint Paul Globe
McGovern was now the bantamweight and featherweight champion, despite only being 20. He gave credit to Dixon after their fight:
“I have at last beaten the greatest fighter of them all, and the featherweight championship is mine. I have worked hard for it during the last two years. I have beaten some good men in that time and taken some heavy punches, but the hardest fighter and as game a man as I ever met in the ring is George Dixon.”
Dixon also gave McGovern his dues:
“I was outfought by McGovern from the end of the third round. The blows on my stomach and over my kidneys were harder than any I ever received. I have been fighting for fourteen years and I have met men in the light-weight class ten pounds heavier than McGovern was to-night, but not one of them could land a blow as hard as those that he sent in. He is a wonderful fighter and fairly won the championship. He has my best wishes.”
McGovern’s heinous beating of Dixon caused the end of Dixon as a contender, he would go on a string of losses and draws with few wins for the rest of his career.
“Battle will live in history as one of remarkable courage on the part of a ring veteran who found his match in the youth and vigor of an opponent in the very last bout of an extraordinary career of success.” - Boston Daily Globe