BALTIMORE'S JOE GANS--BOXING'S FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHAMPION
Joe Gans (born Joseph Gant; November 25, 1874 – August 10, 1910) was an African-American boxer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, who was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all time by boxing historian and Ring Magazine founder, Nat Fleischer. Gans was known as the "Old Master". He fought from 1891 to 1909. He was the first African-American World Boxing Champion of the 20th century, reigning continuously as World Lightweight Champion from 1902-1904 and 1906-1908.
Gans started boxing professionally about 1891 in Baltimore. He gained many fans within the boxing world, both white and black, with his "scientific" approach to fighting. Finding an opponent's strengths and weaknesses, then competing with a game-plan was Gans' specialty. He was known as a true student of the sport. On March 3, 1900 at the Broadway Athletic Club in New York, Gans quit with an eye injury in the twelfth round of his first World Lightweight Title bout against reigning lightweight champion Frank Erne, with the fight ending in a TKO. In their rematch two years later, Gans knocked Erne out in one round to convincingly take the World Lightweight Title. He was not quite the first Black world title holder. Canadian born, George Dixon, won the Bantamweight World Title in 1892. Barbados Joe Walcott won the World Welterweight title on December 18, 1901.
Gans reigned as champion from 1902 to 1908. A slender man, never weighing over 137 pounds. Gans frequently fought heavier boxers, adding to the legend of his scientific fighting technique.
On January 6, 1902, Gans defeated the former World Welterweight Champion Canadian born Eddie Connolly. Connolly lost in a five round disqualification at the Washington Sports Club in Philadelphia. One reporter noted that Connolly, "did nothing but hug and wrestle, adding variety to his performance in the third by deliberately trying to butt the Baltimorean (Gans)". A head butt is a foul usually resulting in an immediate disqualification. The reporter also noted that Connolly clinched frequently and "wrestled" rather than boxed, probably in attempt to protest himself from the fierce assaults of Gans. By the time the referee ended the bout in the fifth, Connolly had been "rendered practically helpless" by the powerful punching of Gans.
In an important title defense he defeated the "Durable Dane," Oscar "Battling" Nelson, on a foul in 42 rounds on September 3, 1906 in Goldfield, Nevada in a fight arranged by legendary promoter Tex Rickard.
Gans drew with future Welterweight World Championship claimant Mike "Twin" Sullivan on September 15, 1905 and then defeated Sullivan by knockout in long bouts on January 19 and March 17, 1906 in San Francisco, and Los Angeles. BoxRec recorded the San Francisco fight as a World Welterweight Title match. The bout had a weight limit of around 142 pounds which was estimated to be Sullivan's weigh in, whereas Gans' weigh in was estimated to have been seven or eight pounds lighter. Gans' defeat of the heavier Sullivan, a strong puncher by reputation, showed his mastery in the ring. In this well attended bout, Gans share of the gate was a considerable $2,425.20 and Sullivan's was $1,616.80. Gans reportedly had bet another $1,700 on himself, which if accurate, made his earnings on the fight quite considerable for 1906.
Gans had a final professional record of 145 wins with 100 knockouts, 10 losses, 16 draws, 6 no contests and 19 no decisions (Newspaper Decisions: 13-2-4). He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. A bronze statue of Joe Gans is in the lobby of Madison Square Garden. Boxers would rub the statue's outstretched left fist for luck before matches.
His legendary fight on September 3, 1906 with Battling Nelson was commemorated with a memorial located in Goldfield, Nevada at the site of the fight. Gans was the first African American to win a World Championship in Lightweight Boxing. According to most sources, George Dixon, a Black Canadian-born American boxer, took the Featherweight Championship of the World in the 1890s. Gans' achievements not only set new records, but gave African Americans hope in the early twentieth century. In a time of racial segregation, champion Joe Gans emerged victorious.
"Through his ring accomplishments, Gans put into action what others could only theorize. The articulation of the black quest for social equality reached large audiences through the pulpits, and the most authoritative sermons were published in newspapers and religious quarterlies". (Wikipedia)
