"Club at the age of 17. In 1860, Curtis and his friend John C. Babcock managed Hubert Ottignon's Metropolitan Gymnasium in Chicago. From 1853 to 1872, Curtis did not lose a race in the 100-yard dash until he eventually lost to Harry Buermeyer. Curtis was also a three-time national champion in the hammer throw. Curtis and Buermeyer were considered the strongest men of their time. Curtis successfully lifted over in a ""back"" lift. Curtis helped create several amateur clubs around the country. He founded the New York Athletic Club (N.Y.A.C.) with Buermeyer and Babcock in 1868, and he was the"
"Harry Buermeyer Henry Ernest (Harry) Buermeyer II (August 19, 1839 – October 10, 1922) was an American athlete in the late 1800s and is considered a ""father of American athletics"" due to his major contributions towards the growth of amateur sports throughout North America. James Edward Sullivan described him as “one of the strongest athletes the world ever had”. After being wounded in the legs twice in the Civil War, Harry won numerous national championships in swimming, running, shot put, and boxing, and he was an avid rower and weightlifter throughout his life. Harry was born in New York City,"
"were remembered as founding fathers."""" Hyer was and approximately 182 pounds. He was born in New York, and was of Dutch descent. In 1969, Hyer was elected to the Ring Magazine Boxing Hall of Fame. Hyer's son, Tom Hyer, became the first American heavyweight boxing champion. The younger Hyer's famous victory against Yankee Sullivan in 1849 greatly spurred the popularity of the sport and served to preserve the legacy of his father's pioneering fight. Jacob Hyer Jacob Hyer (died 1838) was an American bare-knuckled boxer. He is generally credited as the first professional American boxer, due to his 1816 match"
"in private athletic clubs between members. Thus, when introducing the fighters, the announcer frequently added the phrase ""Both members of this club"", as George Wesley Bellows titled one of his paintings. The western region of the United States tended to be more tolerant of prizefights in this era, although the private club arrangement was standard practice here as well, San Francisco's California Athletic Club being a prominent example. On December 26, 1908, heavyweight Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion and a highly controversial figure in that racially charged era. Prizefights often had unlimited rounds, and could easily become"
"boxing champion in 1889. Both Weir and Sullivan were Boston natives, and Sullivan occasionally appeared at Weir's bouts. Sullivan agreed to defend his title in 1892, against challenger ""Gentleman Jim"" Corbett. The match was on 7 September in New Orleans. It began at 9 p.m. in the electrically illuminated Olympic Club in the upper Ninth Ward neighborhood now known as Bywater section. The venue filled to its 10,000 person capacity despite hefty ticket prices ranging from $5 to $15 (approximately $117 to $353 in 2009 dollars). The heavyweight contest occurred under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, but it was neither"
"sport as way of increasing moral and physical character. John L. Sullivan became the first American heavyweight champion in 1882 under bare knuckle boxing rules and again in 1892 becoming the first gloved era. He was defeated by James Corbett, often referred to as the father of modern boxing due to his innovative scientific technique, in 1892. Jack Johnson was the first African American heavyweight champion. Ring magazine was founded in the mid 1900s, and it began listing of championships and winners. The National Boxing Association changed its name in 1962 and became the World Boxing Association. The new organization"
"Country Club in Fort Wayne, IN was formed. 1909 The USGA rules that caddies, caddymasters and greenkeepers over the age of sixteen are professional golfers. The ruling is later modified and eventually reversed in 1963. 1910 The R & A bans the center-shafted putter while the USGA keeps it legal - marking the beginning of a 42-year period with two official versions of The Rules of Golf. Steel shafts are patented by Arthur F. Knight. 1911 John McDermott becomes the first native-born American to win the U.S. Open. At 19 years of age, he is also the youngest winner to"
"hours before Moneghan was forced to accept defeat. After losing his title, Moneghan continued to box for some time. On July 19, 1860 he defeated Harry McLain in 80 rounds in Fort Ward, NY. After contesting in an exhibition in 1863, his name no longer appears. Little is known of his death or later life. Johnny Moneghan Johnny Moneghan (Born: 1830; Liverpool, England; Died: Unknown) was a lightweight bare-knuckle boxer. He gained the recognition of becoming the first official Lightweight Champion of America. He stood 5' 4 ½"" and weighted approximately 124 pounds. Although we do not know a great"
"the era were the peerless heavyweight Jim Jeffries and Bob Fitzsimmons, who weighed less than 12 stone (164 pounds), but won world titles at middleweight (1892), light heavyweight (1903), and heavyweight (1897). Other famous champions included light heavyweight Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and middleweight Tommy Ryan. On May 12, 1902 lightweight Joe Gans became the first black American to be boxing champion. Despite the public's enthusiasm, this was an era of far-reaching regulation of the sport, often with the stated goal of outright prohibition. In 1900, the State of New York enacted the Lewis Law, banned prizefights except for those held"
"Modern authorities have retroactively labelled Ryan the ""Heavyweight Champion of America"", but any claim to Ryan's being a ""world champion"" would have been dubious; he had never contended internationally as Sullivan had. Depending on the modern authority, Sullivan was first considered world heavyweight champion either in 1888 when he fought Charley Mitchell in France, or in 1889 when he knocked out Jake Kilrain in round 75 of a scheduled 80-round bout. Arguably the real first World Heavyweight champion was Jem Mace, who defeated Tom Allen in 1870 at Kenner, Louisiana, but strong anti-British sentiment within the mostly Irish-American boxing community"
"bronzes. Most heavyweight champions of this century originate from the United States. The first recorded women's boxing match in the United States occurred in New York in 1888, when Hattie Leslie beat Alice Leary in a brutal fight. Barbara Buttrick was the first woman to appear on a televised boxing match. Women's boxing at a professional and amateur was rarely acknowledged until 1970's Cathy 'Cat' Davis , Marian “Tyger” Trimiar and Jackie Tonawanda were pioneers as they were the first women in the United States to get a license for boxing in the United States. Cathty Davis was the female"
"of boxers claiming to be legitimate champions. On August 23, 1962, the NBA officially became the World Boxing Association and moved their headquarters to Panama City, Panama. A year later NYSAC along with European Boxing Union and BBBofC supported creation of the World Boxing Council. In April 1983, members of United States Boxing Association along with Robert W. Lee (a former WBA vice-president) voted to expand the organisation and form the USBA-International. The organization later changed the name to International Boxing Federation. The inaugural IBF Heavyweight Champion was Larry Holmes, who relinquished the WBC title to accept IBF's recognition, thus"
"Pete Rademacher Thomas Peter ""Pete"" Rademacher (born November 20, 1928) is a retired American heavyweight boxer. He is the only person who contested the world heavyweight championship in his first professional bout. Rademacher took up boxing as a form of rehabilitation during his recovery from rheumatic fever, which he contracted in military school. In his amateur career, Rademacher won 72 bouts and lost 7. He won a series of tournaments, including the 1949 and 1951–1953 Seattle Golden Gloves (he lost in 1950 to Zora Folley, who was his frequent opponent throughout his boxing career), and the US Amateur Championship as"
"only universally recognized form of a world championship until July 2, 1921, when Jack Dempsey became the inaugural NBA Heavyweight Champion. The growing popularity of boxing led to a birth of various regional sanctioning organizations, with each recognizing their own champion. The major governing bodies were the National Boxing Association, formed in 1921, the New York State Athletic Commission, found after the Walker Law legalized prizefighting in New York in 1920, and the International Boxing Union, created in 1911 in Paris in attepmt create a unified international governing body for professional boxing. Both NBA and NYSAC made then-lineal champion Jack"
"the German heavyweight Max Schmeling and the American Max Baer, who wielded a devastating right hand. Baer was defeated by ""Cinderella Man"" James Braddock, a former light heavyweight contender before a series of injuries and setbacks during the Great Depression and was at one point even stripped of his license. Most famous of all was Joe Louis, who avenged an earlier defeat by demolishing Schmeling in the first round of their 1938 rematch. Louis was voted the best puncher of all time by ""The Ring"", and is arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time. In 1938, Henry Armstrong became the"
"in seven rounds at the Palm Athletic Club in New York. Though Collins was not as accomplished a boxer as Matthews would soon face in his career, the win was convincing and helped him to gain recognition. On October 29, 1896, Matthews knocked out English born boxer Stanton Abbott in the seventh of fifteen rounds at the Empire Athletic Club, in Buffalo, New York before a crowd of around 2,000. According to several sources, Abbott took the English lightweight title at 132 pounds in January 1893 at the National Sporting Club in London. Matthews employed a low crouch in the"
"in Aurora, Illinois. According to boxing lore, and his own accounts, he took up boxing when he was badly underweight and suffering from consumption on the advice of physicians who recommended exercise. He was a boxing pupil of Harry Gilmore of Chicago, who also taught Chicago boxers Tommy White and 1901 World Bantamweight Champion Harry Forbes. He began his professional boxing career around 1895 in the Chicago area where he won six of his first seven fights by knockout. In his early career from 1895 to 1896, he knocked out Young Casey in 3 rounds, Jimmy ""Spider"" Kelly in 1,"
"club was the 1902 U.S. Women's Amateur. In 1896 the Club hired Scottish professional Alex Campbell, who would go on to serve as the head professional from 1896–1916. Campbell was in large part responsible for the development of caddie Francis Ouimet into a championship caliber player. The 1913 U.S. Open was held at The Country Club. The heavy favorites were English legends Harry Vardon (1900 U.S. Open winner; four-time British Open winner) and Ted Ray (reigning British Open champion). After 72 holes the pair found themselves tied with 20-year-old amateur Francis Ouimet — who had grown up across the street"
"Boxing Club of New York (IBC). Suspicious to the point of paranoia, D'Amato refused to match his fighter in any bout promoted by the IBC. The IBC was eventually found to be in violation of anti-trust laws and was dissolved. Under D'Amato's tutelage, Floyd Patterson captured the Olympic middleweight gold medal in the 1952 Helsinki games. D'Amato then guided Patterson through the professional ranks, manoeuvring Patterson into fighting for the title vacated by Rocky Marciano. After beating Tommy ""Hurricane"" Jackson in an elimination fight, Patterson faced Light Heavyweight Champion Archie Moore on November 30, 1956, for the World Heavyweight Championship."
"Jacob Hyer Jacob Hyer (died 1838) was an American bare-knuckled boxer. He is generally credited as the first professional American boxer, due to his 1816 match with Tom Beasley, and has even been called ""The Father of The American Ring"". In October 1816 in Manhattan, Hyer (a butcher) fought Tom Beasley (an English mariner) in what is traditionally said to be the first professional American bout, in that it was open to the public and English boxing rules were observed. The fight has been described as a ""grudge match,"" because the two had previously been involved in a street fight,"
"was also refined by later Irish immigrants, and gained great ground because of the success of George William Flagg from Vermont, the wrestling champion of the Army of the Potomac. After the Civil War, freestyle wrestling began to emerge as a distinct sport, and soon spread rapidly in the United States. Professional wrestling also emerged in the late 19th century (not like the ""sports-entertainment"" seen today). At the time of the first New York Athletic Club tournament in 1878 professional championship wrestling matches ""offered purses of up to $1,000."" By the 1880s, American wrestling became organized, with matches often being"
"upon in 1890 was bought roughly thirty years later and is now the site of seven holes (2–8) of the front nine. Anxious to host national competitions, Havemeyer invited the country's best amateurs to his new course for a championship in 1894. That December, Havemeyer held a meeting at New York City's Calumet Club with representatives from four other clubs: St. Andrew's Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY; Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton on Long Island, New York; The Country Club in Brookline, MA; and the Chicago Golf Club. These clubs agreed to form the Amateur Golf Association, the forerunner"
"Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championship from Bronko Nagurski in St. Louis, Missouri on March 7, 1940. Steele would hold the belt for over a year before losing it back to Bronko Nagurski on March 11, 1941 in Houston, Texas. Sauer served as a mentor to many young stars, including Lou Thesz before his death of a heart attack in September 1949. Peter Sauer Peter Sauer (February 2, 1900 - September 11, 1949), was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Ray Steele. He was born and raised in Norka, a German colony in Russia, in 1900 before"
"the Queensberry Rules had been published. In England, the Amateur Boxing Association (A.B.A.) was formed in 1880 when twelve clubs affiliated. It held its first championships the following year. Four weight classes were contested: Featherweight (9 stone), Lightweight (10 stone), Middleweight (11 stone, 4 pounds) and Heavyweight (no limit). (A stone is equal to 14 pounds.) By 1902, American boxers were contesting the titles in the A.B.A. Championships, which, therefore, took on an international complexion. By 1924, the A.B.A. had 105 clubs in affiliation. Boxing first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1904 and, apart from the Games of 1912,"
"hall by U.S. Route 59 in Humble, Texas and promised the owner, Casey Musick, $500 plus the proceeds from the concession stand. Renaming the building the ""Humble Bingo Arena"", they held their first show on January 15, 1994, which was attended by 450 fans and brought in over $2,000. The promotion established its first championship titles between December 1994 and December 1996. Professional wrestling had been very popular in Houston, especially during the 1970s and 1980s, but had considerably declined in the years following the retirement of legendary wrestling personality Paul Boesch in 1987. It was not until the close"
"Harvard Boxing Club The Harvard Boxing Club is a student organization at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Boxing has been a popular campus activity since the late 19th century. In the intramural tournament of 1879, future President Theodore Roosevelt faced C.S. Hanks in the lightweight championship and lost, after a controversial late-hit by Hanks. According to historian Edmund Morris, the crowd started booing Hanks prompting Roosevelt to put up his hands and shout “It's alright, he didn’t hear [the bell]”. When Roosevelt campaigned for the Presidency, his supporters would frequently recall this anecdote as an early example of his extraordinary"
"Rowing Club. In 1901 he took the amateur middleweight championship of the Pacific Coast at only seventeen, and the following year won the amateur heavyweight championship. Berger had 40 amateur fights, most of which were won by knockout. He won the first gold medal in Boxing at the 1904 Summer Olympics, as heavyweight boxing had not been featured in the Olympics before. Berger defeated William Michaels in the semi-finals of the St. Louis Olympics and Charles Mayer, the middleweight champion, in the finals to take the Olympic Gold Medal. Having only eleven countries competing, the Olympic competition was not nearly"
"and later became a mascot of the old Nonpareil Athletic Club where he was originally introduced to boxing. It was while performing at Gus Maisch's ""Little Casino"" in 1888, a popular establishment near New Bowery, that he agreed to be a last minute replacement as the night's official ring announcer when the regular man was unable to appear. Humphreys became an instant success and became a full-time announcer. By the early 20th century, Humphreys had become the single most popular boxing announcer in the New York-area. Harry Grayson, boxing writer for the ""New York World-Telegram"" once wrote, ""Joe Humphreys had"
"the Cleveland Athletic Club in Cleveland, Ohio, in a third-round knockout. These victories were instrumental in his quick rise in the boxing world. In January 1893, Dime had won the equivalent of the American Lightweight Championship at 130 pounds in Fonda, New York. On August 13, 1896, fighting on his home turf of Saint John, New Brunswick, Connolly drew in six rounds with Stanton Abbott at the Mechanics Institute. The fighting was rather subdued and the crowd was small, however, as a New Brunswick magistrate, under pressure to curtail professional boxing, had threatened to arrest not only the principals in"
"start an amateur boxing career. Known as ""Tommy,"" he was a lightweight boxer with 145 victories of 156 amateur fights. Moyer is recognized as one of the greatest boxers ever produced by the state of Oregon, and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. He was undefeated as a welterweight in 22 professional fights. He was Northwest Champion from 1935 to 1941, a five-time Pacific Coast Champion, a National AAU State Champion, a National Diamond Belt Champion, and an International Diamond Belt Champion. He fought Sugar Ray Robinson in a five-round amateur bout in Rochester, New"
"Heavyweight Title from Bob Olin on October 31, 1935, in a fifteen-round unanimous decision at the Arena in St. Louis. Due to the Depression and a lack of interest in the Light Heavyweight class, Olin's manager had a difficult time finding a promoter or an audience for the fight, finally settling on a payment of $15,000 to fight Lewis in St. Louis. The meager audience of 9,219 that showed on fight day could not provide enough in receipts to pay Olin half of what he was promised. Olin's trainer, Ray Arcel, later wrote that his boxer lost the nerve to"
"only a four boxers to capture more than one medal in the same Olympics. George Finnegan, Charles Mayer, and Oliver Kirk, who also competed in St. Louis, were the others. Harry Spanjer Henry John ""Harry"" Spanjer (January 9, 1873 – July 16, 1958) was an American lightweight and welterweight boxer who competed in the early twentieth century. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and died in St. Petersburg, Florida. The correct spelling of his name is ""Spanjer"" nevertheless many sources misspell his name as ""Spanger"". In the lightweight category of the 1904 Summer Olympics he defeated fellow American Jack"
"BoxRec rates Walker as the 6th best middleweight ever, while ""The Ring Magazine"" founder Nat Fleischer placed him at No. 4. The International Boxing Research Organization ranked Walker as the No. 4 middleweight and the No. 16 pound-for-pound fighter of all-time. Walker was inducted into the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1957 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a first-class member in 1990. Walker boxed professionally for the first time on February 10, 1919, fighting Dominic Orsini to a four-round no-decision in his hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Walker did not venture from Elizabeth until his eighteenth"