The Colorado statesman., 1912-03-23
NEGROES Shine
IN THE ring
Three of the Greatest Worlds
Champions Were Colored.
ONCE FAMOUS TRIO - GEORGE
DIXON, JOE CANS AND JOE
WALcOTT WERE UNExCELLED
IN THE HISTORY OF THE RING.

teemly delight in calling man vel
ow." II a fighter shows the least
Inclination to quit, or If in the thickest
f the fight he slows up for some rea-
ION, perhaps to conserve his forces.
Ind 1t turns out that he is beaten, the
irst thing that comes into the minds
,f flstic devotees is the accusation.
He's not game" Especially is that at
dtude applied to negro pugilists. There
las been cause, of course, many negro
Hhalers having been troubled with
ack of courage But exceptions have
been noted Some of the best fighters
Iince the time of Figg have been
negroes.
Peter Jackson, for instance. The
great West Indian who battled Jim
Corbett 81 rounds to a draw. Then
here were George Godfrey, first
solored champion heavyweight of
America, and Frank Craig. the "Har-
EN- Coffee Cooler" There are some
ruly remarkable negro fighters today
johnson, Langford, jeanette, Nc
Vea-but one splendid trio of negro
,attlers is foremost in pugilistic his
ory.
1t was composed of George Dixon,
Joe Cans and Joe Walcott. Dixon, the
irst negro worlds champion; Cans of
Knockout fame; Walcott, the Bar
oados terror, whose head was so close
TO his shoulders that 1t was next to
impossible to hurt him. All three won
The highest honors the ring can be-
stow.
Dixon was ruler of the feather
weights and bantams, Cans of the
hghtweights, and Walcott became
master of the welters.
Dixon was the most popular negro
that ever raised glove. He was like
wise the greatest ring artist. His
sareer started in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
N 1885, when he knocked out Young
Johnson. The following year he came
70 this country and located in Boston.
He had 26 fights in Massachu-
ietts cities and in other eastern towns,
iating from 1887 to February 7, 1890,
when he met Cal Mccarthy for the
bantam championship of America. The
men fought 70 rounds to a draw with
two-ounce gloves.
Dixon was a different miller from the
general run of fighters. Where, as a
rule, coming champions knock out
most of their opponents in the early
lays of their careers, Dixon played
safe and was content with winning
over his opponents. All the time he
was learning cleverness, but when he
fought Mccarthy he did not look much
like the star he became later.
Little Chocolate" had four fights
after the memorable affair with Nc
Carthy, and then Tom O'Rourke took
him to London, where in June, 1890,
he defeated Nunc Wallace, bantam
champion of England, in 18 rounds.
Nine months later he again fought Nc
Carthy for the bantam championship
of America and won it at Troy, N. Y,
in 25 rounds. Next he met Abe Will
lis, the Australian champion, at San
Francisco, and knocked him out in
Ave rounds. Dixon became bantam
champion of the world as a result of
this feat
There being no good men left in the
bantam class for him to meet, he
fought several featherweights and
whipped them one after another. A
year after his battle with Willis he
was matched with Fred Johnson for
the worlds featherweight champion
ship. They struggled at Coney Island
for a $4,000 purse and Dixon dropped
johnson for the count in the four
teenth round.
Dixon continued in the same game
until 1906. In 1890 he lost the feath-
erweight title to Terry McGovern.
In the '90s, Joe Walcott blazed a
trail for lightweights, welterweights
and middleweights that was hard
to follow Walcott was a welter-
weight, but he trained down to 1913
pounds for Kid Lavigne when the kid
was champion at that weight in 1895
and the Michigander gave him ter
rife lacing. Before the Lavigne fight,
and after, Walcott was universally
feared. He was animalistic in his at
tack and established string of
knockouts Walcott was a powerful
puncher, and never hesitated to
fight a man from 10 to 60 pounds heav-
Ter than himself
His first fight with Mysterious Billy
Smith was one of the most brutal ever
staged Smith was protected by two
sets of articles and after 15 fierce
rounds had been reeled off Smiths
handler, Jim Westcott, told the ref
cree the battle was over The decision
was a draw and the hackers of Smith
thus saved their money.
Walcott became welterweight champ
after that title had passed back and
forth between Rube Ferns, Matty Mat
thews and Mysterious Billy Smith.
He was the greatest demon welter-
weight of two decades. Walcott got
his schooling under George Dixon, who
took him in hand when he came from
Barbados.