The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-09
Birthday of Terry
McGovern, Greatest of
Little Fighters

Ike Weir. George Dixons Terry Nc
Govern. Young Corbett-aH were
great little boxers, but the greatest
of them all, in the opinion of a ma
=Jority Of .old-tirne fans, was Joseph
Terrence McGovern. He didn' t. have
the cleverness of Dixon, but as a
fighter no other little man ever APP.
preached him. It is true that Young
Corbett whipped him--did it twice
and thorough Iy-but. then. yelling
count. Which isn't saying that Ma
poIeon wasn't a great little fighting
man.
Terrible Terry was born IN
Johnstown. Pa. thirty-five years ago
today. March 9, 1850, and his ring
OF late years poor Terry has been af-
fhcted with some mental trouble, but
this was not due, as has sometimes
been alleged. to Indulgence and dis.
sipation. Terry was a sober, home
loving lad, as boxers go, and the wild.
gay life never appealed to him
Although born in Johnstown, Ter
RVS home from his infancy was in
Brooklyn. He was fourteen when his
father died, and Terry and his broth-
yer undertook to support the family
by peddling and settings newspapers.
At sixteen he went to work in a 1uTn-#
Der yard. and although he weighed
only about a hundred pounds and.
was only five feet four, ne soon de-
Velopeds his muscles to the point
where he could lift a weight as great
as the average man.
He first used his fists in earnest in
defending his employer against the
attack of an enraged employs. He
gave the fellow a good beating, al
though he was only about half as big
as his opponent. That gave Terry the
4 go
Hscrapper, and although his mother
Threatened to take him across her
knee If she ever heard of any such
exploits, he entered an amateur box.
ing tournament and whipped all
corners in the 105-pound Grass.
MeGoYern began serapping as a
professional when he was seventeen,
and during his first year in the ring
he defeated all his opponents with
the exception of Tommy Sullivan.
with whom he fought a draw In
1899, when Jimmy Barry retired, Ter
~ claimed the. bantanAweight title.
and knocked out Casper Leon, the
italian boxer, who was his prinei pal
rival. When PedIar Palmer, the
English featherweight champion,
came over to fight George Dixon for
the title, McGopern, although only a.
bantam challenged the Brftisher
Just to show up the pugnaeious
Terry and as a prepare ton for his
bout with Dixon, Palmer consent ed
The fans got the surprise OF their
lives, for the little Brooklynite
knocked out the Englishman in less
than round
Early in 1900 Terry stopped George
Dixon in eight rounds and became
the featherWeight champion of the
world. He whipped Dixon again a
few months later, and Knocked out
Joe Cans, Eddie Santry. Oscar Gard
ner. Frank Erne, Joe Bernstein
Aurelio Herrera and others as prom
inent- Terry looked unbeatable when
Tate in 1901, he was matched with
Young Corbett, the Denver boy who
was then coming to front The
fight was staged in Hartford, and in
a ferocioIs sIugging match Terry
was knocked down and out in the
second round. All the sports thought
it was fiuke, but in. 1903, at San
Francisco, the Denver lad again
proved shat he had the Indian sign
on Terrible Terry. For ten rounds
McGovern seemed to be winning but
in the eleventh Corbett again put
over the winning punch.
McGovern then whipped Eddie
Hanlon and other good boys, but in
1904 he became very i'll, and was out
of the ring until late in 1905. He
came back by knocking out Tommy
Murphy, and after that fought node
cision bouts with Britt, Nelson,
Young Corbett. and other light
weights. The old fighting spirit was
gone, however, and in 1908 Terry, no
longer The Terrible finally retired
from the DuaiEstie arana-