The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-12
Tom Molineaux, Negro SlaUeI Was q Wonderful Fighter
Won Freedom By Whipping Enemy of Master-Has Hard Time Getting Fights In England
By JAMES J. coRBETT

Carpenter clash with the
 worlds heavyweight cham pionship at stake recalls the first international clash, more than 100 years ago, the historic
 battling of Tom Molineaux in
 alien lands.
 Molfneaux was a negro slave--owned in Virginia. During his late teens he showed mighty prowess with his fists and whipped every slave on neighbor ing plantations who cared to give him
 battle. Soon the fame of Molineaux spread, and at last he secured a match with a negro who was regarded as unbeatable.
 There was a rivalry between Moli neauxs master and the man who had claim to the other negro And the
 owner of Molineaux was so keen abou. Moline4ux winning, so as to uphold the sporting prestige of his ancestral estate, that he said:
 WINS FREEDOM Tom, if you win the fight I will give you your freedom"
 Moiineaux won with ridiculous ease. He was only feet S1a inches tall. but of tremendous power and
 
 knew but little about the science of fighting, but his strength was amaz- ing. And his every blow seemed to carry crushing power.
 Freed from slavery, the negro jour neyed to the cities and sought fights with the few white gladiators whc were prominent in America during that era. He got 8 few fights--but little money He sent out a broadcast chal- lcnge-but none answered. Stories cane to him of fabulous sums earned by fighters in England. That I fired the negro with an ambition to Journey to Europe. The friends Moli
 neaux had were, in the main, persons poorly supplied with money. But they gave him every dollar they could gath CT together. and that purse, added to the small sum of money which he had, enabled Molineaux to make the trip.
 Unkempt, ragged, without a friend,
 utterly unknown, Molineaux arrived in London. Instead of finding the the fight game booming there, he found it comparatively dead. Tom Cribb, the champion, had whipped ev- cry man of prominence. And, with none left to give him battle, Cribbf went into retirement-and pugilism became something of a lost art.
 Molineaux, in desperation, made the rounds of London taverns. He intro duced himself as Heavyweight cham pion of America" The hangers-on se- cretly scoffed at his claims-laughed over his assertion that he had come to fight the champion of England No one took Molineaux seriously-at first, They figured that he was a demented darky, with the Authorization that he was fistic gladiator. And at last, Molineaux, in sheer disgust, declared in crowded inn:
 AN INSULT
 England, I was told, was the home of fighters. BntTI find that in all Eng land there isn't one man brave enough to give me battle. not one man with enough courage to try me out to see if my claims are true"
 The taunt struck hcme. England s pride was touched. The newspapers repeated the slurring statement of the American fighter, called him a "blacl1 upstart," and demanded that Cribh come out of retirement and 'sthra sh the negro into insensibility.' Cribb, likewise scoffing Molineaux, announced that it wasn't necessary for him to don fighting togs again; that he had protege who would "take the con . ceit out of the negro" And he declared that if Molineaux really wanted to fight he could battle against '"The Briston Un- known" The negro accepted at once. And on July 14, 1910, Molineaux fought the "UnlSnown" (whose real name was
 Burrowes) in Tothill~ Fields. England with Bill Richmond, a negro, as his only second. while Cribb and other pugilstic luminaries were in the corner of the Bris- tol gladiator.
 Molineaux showed but little science in that contest-but Molineaux demonstrated | II xsw. l under mighty Flows, and great punching power Very methodically, although clumsiiy, Molineaux cut the Bristol Cn- l known, to ribDins, and, after one hour of fighting, emerged victory-and win ner of the $253 purse that had been put up. Crihh tutored Blake in the fine art ot l fighting in those days-but all of Cr.bb' $ tea ching was in vain. For when Blake and Molineaux met on August 21 1Sic, the regro scored the easiest triumph Of his career Displaying ring trckeres which he had learned through battling the "British Unknown the American negro | battered Blake into unconsciousness Tn l ao miuutes-and escaped almost un- l marked.
 | And t!ien Mol'neaux declared: | "I hereby claim the pugilistic cham pionship of the world. I've whipped ths hest men that England cared to send | agairs. me. If Tom Cribb thinks he is champion let him come out and fight me Otherwise the world will know that | am his superior.''
 Less than a week later Cribb electri- | fled the English sporting world with the | announcement: T am coming out of retirement to light 1 the negro usurper."
 fEditor's Note-This is the first of g series of six articles that deal with the memorable battles fought in Europe more than century ago by Thomas
 Molineaux. the first American fighter