The guardian., 1941-04-26
"BLACK DYNAMITE"
In REVIEW
By THE ROVER


EDITORS NOTE: "Black Dyna-
mite" is the authentic history of colored
men in boxing, compiled and written by
Nat Fleischer, editor and publisher of
Ring magazine. Volumes are now on
sale.
GEORGE DIXON
Of George Dixon, the 'Little Choco-
late", (1S70-19O9), Nat Fleischer writes
as follows:
"For his ounces and inches, there
never was a lad his equal. He was, to
use the terms of Sam Austin when he
was editor of the POLICE GAZETTE,
The Fighter Without a Flaw
"Analyze the meaning of that and
you have before you the picture of the
man who held several crowns, George
Dixon. There have been many great
boxers, but none who combined to so
remarkable a degree the prime requi-
sites of a champion. In the parlance
of the gallery gods, "He had every
thing"
NOVA SCOIIAN
%. Dixon first saw the light of day
on July %, 1870, at Lessons Lane
between Gottingen and Brunswick sts.,
Halifax, Nova Scotia. As boy he was
apprenticed to a photographer, Elmer
Chickering, whose place was the off
cial headquarters for the famous fight
ers of that period. Every pugilist of
note had his picture taken at CHECKER
ing's and it was the contact which
Dixon made with them that brought
him into the field himself. George was
what is termed a quadroon, his grand
father having been white. George him
self was nearly white. His parents
moved to Boston in 1880. When George
was fourteen he started working for
Chickering and he became so enthused
with his work, he decided to study pho
Biography and follow it as a profession.
e. Soon he threw his hat into the ring
as a professional fighter"
800 Ring Bouts
George Dixon fought over a stretch
of twenty years. During those
twenty years, Dixon fought hundreds of
battles. The record books fail to re-
cord his true number, as many were
staged in dance halls and in theatres
when "Little Chocolate" was travelling
around the country with his manager,
Tom O'Rourke, meeting all comers and
agreeing to forfeit substantial sum
if he failed to knock out or to win deci-
sively in four rounds. In New York
City alone in one week he
tackled % opponents. His average
for the week, according to O'Rourke,
was fifteen but he fought more.
Sometime before O'Rourke died he in
formed me that little George fought
at least 800 times in his twenty years
of ring activity. This is a record no
fighter before or SINCE has equalled. :"
DODGED BLACK JACKS
GAS colored man, in a number of
his fights he worked at a great disad-
vantage, especially in localities where
his race was in disfavor. Thus, when
he fought Johnny Murphy and beat him
in forty rounds, Dixon had to do all his
fighting in the center of the ring, so
maneuvering his man as not to get near
the ropes where the thugs could hit his
legs with their blackjacks and slug
shots. Inconceivable now, but true
nevertheless!
"Fearlessness was one of Dixon's
great fighting assets and a cool head
was another. Never did he get ratified
during fight, regardless of how things
were going. He owned a great heart
and he was too smart and too game for
the boys he met"
To really share the good old days
when men were rough and tough and
boxers fought over so rounds, read
"Black Dynamite"