Mendoza
09-18-2007, 07:36 AM
By Carl Thompson: “I resent that because if a kid’s a fighter, he can’t be a bum. You’ve gotta be a special individual to be a fighter. I blow my stack when I hear that because it’s one on one; anything can happen. Any bum can get lucky. There’s no bum of the month.” - Angelo Dundee
Part I
From December 1940 to May 1941 Joe Louis ([Only registered and activated users can see links]) took on a series of challengers at the rate of one per month. Prior to these bouts neither of the challengers were considered as worthy tests for the champion. Rightly or wrongly, history as labeled this series of fights as “The Bum Of The Month Club”. Has history been fair to these fighters? Did these fighters deserve to be associated with such a derogatory title? This article is a closer look at the fighters and the fights that made up “The Bum Of The Month Club."
By December of 1940, it was felt by many that Joe Louis was in a class by himself. Up to that time eleven men had tried to wrest his crown away from him and eleven men had failed. There didn’t appear to be any significant opponent out there that could extend the champion. Only Max Baer and Billy Conn seemed to have any kind of credentials and even they were thought of as merely opponents.
On the 5th of December 1940, Joe Louis’s promoter, Mike Jacobs ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), announced that Joe was going to take on a number of challengers to his crown at the rate of one per month. The bouts were to be indoors and would be climaxed by an outdoor bout against a worthy challenger, who would most likely be Billy Conn.
Boston was treated to it’s first ever Heavyweight Championship fight when the first fight of this series was scheduled for the 16th of December 1940 at Boston Garden, Boston. The name of the challenger was Al McCoy, heavyweight champion of New England. At the time McCoy had a record of 115 wins, 31 losses with only 4 of those losses by KO; he was twenty-six years old and was in his thirteenth year as a professional. During that time McCoy had fought in every division from flyweight to heavyweight, having mixed success. He had a reputation of being a pretty skilled boxer with a decent punch who could handle a beating. In his previous fight he had put up a spirited performance against Billy Conn. Despite this, he was thought of as just cannon fodder for the champion and the odds on the fight reflected this.
13,334 fans packed into the Garden to watch the bout, more so to catch a glimpse of the Brown Bomber than the expectation of a competitive fight. Most people expected McCoy to crumple from the first punch that Louis threw. They were surprised by what they saw.
When the bell rang for the start of the first round, McCoy came out of his corner bobbing and weaving from a crouched position, at times he was crouched over so low that his head was below the champion’s trunks. The fight appeared to be following expectations when Louis floored McCoy in the first round with a right to the jaw. Surprisingly the challenger was back on his feet by the count of one and fought back, somebody had forgot to show the script to McCoy.
Despite the first round knockdown, McCoy showed himself to be an elusive target; bobbing and weaving from his crouch, he constantly made Louis swing and miss with his fight ending right. Most of Louis’s success in the bout came from his powerful left jab, whose effects were evident on McCoy’s face as his left eye began to swell from the second round onwards. In the fourth round McCoy started to come on, hammering Louis with a left and right to the head.
In the fifth, despite a completely closed left eye brought about by Louis’s incessant left jab, McCoy attacked the champion, driving a right into Louis’s face. Angrily, Louis backed McCoy against the ropes. When the bell rang for the end of the round, the crowd was in full voice, screaming encouragement to the now confident challenger. Unexpectedly there actually appeared to be a competitive fight occurring.
When the bell rang for the start of the sixth round Louis arose from his stool, McCoy did not. Despite McCoy’s willingness to continue, McCoy’s trainer, Ray Arcel, summoned referee Johnny Martin, over and informed him that he was stopping the fight, due to the severe condition of McCoy’s badly swollen left eye. When this situation was announced to the crowd, the Garden erupted into a storm of jeers. It was of the opinion of many in attendance, that without the eye injury, McCoy would have lasted at least ten rounds. Regardless, Louis won the fight and was still the champion. It was noted by many, that at times Louis had been made to look ludicrous as he generally appeared baffled on how to solve his opponent’s crouching style.
Next up for Louis was Clarence “Red” Burman of Baltimore. Burman had a record of 71 wins, 16 losses with only 3 of those losses via KO. Burman was a protégé of Jack Dempsey, his specialty was body punching. Whilst he hadn’t fought the most outstanding opponents he had beaten Tommy Farr two years earlier. Previous to this fight he had also taken an impressive decision over Tony Musto, in a wild bout that had featured both fighters visiting the canvas. Due to Louis’s difficulty in handling McCoy, Burman was extensively drilled in the art of fighting from the crouch. The odds on the bout were so skewed in favor of the champion that almost no betting took place.
The fight took place on the 31st of January 1941 at Madison Square Garden ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), New York; 18,061 fans were in attendance and just as in the McCoy fight, the fans were treated to an entertaining battle. Burman had come to fight! As the bell struck for round one, Burman charged across the ring, sprung out of his crouch and caught the unaware, flat-footed champion with a left hook to the face. Almost instantly blood appeared over Louis’s right eyelid. Infuriated, the champion launched his assault. Stalking Burman, he pummeled him around the ring with lefts and rights to the head. Burman started the second round with another left hook. This time to the body, causing Louis to back up against the ropes. For the remainder of the round he crowded the champion, forcing the fight.
In the third, Burman looked like a champion, again he opened the round with the left hook, this time two of them, one to the body and one to the head. Working past the champion’s left jab he waded in and managed to back Louis into a corner. In an attempt to fend of the challenger Louis missed wildly with a left hook. The momentum of which caused Louis to lose his balance and stumble through the ropes. If not for the middle strand, Joe would have sailed clean out of the ring. Many in attendance thought that a punch from Burman had caused the stumble and they roared on the challenger in anticipation of an upset. Encouraged by the crowd, the challenger charged at the champion, only to be met by a volley of lefts and rights. Undeterred, Burman continued to come forward but was constantly fended off by rapid blows to the head.
By the fifth round Louis had seized control of the fight. The gallant Burman was still pushing forward, trying to force the action, only to be met by a barrage of punches. The end of the fight came suddenly for Burman. Towards the end of the fifth round Joe worked the challenger into a corner and slammed home a body punch that caused Burman to double over. Bravely, Burman rushed forward at the champion. Joe unleashed another punch to the body that caused the challenger to gasp for air and immediately followed it up with yet another crushing body blow. Burman went down like he had been shot. Referee Frank Fullam, counted out the game Burman, as he lay motionless on the canvas. After the ten count the challenger was carried back to his corner and smelling salts were required to revive him.
In his dressing room after the fight, Louis referred to Burman as a pretty tough guy and told reporters that the final body shot was one of the hardest punches that he had ever landed.
In February of that year, Gus Dorazio of Philadelphia was invited to join the club. Dorazio had a record of 50 wins, 9 losses with only 3 of those losses by KO. He had lost to the likes of Billy Conn and Arturo Godoy but he had beaten Bob Pastor and the aforementioned Al McCoy in previous bouts. He fought from a half crouch with a bobbing and weaving style. Just like the previous inductees, he was not expected to be much competition for the Brown Bomber. This bout was considered such a mismatch that a State Senator had threatened a legislative investigation into the fight. When Dorazio heard of this, he responded by stating that he would look for the Senator during the fight and knock Louis right onto his lap. Unfortunately for Dorazio, the Senator was right.
Part I
From December 1940 to May 1941 Joe Louis ([Only registered and activated users can see links]) took on a series of challengers at the rate of one per month. Prior to these bouts neither of the challengers were considered as worthy tests for the champion. Rightly or wrongly, history as labeled this series of fights as “The Bum Of The Month Club”. Has history been fair to these fighters? Did these fighters deserve to be associated with such a derogatory title? This article is a closer look at the fighters and the fights that made up “The Bum Of The Month Club."
By December of 1940, it was felt by many that Joe Louis was in a class by himself. Up to that time eleven men had tried to wrest his crown away from him and eleven men had failed. There didn’t appear to be any significant opponent out there that could extend the champion. Only Max Baer and Billy Conn seemed to have any kind of credentials and even they were thought of as merely opponents.
On the 5th of December 1940, Joe Louis’s promoter, Mike Jacobs ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), announced that Joe was going to take on a number of challengers to his crown at the rate of one per month. The bouts were to be indoors and would be climaxed by an outdoor bout against a worthy challenger, who would most likely be Billy Conn.
Boston was treated to it’s first ever Heavyweight Championship fight when the first fight of this series was scheduled for the 16th of December 1940 at Boston Garden, Boston. The name of the challenger was Al McCoy, heavyweight champion of New England. At the time McCoy had a record of 115 wins, 31 losses with only 4 of those losses by KO; he was twenty-six years old and was in his thirteenth year as a professional. During that time McCoy had fought in every division from flyweight to heavyweight, having mixed success. He had a reputation of being a pretty skilled boxer with a decent punch who could handle a beating. In his previous fight he had put up a spirited performance against Billy Conn. Despite this, he was thought of as just cannon fodder for the champion and the odds on the fight reflected this.
13,334 fans packed into the Garden to watch the bout, more so to catch a glimpse of the Brown Bomber than the expectation of a competitive fight. Most people expected McCoy to crumple from the first punch that Louis threw. They were surprised by what they saw.
When the bell rang for the start of the first round, McCoy came out of his corner bobbing and weaving from a crouched position, at times he was crouched over so low that his head was below the champion’s trunks. The fight appeared to be following expectations when Louis floored McCoy in the first round with a right to the jaw. Surprisingly the challenger was back on his feet by the count of one and fought back, somebody had forgot to show the script to McCoy.
Despite the first round knockdown, McCoy showed himself to be an elusive target; bobbing and weaving from his crouch, he constantly made Louis swing and miss with his fight ending right. Most of Louis’s success in the bout came from his powerful left jab, whose effects were evident on McCoy’s face as his left eye began to swell from the second round onwards. In the fourth round McCoy started to come on, hammering Louis with a left and right to the head.
In the fifth, despite a completely closed left eye brought about by Louis’s incessant left jab, McCoy attacked the champion, driving a right into Louis’s face. Angrily, Louis backed McCoy against the ropes. When the bell rang for the end of the round, the crowd was in full voice, screaming encouragement to the now confident challenger. Unexpectedly there actually appeared to be a competitive fight occurring.
When the bell rang for the start of the sixth round Louis arose from his stool, McCoy did not. Despite McCoy’s willingness to continue, McCoy’s trainer, Ray Arcel, summoned referee Johnny Martin, over and informed him that he was stopping the fight, due to the severe condition of McCoy’s badly swollen left eye. When this situation was announced to the crowd, the Garden erupted into a storm of jeers. It was of the opinion of many in attendance, that without the eye injury, McCoy would have lasted at least ten rounds. Regardless, Louis won the fight and was still the champion. It was noted by many, that at times Louis had been made to look ludicrous as he generally appeared baffled on how to solve his opponent’s crouching style.
Next up for Louis was Clarence “Red” Burman of Baltimore. Burman had a record of 71 wins, 16 losses with only 3 of those losses via KO. Burman was a protégé of Jack Dempsey, his specialty was body punching. Whilst he hadn’t fought the most outstanding opponents he had beaten Tommy Farr two years earlier. Previous to this fight he had also taken an impressive decision over Tony Musto, in a wild bout that had featured both fighters visiting the canvas. Due to Louis’s difficulty in handling McCoy, Burman was extensively drilled in the art of fighting from the crouch. The odds on the bout were so skewed in favor of the champion that almost no betting took place.
The fight took place on the 31st of January 1941 at Madison Square Garden ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), New York; 18,061 fans were in attendance and just as in the McCoy fight, the fans were treated to an entertaining battle. Burman had come to fight! As the bell struck for round one, Burman charged across the ring, sprung out of his crouch and caught the unaware, flat-footed champion with a left hook to the face. Almost instantly blood appeared over Louis’s right eyelid. Infuriated, the champion launched his assault. Stalking Burman, he pummeled him around the ring with lefts and rights to the head. Burman started the second round with another left hook. This time to the body, causing Louis to back up against the ropes. For the remainder of the round he crowded the champion, forcing the fight.
In the third, Burman looked like a champion, again he opened the round with the left hook, this time two of them, one to the body and one to the head. Working past the champion’s left jab he waded in and managed to back Louis into a corner. In an attempt to fend of the challenger Louis missed wildly with a left hook. The momentum of which caused Louis to lose his balance and stumble through the ropes. If not for the middle strand, Joe would have sailed clean out of the ring. Many in attendance thought that a punch from Burman had caused the stumble and they roared on the challenger in anticipation of an upset. Encouraged by the crowd, the challenger charged at the champion, only to be met by a volley of lefts and rights. Undeterred, Burman continued to come forward but was constantly fended off by rapid blows to the head.
By the fifth round Louis had seized control of the fight. The gallant Burman was still pushing forward, trying to force the action, only to be met by a barrage of punches. The end of the fight came suddenly for Burman. Towards the end of the fifth round Joe worked the challenger into a corner and slammed home a body punch that caused Burman to double over. Bravely, Burman rushed forward at the champion. Joe unleashed another punch to the body that caused the challenger to gasp for air and immediately followed it up with yet another crushing body blow. Burman went down like he had been shot. Referee Frank Fullam, counted out the game Burman, as he lay motionless on the canvas. After the ten count the challenger was carried back to his corner and smelling salts were required to revive him.
In his dressing room after the fight, Louis referred to Burman as a pretty tough guy and told reporters that the final body shot was one of the hardest punches that he had ever landed.
In February of that year, Gus Dorazio of Philadelphia was invited to join the club. Dorazio had a record of 50 wins, 9 losses with only 3 of those losses by KO. He had lost to the likes of Billy Conn and Arturo Godoy but he had beaten Bob Pastor and the aforementioned Al McCoy in previous bouts. He fought from a half crouch with a bobbing and weaving style. Just like the previous inductees, he was not expected to be much competition for the Brown Bomber. This bout was considered such a mismatch that a State Senator had threatened a legislative investigation into the fight. When Dorazio heard of this, he responded by stating that he would look for the Senator during the fight and knock Louis right onto his lap. Unfortunately for Dorazio, the Senator was right.