The End of an Era

In the long history of boxing there have been many romantic figures, but few who gained such prominence as Ben Hogan, born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1844, the first German to lay claim to the American bare knuckle heavyweight crown, though he was never recognized as a champion. His fame rests on his battle with Tom Allen in 1872 for the championship, a contest that ended unsatisfactorily when Hogan refused to continue after he had been fouled in the third round.

He was one of the most picturesque characters in American ring history: a Union and Confederate spy during the Civil War, a gambling house operator, oil magnate, theatrical producer, and the inventor of the floating palace gambling house, in addition to being a professional pugilist. He was baptized Benediel Hagen, but following his arrival in New York he changed his name to Hogan.

The story of Hogan is vibrant with human interest. It is the talc of a man who sought adventure and got a bellyful before he settled down to the life of an evangelist. He married a Salvation Army worker, opened a flophouse in Chicago and there preached the Gospel to those who sought shelter.

Following the retirement of Heenan after his defeat by Tom King, there was speculation among Americans as to who would be Tom's successor. Opinion favored Jimmy Elliott, a powerful man with a pugnacious temperament, and Joe Coburn. They were the two best bare knuckles artists in America.

After a few side-bet contests, Elliott challenged Coburn to fight him for the championship and when the latter refused, following the procedure of those days, Elliott's friends claimed the crown. On May 10, 1867, he and Bill Davis clashed in a ring pitched at Point Pelee Island, Lake Erie, Canada, to decide the championship issue. Elliott won by a knockout and was proclaimed the new title holder.

The following year, on November 12, 1868, Elliott fought Charley Gallagher at Peach Island, near Detroit. Gallagher's backer withdrew his man at the end of the twenty-third round after several appeals to the referee for action on Elliott's foul work, and the latter retained his title.

On May 9, 1879, he and John Dwyer of Brooklyn fought at Long Point, Canada, in a bout listed for the American championship.

In a gruelling affair, Elliott was stopped in the twelfth round, following an injury to his ribs.

He was an able boatman, an adventurer, a handy man with fists and gun, and an able wrestler. In a tavern brawl he was shot and killed by Jere Dunn, a notorious character who had been the Chief of Police of Elmira.

Mike McCoole, known as the "Deck Hand Champion of America," born in Ireland, March 12, 1837, was another of the many sons of Erin who ruled the roost as U. S. title holders. He was the first heavyweight developed outside New York City to gain the top rung of the ladder.

From Tom Hyer, who reigned in the Forties, to John L. Sullivan, the East held a monopoly of heavyweight stars, but McCoole changed that. He went to the Midwest at an early age because of difficulties with the police, and as a bargeman the six feet, two inches tall pugilist carried his battering ram wallops into the ring in impromptu battles quite often.

McCoole and Joe Coburn fought for the championship on May 5, 1863, in Maryland, Coburn winning. A return bout with Coburn was arranged for Cold Springs Station, Indiana, May 27, 1868, but Coburn was taken into custody by the police and McCoole, having put on his fighting togs and entered the ring, claimed the crown and was acclaimed champion.

He then fought Tom Allen of Birmingham, England, for the championship at Foster Island near St. Louis, June 15, 1869. He was badly punished, but the referee awarded the decision to Mike. In their return engagement near St. Louis in 187:3, Allen won decisively in twenty-nine rounds and McCoole retired.

He died in the Charity Hospital of New Orleans on October 17, 1886. He was the last of the slugging bare knuckle pugilists, if we except John L. Sullivan, who later returned to boxing with gloves.

After Tom Allen had stopped Mike McCoole in their return engagement on September 23, 1873, and McCoole retired from pugilism, Allen claimed the heavyweight crown but found himself challenged by Joe Goss, rated next to Jem Mace.

Goss defeated Allen on a foul and he became the undisputed king of the division. Now a new American menace had made his appearance in this country, a young giant from tipper New York whose physical prowess was such as to make him the talk of the fistic circles.

His name was Paddy Ryan.

Like Morrissey, Paddy Ryan was a Tipperary man, and like Morrissey and John C. Heenan, Ryan brought fistic fame to Troy, which he made his home when he first came to America.

The Trojan Giant, as lie was dubbed, was born in the town of Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland, March 15, 1853. He was five feet, eleven inches tall and weighed far more than the majority of his predecessors among the champions, his normal weight being 200 pounds.

He had only two battles under the London Rules: in the first he captured the title from forty-two-year-old Joe Goss; and in the second, he lost the crown to John L. Sullivan, when Ryan refused to continue after he had been badly whipped in nine rounds. In his youth he had lost a bout to Joe McAuliffe with skin tight gloves.

Ryan's battle with Goss took place on May 30, 1880, at Colliers Station, West Virginia. In this bout, Ryan did what no other fighter in American ring history has ever accomplished-he won the championship in his first professional battle!

In the eighty-sixth round a severe right-hand cross counter felled Goss and his seconds claimed a foul, but this was disallowed. They carried Joe to his corner and when time arrived for the start of the eighty-seventh session, his seconds called a halt. Thus we have the remarkable feat of a heavyweight champion being crowned whose only fistic contests prior to the titular mill were encounters in ordinary tar-room fights!

Within two years after Ryan had defeated Goss, dark clouds began to gather on the Trojan's horizon. The clouds took the shape of John L. Sullivan, whose friends issued a challenge for the American title.

Ryan accepted the Sullivan defi and at Mississippi City, Mississippi, on February 7, 1882, just thirty-three years to a day after Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan had engaged in the first recognized heavyweight championship of America, Ryan was stopped in the ninth round.

Later, on November 13. ,1886, Sullivan knocked out the Trojan again, this time in the third round. Never before in the history of pugilism did a fighter win the title in his first contest and lose it in his next. With the crowning of John L. Sullivan as champion, a new era in boxing began.