Edward (Gunboat) Smith Was Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 17, 1887
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Name: Gunboat Smith Alias: Gunner Birth Name: Edward J. Smyth Born: 1887-02-17 Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Died: 1974-08-06 (Age:87) Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Stance: Orthodox Height: 6′ 2″ / 188cm Reach: 72″ / 183cm Boxing Record: click Trainer: Spider Kelly Managers: Cleve Peters, Jimmy Buckley Officiating Record: [1] (considered incomplete) Edward (Gunboat) Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 17, 1887. His family was Irish. After spending his youth in orphanages, working on farms, on the railroads, he joined the U.S. Navy, where he began boxing and won the heavyweight championship of the pacific fleet. In 1912, fighting professionally, he knocked out Bombardier Billy Wells, a top British heavyweight who, until his fight with smith, was in line for a crack at the world championship. The Wells fight ended in 2 rounds on March 14 in New York. Then he decisioned Jess Willard in 20 rounds on May 20 in San Francisco, and defeated the great Negro heavyweight Sam Langford in 12 rounds on November 17 in Boston. Willard went on to knock out Jack Johnson in 1915 to win the world heavyweight championship. Langford never got a crack at the title because he was black. On January 1, 1914, Smith won the "White Hope" heavyweight championship of the world by knocking out Arthur Pelky in 15 rounds in California. The white hope championship was a somewhat artificial title created by the boxing promoters of that era, with the help of the newspapers and the public. It came about due to the unpopularity among many whites of the arrogant, outspoken, controversial Jack Johnson. At the time, Johnson had been heavyweight champion of the world for several years and white challengers had met with no success in attempts to dethrone Johnson in the ring. So a separate white championship was created. On July 16, 1914, Smith lost his White Hope title in London on a 6-round foul to Georges Carpentier. A controversy surrounded that fight for many years, since it was never established for sure whether or not Smith did foul Carpentier by hitting him while he was down. Six years later, Carpentier was to become the light-heavyweight champion of the world. After his loss to Carpentier, Smith was knocked out in a return bout with Sam Langford on October 20, 1914, in Boston. On January 27, 1915, he defeated Battling Levinsky, later to become world light-heavyweight champion, in 20 rounds. Smith and Levinsky fought a six-bout series between 1914 and 1917, each winning once, with 4 no-decision bouts. In October 1917 Smith met Jack Dempsey, who was then on the way up, and still two years away from becoming champion, losing in a 4-round decision. On December 30, 1918, he was knocked out by Dempsey in 2 rounds. After a string of knockout losses, Smith was stopped in 1 round by the outstanding Negro heavyweight Harry Wills in Havana on October 10, 1921, and retired from the ring. He had close to 130 fights in his career, scoring 39 knockouts, winning 16 other contests, fighting 48 no- decision bouts, 5 draws, and losing 9 decisions (including the foul to Carpentier), while being knocked out 11 times. Ed "Gunboat" Smith was a referee after he retired from being an active boxer. One fight he refereed was the Harry Greb vs. Tiger Flowers middleweight title bout on Feb 26, 1926 . This was the first time Greb fought Flowers. When Greb came into his corner he said to a handler, "Am I seem' things ~ Is that Gunboat Smith over there?" When Gunboat motioned the fighters to the center of the ring for instructions, Greb trotted over. "Hello Gunboat, ol' pal," he said, chipper as a robin after a spring rain. "Where d'ya git that ol' pal stuff?" Gunboat's voice was no friendlier than his words. Six years earlier a careless thumb had dropped into Gunboat's eye and an almost simultaneous jolt on the chin had knocked him out in Round One. Greb said when he returned to his corner, "I wish I stuck my other thumb in Gunboat's eye that time in South Bend." At the end of the fight two judges had voted for Flowers. But Gunboat Smith, who had reasons for not loving Greb, voted for Greb. After his retirement from boxing, Smith also worked as a runner on Wall Street, a private policeman at Madison Square garden and Yankee Stadium, and as an actor in silent films. Oakland Tribune 28 Dec 1912 Moran No Longer On List Of White Hopes Gunboat Smith Wallops Pittsburg Boy In One Sided Battle; No Knockout Scratch Frank Moran’s entry in the white hope stakes and substitute Jim Buckley's able seaman, "Gunboat" Smith. Over at Dreamland rink across the bay last night the Gunboat gave Moran one of the most artistic rimmings landed a boxer in this section in many a long day. The scrap went the full twenty rounds but there was never a round that could be called Moran's. Right from the tap of the gong Smith started to give the red topped Plttsburg lad a boxing lesson, and he kept up the good work until Moran was wobbling about the ring when the final bell rang. Smith landed his opponent every variety of wallop known to the "profesh" while Moran did not connect solidly more than three times during the twenty rounds. It was a good scrap but would have been a whole lot more interesting had Moran stood up and boxed Instead of covering and clinching at every opportunity. The Pittsburg lad had fifteen pounds weight advantage over the Gunner and he started with a lot of confidence. For one and a half rounds he stood up and boxed fairly well, but when Smith floored him with a wicked right cross towards the end of the second period Moran changed his tactics and Indulged In a lot of the Frank Gotch stuff. From this point until the finish Smith chased the red head all over the ring. He hooked, jabbed and uppercut his man with unerring skill, while Moran's wild swings came neared connecting with the chandelier than any part of the Smith after the knock-down in the early part of the scrap and he entertained so much respect for the Smith right hand thereafter that the Gunboat actually feinted him out of the ring in the fourteenth round. The Gunner, who was the aggressor at all times, forced Moran across the ring and as his man reached the ropes Smith feinted with his left. Frank thought he saw another right cross coming his way and he went clear through the ropes before Smith had a chance to deliver. This was Moran's second excursion from the ring. In the fourth round Smith drove Moran to the ropes and as he landed a stiff left to the body both men fell from the ring among the members of the press In the first row. The Gunboats showing last night was a revelation. When he left here to tackle the eastern "hopes" all the Gunner had was a stiff right hand punch and a great dislike for punishment. Last night the ex-seaman showed as pretty a left hand as there is in the business In fact, the Gunner used his left hand almost exclusively and he also demonstrated that he has a stout heart and can assimilate punishment. Coming out of a clinch In the sixth round Moran landed a wild swing on Smith's left ear which sent the Gunner staggering. The gallery boy’s immediately took up the cry "there he goes, watch him dog it," but they were fooled this time. Smith dropped into a clinch and when his head cleared he proceeded to inflict summary damage on the Moran’s head. This was the only damaging punch delivered by Moran during the scrap but It served to show that Manager Jim Buckley has worked wonders with Smith and that the Gunner is now as game as the proverbial pebble. The Gunboat started execution in the first round with his left hand and he soon had the claret flowing from Moran's nose, Frank had grabbed a hunch from somewhere that he could stand up and box with his opponent and he seemed willing enough to take a punch to land one. It was a foolish policy, as Smith is much faster on his feet than Moran, and is much cleverer boxer. The Gunner kept popping In left hooks with great regularity, meantime keeping his right In reserve. Moran apparently came to the conclusion that the much heralded Smith right hand punch was a myth, as he lowered his left arm in the second round to see what Smith could do. The guard was dropped only for a moment but Smith was quick to grab the opportunity and Moran went to the floor from a right cross. Frank took the count of nine and arose grogy. This was the end of the fancy boxing on Moran's part, as he was advised from his corner to use his weight and rough it with his lighter opponent. To the surprise of the crowd the Gunner proved some bear himself at the rough stuff. In the clinches he kept shooting up wicked right and left uppercuts which found Moran's chin every time and sent his head bade with a jerk. The Gunner never displayed any uppercuts In his previous bouts here and no one over suspected him of having such an assortment of wallops concealed about his person.