BY F. DANIEL SOMRACK BOXING’S FIRST CHAMPION

he manly art of In the 1896 bout in Mexico, prospecting success into purchasing a prizefighting has been Fitzsimmons scored a knockout win in 95 thriving saloon, the Northern. Yet his around since the beginning seconds. Wyatt and Masterson moved on eagerness to multiply his fortunes got of recorded time, but only along the boxing circuit. the best of Rickard. He gambled away T in the last decade has the Later that year, a scandal erupted. his business in Dawson’s “emporiums of sport been promoted into a billion- In a San Francisco, California, chance.” dollar industry. The evolution of boxing heavyweight contest, Fitzsimmons landed When Rickard struck pay dirt yet again, from a working class pastime of bare- a three-punch combination on “Sailor he poured his earnings into a newer knuckle brawling to a pay-per-view mega Tom” Sharkey, with the last punch hitting Northern, the largest saloon in Nome. attraction can be traced back to two below the belt. Wyatt ruled the final blow Wyatt and Josie had previously tried legendary lawmen from the Old West: a foul and awarded the fight—and its their luck in the Yukon in 1897. They and . $10,000 purse—to Sharkey. made it as far as Juneau, Alaska, before The seed that launched the career of A friend of Sharkey’s manager Danny turning back, reportedly because Josie the greatest showman boxing promoter Lynch, Wyatt was accused of fixing the was pregnant (she later miscarried). in American history was planted during fight, a claim he denied. He dissuaded the The next year, they made it to Wyatt’s years in Alaska. embittered Fitzsimmons and the angry Wrangell, where bad weather forced crowd from seeking revenge by exiting them to hold up until the spring thaw. By Mechanic’s Pavilion with his trusty Colt the time they moved on to Rampart, the Wyatt “Referee” Earp .45 in his hand. Klondike Rush was all but over. Wyatt arrived in Nome in the summer After arriving in Nome in 1899, Wyatt of 1899. By then, Wyatt had gained some introduced Rickard to the lucrative fame in the boxing world—not all good. The Dawson Seed enterprise of live boxing shows, thus A skilled boxer, Wyatt, in his early 20s, Hoping to find some of the gold launching the career of one of began officiating boxing matches across glittering on the shores of Nome, Alaska, America’s greatest sports promoters Wyoming Territory for rail crews and Wyatt arrived there with his wife, Josie. and ballyhoo artists. buffalo hunters. In 1896, he helped his pal He had been invited by a friend, George Like his pal, Wyatt gambled on the Judge Roy Bean promote a bout between Lewis “Tex” Rickard. saloon business, building the Dexter heavyweight champion Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1870 Saloon with C.E. Hoxsie, which opened in and Peter Maher. and reared in north Texas, where he September. Wyatt’s fame as a gunslinger With boxing outlawed in Texas, the worked as a city marshal in Henrietta, drew business. After two years, he sold bout was fought in a makeshift ring on Rickard had rushed to Alaska during his interest in the Dexter Mexican soil, in the town of Coahuila, the gold strike of to Hoxsie and transferred with spectators viewing the fight from a 1895. He staked his mining claims to hillside overlooking the Rio Grande. claims for two, Josie’s brother, Nathan. A former lawman in Dodge City, hapless years Wyatt and Josie Kansas, Masterson secured the ticket until the Klondike boarded the S.S. Roanoke handling and fight purse. He also covered discovery of 1897 for Seattle, Washington, the sport in his Denver, Colorado, pulled him into the with $80,000 (more than newspaper column for George’s Weekly greatest stampede $2 million today). They and promoted prizefights at his Olympic in American history. moved to Tonopah, Avenue Club. A move to , where Wyatt Masterson’s history in the boxing arena Dawson marked ran a saloon and included serving as the timekeeper at the the beginning of worked as a deputy first World Heavyweight Championship, Rickard’s “golden U.S. marshal. under the Queensberry Rules. In the 1882 touch.” Within a battle, “Gentleman Jim” Corbett defeated year, his claims had “ Strong Boy” John L. Sullivan by paid close to $60,000. knockout in the 26th round. He parlayed his

t r u e 44 w e s t Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson planted the seed that BOXING’S FIRST CHAMPION launched the great “Tex” Rickard.

Wyatt Earp earned the equivalent of Goldfield’s World Title Fight as deputy sheriff of Esmeralda County. millions after being lured to Nome, Rickard followed the Earps a few years With his left arm maimed and rendered Alaska, by George Lewis “Tex” Rickard later, landing south, in Goldfield, when useless by the O.K Corral shoot-out in (opposite page). He returned the favor the Silver State’s boomtown was in full Tombstone, Arizona Territory, Virgil took by introducing Rickard to the lucrative swing. With the 1902 strike, the mining a job as a security officer at the National trade of live boxing promotion. When camp’s population soared from a few Club. Struck by pneumonia, he died on Wyatt left to settle in Tonopah, Nevada, scrub prospectors to 20,000 souls, October 19, 1905. he built a saloon named after Rickard’s making it Nevada’s largest town. Rickard found a distraction for Wyatt popular Northern saloon in Nome. Wyatt’s Rickard opened the last and largest as he grieved his older brother’s death. Northern (shown above, in 1902) was run of his Northern saloons. Rickard announced on the news wire that by Al Martin, while Wyatt and wife Josie Goldfield is also where Wyatt’s Goldfield wanted to host a world title prospected. Some Earp experts speculate brother, Virgil, lived out his last days. fight. The first boxer to accept Rickard’s the woman on the horse at left is Josie. After arriving in 1904, he was sworn in challenge was the number-one contender – COURTESY JEFF MOREY –

t r u e 45 w e s t The evolution of boxing can be traced back to legendary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.

for the lightweight crown, Oscar Rickard’s first “million-dollar gate” took “Battling” Nelson. place on July 2, 1921—the bout between Rickard needed to raise $30,000, so Dempsey and . he could sign Joe Gans, the country’s More than 90,000 hysterical fans paid first black lightweight champion. With $1,789,238 to watch Dempsey demolish the help of con artist and criminal stock the Frenchman in four rounds. The fight trader George Graham Rice, Rickard was the first national radio broadcast of a secured the funds within days. sporting event. Rickard stacked the purse’s $10 and Dempsey’s was also Masterson’s last $20 gold pieces in the window of the heavyweight championship fight. He local bank. A staggering sum at the died, on October 25, of a heart attack, time, the trick put Goldfield in headlines after writing a column for the nationwide. Morning Telegraph. Roughly 500 people Held on September 3, 1906, the mixed- attended Masterson’s funeral; Rickard race match-up became the longest bout of served as a pallbearer. the century. Gans outfought the “Durable The sport of boxing kept punching Dane,” winning on a foul in the 42nd on. Rickard assembled financial round. The sold-out, 20,000-seat event backers he called the “600 millionaires” paid $69,715 ($1.92 million today). and constructed a third edition of Rickard’s next “main event” was Jack New York’s . Johnson versus James J. Jeffries in Reno. The “house that Tex built” opened on Billed as the “Fight of the Century,” this 8th Avenue in December 1925. The July 4, 1910, heavyweight contest paid modern setting made it fashionable for out an unheard of sum of $120,000 ($3.13 ladies and bluebloods to attend boxing million today) to Johnson so he would matches. defend his title against the undefeated The boxing impresario also expanded Jeffries. Lured out of his six-year his sports empire; he bought a NHL (top) took out undefeated retirement with a guaranteed payout for hockey team for the 1926–27 season. champion James L. Jeffries (above) at $60,000 ($1.56 million today), Jeffries got Tex’s Rangers, later the New York the July 4, 1910, bout in Reno, Nevada, knocked out in round 15. Rangers, won the division title in their and held onto his world heavyweight When Johnson was defeated by Jess debut season and the Stanley Cup in their champion title until 1915. Willard in Havana, Cuba, on April 5, 1915, second year. – COURTESY F. DANIEL SOMRACK – Masterson reported on the fight for the Throughout the 1920s, Rickard’s adept New York Morning Telegraph. manipulation of the press continued to Willard wore the crown until 1919, produce million-dollar gates at the box The frontier lawman died one week later, when he was crushed in three rounds by office. The - on January 13, at age 80. “Manassa Mauler” Jack Dempsey. The championship rematch at Chicago’s Rickard’s body was brought to New Rickard-promoted event launched the Soldier’s Field generated a record York’s Madison Square Garden to lie Roaring Twenties and the Golden Age of $2,658,660. in state in a $15,000 bronze casket. boxing in America. Hundreds of mourners said their goodbyes to the man who had risen from Boxing’s First Champion a humble Texas lawman into an empire Boxing for the Bluebloods Recognizing the profit potential in a builder. One of the last links to the great When New York legalized boxing in year-round resort community like American heroes of the Old West, the 1920, Rickard moved his promotional Beach, Rickard went to on trailblazing visionary had made boxing operations to . By then, January 1, 1929, to evaluate opportunities. the mega sport it is today. Rickard and Masterson were respected After a bout of appendicitis, he died one members of New York’s high society and week later, at age 59. F. Daniel Somrack is a filmmaker and boxing historian friends of the Astors, Rockefellers and Before hearing the news of his pal’s who produced the sports documentary, Champions Forever, featuring Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Roosevelts. They strolled the sidewalks death, Wyatt got out of his sick bed to George Foreman. He is also the author of Boxing in San of New York with their trademark Fedora send Rickard a get-well telegram, caught Francisco. Head to BoxingScribe.com to read his blogs. and Stetson hats and gold-handled a chill and relapsed into chronic cystitis. walking sticks.

t r u e 46 w e s t Wyatt Earp is shown in Nome, Alaska (inset), where he partnered with C.E. Hoxsie in the Dexter Saloon (see business card) shown in this street scene. Opened in September 1899, the Dexter offered drinking and gambling on the first floor and a brothel upstairs.

– SALOON PHOTO COURTESY CARRIE M. MCLAIN MUSEUM COLLECTION, NOME, ALASKA; WYATT EARP PHOTO COURTESY KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 209261; BUSINESS CARD TRUE WEST ARCHIVES –

On Labor Day 1906 in Goldfield, Nevada, “Tex” Rickard hosted the longest bout of the century that saw black lightweight champion Joe Gans (right) outfight Oscar “Battling” Nelson (far right).

– COURTESY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY DIGITAL COMMONS –

t r u e 47 w e s t BY MEGHAN SAAR New “Old” Photo The other “view” of the Maher- of 1896 Fight Fitzsimmons match.

ver 65 years of publication, True West has developed O a loyal following of readers who send us historical Old West photographs to preserve in our archives. Among these is a photograph labeled as showing the makeshift Peter Maher- Bob Fitzsimmons arena on a sandbar along Rio Grande, near Langtry, Texas (bottom photo, opposite page). During the past decade, some of the top museums nationwide have shared their public domain images, fostering scholarship that used to be relegated only to those willing to search through physical archives to find material that is sometimes labeled incorrectly or without sufficient information to locate it otherwise. The J. Paul Getty Bat Masterson (below) watched over Museum is among those top repositories. the $15,000 purse. Based on this view As the editor of this magazine, I also The image shows Fitzsimmons (at of the boxing match, Peter Maher try to locate historical images for our right, top photo, opposite page) trying to avoid a punch from Maher. The appeared to have the upper hand, with articles. Because F. Daniel Somrack’s Bob Fitzsimmons (at right) ducking to feature focused on boxing, I delved into referee may bear a resemblance to Wyatt Earp, however, the man is George Siler. avoid his punch, a realm I don’t often explore, seeking but Fitzsimmons matches that fit the frontier era. With Although Earp reportedly helped Bean promote the match, no records suggest got the better of Bat Masterson and Judge Roy Bean tied his man. he attended the fight that day. to the Maher-Fitzsimmons match, I tried – ALL IMAGES COURTESY Sure would have been great if Earp J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM my luck there. My search ultimately led EXCEPT THE BIRD’S-EYE- had refereed this match, given such a VIEW AND BAT MASTERSON me to “Fight Between Bob Fitzsimmons PHOTOS: TRUE WEST and Peter Maher, Coahuila de Zaragoza, fabulous view of the referee among the ARCHIVES – Mexico,” the label for a February 21, boxers, which the photographer had 1896, negative in the collection of the only 96 seconds to capture before the J. Paul Getty Museum. A researcher knockout. But alas, as far as I know, searching the collection for “Bat we have no comparative view of Earp Masterson” or “Judge Roy Bean” never refereeing the fight against would have found this photo! Fitzsimmons later that year.

t r u e 48 w e s t What we do have is an opposite view of purse money and the fight, showing the American side, that ticket sales. changes the perspective offered by the The photographer bird’s-eye-view photograph that showed doesn’t seem to be just the ring, with a few attendees and no anyone associated punches being thrown. with the motion Those who read the account picture company. published by the Brownsville Herald “After Fitzsimmons in Texas on February 22, 1896, had an and his party had equally one-sided view of the scene: come up to the “In the centre of a canvass [sic] walk railway station about two hundred feet in diameter, the Ernest Rector, the $5,000 and 50 percent of the receipts for ring was pitched. The board floor was kinetoscope man, came to him with a the privilege of being filmed. Another covered with canvass [sic] over which proposition to fight Maher six rounds type of film ended up capturing him for rosen was sprinkled. At one side was in front of his machine, which would posterity, and not in the best light, given the frame compartment for the taking not work today because of the dark the ultimate result. by the Kinetscope [sic] of the pictures weather,” The Herald of Los Angeles, Somebody with a still camera certainly of the fight as it proceeded but the California, reported on February 22. punched above his weight that day! machine would not work today, because Rector was not successful in his of the dark weather.” endeavor, as Fitzsimmons demanded The 16-foot circus canvas enclosing the ring was meant to keep the view of the fight limited to only the ticket buyers. But the promoters were not successful in that regard, as New York’s The Journal pointed out, also on February 22. “To the west, sloping down to the very foot of the enclosure, was a mountain 500 feet in height, rugged and almost perpendicular. Across the river, on the Texas side, was its counterpart, and commanding a full view of the ring were some three hundred men and women, who looked like pigeons to those below....all was ready, 182 people were at the ring side, the remainder of the visiting party, with the local contingent, having decided that a view from the Texas hills was preferable to the expenditure of $20 for a ticket.” Thanks to an unknown photographer on the Mexico side of the border, however, historians have this excellent photograph of a fight where Masterson kept watch over the

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