An Outlaw Practice: Boxing, Governance and Western Law Ian J*M. Warren A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Human Movement, Performance and Recreation Victoria University 2005 FTS THESIS 344.099 WAR 30001008090740 Warren, Ian J. M An outlaw practice : boxing, governance and western law Abstract This investigation examines the uses of Western law to regulate and at times outlaw the sport of boxing. Drawing on a primary sample of two hundred and one reported judicial decisions canvassing the breadth of recognised legal categories, and an allied range fight lore supporting, opposing or critically reviewing the sport's development since the beginning of the nineteenth century, discernible evolutionary trends in Western law, language and modern sport are identified. Emphasis is placed on prominent intersections between public and private legal rules, their enforcement, paternalism and various evolutionary developments in fight culture in recorded English, New Zealand, United States, Australian and Canadian sources. Fower, governance and regulation are explored alongside pertinent ethical, literary and medical debates spanning two hundred years of Western boxing history. & Acknowledgements and Declaration This has been a very solitary endeavour. Thanks are extended to: The School of HMFR and the PGRU @ VU for complete support throughout; Tanuny Gurvits for her sharing final submission angst: best of sporting luck; Feter Mewett, Bob Petersen, Dr Danielle Tyson & Dr Steve Tudor; Melbourne's brilliant new & second-hand bookshops & RJ Flapinger's Baseball books, Ashland, Oregon, for providing some wonderful snippets of fight lore; AHA, ANSZOC, ASSH & lAPS; the LRC and ERC @ the University of Melbourne where all cases were obtained; and special thanks to Dr Dennis Hemphill for excellent measured supervision, my family as always, & two loyal white critters I, Ian J.M.Warren, declare this thesis titled An Outlaw Practice: Boxing Governance and Western Law is no more than 100,000 words in length exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, references and footnotes. This thesis contains no material submitted previously, in whole or part, for the award of any other degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work. Signed and dated moos' Put bluntly, you do not send an amateur against Joe Louis and expect to win; Neither do you win in the courts unless you are competently, skilfully and energetically represented. I knew that when I was brought to the Row, I realized what a prodigious amount of study, planning and concentrated effort effective self- representation entailed. So I began to study and I have never stopped. What is the law? W\y is the law? Who is the law? I have often spent as many as eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, seeking the answers to those three questions. It didn't take me a day to learn how little I knew of the law. Odd-one can spend a lifetime in lawlessness and still know practically nothing of law or its disciplines. I enrolled myself in legal kindergarten. Chessman 1956, p. 281 Contents jji Contents Abstract i. Acknowledgements and Declaration ii. Contents iii.- xix. Tables ix. - xii. Images xiii. - xix. Fight Law Sample 508 - 525 References 526 - 556 Introduction 1-21 Overview (1-3) Consent (3-5) Western Sports Law (6-8) Aims and Methods (8-15) Themes and Format (15-21) PART I: English Fight Law 1805-2002 i. English fight crime 1805 -1912 22-48 Background (22-24) Outlaw origins: duelling prohibitions (25-29) 1822: The Tennis-court Hotel: an outlaw London (30-32) fight venue 1825-1845 (33-38) 1860-1882 (38-46) Summary (46-48) ii. Modern private governance 49 - 72 Overview (49-50) The London Pelican Club, 1890 (50-53) Outlaw fight space: 1897 (53-55) The BBBC (1919) and White City Stadium Fight (55-58) Contracts (1935) The Trinidad Welter-Weight Champion (1954) (58-60) The BBBC and licence rejection (1978) (60-63) The New Zealand Boxing Association case (1978) (63-67) Twentieth Century Fight Lore, 1934-1978 (67-71) Summary (71-72) Contents IV iii. Recent Controversies: 1989-2002 73 - 96 Overview (73-74) The Dual Licensing Rule (1989) and Michael (74-78) Watson # 1 (1991) Michael Watson v. Chns Eubank (2001) (78-83) Military Boxing (2002) (83-87) Amateur fight governance (2002) (87-89) Implications and curiosities (89-96) PART II: United States Fight Law 1876-1995 iv. Outlaw origins 1821-1897 97 - 118 Background (97-100) Women and early fight sports (100-102) The Boston Strong Boy: 1883 to 1890 (102-105) Sullivan #2,1893 (106-108) Seville v. Arthur Majesty, 1982 (108-111) Albert Taylor v. Edgar Broom, 1893 (111-113) Purtell, 1896 (113-115) Johnson, 1897 (115-117) Themes (117-118) V. 1894 119 -140 Overview (119-120) The Louisiana Olympic Club (120-132) People V. 'Ruby' Bob Fitzsimmons (132-140) Themes (140) vi. 1902 -1914 141 - 167 Overview (141-142) Patten v Dickerson, 1902 (142-143) A semi-organised 'bar-room-brawV, 1903 (143-145) 'Ternble' Terry McGovem, 1903 (145-150) Unlawful prize-fights and assaults, 1905-1909 (150-151) James J. Jeffries, 1910 (152-155) 'Papa' Jack Johnson's legal encounter, 1914 (155-161) 'Ruby' Bob Fitzsimmons #2,1914 (161-166) Themes (166-167) Contents vii. Outlaw fight fUms 1912-1930 168 - 187 Background (168-170) Phase 1,1915-1916 (170-179) Johnson v. Willard, Havana and Lawrence (170-173) Weber's Constitutional Challenge, 1915 The Kalisthenic Exhibition Company #1-2,1915- (174-177) 1916 The innovation of James J. Johnson, 1916 (177-179) Phase II, Dempsey v Tunney, 1927-1930 (179-186) Themes (186-187) viii. 1918 -1930 188 - 220 Overview (188) Jess Willard, 1918 (188-190) The Montana Kiley Bill (1913), 1919 (190-193) Sham Contests (193-196) 1921-1922 (196-199) Madison Square Garden #1,1925 (199-201) Jack Dempsey v Louis Firpo, Polo Grounds, 1926 (201-205) The Outlaw Ticket Collector, 1927 (205-206) Barr #1-2,1927-1928 (206-209) Roger Gregory, 1928 (209-211) 'The Manassa Mauler #1-2,1928 (211-214) Fight Mentors, 1930 (215) Lewis Frost v Byron Boyer and Cartwright v (216-219) Geysel, 1930 Themes (219-220) ix. 1931 -1949 221 - 258 Overview (221-222) Madison Square Garden v. Primo Camera, 1931 (222-223) 3 NYSAC prosecutions, 1931-1932 (223-228) An Injured Patron (228-229) Tommy Farr v. Joe Louis, 1937 (229-233) James J. Braddock v Madison Square Garden #1-2, (233-235) 1937 Fight Lore (235-238) Contents VI NYSAC 1937-1947 (239-250) i) Origins (239-240) ii) Zwim v. Galento, 1941-1942 (240-244) iii) The Outlaw Wallman Contracts, 1945-1947 (244-248) iv) High School Fight Sports (249-250) California Fight Laws, 1946-1949 (250-253) Overview (250) i) Abe Phillips, 1946 (250-251) ii) Hudson #1-2,1948-1949 (251-253) The Enigmatic 'Brown Bomber' (253-255) Beatrice Norman, 1949 (255-258) Themes (258) X. 1950 -1963 and the IBC outlaw monopoly 259 - 294 Overview (259) Jack Sharkey, 1950 (259-261) Tennessee Anti-Bribery Laws, 1952 (261-262) NYSA Commissioner Robert Christenberry #1, (262-264) 1952-1953 NYSA Commissioner Robert Christenberry #2, (264-266) 1953 A Fighter's Public Image, 1953 (267-269) Fight Research (269-270) Albert Ettore #1-2 1954 and 1956 (270-272) The Boxing Managers Guild #1-2,1955-1956 (272-275) George Flores #1-3,1955-1959 (2 75-2 77) 'Sugar' Ray Robinson (2 78-2 79) The Wisconsin and Rhode Island Public Licensing (279-281) Commissions, 1956 Two Unsung Fight Legends (281-283) The IBC, 1955-1963 (284-292) Themes (292-294) xi. Benny 'Kid' Paret, Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, 295 - 328 Cassius Marcellus Clay, and the 'Greatest' Muhammad Ali Overview (295-296) Benny 'Kid' Paret v Emile Griffith, 1962 (296-302) Ruben 'Hurricane' Carier #1-8,1969-1986 (302-308) From Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali (308-314) Ali V USA #1-2 and Ali v NYSAC #1-2,1968-1971 (315-326) Themes (326-328) Contents VU xii. 1966 -1987 329 - 358 Overview (329) Emile Griffith, 1966 (329-331) Ali V. Liston #2,1966 and 1971 (331-337) George Foreman, 1974 (337-341) Eugene 'Cyclone' Hart, 1974 (341-342) Jackie Tonawanda, 1975 (342-344) Madison Square Garden, 1977 (344-347) Eddie 'Flame' Gregory, 1980 (347-349) CBS V. ABC, 1982 (349-351) Willie 'Macho' Classen v. Wilfred Scypion #1-2, (351-357) 1984-1987 Themes (357-358) xiii. Tyson and King 359 - 382 Background (359-365) James 'Buster' Douglas v. Don King #1-4,1990 (365-372) Pinklon Thomas v. DKP #1-2,1990-1991 (372-373) Lovato V. DKP, 1995 (376-381) 'Iron'Mike Tyson, 1992-1996 (374-375) Themes (381-382) PART III: Australian Fight Law 1918-2003 xiv. Australian Fight Lore: Myths and Legends 383 - 409 Overview (383-384) Imagining Fight Lore (384-389) Nineteenth Century Fight Sports (389-394) 'Papa' Jack in Australia (394-402) Les Darcy (402-406) Les Darcy and the NSW Supreme Court (406-408) Themes (408-409) XV. 1929 -1976 410 - 442 Overview (410) 'Reid', 1929 (410-414) A Fighter's Narrative (414-416) The Brisbane Entertainment Centre, 1959-1960 (417) Ben Brizzi, 1970 (417-423) The Commonwealth National Fight Law Inquiry, (423-430) 1974 Pallante #1-2,1976 (431-436) Fight Associations, Boards and Commissions (436-440) Themes (Ul-442) Contents vm xvi. Recent controversies 443 - 48( Overview (443) Holly Femeley, 2001 (444-449) Vince Ippolito, 2002 (450-452) John Dalungdalee Jones, 2003 (452-456) Nathan Croucher, Ahmat Popal and Patricia (456-462) Devellerez, 2001 Medical Lore (462-468) Chock and Fight Biographies (468-480) Kostya (480-481) Scrapbook (481-483) Themes (483-486) Coda 487 - 50: Overview (487) Canadian Rulings, 1901-1920 (487-492) General Conclusions (492-507) i) Harms to self and others (492-497) ii) Race (497-500) iii) Hard Paternalism Fight Lore anaI Fight Sports (500-503) iv) Directions (503-507) Contents IX Tables Title Source(s) Chapter and page New Zealand Boxing Stininato v.