Colour Line Greats - Jack Mcvey

Born Julius Williams in 1905 the story of Jack McVey's early life is one that is familiar to anyone who has studied the lot of black people in that era. Faced with the realisation that the life of a Georgia sharecropper was never likely to bring prosperity the young Jack and his family joined the thousands of other blacks who migrated north in the hope of finding a better life and more steady work in the ever expanding cities but found that this did little to improve their circumstances, merely exchanging the abject poverty of the countryside for abject povery in New York.

At the tender age of 10 Jack first began to box, probably attracted to the 50 cents a young child could pick up for fighting in the smokers that littered Harlem. Whatever his motivation Jack showed a talent for the game and this soon led him to seek out better instruction at the local Commonwealth Sporting Club. It was here he met the ageing heavyweight great Sam McVey who saw enough potential in the young fighter to take him under his wing and teach him the finer points of the game. The young fighter repaid this kindness by adopting Sam's surname and from this point on was known as, and would fight as Jack McVey.

Jack's first couple of years as a pro saw him drop a couple of decisions but mix in enough wins against quality opposition such as Allentown Joe Gans and Sailor Darden to suggest he was one to watch. Such was his form and potential in November 1923 Jack was matched with the well regarded and murderous punching Phil "KO" Kaplan in what would be the first fight in a genuine and enduring rivalry between the two. Despite dropping Kaplan in the second and seemingly controlling the action from then on the decision went against McVey. If he was disappointed it was a feeling he would have to get used to as getting screwed on the verdict was to become a regular occurance throughout his career.

Despite the setback Jack rebounded the onlyway he could in going through 1924 virtually unscathed until in 1925 he was matched again with Kaplan. It was clear this time round Jack was in no mood to leave the outcome to the referee and he tore into Kaplan from the opening bell with a ferocity that meant by the end of the third after a couple of visits to the canvas Phil was spent. The rules in place at the time stated a fight stopping on a foul would end any bets and so under instructions from his corner at the start of the fourth Kaplan began to throw everything at Jack including gouges, butts and even a knee to the groin until the ref had no choice but to call a halt to the carnage and stop the fight on a foul, but by a quirk of the rules this would not appear as a loss on Kaplan's record.

On paper Jack' form in the aftermath of this looks a little patchy, he lost a couple by disqualification as well as the inevitable couple of poor decisions such as another loss to Kaplan and to future world champion Joe Dundee, both of which the press and fans again agreed Jack deserved to win. However as his form began to improve he wasd awarded a fight with former welterweight champion Pete Latzo. the bout started closely with each fighter having success in the lively early exchanges but from the seventh on it was all McVey and at the end of the 12th he had beaten Latzo to a bloody mess having closed and bloodied both his eyes. Despite Jack's clear dominance the referee, former featherweight champion Johnny Kilbane inexplicably raised Latzo's arm. Even by the standards of the decisions black fighters had to endure on a regular basis this was a bad one and Cleveland Commission banned Kilbane from refereeing for a year in the wake of this.

However the real shock in this fight was still to come when a journalist asked Kilbane to explan how he had come to such a decision Kilbane's answer was "You don't suppose I'd give a n______ the decision over a white man and ex champ do you?" Where do you even start with a comment like that, that a ref would hold such a view is bad enough, that he would feel free to express it in public is worse, that it would not lead to the result being overturned or at the very least a rematch being immediately ordered beggars belief but if nothing else with the benefit of hindsight it does give us an insight into the obstacles and prejudices that black fighters had to endure on a daily basis.

Whilst Jakc rarely enjoyed much luck in the ring around this point something of a campaign began in the press to see Jack matched with middleweight champion Mickey Walker with no lesser writers than the likes of Hype Igoe taking up Jack's cause. Jack's cause which was well supported by the public and boxing fans did receive some sympathy from new York commissioner James Farley. Fraley was sympathetic but said he was hamstrung as George Courtney has been promised a shot at Walker.

When Walker failed to meet Courtney the fans began to make the sensible and inevitable call for George and McVey to meet to settle the true number one contender for Walker's crown. Despite the two trading insults in the press the fight did not happen at this time, normally being scuppered by Courtney's increasingly unreasonable contract and puse demands and Jack's shot at the title was never to materialse.

A look at Jack's record aftert this period suggests an inconsistent or ordinary fighter but this would be to do his scant justice. In the course of researching this series I am used to seeing black fighters having to concede weight (Jack often had to fight light heavies of the quality of Dave Shade and Maxie Rosenbloom) or routinely get screwed out of decisions but cannot recall anyone for whom this seems to have happened with such frequency.

A decent indication of the kind of decisions Jack had to endure can be seen in the reports of his second fight with Frankie Schoell. Jack outclassed Schoell throughout but as tended to be the case had to stand by whilst Frankiie's arm was raised at the end of the fight. Whilst Jack may have had to accept this the crowd in attendance were less willing to do so and their inevitable boos and catcalls broke out into a full scale riot that lasted a full half hour. When the crowd finally clamed down Jack's manager Maurice Cain found his fighter hid under his robe in the corner of the ring. Cain showed a gift for both humour and understatement when he said to Jack "I guess they thought you won" Whilst his comment was obviously a throwaway line it was also very perceptive, the crowd and press often thought Jack won but convincing referees such as Kilbane to think likewise was often easier said than done.

I could kiss you but cant reach as your belly is in the way. *Blows Kiss* I Skim Read it and enjoyed - will post in more depth when I get home. Cheers

Absolutely cracking read and really drives home the prejudices black fighters faced. Thanks, Rowley.

Great stuff Jeff. A absorbing article about a fighter I knew next to nothing about. The sad thing is, I am not surprised about the predjudice he faced. It was symptomatic of the times and a real stain on the memory of sport in general. We complain about our lot in the world these days, but we have it easy in comparison to some more sinister generations.

Brilliant article, the challenge is set.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Brilliant article, the challenge is set.

It is getting into a bit of a peeing competition Tina, you set the bar with Pancho Villa, felt I had to come back swinging, just wait till the Kid Norfolk thread arrives, it's going to be a big un.

Well this is a bit of a coincidence, Jeff - your recent series has promped me to delve in to revisiting / acquainting myself with the unfairly shunned black fighters of past eras, and as fate would have it, Jack is a fighter I've been reading up about myself a little. Suffice to say then, I was very happy to stumble across this article of yours!

Great effort again - not much that can be added by me as a result of that.

Great article Jeff. Never heard of him before but it really does highlight the problems of black fighter at the start of the 20th century.

I read a peice written by Sam Lacy, a prominant black journalist back in the 1930s/40s/50s which was disussing racial segregation in American sports. It wasnt until 1947 I think that America's most prominent sport baseball allowed black players into the leagues. Previously there had been a negro league in baseball for black players. At the time there was a feeling even amongst the black community that the negro league was a good thing. The fear was that if black players were allowed into the white leagues they would not get fair treatment and the negro leagues which were very popular amongst the black community (outselling their white counterparts in some cities with strong black communities) would collapse putting a huge number of players and employees out of work and leaving fans with no teams to support.

A few years prior to the colour line being broken by Jackie Robinson, several journalists and baseball scouts had gone to great lengths to arrange a trial of some of the best black players at the Boston Red Sox (including Robinson). When they turned up a prominent Red Sox official was reported to have said "get those n_____s off the field so we can begin practice" which put an end to the trial before it even began. It highlights what black athletes were up against.

The colour line in boxing had been broken many years before and mixed bouts were more common but as is highlighted with Jack McVey, fair treatment was not a given by any means and even well into the 1940s you had something of a lost generation of top fighters in the Murders Row who had great rivalries amongst themselves much like Sam McVea, Jeanette, Langford, Wills had decades before and both groups could argue strongly that their much less publicised rivalries were really more significant than the real champions at the time in terms of who were the best fighters.

Not much to add other than to say, fantastic article. I was going to respond to Tina's comments regaridng the prejudice in boxing by pointing out that boxing might have been slightly more enlightened that other American sports in that, at least black fighters were generally allowed to compete, however, Manos makes a similar point.

However, given the shame of the rumbles, the colour line and the fact that black fighters were routinely screwed over by the authorities, I'm not going to pretend that boxing was some shining beacon of tolerance and equality.

superflyweight wrote:Not much to add other than to say, fantastic article. I was going to respond to Tina's comments regaridng the prejudice in boxing by pointing out that boxing might have been slightly more enlightened that other American sports in that, at least black fighters were generally allowed to compete, however, Manos makes a similar point.

However, given the shame of the rumbles, the colour line and the fact that black fighters were routinely screwed over by the authorities, I'm not going to pretend that boxing was some shining beacon of tolerance and equality.

I do take your point Superfly, in that at least these guys were allowed to compete, it just seems like looking for a silver lining that isn't really there. In a more broader context the times must have been atrocious for black athletes, but I would happily concede that boxers were sometimes afforded more opportunities than other sportsmen, but as you rightly point out, they were more often than not receiving the exceptionally rough end of the stick.

It is difficult to say whether you choose to consider boxing ahead of its time with regard to black people being allowed to compete or not. Obviously as manos has said the colour line in terms of blacks playing in major league baseball was strict and in place for quite some time, but given the screwings and prejudice black fighters faced you would be hard pushed to say the sport was more enlightened, believe I am right in saying prior to Joe Louis there had only been 12 black champions across the whole of the divisions in the sport, if we consider the sport in the gloved era starts around the 1890's and Louis not win the title until 1937 12 champion in over 40 years is drop in the ocean stuff really.

rowley wrote:It is difficult to say whether you choose to consider boxing ahead of its time with regard to black people being allowed to compete or not. Obviously as manos has said the colour line in terms of blacks playing in major league baseball was strict and in place for quite some time, but given the screwings and prejudice black fighters faced you would be hard pushed to say the sport was more enlightened, believe I am right in saying prior to Joe Louis there had only been 12 black champions across the whole of the divisions in the sport, if we consider the sport in the gloved era starts around the 1890's and Louis not win the title until 1937 12 champion in over 40 years is drop in the ocean stuff really.

Black fighters were getting royally shafted almost since time immemorial. Molineaux was robbed against Cribb 200 years before Johnson even wrested the lineal title away from the white establishment. As you say, it largely depends on your point of view, but saying 'well, at least they got fights regardless of how badly screwed over they were' isn't a position that should sit comfortably with anyone. I wouldn't necessarily say it is worse than keeping a colour line in place, just that neither is a palatable situation.

Joe Louis seemed to be the springboard for the acceptance of black fighters although there were still major problems as the BMR showed. Would I be wrong in saying that in the years after Johnson that only Tiger Flowers was afforded a title fight which he won against Greb until the late 30s?

They were given more chances at the start of the gloved era with Dixon and Gans in particular forging very fine careers, a black mark against every sport in the first half of the 20th century.

Not sure that is right ghosty, can think of Siki and Henry Lewis who held titles in between, am trying to remember the 12, can be a bit of a challenge for us to get the brain ticking over. Off the top of my head there is Walcott, Dixon, Gans, Kid Chocolate Johnson, Flowers, Henry Lewis, Siki

1. Barbados Joe Walcott
2. George Dixon
3. Joe Gans
4. Kid Chocolate
5. Jack Johnson
6. Tiger Flowers
7. John Henry Lewis
8. Battling Siki
9. Panama Al Brown

There's a couple like Villa and Escobar who i'm not sure whether they would be classed as hispanic or black.

Good shout on Brown Ghosty, the list is in the Sundowners, will check it when I get home, will kick myself if it is not actually 12.

Nice one Rowley, real good stuff!

Jack Thompson as well, if your 12 is right that leaves one.

And last but not least Gorilla Jones.

Good work Ghosty, will double check our work when we get home, Jones is a cracking answer, I was definitely not getting him (or thompson for that matter)

Ghosty to complete the set the only one we were missing was the Dixie Kid. To put the figure of 12 in perspective in the same period the heavyweight division alone had 14 white champions.

I always thought that Dixie Kid had no claim to a world title Jeff?

He is listed in the book Ghosty and a quick look on line this morning appears to have him winning the title off Walcott on both the CBZ and IBHOF websites

This is always a good quiz question.

What was controversial about the Walcott and Dixie Kid title fight?

Walcott was clearly winning before being DQ'd in the 20th and final round, the Kid was initially given the title but it was later returned to Walcott when it was found out that the referee had bet on Dixie Kid to win. In the process any claim he had to a world title was discredited.