The forgotten greats - Beau Jack

First topic message reminder :

Ayup everyone, hope the first half of the week hasn’t been too taxing. A while back on the old 606 (spit) I posted a list of my top ten Lightweights of all time, and after much deliberation I decided to give the tenth and final spot to Joe ‘Old Bones’ Brown, who’d been tussling back and forth with the man I’m about to cover in this article; the ‘Georgia Shoe Shiner’, born Sidney Walker but better known as Beau Jack, a brilliant Lightweight who sadly has slipped off the radar a little bit in recent times, it seems.

We’ll get on to Jack’s considerable career achievements in a moment, but first off I have to say that Jack’s extraordinary life outside the ring, his upbringing and his odd introduction to boxing is also as good a reason as any to write an article on him. I not long ago stumbled across an interview with Jack in which he stated that he was raised by his grandma and granddad after losing both parents while still an infant. His account included some remarkable claims, most notably that his grandma lived until 112 years old, and also that his granddad stood at an unbelievable height of 7’6” (yes, I had to carefully check that I’d read that bit properly as well). Whatever the truth regarding this, Jack clearly didn’t inherit the same genes, standing a whole two feet smaller than that reported height.

Jack had no amateur career, but learned his boxing in the strangest way imaginable – the ‘battle royals’, in which a group of five or six (usually penniless) black fighters entered the ring and knocked ten bells out of each other until only one was left standing, usually for the entertainment of a white consortium which had funded them. Jack, however, appeared not to regret his harsh apprenticeship, saying “I learned a trick. To duck down low in a corner and let them come by me. Then I'd knock them off until there was only one left to fight. First time I tried it, I won and got the first fifty dollar bill I ever had. After that, I won all the time.”

Jack eventually turned professional in 1940 and set a frenetic pace, fighting fifty-odd times in a little over two years and, by late 1942, had knocked out the experienced long-time contender Tippy Larkin for the vacant NYSAC version of the Lightweight crown. I’m probably guilty, in hindsight, of over-estimating Joe Brown’s length of title reign when placing him ahead of Jack in my aforementioned Lightweight standings. Jack’s total of no successful title defences over either one of his two reigns can hardly compare to Brown’s eleven consecutive defences – a record until a certain Roberto Duran came along – but let’s look at the company Jack was keeping. He quickly lost but then regained the title against Bob Montgomery, himself a wonderful Lightweight who would have been successful in any era. The two of them would split their four fight series 2-2.

Jack boxed on for eleven years after losing the title, but was frozen out for a number of reasons; he was in line to challenge Ike Williams in 1947, but a persistent knee injury (which had worsened over the years due to Jack’s relentless pressure style) pre-empted a surprise loss to Juan Zurita, who instead was given the Williams bout. Jack put that right later the same year, however like his idol Henry Armstrong, Jack’s style had taken its toll and dictated that his peak years would be relatively short, and his fighting clock was slowly winding down by this point. Also, the fact that Jack was one of the few world class fighters of that era not to be instantly snapped up by the notorious Blinky Palermo meant that he had to wait in line for longer than he should have before finally fighting a title bout again.

Jack eventually got his shot against Williams in 1948, but took a savage beating (the amount of punishment he took before the referee intervened, even allowing for the nature of boxing at that time, has to be seen to be believed) and could only muster one draw in his four fights against him. However, he continued to mix it with the very best right up until the end of his career, scoring wins over the notoriously filthy Fritzie Zivic, Henry Armstrong, Johnny Bratton, Sammy Angott and Lew Jenkins, all outstanding champions at either Lightweight or Welterweight.

Having sadly gone back to shining shoes (as he did in his childhood) after his career ended due to some poor financial decisions, it would have been easy for Jack to be bitter when looking back on his boxing life. However, while I obviously never knew the man personally, reading his views on what went before I’m impressed with his honesty and the kind words he bestowed upon his former foes. He describes how he was “lucky” to beat Armstrong in 1943 and describes Homicide Hank as “my idol, the greatest ever.” He’s also one of what must surely be only a few who have taken the time to heap praise on Zivic, saying “I learned more about fighting from Fritzie than anyone. If you didn’t learn from him, you were crazy...Not dirty, just a good fighter.”

Raising $35million in the ‘war bond fight’ with Montgomery (which Jack described as his proudest moment) and campaigning for a boxing pension scheme are also traits which are to be admired about Jack, at least in my eyes. As stated before, Jack’s title record may not hold weight when lined up with Joe Brown’s, but was I wrong to put ‘Old Bones’ ahead of him? Given the sheer record amassed by Jack, I may well have been. An incredible story, a character, and a great fighter to boot. Worthy of his moment in the 606v2 sun, methinks.

Thanks for sticking with me, lads.

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Sadly another boxer who died in poverty. I always confused him and Henry Armstrong. Probably their hairstyles.

Everybody looks the same in black and white, to you.

Ha. You can get digitally remastered films nowadays windy. Even Chaplin movies can be viewed in colour. Time to move with the times my brother.

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Sadly another boxer who died in poverty. I always confused him and Henry Armstrong. Probably their hairstyles.

Everybody looks the same in black and white, to you.

Ha. You can get digitally remastered films nowadays windy. Even Chaplin movies can be viewed in colour. Time to move with the times my brother.

I'm obliged to you for the tip, az. I'm just boiling the kettle so that my TV will run for another hour or so. Must get one of those nice electric ones, one day.

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Sadly another boxer who died in poverty. I always confused him and Henry Armstrong. Probably their hairstyles.

Everybody looks the same in black and white, to you.

Ha. You can get digitally remastered films nowadays windy. Even Chaplin movies can be viewed in colour. Time to move with the times my brother.

I'm obliged to you for the tip, az. I'm just boiling the kettle so that my TV will run for another hour or so. Must get one of those nice electric ones, one day.

If oyu ever are in London, give me a shout. I'd take you for a drink.

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Sadly another boxer who died in poverty. I always confused him and Henry Armstrong. Probably their hairstyles.

Everybody looks the same in black and white, to you.

Ha. You can get digitally remastered films nowadays windy. Even Chaplin movies can be viewed in colour. Time to move with the times my brother.

I'm obliged to you for the tip, az. I'm just boiling the kettle so that my TV will run for another hour or so. Must get one of those nice electric ones, one day.

If oyu ever are in London, give me a shout. I'd take you for a drink.

I'll bear that in mind, mate. Thank you.

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

azania wrote:Sadly another boxer who died in poverty. I always confused him and Henry Armstrong. Probably their hairstyles.

Everybody looks the same in black and white, to you.

Ha. You can get digitally remastered films nowadays windy. Even Chaplin movies can be viewed in colour. Time to move with the times my brother.

I'm obliged to you for the tip, az. I'm just boiling the kettle so that my TV will run for another hour or so. Must get one of those nice electric ones, one day.

If oyu ever are in London, give me a shout. I'd take you for a drink.

I'll bear that in mind, mate. Thank you.

No worries old chap.

It's alright Windy go for a drink with him..

Prohibition is over now and you won't get into trouble..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:It's alright Windy go for a drink with him..

Prohibition is over now and you won't get into trouble..

So Trussman asks what is supposedly so great about Beau Jack, and that he has no right to be mentioned in such esteem despite his wins over Johnny Bratton, Henry Armstrong, Bob Montgomery, Al 'Bummy' Davis, Tippy Larkin, Fritzie Zivic and Juan Zurita - but then declares that Hill is an 'all time great' on the basis of his wins over the frankly average Leslie Stewart, a shot to pieces Lottie Mwale (who was still probably trying to find his teeth after that sickening knockout years before at the hands of Matthew Saad Muhammad) and Henry Maske, who was a glorified Ottke of his day. Very, very strange indeed, though I thank him for his contributions as ever!

'The forgotten greats - Virgil Hill', anyone?

Nice one Chris