Gans/McGovern

Obvious fix. Cracks me up when people try to justify the KDs as legit.

 

I concur. Watch the film and it becomes painfully obvious.

 

There were rumors about it being pre-arranged, that Gans is to be knocked out, before the fight, with the betting odds clearly representing that. New York Evening World had it on their front page 'FIGHT "FAKE" DENIED' hours before the bout began, with a story of Lou Houseman (of the Tattersall's) summoning Al Herford (Gans' manager) to question him why there's so much money offered against Gans by colored people (who were supposed to support Gans). There were a lot of stories, like a man coming to Chicago city hall offices two days before the fight with $8K to bet on McGovern, Chicago saloonkeeper, where colored sporting fans gather, sending a messenger to Louisville and Cincinnati to wager $5K on McGovern, Otto Flotto of Denver Post saying there were lots of money offered on McGovern winning, more than he had seen before in Denver, obviously from out of town bettors, etc.

 

He might have won more money by betting anonymously (via other people) against Gans. Of course, there's no proof, but it's possible he could have done that.

 

To me it all depends on whether the first clear right hand Terry landed on Joe's head really hurt him. It was a clear enough shot and if it did hurt Joe badly it might account for his going down untouched a few seconds later. Thats the possibility for this,,,,however Nat Fleischer who was a big Terry fan and thought him the greatest of all bantam champs said this about the bout, "Terry was good, but he wasn't that good."

 

Fix in my opinion. If not, it would lower Gans's historical standing due to a very poor effort. Where were the sharp counter-punches of the Nelson and Herman fights? It's not like McGovern didn't leave any openings.

 

When I first saw this fight I thought it just looked like Gans got overwhelmed by the type of pressure and non stop punching that McGovern brought and I doubt that Gans had faced before in the slower paced turn of the century style of fighting.

That is until I watched the Gans-Kid Herman fight. Gans looked like a totally different fighter here. I know that Herman was no McGovern but Gans' footwork,defense,composure and punching bore no resemblance to his frankly inept display against McGovern.

So either it was a fix or Gans (who was already an acknowleged master by the time he met McGovern) improved still further out of sight in the intervening years between McGovern and Herman. My money's now on the former.

 

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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT23JRnvMR4[/ame]

5:30

I'm not sure if the punch landed. Gans also seems angered when the referee tries to carry him to his corner. He is falling over from nothing at the end yet is coherent enough to congratulate McGovern for his victory.