Frank Klaus Appreciation Thread

I´m looking forward to this thread....

His book is very interesting......
http://pt.scribd.com/doc/6680351/The-Art-of-inFighting-by-Frank-Klaus

 

He is overlooked much for the same reasons as John Henry Lewis is overlooked- both ended their careers with crushing defeats.

Too bad Klompton is no longer around. After his Greb book he is seriously considering doing a Klaus book and knows a lot about him. I've been doing a lot of research on Klaus for the past couple of years for my own book on Pittsburgh boxing history. He was an iron man; much like Harry Greb and Battling Nelson in that he got stronger the longer a fight went. He was also considered as one of history's great body punchers.

He and Tony Zale are the middleweight division poster boys, imo.

 

Because that run ended so suddenly and anti-climatically, and his entire career along with it.

It's rather ironic that Klaus battled so hard and so long to reach the top of the mountain, and then once he got there he came plummeting back down so quickly. Perhaps he had expended all he had in his effort to reach the top of the mountain, and had nothing left once he got there? :huh (For whatever it's worth, Klaus always quipped that it was "the bright lights of Paris" that took his title from him).

A bit of trivia: Klaus was not only a renowned infighter in his day, but he actually wrote a book on "the art of infighting."

 

Eh?

 

WTF was Santa's son a world champion boxer?


:hat

 

For those who didn't read the arlier Klaus threads-

Frank Klaus- "The Pittsburgh Bearcat" by Harry Keck


....One night, back in 1909BC (before boxing commissions), Klaus knocked out two men in the same ring for one purse for Promoter Jack McGuigan at the old national Club in Philadelphia.

Frank was a gamester from the toes up, a stockily-built sockdolager who believed in moving in close and punching away, mixing his attack to the body and head. Fancy sparring was not for him. This night he was matched Harry Mansfield, a good ‘un from England, and he wrapped him up with a rousing left hook to the body in the second round.
That would have been that if Johnny Loftus, in Mansfield’s corner, had not climbed into the ring and hollered “Foul!” the crowd took up the cry.

McGuigan, the promoter was his own referee. He tried to quiet the tumult, but there had been an epidemic of foul-endings in Philadelphia rings and the fans thought they were being short-changed again and refused to be quieted.
Klaus, who had fought often for McGuigan and liked him, sized up the situation and called the promoter over top his corner.
“I’ll fight anybody in the house if they think I fouled him,” he said.
“Will you do that for me?” McGuigan begged. “it will be a big favor.”
Klaus’ manager took a hand. “No he won’t,” he snapped. “I’m his manager and I’m making his matches.”
Klaus by this time was raging. “You keep out of this”, he yelled at his manager. “I’m doing this myself”.
McGuigan, also his own announcer, moved to the centre of the ring and waved his arms and shouted above the hubbub”
“Klaus says he will fight any man in the house to give you a run for your money. ANY MAN IN THE HOUSE!”

The jeers turned to cheers. Klaus huddled on his stool to await the outcome of the challenge while McGuigan stepped down out of the ring to and scurried through the crowd.
Sam Langford, the greatly feared Boston tar Baby was in the arena. So was Philadelphia Jack O’Brien. So too were Jack Blackburn, later to be famous as Joe Louis’ trainer, and Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan, Jim Smith, the Brooklyn Plumber and others of note.
Ten minutes later, there was a bustling at the end of one of the aisles and Smith, a heavyweight, came into view, dressed for the ring and followed by a retinue of seconds.

Smith was big and tough and could box and punch. The one hundred and sixty pound Klaus looked him up and down as they met in mid-ring for instructions.
The fight began. Smith stepped around, sticking out his left fist to gauge the distance, and then crossed his right to the jaw. Pow!

Klaus shook off the punch and crashed over his own right flush to the jaw and whipped a left hook deep into the body. Down went Mr. Smith for the count. It was the same sort of blow that had doubled Mansfield. But this time there was no cry of foul. When they carried Smith back to his corner he had a cracked jaw and a broken rib.
“Anybody else?” Klaus coolly asked McGuigan. There wasn’t.

B.Illustrated 1991.

 

I can't express in words how badly the mods suck.

 

Definitely came a cropper in gay paree and never regained his form.
Both he and his Mgr George Engel brawled their way down the master staircase of the Ritz Hotel at some point.
This portion of his career featured attending dinner with english royalty also...never good stuff for a fighter.
Engel went to his grave in 1953 attempting to have Klauses life made into a feature film to no avail.

 

So YOU'RE to blame, then? :-(

(j/k! :good )

 

It was a thread about Darcy? - not that thread about Arthur Mercante, in which a mysterious poster who was a big fan of Ron Lipton stirred up a sh!t-ton of trouble? :huh