Born May 11 1845 St. James Island, South Carolina. Morris was 6'1" usually around 185 lbs and self-managed Grant won a Police Gazette Boxing Tournament in New York, NY in 1878 crowning him the Colored Heavyweight Champion I was induced by chance of seeing some fun to attend the performance given in honor of the retirement of Mr. Morris Grant from the ring at the Germania Assembly Rooms last Thursday night. For some utterly inexplicable reason the great event escaped the notice of the city dailies, and Mr. Grant went through the formality of retiring without the blaze of glory which he confidently expected would accompany the event. It would be painful to Mr. Grant to know that the world at large does not know who he is. Such however, I fear, is the fact. He is, then, a man with a very small head, a very large jaw, an enormous pair of shoulders, rheumatic legs, and feet of a size that is positively startling. He is the color of shoe blacking and a great man among his race. Grant was the pioneering African pugilist. For a great many years he was sparred around New York at different benefits and, as his antics grew more and more grotesque and his fighting intense, he has built up a fair sort of reputation. He has never been in the ring, however, and I don't recall any serious fight in which he has engaged. For a good many years he has been the head bouncer of a popular dive up town, and his duties have been to overpower and eject gentlemen who have imbibed too freely. In the course of time Mr. Grant's legs have fallen more and more under the influence of rheumatism until they have been twisted like the knots of a gnarled oak tree. His good humor remains, however, and there is only one man on the face of the earth whom he will admit can whip him. That man is John L. Sullivan. For some time prior to the event, Mr. Grant has sold tickets industriously for his benefit, and he accordingly, had a house of fair proportions to greet him. I have never seen a more gorgeously dressed crowd in my life than that which assembled at Germania Hall. Even opera bouffe could not turn out more gaudily dressed men. They applauded the show indiscriminately—though in truth it was pretty bad until the time came for the wind up between Mr. Grant and his opponent. This gentleman was certainly two shades darker than coal dust and was introduced as Mr. White of Philadelphia. He stood six feet two inches and was as big around as a barrel. His head was well set upon his shoulders and he moved with a ponderous dignity. His costume consisted of a pair of bright blue trousers, and a yellow shirt, thrown open at the neck so as to show a red flannel chest protector beneath. For a moment he was gazed at with extreme awe by his race. Then Mr. Grant came forth. There was a gasp, followed by a dead silence and then a roar of admiration. On his feet Mr. Grant wore a pair of white slippers lavishly worked with green worsted. At first glance they reminded on strongly of meal bags over which some green paint had been carefully scattered. His trousers were a brilliant red with stripes of yellow down the side. His shirt was an imperial blue, and a crimson scarf was wound around his waist. Above it all was the smiling face of Mr. Grant, topped by an extremely small and bald head. The wonderful contour and double jointed character of Mr. Grant's legs were. brought out sharply by his tight fitting trousers. He made a few fleeting remarks, in which he thanked his friends for their kindness, and then went to his corner. A moment afterward the referee called time and Mr. Grant sprang forward from his chair with a sort of hop, skip and jump step around the platform. Mr. White arose with slow dignity in his chair, and gazed ponderously and coldly at the performance of his lighter and smaller rival. Then he walked out to the middle of the platform, placed himself carefully into position and remarked in a courteous voice to Mr. Grant, "I am at your service sah." Mr. Grant thereupon danced up to Mr. White, hauled off his left, hit him a stunning blow in the ribs and then pelted him in the nose with fits tight. look of cold disapproval passed over Mr. White's face, but he made no other manifestation. He still held his hands in position and stood ready to fight. Thereupon Mr. Grant came up behind him and, in the parlance of his compatriots dealt Mr. White a cruel biff in the ear. At this Mr. White seemed slightly surprised. Then he turned around so as to face. Mr. Grant and Mr. Grant carefully danced around him again. Slowly, but with infinite patience, Mr. White turned around as to face his antagonist, as a reward he caught a heavy blow in the region of the waistband. It sounded like a brass drum, but Mr. White seemed utterly unaware of its occurrence. He then carefully and after much premeditation, delivered a blow at Mr. Grant. That gentleman, who had seen it corning for several seconds, as had everyone in the audience, walked to one side and allowed the blow to pass him. This cruel deception was keenly felt by Mr. White, who having struck nothing but the air lunged gracefully forward toward the edge of the platform. He was on the point of toppling over the platform when Mr. Grant came up behind him and again biffed him in the ear. With this Mr. White, feeling that his disaster was complete, rolled complacently over and sat down, with the violence due a man of his weight, on the floor. There was a terrific applause for Mr. Grant. Once mote the Philadelphian was lead up to the platform, he again with ponderous care and much precision assumed his fighting attitude. Mr. Grant, having suddenly found out that he could whip Mr. White, rushed at him like a mad bull. A moment later a large man weighing two hundred and fifty pounds lay upon the floor at the south side of the stage with his chest protector wrapped tightly around his waist, one boot and one boxing glove missing and a beautiful yellow shirt in shreds. His fall, for it was Mr. White, commemorated the retirement of. Mr. Morris Grant from the ring which he had never entered. Morris Grant was a rough and tumble style fighter. He learned his craft on the docks and back alleys of New York and in the sleazy saloons of the "city that never sleeps". Born in 1845 at Saint James Island, South Carolina, Grant was making His living as a waiter in Brooklyn by 1870. How or when he became a fighter is anyone's guess. However, whenever he did, he quickly gained a reputation. Most of his income was earned by fighting, but not typical prizefighting governed by rules and ceremony . Grant came from a crueler school of hard knocks, one that did not allow regulations in fight just all-out mauling. It was in this kind of arena Morris earned his stripes. His success in street brawls and renown and attention he gained through his victories earned him a bouncing job at some of the most notorious vice dens in the city.
Morris came to beknown as "Scalping Grant" due to his favorite method of dragging unruly customers out of joints by their hair. It was 1879 when Grant began to box a bit, taking part in numerous exhibition matches and calling himself the colored champion. In 1880, he was taken in hand by Ned Malahan and in his initial essay into the prize ring, he defeated another black man, who went the name Hyer, in less than five minutes on the banks of the Hudson river. He legitimized his claim to the colored champion of the world when he won a Police Gazette boxing tournament in 1880. He would once again claim this Championship in 1882 when he won yet another colored tournament sponsored by the Police Gazette and held at Harry Hill's. Grant did take part in a few actual prizefights, governed by London Prize Ring Rules, defeating the aforementioned Hyer in 1879 and Charles Cooley twenty minutes in 1881. For the most part however, like many fighting men of the time, race restricted his activities to exhibition sparring and the four round glove game that was rage at the time. His main nemesis, and the utter bane of his existence, was Professor Charles Hadley of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Morris and Charles fought numerous times, some estimates ranging as high as 20 meetings, and it was generally the science of Hadley that won over the brawn of Grant. Morris was an old school fighter who was better suited to stand, deliver and absorb punishment. He was not a boxer who used technique. His style of fighting is quickly vanishing and viewed as too brutish. 1883, Morris Grant was 38 years old and his body was no longer fit for true fighting, but remained feisty. He returned full time to his duties as a bouncer and had at least one eventful run in with the law. On a winter evening in February of 1883, Grant took a group of aquaintances out on the town for a night of carousing. The men spent the majority of their time in one particular dive where the group ripped through a good amount of cheap liquor. Drunk, tired and with his legs aching, Grant stood to leave, placing a five dollar bill on the bar order to cover the cost of the group's tab. Before the keeper could snatch the bill, one of e men in Morris' group grabbed the bill and stuffed it in his shirt. The New York Times reported that upon the bill disappearing, Grant proceeded to thrash the crowd. He had subdued three fellows, when he was attacked with a billiard cue and bottles and badly beaten. He and Thomas Dugan, a white fighter, were arrested and brought before Justice Duffy who fined Dugan and released the Negro. After his retirement, Grant continued to work as a bouncer and made quite a nice living. He married a woman named Nia, who was nearly 20 years his junior and the couple had three Children, Anita, Francis and Millie. By 1910, Nia had died and Morris was living alone with his Daughter Anita in Brooklyn. When Morris Grant died is unknown. Grant was sometimes referred to as "Captain Grant" and at one time he evidently served on a ship named "The Empire" in some capacity. --------------------------------------------- The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 27, 1884 [url]The Sundowners by Kevin R. Smith[/url] Alright lads, this one was a righteous pain in dick. I'm pretty decent at image editing and getting characters to pop from backgrounds enough for an optical character recognition software to see them decent enough for me to edit them into english. What I mean is if you get a photo of a book and run an OCR you'll get some english some close to english and some 324gh^&j2 style ****. The more you edit the original image to get characters to pop the easier it is for the OCR to do its job. I did this all day today while waiting on the AJ-JP fight. Editing images, editing the text, and checking Sundowners because I do not have the original paper in physical copy. That said, when reading this is you see a part that's ****ed. Like if I have eentfu instead of eventful let me know. I did try to make this a readable as possible and it does irk me when people post %^BHJ87 in their narrative. So if you help me edit, that would be greatly appreciated. Outside of that, if you mean to add some information on Morris best of luck to you bud. Most books that cover the colored title start with Godfrey. If you are able to find some info post it up and don't be bothered if it takes me sometime to edit it into the first page, it'll get there and I do appreciate it. As always, thanks for reading buds. [url]Heavyweight Champions from Ancient to Present[/url]
Sorry to bump my own ****. I just want to remind myself to check the original to see exactly what the book calls the title. Black Genesis has me believing it's a New York title still
1883-02-19 New-York Tribune (New York, NY) (page 8) ILL-TREATING A PRIZE-FIGHTER. In the Jefferson Market Police Court yesterday Officer Kelly, of the Twenty-ninth Precinct, arraigned Morris Grant a powerfully built colored man and who is an old prize-fighter, and William Degner, who gave his home as No. 468 Seventh-ave. Grant whose head is nearly bald, had a scalp wound an inch long on the right side which was bleeding freely. The officer charged them with fighting in the street. "How is this Grant?" said the Court. "I'll tell yo' all 'bout it, yo' honah," said Grant. "Yo' see I went into a saloon an'--an' treated dis gentlam an' his friend--an' when I laid a five dollar bill on de counter, dis gentlam's friend he picked it up and dat was de beginning of de 'sturbance. I axed fo' de money and de odder man he hit me with a billiard cue and dis gentlam whom I thought was my friend giv me dis cut on de head wid a beer bottle, an' dat's de bottle de officer got." Degner in giving his version of the row unintentionally corroborated Grant's story. "Why, you're a prize-fighter," said his Honor to Grant "and you oughtn't to let two little men get away with you like that"---- "Dat's a mistake, yo' honah. I used to was a prize-fighter but ise a 'spectable citizen now. I didn't mind de two men, but when dey tote in de billiard cues and bottles, dat's anoder thing. Ise a peaceable man, Judge, and I only protected myself." As the officer said that Grant was a workingman and quiet enough, the Court discharged him. Degner was fined $5. As the latter was being led into the prison he asked Grant to lend him $3, as all the money he had was $2. "I'll lend yo' de money when you gimme back the $5," said Grant as he walked out of the court-room. 1883-02-19 The New York Herald (New York, NY) (page 9) COULD NOT BE KNOCKED OUT. -------- Morris Grant, the colored pugilist, and Thomas Degnan were principals in an interesting row yesterday morning in a saloon at Thirty-fifth street and Seventh avenue. Grant entered the saloon about one o'clock, and recognizing Degnan and several other white men in the place invited them to drink. After the beverages had been disposed of Grant tossed a five-dollar bill on the counter, but before the bartender could take it some one had grabbed it. Then came the row. Grant struck out right and left, and soon had half a dozen men sprawling about the floor. Degnan then attacked the colored man and the two had quite an interesting set-to. Some of the other men obtained billiard cues, with which they belabored Grant over the head, but apparently with little effect. Finally the police broke in and arrested Grant and Degnan. Grant exhibited a few slight cuts on his head as the result of the many blows inflicted with the billiard cues. Any ordinary man's head would have been battered out of shape by the blows he had received. Justice Duffy discharged Grant, but fined Degnan $5 for disorderly conduct. 1883-02-19 The New-York Times (New York, NY) (page 8) UNDERTAKING TOO HEAVY A JOB. Marvin Grant, the negro pugilist, took a lot of white men to drink in a saloon at Thirty-fifth-street and Seventh-avenue yesterday morning. In payment for the liquor he laid a five-dollar bill on the bar. One of the white men appropriated it, and Grant proceeded to thrash the crowd. He had subdued three fellows, when he was attacked with a billiard cue and bottles and badly beaten. He and Thomas J. Degnan, a white fighter, were arrested and brought before Justice Duffy, who fined Degnan $5 and released the negro. 1883-02-19 The Sun (New York, NY) (page 1) A Colored Boxer's Large Heart. Morris Grant, the colored heavy-weight boxer, wept over a small but intrepid looking white man, William Degnan, at Jefferson Market yesterday. Grant's head was cut and his right eye was closed. In a broken voice he inquired of Degnan as the two stood before the magistrate together why he had taken his money from him, and whether he had not been always a good friend to Degnan. Degnan fericiously denied that he had taken any money. Turning to Justice Duffy, and mastering his emotion in a measure, Grant said that he had taken Degnan and another friend into a saloon in Seventh avenue and treated them to drinks. He put a $5 note on the bar to pay. Degnan grabbed it. Grant expostulated, whereupon his friends struck him, one with a billiard cue and the other with a bottle. Grant called for a policeman, and he and Degnan were arrested. To a suggestion by Justice Duffy that he was a boxer and ought to be able to defend himself against two men, Grant replied that it was the bottle and the billiard cue that bothered him. Justice Duffy discharged Grant and fined Degnan $5. The latter had only $2, and asked Grant to lend him the balance necessary to his release. The colored boxer had no money, but hurried from the court to borrow it for the service of his friend. 1883-02-19 Truth (New York, NY) (page 1) A Prize Fighter Arrested. Morris Grant, a colored prize fighter, and William Dogner were brought before Justice Kelly, at the Jefferson Market Police Court yesterday, for fighting on the street. Morris Grant charged Degner and another man with assaulting him and stealing $5 from him. Grant was discharged, and Degner fined $5.
Are there any primary sources for this claim that he won a tournament in 1878? I have been unable to find any so far.
Didn't happen. The NPG didn't hold any boxing tournaments until after Fox hired Bill Harding as sporting editor, which took place in June 1880 or thereabouts. And even then they didn't start staging all kind of competitions and giving medals and other trophies right away.
Thanks for that info. Some websites list Grant having a win over Hadley on 20th June 1882. I have been unable to find a source for this fight as well. Do you know whether this happened?
1881-04-16 The National Police Gazette (page 14) In a room in New York, on March 31, Captain Morris Grant, the colored giant pugilist of the Empire, and Charley Cooley of Providence, R. I., fought with hard gloves according to the London prize ring rules, for a purse of $500. About 250 sporting men paid $5 a ticket to witness the battle. Cooley stands 6 feet 1 1-2 inches, and weighed 270 pounds before training, and 195 pounds afterward. He was born in Providence, R. I., Grant was born on St. James Island, S. C., and stands 6 feet 1-2 inch. He weighed 260 pounds before training, but brought himself down to 185 for the ring. He is a veteran pugilist, having fought and whipped a man of his own color by the name of Hyer soon after his arrival in this city, which brought him into prominence as a good fighter. Besides this he has had a number of rough and tumble fights, in all of which he was the winner. His last encounter was at Harry Hill's about a year ago, with a black man known as "Dangerous Jack," which ended in a draw. The fight began at 10:05, and Grant was first to appear with his seconds, Ellis Humphrey and William Hedges. Cooley was attended by Peter Maguire and Tom Keenan. Dick Hollywood was referee. Before the fight began the gloves were examined to see that there was no rois or turpentine upon them. Cooley led off at Grant's head, but missed, and in an instant they were at close quarters. After five rounds had been fought, Cooley came up for the sixth round, bleeding at the nose and mouth, and first blood was claimed for Grant and allowed. Cooley returned hit for hit, and this was continued for a minute all over the ring, until Grant gave Cooley one on the neck, when he went down, and when time was called Cooley declined to come to the scratch again, and Grant was declared the winner, amid the boisterous cheers of all present. Also see the report of the NPG tournament for the colored championship, held on Jan 26; see page 14 [url]https://archive.org/details/sim_national-police-gazette_1882-02-11_39_229/page/14/mode/2up[/url] Morris and Hadley had a bout a little earlier in January; page 14 [url]https://archive.org/details/sim_national-police-gazette_1882-01-28_39_227/page/14/mode/2up[/url] April 1882, second tournament for the NPG colored championship; page 14 [url]https://archive.org/details/the-national-police-gazette-v-040n-0239-1882-04-22-darwin-dregs/page/n13/mode/2up[/url] May 1882, third tournament; page 14 [url]https://archive.org/details/sim_national-police-gazette_1882-05-20_40_243/page/14/mode/2up[/url] June 1882, fourth tournament; page 14 [url]https://archive.org/details/sim_national-police-gazette_1882-07-22_40_252/page/14/mode/2up[/url]