What are the odds of more film of the man from Michigan? If we were to happen on some, what fight would you want to see?
Hi Buddy. Judging by the articles I have read over the years, the Langford " fight " was scripted, as was the Johnson match, so not sure we would get a true insight as to the real abilities of either fighter, not so with the O'Brien fights, which were most definitely on the level, this from O'Brien soon after the first encounter " at the weigh in he wore flaming red trunks, and a smirk, mind you he could back it up, as to the fight, just after half way he was covered in blood, from his nose to the top of his trunks, but still he came forward, he showed the grit and stubbornness that would one day aid him in winning a world title, you see fighters are like flowers, the bloom and then they fade, my time was done, his was starting " I bought some American mags back in the early 70s called Boxinia Revue, black and white made of glossy paper, one of the 10 was mostly about Ketchell, with some fantastic pictures, that I had not seen before or since, one such was that weigh in, Jack was on a set of them old scales were by you crank the handle down and under a bar, then slide the indicator along until the bar is steady and level, he was looking at his weight. and Stan was on his left, with both hands on hips, looking ahead at the camera, the flaming red trunks looked like they have never seen an iron, Ketchell had his hair slicked back with a distinct parting, and looked solid rather than muscular, Jack looked a stone heavier, with rather large feet, as I recall, he also was sporting a parting, but with slightly curly hair, to Stans left was William Muldoon, the renowned wrestler, and sometime trainer of Sullivan, so yes a very historic and interesting photo. stay safe guys, chat soon. Mike.
It is kind of funny that Ketchel is referred to as the Michigan Assassin considering that he came to Butte, Montana, as a very young man, turned pro in Butte at a very young age, and had, if memory serves, about two thirds of his pro fights in Montana. He was run out of Butte on a vagrancy charge because he was a general pain in the rear of the community and he took that very personally and never acknowledged montana. That said, years ago I used to talk a lot with a local historian- this goes back 25 years. He was a cab driver and worked late and I would pay to ride around with him and listen to his stories. he was working on a book about Ketchel and he told me that he had hundreds of hours of taped interviews with people that actually knew Ketchel during his time in Butte and had seen him fight. The local historian was in poor health then- considerably over weight and on an oxygen tank- and he passed away at least 15 years ago without completing his book. I have often wondered what became of those interviews that he recorded.
I always liked that Roger Mayweather got nicknamed The Mexican Assassin because he had a streak of beating so many good fighters from south of the border … he ‘assassinated’ Mexicans, haha. All I know is never bet on the white guy. You should start a thread on Tex Colorado, the Arizona Assassin, from Dakota. This content is protected
Yes, I used to have a few copies of Boxing Review, heavy glossy paper. From memory, I recall the Ketchell cover, was a drawing, in the “Tad” Ring, artist style. Like myself, Ketch’ appeared to have the same resistance to using an iron, from numerous photos I have seen! Be interested to see the Langford six rounds, despite the “arrangement,” there reportedly was. After all, Ketchell, had his impromptu moments, in this realm!