what happened to the murderers row.?

Would you care to exsplain what Murderers row is..?

 

a bunch of would be champions who did not get the breaks they deserved whilst the titles were frozen during the war years. Then they were unfairly bypassed in the post war years in favour of white contenders who were beter ticket sellers.

 

Thanks to our friend Stonehands89 (AKA Springs Toldeo), here's an excellent explanation of who these Black Murderers Row middleweights were:
http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/7546/tenth-god-war-charley-burley/
Many fans also ascribe the honorary BMR designation to light heavyweight legend Jimmy Bivins. If accepted, that would apparently make Jimmy the last confirmed surviving member of this fraternity at age 90. (A looser and more liberal inclusion might add Oakland Billy Smith, whose death has yet to be documented. If alive, he'd be 89.)

 

I saw the great Jimmy Bivins fight Melio Bettina, to draw at MSG..
Didn't know that he is still alive...He was a harder hitting edition of James Toney...But Toney would not have survived the great resume of Bivins..

 

Not only is Jimmy still alive Burt, you can directly offer him your regards if you wish (Ain't the internet great?):
http://www.jimmybivins.com/Pages/contact.htm

Here's an interview:
http://www.wcpn.org/specials/when64/when64-2.html

 

Thank you Duodenum,I just sent the great Jimmy Bivins who I saw in1945, an E-Mail congratulatory message...Glad to see is still alive..This
man is a living legend...b.b.

 

:good

 

Awesome Burt (and cheers Duodenum) - Bivins was pure pure class - that story about what happened to him was just heart wrenching - IMO they should be locked away for good - Bivins, hero that he clearly is, didn't want to come down to the level of blaming them - what a man - true greatness personified in and out of the ring - ps just out of interest does anyone know what his reach was?? - just i remember an interview with Curtis Hatchet Man Sheppard who said he was "ALL ARMS!" - does look that way in the films I've seen on him - but a class act
here's some films of him in action

vs Ez Charles

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVJPgXWk7RM[/ame]

and vs Ol Mongoose

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmBHz6vDwuA[/ame]

 

Here another one of the BMR - the great Lloyd Marshall

brief action versus Dietrich Hucks (check out the brutal uppercut at :43secs)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXDitbm6CRA[/ame]

and one for the archives vs prime time Ez Charles

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56fBd7nfmUY&feature=related[/ame]

enjoy

 

man I would love to see RJJ, Hopkins, Calzaghe, Nunn, Benn, Eubank anyone you care to mention middle - light -heavy meat these characters. it just doesn't happen like that anymore - and we got the nerve to call them great?

 

Boxing's "Black Murderers' Row" was named after a pro baseball team's "Murderers' Row" which had a serious line-up in the 20s or 30s. They were identified by Budd Schulberg -who wrote "On the Waterfront" though I've yet to find the original source. Jim Murray mentions them, Archie Moore never stopped paying them tribute. They were also called "The Killing Row" and had a loose membership, including the following:

Charley Burley
Lloyd Marshall
Eddie Booker
Holman Williams
Jack Chase
Bert Lytel
Aaron Wade
Cocoa Kid

Harry Otty has been instrumental in offering a fairly stable list, though fighters like Moore, Charles, Smith, Bivins, and even the Hogue brothers have been considered members at one time or another. As for me, I call them simply "Murderers' Row" and have established a criteria:

1. African Africans
2. Remarkable skills, though never rec'd a title shot
3. campaigned on the West Coast, specifically CA, USA
4. Had to have faced at least 3 of their peers and beat at least 2.

I'm still forming it, but that's the idea...

PS/ I'm putting the finishing touches on an article I've been working on all summer. It escorts Jack Chase out of the shadows, corrects the errors about him, and solves a few mysteries. It's going to be a 5 part series called "Chasing Jack Chase.

I'll put up a thread when the time is nigh.

 

I hope you do! Chase is indeed a shadowy figure. He reminds me of a latter-day Jack Blackburn: tall, rangy, angry and liked to shoot people when he got pissed.

I've been doing research on Aaron "Tiger" Wade for some time now. He and Chase both fought out of California and hung out a bit. Chase shot him, but they claimed it was an "accident". What do you think?

Be sure to contact Eddie Muller, Jr. His dad, Eddie Sr., covered Chase exclusively for the SF papers.

 

Muller has a great film noir site. I've got all of Eddie Muller's coverage of Chase's major fights from the Examiner. He deserves as much credit as anyone for not only recognizing the greatness of MR but also for his details and eye for analysis.