I've read that kid chocolate learned to box by watching fight films of Joe Gans, does it say anywhere what he picked up from these videos, what techniques he pulled from them?
I'm more interested in what films he could have seen of Gans. Is it possible that more footage of him existed at the time? Based on the Kid Herman and the (poor quality) Battling Nelson fight, I'm sure he picked up some defensive tricks, straight punching and footwork. Chocolate added to it though, or "evolved" according to the ruleset of his time, he was more so a 15 round fighter than Gans who looked to conserve energy in case the fight lasted. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmFBkVl3jEg[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hspekjLzu0E"] [/ame]
A,you mention Joe Gans fighting Kid Herman. Well about 4 years ago at a concert,a man sitting next to me with his wife, whipped out a paper out of his pocket ,showing the record of Kid Herman. This elderly man [about 85],when asked by me, said he was the son of the Kid Herman that fought Joe Gans in 1907. He was so proud of his old man, he carried the boxing record of his dad ,Kid Herman ,around with him, for what it's worth...He by chance,picked me, the only guy in the world, that had an idea of who this old man's dad was....
What a coincidence! It can be a small world. Herman was extremely lucky to have been captured on film, although not so lucky that he was captured on film against the masterful Joe Gans who put on a boxing clinic and finished off his opponent with a devastating right hand.
Indeed a small world. My dad who drove a taxi in NYC at nights, would see often, a fat old man sitting on theatre steps on cold nights. This fat old man was the onetime original "will of the wisp ", Young Griffo, who also fought Joe Gans. "So low the mighty have fallen "Australia's greatest fighter ,was Kid Griffo, when sober...
