Appreciation of Frank Paddy Slavin

Here is a few links on the life story of Frank slavin.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc


http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

 

It is pretty amazing how quickly Slavin progressed throught the ranks. It is also good to get a bit of a background on some of the lesser known fighters on Slavins record.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

It is interesting that Slavin fought many bouts under LPR rules in Australia. Obviously there are a lot of unrecorded bouts.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

This is an interesting chapter. I didnt know that Slavin won Sullivan's belt of diamonds when he beat McCaulife, who borderlined on Superheavyweight status.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc


http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc


This one has some really interesting things on th Jackson Slavin fight. Slavin seems to have blown his chances in the fight by taking the wrong bottle and getting drunk, lol.

It is also interesting to hear the supposed admissions by Jackson that he was close to finished after the fight. I am not sure, but i guess by this time, Jackson really might have been on the slide.

 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

This one covers the famous triple challenge. It is obvious that Sullivan, who had technically retired by now, was pretty well aware that his reign had come to an end and it was unlikely he could beat the young guns, and was looking for young white Americans to carry the flag (something that didnt really bother him back when he still had it). Although, to be honest, i think Slavin might have actually made a much better opponent for Sullivan. I suppose Sullivan figured that if corbett ran all fight, it was a only a matter of time before he was caught and KOd, much easier than a big hitter.

 

This one seems to indicate a few extra Slavin vs Maher fights that were billed as exhibitions but were reall fights. I would be interested to know what Mattdonnellan says about this, as he obviously knows an awful lot more than anyone else on the subject.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

Here is another chapter. Very interesting indeed. Imagine the travelling for days through rough terrain, on horseback. You have to wonder how many of todays fighters would have even took up prize fighting as a profession, much less became travelling professional fighters.

 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

Paddy Slavin in a boxing vs Wrestling match (sort of). I do find it interesting that he struggled to hit with the big gloves.

 

The will Devine fight apparently seems to have been two fights, and it was KO15seconds, not KO15, lol. At least that what slavin seems to say.

Also interesting that Slavin boxed 20 rounds with Twin Sullivan and Philadelphia Jack O brien. It was obviously billed as an exhibition but it seems to have been talked of as a real fight here.

There is lots of good information about the old Paddy Slavin here. He toured with Peter jackson apparently. It seems as if this must have been after the Jackson Jeffries fight, although i suppose it is possible that it was before. It seems interesting, although we didnt really need to be told, to see that Jackson was not considered to be in anywhere near decent form. It is also interesting that Jackson is held in such high esteem by Jackson. This seems to have really been a common theme amongst most if not all of those who actually fought Peter.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

 

It gets even tougher, Risingabove, at least it could have done if Slavin had not have come clean about his fight as a 60 year old with a german in the middle of a machine gun fight, lol

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art...lavin life story&searchLimits=sortby=dateDesc

 

And having seen right up to the time of Dempsey, Slavin picks Jackson (heavy) and Fitzsimmons (pound for pound) as the two greatest fighters of all time. I think it is a common theme of this time that fighters from the1890s were part of a golden age, and better than the modern counterparts.

I also thought it interesting that Slavin considers the main difference that the older fighters were strikers and not clinchers. Especially for those that talk of the evolving of the sport. Is it possible that the 1900s were more similar to the no clinching allowed 2000s than the were to the 20s?

 

He didnt actually use the term pound for pound. Just "best fighter for his weight"