Hello, Does anyone know how Muldoon ranked the HW's? He would've seen from Sullivan to Sharkey. Be interesting to hear from the man who trained Sullivan and was head of the boxing commission for years. Thank You.
R, a good question. As William Muldoon, America's greatest wrestler during the late 1800s, and John L Sullivan's trainer of the faded John L,saw all the great heavyweights from Sullivan's reign til 1933 when he died...His opinion would carry much weight...The only quote from Muldoon I have read many years ago was when he was the NYState Boxing Commissioner in the 1920s. He was quoted saying " Ace Hudkins is an animal from the Neanderthal days who should not be allowed to fight".
Thanks Burt! That Ace Hudkins must've been one tough guy if Muldoon thought he was too dangerous to fight!
R, today on ESB little is known about Ace Hudkins who was a throwback to the barge fights of the 1890s...My dad would tell me of the fight he saw with the East side knockout sensation of the 1920s Ruby Goldstein who dropped or kod everyone he met, against a young blond toughie from Nebraska called Ace Hudkins. In the first round Ruby Goldstein unleashed a powerful right cross that dropped Hudlins on his back,and Goldstein waved to his fans thinking the fight was over, but to his amazement Hudkins beat the count and in the next round he gave Ruby a terrible beating koing the "new Benny Leonard". Goldstein was never the same after this ko defeat and retired soon after and became a famous referee. And the rough and tough Ace Hudkins became a legend for his rough and tough MW bouts...
Fought Mickey Walker, Lew Tennler, Maxie Rosenbloom, King Levinsksi, etc. Ace Hudkins was born Asa Hudkins, according to the 14th United States Census, when he was 14 years old and living in Lincoln, Nebraska. This census also states that he was born in Illinois, that his father was born in West Virginia, and his mother in Illinois. Siblings Arthur, Albert (not Alphonso), Clyde, and Katherine lived in the same household. Katherine was evidently adopted, as her mother and father were Russians who spoke Russian. Asa lived with his step-father, a 38-year-old laborer named Charles "Whited" and his mother, Mary, who was 54-years-old at the time. Hudkins fought competitively from lightweight to light-heavyweight. He won the California State Heavyweight Title. He was Southern California's most popular fighter during the late 1920s. He later owned a tavern in Hollywood, California, as well as a string of race-horses. Many of his horses were used in Hollywood westerns. In January 1932, Hudkins was charged with "Assault with a Deadly Weapon" in Los Angeles for hitting T. Leonard Park, 38, with his bare fist, fracturing his skull. Hudkins claimed that he and a friend, Ellen Dorsey, were standing at an intersection when Park and a companion, Edward B. Martin, approached and insulted the woman. In early August 1933, Hudkins suffered two bullet wounds (and soon after received two blood transfusions) during a cafe brawl. August 10 Tacoma News-Tribune Harry Greb Web site Hudkins page:
Here's a couple paragraphs from The Choynski Chronicles by Christopher J. Laforce. This is from a debate on old school vs new school boxing with William Muldoon saying the modern boxers of the 20's had the edge and Choynski old time gladiators were superior. From January 4, 1927 Brooklyn Daily Bugle. "The author used ****ogies based on horse racing and said no incontrovertible avowel of supremacy could be made for either view: "It can't be done. Track conditions, soil and the construction of the various courses are entirely different. In the years dead and gone, endurance was the chief asset of a race horse; today it is speed." It was noted that the size of gloves had changed, with five-ounce or heavier being the norm in the 1920's Muldoon opined that, of the old guard, only Peter Jackson was good enough to compare with Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey, and Jack Sharkey. It wasn't believed, however, that Muldoon ever witnessed Fitzsimmons and Jeffries fight. Shortly after his appointment as Charirman of the New York Commission, William said he didn't know why he'd been selected, as he hadn't seen a fight in 13 years. Joe didn't feel Tunney Could have withstood blows of Jeff, Fitz, or Sharkey, but he did believe the best current kings of the lighter divison compared well with those of his era (703)."
