Know he fought Walker twice,!st battle many thought won. Where would you rate him today? Vs. Hop Hagler?
Ace Hudkins as a middleweight would give ANY MW in history a rough time. Ace was an in your face,sockem rockem terror in his prime, who backed away from no one he ever fought. In the 1920s Boxing Comm.William Muldoon who helped train John L Sullivan,called Hudkins "an abysmal brute",the likes he never saw before. Hudkins was the reincarnation of Mysterious Billy Smith, to be avoided in a bar fight.... Addendum : In the 1920s, my dad and my uncle put whatever dough they could,on the young sensational punching prospect Ruby Goldstein.who was touted to be the "NEW" Benny Leonard. Goldstein who either dropped or kod everyone of his opponents was matched with a toughie out of Nebraska,named Ace Hudkins, in Coney Island NY. In front of a packed crowd Ruby Goldstein,timed a right cross on Hudkins chin,dropping Ace flat on his back. Goldstein confidentally walked to the ropes,waiving to his excited fans,[dad included] when Ruby Goldstein heard a roar,and turned around,and was shocked to find this tow-head Ace Hudkins up from the canvas ,ready to resume the fight. Goldstein never experienced any opponent he hit flush on the chin to resume fighting,and he LOST confidence in hius vaunted punching powers, and in the next rounds was badly battered,and stopped by the the tough young Nebraska Wildcat. Ruby went downhill from there on, eventually becoming a popular referee. My dad bet and lost most of the money he needed for an engagement ring,and had to postpone marriage for a spell ...As a youngster He would always tell me about this tragic ko of his neighberhhod idol Ruby Goldstein. A sidenote- Many years later i met Ruby Goldstein at a boxing seminar in New Hampshire, and after his speech , I met him alone for about 15 minutes and discussed his career,and great fighters he saw and refereed, but I never brought up his ko at the hands of the tough, tough blond Ace Hudkins. But Ruby I recall, was surprised that such a young fellow as me, KNEW so much about his boxing career..I told him ,from my dad who was a fan... P.S.-Years later in the Ring Mag, Nat Fleischer wrote that Ruby Goldstein hit harder than any lightweight since Aurelio Herrera. Quite a compliment...
He was as tough as they come. A slashing, tearing wildcat of a fighter. I think his greatest weakness was not having a professional trainer looking after him. His brother Art, who had no experience that I know of, acted as his trainer. I've read many articles criticizing Ace's occasional lethargic performances and point to his appearing "overtrained", which would point the finger at his brother. You would obviously favor Hop and Hags by decision (hard to envision them stopping him, especially considering Hudkins fought heavyweights), but Ace would give them hell and make them work every minute.
This content is protected A tough, tough man. Even at an advanced age. He was, I understand, working as a security guard in his 70s when a few young men tried to rob the place he was working at. A younger co-worker asked where the assailants were and Hudkins pointed to the next room where all of them were laid out in a heap.
