A nice little article by Kev Smith. The sea air bit into William's nostrils filling them with a sting that his lungs repulsed. He moved cautiously, his arms in constant motion, his fists squeezing the sweat from his palms. He could see the look in the sailor's eye as he moved closer and closer. It was a hunter's look, a killer's look. The men stood behind, in front and around him, shouting, laughing, roaring. Their voices pierced his ears, "kill the ******!", he heard. "Hit em!", they shouted. The sailor flashed his fist in mock motion causing William to flinch then flicker. Smiling eagerly the sailor inched forward. A breeze caught the side of William's cheek as the sailor's fist sailed past his head. Another flash and he felt a sledgehammer hit his stomach and then a bat against his chest. William swung up from the docks instinctively, his entire body swinging upward with his fist. A fleshy resistance greeted his knuckles sending a sharp jolt down through his arm. He heard the bone-cracking "SMACK!" that accompanied his pain. William's body came to a halt as he regained his bearing. There was silence. The men had stopped their cheering. William looked for the sailor, trying to gain his balance. It was not until his eyes turned towards the wood soaked docked that he saw his adversary, lying face first, a spat of blood trickling from his open mouth. -- From The Carmel-Colored Kings William Ward was a veteran of almost 100 fights when he left Norfolk, Virginia in 1907 to head for Baltimore, Maryland. He started fighting as most black boys did in those days by participating in Battle Royals for gold watches, trophies and occasional coinage. But the money was never that good and William knew there was far more to be made on the docks. By the time he was thirteen he was knocking out men who were twice his size and sometimes nearly three times his age. But young William had a knack for fighting. Ward made enough of a name for himself in Baltimore that an engineer named VA Mason, assigned to the Canal Project in Panama, decided to take the young pugilist with him to the Isthmus. Panama's fight game was booming and there was a bundle of money to be made catering to the entertainment whims of thousands of soldiers, sailors and laborers who had descended upon the small Central American country. Mason did take Ward to Panama but quickly learned that the fight game was not for him. Ward waded through six or seven managers before settling in with a West Indian importer by the name of Herman Cambridge. It was under the watchful eye of Cambridge that Ward began his career in Panama. To raise interest in his young charge, Cambridge dubbed his fighter, Kid Norfolk, a name which would stick with him until his death. Norfolk's aggressive style was popular with the Panamanian crowds and he quickly earned himself the reputation as a world-beater. It was in his third season in Panama that Norfolk defeated such top-rate men as, Sam McVey(nd20), Arthur Pelkey(ko1&ko14), Jeff Clark(w20) and Big Bill Tate(W20) all who outweighed the Kid by at least 12 pounds. By the time 1917 had begun, Kid Norfolk was the Heavyweight Champion of South America and looking toward America. Norfolk was signed by Leo P. Flynn in the spring of 1917 and came to New York with the sole intention of winning the Heavyweight title. Flynn decided to season his new man a little and sent him against the usual suspects of the time; Gunboat Smith(ND10, ND10), Wild Burt Kenny(ND10, KO8), Zulu Kid and George Ashe. Norfolk's biggest win of the year came when he defeated Billy Miske over 10 rounds in Boston. The Kid claimed the Lightheavyweight Title of the World but he was recognized by virtually noone. Regardless, Kid Norfolk had made quite a niche for himself going undefeated throughout the majority of 1917. Then he made a mistake. Facing a faded Sam Langford in Denver, Norfolk got careless and was knocked cold in two rounds. The Boston Terror had stuck again. Norfolk would loose only one bout over the course of the next year and a half(L12 to Clay Turner), fighting mainly other black heavyweights and white journeymen. Norfolk clamored for a shot at Jack Dempsey, but his challenges would fall on deaf ears. Dempsey had stated publicly that he would fight only white challengers for his crown. Norfolk continued on, racking up victory after victory. And the trouble in finding good opponents (and paydays) that Norfolk would encounter more and more, did little to slow him down. He would again face Billy Miske(the best white fighter he had yet to fight) in 1919, and again he whipped him in ten rounds. The Kid faced off with every good black fighter around, from George Robinson to Lee Anderson, from Silas Green to Tut Jackson, and from Cleve Hawkins to John Lester Johnson. Kid Norfolk beat every one of them. It was in the summer of 1921 that Norfolk got his first real break when he was matched up with Pittsburgh legend Harry Greb. The fight itself was a torrid affair, with both men giving and taking tremendous amounts of punishment. The Kid outweighed the mighty Greb by twelve pounds but the Steeltown crowd gave the "Human Windmill" his own kind of advantage. Norfolk floored Greb for a six count in the first and gave him quite a beating over the first few rounds. Greb fought back as only he could and took the fight to his heavier foe in the middle rounds. Norfolk's greater strength seemed to be the difference in the closing rounds and he "cut Greb to ribbons in the final frame". The newspaper decision was Norfolk's but it did him little good. He continued to call for Dempsey but the Manassa mauler had a long list of challengers, many of whom meant a bigger payday with a smaller risk. But Norfolk was convinced that he could beat Dempsey and that all he needed was to get the champion into the ring with him. Norfolk's next move was a risky one. He threw all of his marbles into one basket and challenged Dempsey's most qualified and persistent challenger, Harry Wills. Wills was an awesome physical specimen and in hindsight, it was suicide for Norfolk to challenge him. But the Kid had faced much larger men before and to him Wills was just another giant for him to slay. Wills and Norfolk met in New York on March 2, 1922. When the two battlers met in the middle of the ring the mismatch was apparent to all that surveyed the two men. The disparity in size was alarming (Wills 6'2" 230 and Norfolk 5'9" 185). Wills stood almost a full foot taller that Norfolk and looked as if he could sweep him away with one stoke of his long ebony arms. The fight itself was little more than a public beating with Wills plastering the helpless Norfolk for a full round and a half before depositing him on the canvas with a vicious right hand midway through the second. Norfolk gamely tried to rise but could not find his footing. The fight was waved off when the Kid rose stumbled and then fell back into the ropes. The loss to Wills was a crushing blow for Norfolk. He was sure that he could beat the big man and asked for a rematch. When he approached Paddy Mullins,( Wills' manager), the pugnacious manager laughed in his face. Norfolk moved back down to his own weight division and again found success. In what was probably the best year of his pro career, Norfolk knocked out Tut Jackson(3), Jamaica Kid(2) and Tiger Flowers(1) successively. He rounded out the year by ruining the American debut of one time Lightheavyweight Champion Battling Siki, by busting up the Singular Senegalese in 15 rounds. But even his great success did little to advance his championship aspirations. He did manage to secure a rematch with (now) Middleweight Champion Harry Greb, but the title would not be at stake. Norfolk would not have his great advantage in weight when the two met for the second time in Boston on April 19, 1924. They would share a distinct disadvantage however -- both were fighting with only one good eye. Greb had been fighting with only one eye since his last bout with the Kid and Norfolk had lost the use of his left eye in 1921 when he was thumbed by Lee Anderson in a bout in Arizona. Nevertheless, the two warriors put on a fantastic show, which was cut short when Greb hit Norfolk after the bell sounded to end the sixth round. The action had been so hotly contested up until that point that the Mechanics Hall crowd nearly rioted when the fight was discontinued because of Greb's foul. His battle with Greb would prove to be Norfolk's last stand at the World class level. After the Greb affair he would muster up a few more wins before being stopped in six rounds by Tommy Gibbons in December 1924. The Kid would fight until 1926, when after being knocked stiff by Ted Moore in San Francisco, he finally retired. Norfolk had managed to save some money from his ring earnings and bought an apartment house in Harlem. He worked briefly as a porter at Yankee Stadium and for years could be found up at Grupp's gymnasium watching the young pugs and whispering with his fellow old timers Harry Wills, Panama Joe Gans and Soldier Jones. Kid Norfolk is one of the few fighter's whose record speaks for itself. He was 5-0 against world champions and he beat every good black fighter (who many of the white contenders would not face), of his time. His only un-avenged losses during his prime were against Hall of Famers Sam Langford and Harry Wills. He defeated both Harry Greb and Billy Miske twice and he knocked out George Godfrey in 4 rounds. Kid Norfolk never fought for a World Championship. He died in New Jersey in 1953. © 1998 Kevin Smith
He is undoubtedly one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time. Top 20 easily and arguably top 10.
