Every so often I really study up on a fighter and I've been hooked lately on the career of Sid Terris. And his career reflects on the times and the state of boxing in that era. Back then it was one tough sport and the rewards were few in coming. Today there is something wrong with you if you don't have a title fight by your 15th fight. But Sid fought from 1922 to 1931 having 112 bouts (88-13-4 with 7 no-decisions) with no title fight coming his way. Sid's prime was probably from January 1924 until December of 1927 (I'm just going with a neat 4 year period even though he held Sammy Mandell to a draw in December of '23, which really should be included but I'm simplifying it) and in that 4 year period he went 45-4-1 with wins over - get this - Jimmy Goodrich, Rocky Kansas, Johnny Dundee, Billy Petrolle, Benny Valger, Ace Hudkins, Jack Bernstein, Lucien Vinez, Billy Wallace, Babe Herman, Stanislaus Loayza, Ruby Goldstein and Phil McGraw. Wow! And no title shot for Sid. He really went off the boil after suffering a 1st round KO to the streaking Jimmy McLarnin and I don't think he really recovered. He went 9-9-2 his last 20 fights, but that 4 year period was something. I don't believe he was glass-jawed, but maybe not the stoutest of chins and not a huge puncher (12 KOs in 112 fights), but that didn't prevent him from engaging when he needed to. From what I read, he was a crowd pleaser. Hard luck and a tough career. What are your thoughts?
“Terris was fondled like a second Benny Leonard in New York,” wrote Sam Levy in late 1926. “Sidney could move with the speed of the old champion and he was just about his equal as a boxer, but lacked his prestigious hitting power.” He noted, however, that there was an “existing doubt in the minds of the fistic jurists regarding the courage of Terris.” This doubt was placed in the mind of the “fistic jurists” by a 1924 loss to Eddie Wagner, a six-round stoppage in which Terris was said to show yellow. Terris avenged himself on Wagner and went on a 45-1-1 tear-up through the lightweight division that saw him out-think and out-move some list of contenders. He defeated Mickey Walker’s two-time dance partner Ace Hudkins in a “ten round thriller” that saw him handled in the fourth and seventh but come blazing back to dominate his brutish foe in the tenth for a narrow decision. Terris was a defensive specialist who may have operated only a single level below the genius Leonard but he was, like The Ghetto Wizard (Terris carried the moniker “Ghetto Ghost”) capable of turning the tables with real violence when called upon to do so. He was called upon to do so against Billy Petrolle, who he met in 1926. After a fast start, Terris was savaged by a rampant Petrolle in the eighth and ninth but stood his ground to blast out the tenth and take a narrow decision once more. These occasionally thrilling battles boosted his popularity and quieted accusations that he was “just a dancer,” a fighter who liked to peck out decisions but was afraid to hit the trenches. He hit the trenches in 1927 against feared puncher Billy Wallace. Smashed to the canvas in the first, Terris fought back in a manner Leonard himself would have been proud of, and although ringsiders seem split as to who deserved the decision, it was Terris who got the nod. Stanislaus Loayza, Jack Bernstein, Basil Galiano, Rocky Kansas, Jimmy Goodrich and Johnny Dundee all got the Terris treatment at one time or another, they were all ranked men. Nor is the list exhaustive. Terris wasn’t a great lightweight and he never held the title, but he lists among the division’s most storied contenders?
McGrain, was the entire piece there a quote from Sam Levy? If so, very interesting what his peers at the time thought of him. A record like that today and sportswriters would be dropping petals at his feet.
some truly remarkable careers in those bygone days, so many great fighters, which will never ever be seen again... and though I am not a historian, more a collector & researcher (lower casing), I too have been intrigued by a few fighters. Vic Foley for one, who may have fought your guy, Foley it was said, couldn't get a fight with McLarnin and a look at Foley's "on the road" Draw Record, one knows damn well the results weren't always on the level. What a GREAT Sport it once was, filled with hundreds of great fighters.
I remember watching the bout between Mike Quarry and Irish Billy Wagner on tv back in July of 1973. The cameras zoomed in on Sid, who was working in Wagner's corner as the announcers mentioned what a great lightweight he was
1924-01-05 Brooklyn Daily Eagle (page 12) But this time the crowd shouted joyously when Terris was sent to the mat. He had aroused extreme dislike by his ridiculous antics in the ring. He was a poseur--every move a picture. Rarely indeed did he try to fight--although it was apparent that he was a boxer of the first water. He spent most of his time jumping in the air and skipping around Wagner.
I remember watching that fight too. That was the summer series from the Felt Forum. I was relatively new to the sport at the time and was still learning of its history, so I completely missed that point in the telecast. BTW, I know it was ruled a draw, but I thought Quarry got robbed in that fight.
