I'm wondering if Burt or his dad saw this former middleweight champion, now mostly forgotten. He lost his share after his prime but at the time he beat Midkey Walker and had the title taken from him by two questionable disqualifications against Thil he was thought of as a very stong skilled southpaw. What are your thoughts on this long past champion?
Excellent by all accounts, so many great fighters back then. there is some footage of him and Thil I believe.
hya T. My dad used to tell me about the French Canadian Lou Brouillard. A tough southpaw who was built like a fire hydrant, and as strong as an ox...He fought the toughest WW and MWs of his time and outmuscled almost all of them...Of course he was before my time, but one afternoon in the 1940s, I was sitting next to an ex fighter at Stillman's gym...He was Ben Jeby who Lou Brouillard kod to win the MW title in 1933. Small world !
That was something Burt! I wish you would consider writing a book of all the things you saw in boxing and at Stillman's and the things your Dad told you about. Maybe?
Thank you T, but I am not a writer, but from the time I was a young pup, my dad an ardent boxing fan wanted me to be a fighter, but I was no Ray Robinson [who was ?], but I have been watching boxing since the early 1940s, and I have a retentive memory of those days but forgot what I ate for dinner last night...cheers T. P.S. I might be one of the only one who shook hands with Ray Robinson BEFORE Ray turned Pro and 1 year after he retired. And my badge of honor is I was pummeled in the ribs when I was a boy by a fighter who fought my alltime boxing idol 5 times or so Harry Greb. The ex fighter was Soldier Bartfield who in 1946 I believe, grabbed me in a clinch and playfully tattooed my ribs until my dad pulled Bartfield off me... Bartfield was about 55 at that time but was a bull...I had pain for a few days after but soon after started reading up on Harry Greb and Soldier Bartfield...Ah memory's...
what do you know about that other Canadian, again more likely your Dad's time, Al kid McCoy, the L-HW cum HW? supposedly a top and feared man in his own right.
No,VH I never crossed paths with Joe Louis, different weight classes.atsch I never saw Louis ringside, except seeing him introduced at MSG when he was champion, and at the FOTC in 1971...Last time I saw him...
Short answer to the question: Damned good. Really damned good at his best. Beat the crap out of Jimmy McLarnin; and holds victories over Mickey Walker, Young Corbett III, and a whole bunch of really solid contenders in an era that was full of them. Legit guy who was an easy out for no one; and who probably wouldn't be an easy out for any fighter who stepped into the ring at or near his weight.
