He really does seem a mystery. Won a title in, what, his ninth fight? Or was it? I believe there are reports suggesting unreported bouts on his early record. He was a brawler, and a dirty one, apparently. But how did he get the greatest nickname in boxing history? How good was he? Would he really be much remembered today if he was William Smith, without the distinctive nickname? Tell me more.
He could use the name 'moviestar' Will Smith. That might gain some notoriety. I agree though that that the Mysterious nickname is pretty good.
Born Amos Smith (or Smythe, depending on the source you read) in Digby Nova Scotia. When asked after his career about his origin, he rather enigmatically claimed he hailed from the same area as Langford and Dixon...Which was in keeping with the name- and which inspired this poster's choice of location. . And yeah, he was pretty damned good, all things considered. Held his own with the best welterweights in the world, and gave Tommy Ryan all he could handle on more than one occasion. Better known for the cool nickname and all the DQ's, but was a serious threat to beat anyone at or near the welterweight limit was he was on, and that should be remembered as well.
He was viewed as a pound for pound great atleast up until the 1930s. He was probably the dirtiest fighter who ever fought too. "Barney Ross is one of those skilled workmen who have the next best thing to genius, who are polished and competent and effective without being actually great. Barney does not rank in my catalogue with Leonard or Wolgast or Ketchel or Mysterious Billy Smith." http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant...+McLarnin+Winning+Over+Canzoneri&pqatl=google
If this forum had existed in the 30s, and you had asked people to rank the top ten welterweights of all time, then Smith would have come behind only Tommy Ryan and Barbados Joe Walcott on most lists. A minority would even have had him in the #1 slot. He gained the moniker "mysterious" because of his dirty tactics. You never knew what he was going to do next.
In Jack 'Doc" Kearns' autobiography The Million Dollar Gate, he tells of his own boxing career and some of his more memorable bouts, this one in particular: "But there were a lot of good fighters and I fought most of them. One of the worst, or best, according to how you look at it, was "Mysterious Billy" Smith, the former welterweight champion. He was on the downgrade when I met him in Seattle, but he outweighed me 20 pounds and I was lucky to get out of it with a draw. Smith was one of the meanest cusses I ever met. He knew and put into use every trick you'd see in an alley fight. He'd stand on your feet, butt you, and - it's the truth - he bit me three or four times in the clinches."
