Nat Fleischer: What's the deal ?

Yup no Internet then:good

 

Not keen then?:think

 

Nat Fleischer who saw his first boxing matches in New York in about 1905 or so was the most prolific boxing writer and publisher ever...He saw his first pro card in 1899 when Terry McGovern kod Pedlar Palmer from Britain in Tuckahoe NY. So this man saw almost all the great fighters from the turn of the 1900s to the day he died. No one individual ever saw more great fighters than Nat in his lifetime.
On a personal note, when I was in the Navy in the 1940s, I wrote a letter to Nat ,care of the Ring Mag, asking him if I could become a cub boxing reporter for the Ring Magazine...Surprisingly, Nat Fleischer answered my letter, telling me to first go to college after discharge from the Navy etc. I was so happy to receive his reply...Oh, what his eyes had seen in his long long lifetime in boxing....

 

Nat was 9 in Nov 1899.

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Mc Nat Fleischer was born in 1887 which would make him 12 years old in Sept ,1899 when he was taken to the McGovern Ko of Pedlar Palmer in Tuckahoe, NY.
I was close to the same age when my dad took me to my first pro card at St Nick's Arena where I saw the young sensation Beau Jack fight Tough Terry Young ,the friend of Rocky Graziano...I even remember the names of the prelim fighters
on that card...

 

Yes you're right Burt ,my mistake:good

 

Burt, do you have any idea how many boxing matches you've seen live?

 

He did well banging the drum for the sport, was a good ambassador and supported the cause of black fighters when it wasn't in vogue. His was also one of the few organisations to support Ali when most others stripped him of the title for refusing to be drafted. His ratings leave much to be desired.

Unfortunately he was a graduate of the school of yellow journalism, ie "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend" and him and his ilk were responsible for propagating many myths and fairy tales like Pep winning a round without throwing a punch, which did boxing a great disservice. Bert Sugar was still regurgitating most of those stories years after they'd been debunked by actual historians.

 

:thumbsup

 

good thread

:admin

 

I think that people are entirely missing the point here.

His historical importance was as a pioneer, and like most pioneers, he paid a qualitative price for being the first. He was a major populariser of the sport, promoter of integrity in the sport, and supporter of black fighters amongst other things.

Unfortunately a lot of people today overlook these things, and spit out their dummy because he didn’t rank their favourite fighter highly enough.

 

What was he a pioneer of? He wasnt the first boxing magazine publisher, writer, etc. Not even close by a long shot. To forgive his faults based on that notion is off base. Just because he was around 90 yrs ago doesnt mean he was a pioneer. Even still thats no excuse for lying or at least misrepresenting yourself like he did on a fairly regular basis, or for putting out falsehoods. many of which I have no doubt he knew better of regardless of whether he had access to microfilm or not.

 

I was around that age, give or take a year, when I saw my first boxing show live. And I can recall a lot of it, too.

Have no idea how much Nat did or didn't exaggerate what he had seen, but you don't have to be at ringside with a typewriter to have witnessed a fight.

 

Gee, I never thought of that question, but I will hazard a guess based on the 1940s and most of the 1950s . I think about
4,000 to 5,000 bouts, not including Golden Gloves events...
My dad who loved boxing and I would go every Friday night to the old MSG, for many years, and during the week quite often
once or twice a week to local fight clubs in NY like St Nicks, Ridgewood Grove, Broadway Arena, Fort Hamilton, Dexter Park,
Queensborough Arena, Coney Island Veledrome etc....
They would usually have 8 bouts on each boxing show...And then television came and folks started to stay home and watch free tv with a brew, which soon drove the local boxing clubs to go out of business, thus young fighters had nowhere to learn their trade and earn a living fighting 15-20 bouts a year...Sad but true...
Glorious days for me, for sure...