Pittsburgh the best fight city ever?

The hunger and talent were there, as were excellent trainers that helped them to hone these qualities and make them into the fighting machines they became.

Joe Choynski, Owen Ziegler and Jack Blackburn all trained fighters there at one time or another, as did Frank Klaus and Johnny Ray. All of these gents were seasoned veterans of the ring and no doubt passed their knowledge onto the younger generation. Ray Arcel came later and trained fighters (The Yarosz brothers, etc). Angelo Dundee's first successful pro was a Pittsburgh featherweight named Bill Bossio.

So everything you needed to make an army of great pros was right there in Pittsburgh from the turn of the century right on up until the dawn of the 1950s, when television killed the fight scene in Pittsburgh. The clubs closed up, the gyms emptied out and the trainers all went to train elsewhere.

 

I blame you, and hold you personally responsible for keeping this thread going....Reported! I am sure this time you will be banned for life! :ban:reggie:ban1

 

Philadelphia.Cheesesteaks and fight city, definitely.

 

Thought this might interest you. I couldn't "link" the page because it's sideways, but it's page 19 (not the linked page 18), 4th column, middle of page. It traces exactly when Chip joined the Jimmy Dime stable:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QhYbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BEkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6560,2720751

This was interesting too:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RhYbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BEkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3725,4313405

Just wanted to get your viewpoint.

 

Maybe that second one answers the question as to why Chip was considered a Pittsburgh fighter. Maybe he was training in Pittsburgh while fighting in Madison and Greensburg?

I just want to get my facts straight for my book, not be contentious

 

The article seems to state what I have already said. Chip was working out and living part time in New Castle from the Spring of 1910 until the time he moved full time to New Castle in late 1910 or early 1911.

Its your book so I dont want to seem like Im giving a lecture. Im sure you know more about Pittsburgh boxing than I do. I have an interest in Chip through my family history. Ive read about him, and have a lot of old newspapers dealing with his life and career, but I would not say I am the expert.

With all of that being said I would be hesitant to claim a fighter for a city simply because a writer in May of 1910 claimed him for Pittsburgh when he had two fights there to that point beginning two months earlier. He very well have worked out in those gyms during that time period but he fought for another 12 years, all of which he was associated with New Castle, and prior to which he was associated with Madison.

I would be hesitent to claim him for Pittsburgh based on a few months of his career. Knowing the rivalry that Jimmy Dime fostered between New Castle and Pittsburgh I would be hesitent to claim any of those fighters for Pittsburgh.

A suggestion, and you dont have to take it, would to include a section specifically about Pittsburgh's rivalry with New Castle, and the cross polination that went on there. That way you can give those fighters ink, include them in the book along with all of those great stories, and not specifically call their ghosts to come give you a beating in your sleep. Kidding of course.

 

I have an old article somewhere that talks about Chips life and gives a lot of detail about his upbringing and time in Greensburg and New Castle. It talks a lot about his first manager and stuff like that.

If I can find it I will see if I can get my son to scan it in and post a picture of it.

 

the west gets totally dominated in golden gloves though..having said that..just philly alone has more people than all of pa west of the state mid point (that might be an exaggeration)

 

philly pop is 1,536,471...Pittsburgh is 305,704
however the urban area of philly 5,325,000, and metro is 5,965,343..pittsburgh urban is 1,753,136 and the urban is 2,356,285..so all in all philly is anywhere from 3 to 5 times the size in pop as pittsburgh. Pa's total pop is 12,742,886....in fact if you take all of western pa its population is a little over 4 million, so all of western pa (pittsburgh, altoona, erie, johnstown and all the other little places have less people than just the greater philly area..and of course that doesnt include the rest of the east which gets represented int he golden gloes.

 

Love it:smoke

And thanks for the detailed response.