I heard he was robbed of the welterweight title vs Mickey Walker. Shade whom I've never seen on film is described as one of those low crouching bobbing and waving type of fighters who was tough to hit clearly. Not much on power, but he sure had some good results.
Cus's favorite? D'amato seemed to like fighters with good effort and character. He also had a good amount of boxing films, so Slade if he was his favorite has to be out there on film.
Not necessarily. If you look at their ages (Shade born in '02 and Cus in '08) Cus could have seen Shade fight numerous times live or sparred with him. But it would be nice to see some film on him, wouldn't it.
With his durability and trademark bob-and-weave boxing style after becoming a top fighter during the early 1920s, Dave Shade was very hard to hit with a solid punch, seemed to give almost all of his opponents fits, had more than his share of wins and was rarely defeated in a decisive manner. But as a "safety-first" fighter, especially as middleweight, with little punching power, he stunk out the joint quite a few times and wasn't a great drawing card. With so many very close bouts during his career, it is typical that Shade drew twice with Jack Britton and lost a highly disputed decision to Mickey Walker in his three shots at a world title, all of them in the welterweight division. It is hard to determine what effect his numerous hand injuries had on his career. - Chuck Johnston
At the age of 16, the California-born Dave Shade followed his two older boxing brothers, George and Billy, and started fighting on boxing cards in the San Francisco Bay Area during 1918. From the latter part of 1914 to the beginning of 1925 in California, boxing bouts could not be scheduled for more than four rounds and boxers were not suppose to receive a prize of more than a nominal value, essentially making it illegal to have professional boxing in the state except on U.S. Government installations. Yet during that period of time in California, it was a very open secret that many boxers were receiving far more than a nominal amount for bouts. As a result, it is little wonder that a huge number of well-known professional boxers fought in California during the entire ten-year period. From 1918 to the end of 1920 in California, Dave fought quite often and compiled a very credible record while facing many of the best California four-round fighters in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. Yet he really didn't stand out in the highly four-round ranks. At least one observer thought that Dave was awkward. Dave seemed to feel that he was somewhat overshadowed by his brothers during that time. Four-round boxing stars and tremendous drawing cards such as Oakland Jimmy Duffy and Bert Colima compiled more impressive records in four-round bouts than the one that Dave had. Yet Dave went on to have a far more impressive career than either Duffy or Colima. - Chuck Johnston
During the latter part of 1920, Dave Shade was fighting in featured bouts at two major California boxing venues, the Dreamland Rink in San Francisco and the Auditorium in Oakland. Since Dave was fighting San Francisco Bay Area boxing stars such as Oakland Jimmy Duffy, Oakland Frankie Burns and Frankie Farren at the Dreamland or the Auditorium, it was likely that he was receiving relatively good purses for such bouts. As a newly married man with a child on the way, Dave probably felt that such money would have come in handy. In December 1920, the fight game was shut down in most of California, including all of the San Francisco Bay Area, because of the Howard Street Gang Case that involved Spud Murphy and K.O. Kruvosky, two four-round boxers who were reputed members of the gang. The California fight game already was on shaky ground at best. It was an open secret that certain boxers were receiving purses which were far more than the nominal value of a prize that any boxer could receive under state law. Numerous noted professional boxers had bouts in California after the law went into effect during late 1914. This essentially meant that only amateur boxing was allowed in the state under the law. The Howard Street Gang apparently was involved in bootlegging by late 1920. But what led to the Howard Street Gang being a major news story in the San Francisco Bay Area was when nine members of the gang, including Murphy and Kruvosky, became suspects in the brutal **** and beating of two teenaged females in a shack located in San Francisco on November 23, 1920. Kruvosky, Murphy and some other suspects were quickly arrested, but three other suspects in the attack, Terrance Fitts, Charles Valento and and George Boyd, got away and were eventually traced to a house in nearby Santa Rosa. On the 5th of December in Santa Rosa, law enforcement officers from Sonoma County and San Francisco entered the home where Fitts, Valento and Boyd were staying. Drawing a hidden gun, Boyd started firing and badly wounded Detective
Shade fought different styles, depending on circumstances. Sometimes it was bobbing up and down, left and right, with a left hook on jump up. Sometimes he was slugging it out, being very aggressive and was hit a lot in return. The other times he was fighting cautiously and skillfully on the retreat, using left jab and right cross very well. Britton was clearly his master in both fights. Walker was winning the first when Shade broke his hand. Reportedly most newspaper reporters thought Walker won the 3rd fight fairly, too, even thought it was the last round or rounds that had won him the honors.
