The Alabama Kid

i can't tell you how happy i am to here someone actually is recognizing this man who was a legend in my hometown when i was growing up in Dover,Ohio.
All of the older people in my neighborhood used to talk about Alabam and how know one wanted to fight him back in the day. His manager owned a corner grocery store right up the street from the house i grew up in and had pictures of the 2 of them when they were younger. I sat and listened for hours knowing that i would start boxing when i got older.
I know that he went to Australia for 10 years or so and he got deported from the country because he married a white woman. He left the country alone...feeling that his family would have to many problems in a ghetto in the united states. He left his wife and kids and never saw them again...very said when i heard this...thanks for thinking of him.

 

well ...i am only 47 years old and a lot of stuff that his manager told me i have forgotten. i'm not sure where the Alabama name comes from. it might hit me later on after i think about it.
why are you so interested in Clarence Reeves? Don't get me wrong...i am very happy to see someone acknowledging this mans career besides me!
i sense a strong energy that you have for him....?

 

He is a very obscure fighter. even more than normal it seems. John Cappazella is the manager that he started out with in Dover Ohio. I sat and talked with this older man it seemed like everyday after school in his grocery store. He was a dreaded southpaw with plenty of power. I know that his manager told me that he beat Arturo Goodoy when he started fighting heavy weights and Goodoy took Louis the limit once.
if you want some info on his life in Austrailia you might want to check this out...

A man of all tribes: the life of Alick Jacomos.

He was a wrestler in traveling tent shows and he talks about the kid touring with them before he was deported

 

this fighter had a very very good record. I will look for a 1945 RING record book Ive got around here somewhere. Off the top of my head he had somethoing like 80 wins 14 defeats .dont quote but I believe he beat Burley & a couple of Black fighters murders row. He was a lot like the negro BLACK LH Fox who had a lot of unrecorded wins!!!:tired

 

Alabama Kid will be inducted into the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame in September, for the International category.
He had around 60 bouts in Australia from 1938 until his deportation in 1948 and fought the best Australia had to offer at the time, Ron Richards, Dave Sands & Jack Johnson, even gave away 111 lbs to heavyweight, Les McNabb & won.
Actually the Kid was going home to USA in the early 1940's when the ship he was on struck a mine & sunk. After rescue he ended up in New Zealand & then back to Australia.

 

Bloody hell thats amazing.

 

Off of boxrec.com

won 175 (KO 108 + lost 59 (KO 19) + drawn 20 = 259
rounds boxed 1829
Newspaper Decisions won 1 : lost 1 : drawn
rounds boxed 14
Total Bouts 261 KO% 41.38

He is in the top 10 all time knockout category... right under Sugar Ray Robinson...about number 6 or 7 i think and he fought out of my hometown ...Dover Ohio!!!

 

he looks good in the film on him.

 

Hi people
Thankyou for posting and giving me more information on our grandfather that we never got to meet.
i have some stories handed down to me via my nan (grandmother).
1st why he was called Alabama Kid.....
He lived in Ohio but his mum & dad would not let box so he went to another state for a pro fight (Alabama as the story goes) there he was given his name. While in australia he had numerous fights which i have details of from local press, if anyone is interested. he married my nan had two kids and one in the oven still cooking when he was deported under the white Australia policy. Thats another story. 1st time i had seen him was on a promotion card, I then realized where my eye brows come from .
I have stories, i would like anything someone may have on him including video footage as have never seen him live only photos. Will be traveling to the US in 2012 and am planing a trip to Dover Ohio to say G'Day to relatives i hope to find. Anyway ask any questions and i can give what i know, more than happy for any infomation anyone has.
Again Thankyou for all you guys have provided already

 

Please post up any local reports you have of those fights, would be very much appreciated :good

 

one of several

The Advertiser (Adelaide)


Saturday 27 December 1941


Alabama Kid Defeats Overall
Alabama Kid (12 st.) knocked out the Australian light -heavyweight champion Cec Overall -.12.10. in the sixth round at the Grenfell street Stadium last night.

For three rounds the American appeared to be summing up his opponent. Overall made the mistake of concentrating on Alabama's head, and most of his leads missed their mark or were taken on ihe gloves. In the fourth round Overall, after being knocked down for seven, came back fighting and had the better of the American for the remainder of the round. The fifth round started with the Alabama taking the fight to his opponent, and Overall was very distressed at the bell. In the sixth round Alabama, dropped Overall for seven, and after chasing him round the ring, dropped him for the full count with a right to the body.