Has anyone heard of the Frager glove? I've known of Everlast, Reyes and even the Mexican made Casanova gloves but this one escaped me. I was reading an old article on Cus D'Amato testifying before Congress in an attempt to create a National Commission and apparently, the question came up about the second Ali-Liston fight. D'Amato went on to say that Liston's managers outsmarted themselves by insisting on the use of these gloves for the Lewiston bout. He described the glove as a glove which is the proper weight, but is padded to leave a boxer's knuckles almost uncovered. He stated that he saw the punch that Ali landed on Liston and that when properly delivered with snap, is like getting hit with a bare fist. He said, "Liston's managers were victims of their own strategy because Sonny was a heavy hitter and the Frager glove would have been to his advantage if the fight had lasted longer." Never knew about this before. Can anyone else elaborate?
Here’s some background on the guy who made them (or more likely founded the company that manufactured them): https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Sammy_Frager He made gloves for Joe Louis and others. I’m pretty positive there was a pair of these (from images online, the name itself wasn’t familiar to me) in the gym where I started. They were weather worn, had probably soaked up a lot of sweat over the years and dried out to the point that they were hard as a brick (which I doubt would have been the case if new).
It appears they used the same brand in the first fight. In the Miami meeting, both wore white trunks with a stripe (Liston black, Ali red from color photos) and you can clearly see enough of the spelling on the wrist end of the glove to see it’s Frager in images that are high-res enough and at the right angle to see it. Looks like Ali also fought in Fragers in his next defense, vs Floyd Patterson, and switched to Everlast for Chuvalo I after that (a bit harder to tell as Ali was in white trunks and Chuvalo dark trunks in both their meetings).
Manufactured by Sammy Frager out of Chicago. All the Chicago stadiums and arena used them. Probably used all over the Midwest. They could be custom-made to fit a fighter's hand if special ordered. There's good information at https://theirishblockbuster.com/the-irish-blockbuster/ . Go to the middle of the page.
Thanks to all on their insight into this glove. It also adds a new wrinkle to the Phantom Punch, which wasn't a real phantom at all. It clearly was a very sharp, snapping punch to the temple that now appears to have had a bit of knuckle behind it.
I remember reading in Nick Tosche's book "The Devil and Sonny Liston" that Sonny couldn't use normal sized gloves due to his huge fists. They just about fit into the biggest regular gloves, but he couldn't tie them properly. That was a problem at the beginning of his career until he got tailor made ones. I checked again now, the tailor made ones were Frager gloves.
Does anyone know what gloves Ali was wearing in his first fight with Cooper? I can't make out anything except a "B" at the beginning.
Tuf Wear was the most durable equipment, and arguably the best. IIRC the company was out of Nebraska and used leather from cows at their own ranch or something like that.
Baily’s, manufactured by Baily’s Tanneries of Glastonbury. https://www.stuartbullauctions.co.uk/auction/233-a-bailys-of/lot-1-14/ The one with the hole that Ali had to have replaced from the first Cooper fight was auctioned at some point. See link.
Frager gloves made news the day of the 1962 Patterson-Liston fight when Sonny's pair weighed slightly more than eight ounces and his unpleasant "manager" Jack Nilon screamed foul. But all along it had been Sonny who insisted he would use Frager because they were the only gloves that fit his hands. That's how Frager boxing gloves got its 15 minutes of fame.
