Tommy Loughran Found Out Something Today!

Im rather shocked.

 

Never would have guessed it.

 

If true that is a staggering statistic because I have always thought of Loughran as the guy from that era who would fight anybody.

The guy would have fought Godzilla if you put gloves on it.

 

A. It is hard to be certain he didnt since we dont know the race of most of his lower level oponents.

B. It is just possible that it could have been coincidence. Simply that he didnt need those fighters and they didnt need him.

C. He might have had a desire not to fight black fighters that had nothing to do with the presence of a dangerous challenger.

I will pull up the rankings over his career in a minute.

 

Here is the situation during Loughrans career:

Lightheavyweight

At lightheavyweight we see a prety white dominated division. There is no obvious black contender that Loughran should have met. Certainly no Peter Jackson figure.

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1924

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7. Paul Berlenbach
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10. Jimmy Delaney

1925

1. Paul Berlenbach, Champion
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5. Eddie Huffman
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8. Jimmy Delaney
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10. Maxie Rosenbloom
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13. Joe (Hambone) Kelly
14. Ernie Owens
15. Murray Gitlitz

1926

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2. Paul Berlenbach
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7. Eddie Huffman
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10. Art Weigand
11. Jimmy Delaney
12. Pat McCarthy
13. Earl (Little Boy) Blue
14. Tony (Young) Marullo
15. Matt Adgie

1927

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8. Joe Sekyra
9. Armand Emanuel
10. Roleaux Saguero
11. Sunny Jim Williams
12. George Manley
13. Battling Levinsky
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15. Otto von Porat

1928

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7. Maxie Rosenbloom
8. Cuban Bobby Brown
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Heavyweight

At heavyweight we have George Godfrey as a possible challenger and Larry Gains in the picture. It is plausible that these fights simply "didnt happen" or that it was not in one partys interests to take them.

1929 Title Vacant

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2. Max Schmeling
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5. Phil Scott
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1930 Max Schmeling, Champion

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9. Larry Johnson
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1931 Max Schmeling, Champion

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1932

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1. Max Schmeling
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1933

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4. Max Schmeling
5. Don McCorkindale
6. Patsy Perroni
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8. Charley Massare
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10. Lee Ramage

1934

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3. Art Lasky
4. Max Schmeling
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6. Patsy Perroni
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8. Natie Brown
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10. Lee Ramage

1935

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2. Max Schmeling
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6. Eddie Mader
7. Hank Hankinson
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10. Ford Smith

 

To answer your question I will give the conclusions of my analysis (above).

In all Loughran did a prety thorough number on both the lightheavyweight and heavyweight divisions of his era.

Early career

We dont really know what went on before he became world class, in terms of why he took the fights he did. There would have been a tendency for an up and coming fighter of this period to fight oponents from the same geographic area and ethnic background. Outside of that he would have had to take the fights offered to him to some extent.


Lightheavyweight career

The rankings of the lightheavyweight division that the young Tommy Loughran rose through and latter dominated were made up almost exclusively of white contenders. There wasnt really any black fighter worth fighting except Kid Norfolk who fell out of serious contention while Loughran was still on his way up. I dont see anything unusual about Loughrans choice of oponents over this period or any bias towards white contenders.


Heavyweight career

Here the picture is more complex. George Godfrey was in contention for a shot at the title when Loughran moved up to heavyweight. It is plausible that he avoided this match as it would have been a high risk low reward proposition. It is also possible that the circumstances simply never favoured the fight being made. Larry Gains was in the picture but didnt really force the issue.

Joe Louis came allong when Loughran was prety much done. I have heard somwhere that he was discused as a possible oponent for the young Brown Bomber and that it was Louis's people who said no!!!!! Even if this is not true it is easy to see why this fight did not happen.

The one name that stands out far more than any black heavyweight of the period that Tommy Loughran did not face is Max Schmeling. Schmeling was hovering around the top of the rankings for over a decade and was consdered by many the most dangerous heavyweight around.


Conclusion

I have to acknowledge that the pattern of Loughran never meeting a black challenger is too much to chalk up to coincidence without questioning it.

At the same time, what data we have suggests it is theoreticaly plausible that it is.

 

We have to remember, after Jack Johnson, nobody was in any hurry to have a second black Heavyweight champion - so it's likely that the establishment wasn't very willing to give blacks a shot at the next closest weight of the time. Seeing as it wasn't profitable to fight fighters who won't realistically help you get to the title, it's not terribly surprising that Loughran didn't fight an African-American.

Especially at a time when it was fashionable to fight certain guys multiple times.

 

There had been Battling Siki since Jack Johnson.

 

Was it confirmed for his entire or up until a specific fight referred to in the book ? I know the author, Michael DeLisa , so I will ask him ...

BY the way, neither did Gene Tunney...

 

Yes, but the effect isn't the same when you're talking about two Europeans fighting for a world title - that's a different sort of circumstances (not to infer that Europe was a jolly grand place for those of African descent, but it wasn't to the same degree as in America).

 

Yes but wasnt he supposed to lie down for Carpentier and then lost it dubiously to McTigue in Dublin straight away?

 

There were rumours.

On a side note Jack Dempseys guys showed some interest in a fight with Siki.

 

That would have been fun while it lasted

 

There were not too many black heavyweight contenders between 1920 at 1940. You can't avoid someone that is not there.