Any footage? The dark-complected Italian Brooklynite had a rocky W-L ratio from pretty much the first year of his career, and yet somehow in the end fought several of the best of his era: Harry Greb 5x, Battling Levinsky, Young Ahearn, Al McCoy, Jack Dillon, Mike McTigue, Mike O'Dowd, Augie Ratner and Willie Brennan (who fought three close and exciting fights with Greb, drew with McCoy and George Chip, and fought both Gibbons brothers) - all of them save Brennan and Ratner former or future light heavyweight or middleweight champions. (Ahearn, Greb, O'Dowd & McCoy @ MW; Dillon, McTigue, and Levinsky @ LHW) Granted, he lost most of those (but did draw with McCoy and McTigue, and beat O'Dowd) but he reportedly gave a decent account of himself on most occasions and was hard to stop. Four of his five matches with Greb were completely one-sided (including their last, which Greb fought one-handed) but he never succumbed before the final bell. Newspaper accounts of his style read like a made-to-order dream opponent for Greb, which makes it a small wonder he was lumped on so often to showcase the Windmill. I'm not expecting any of those are laying about - some of his other matches with famous champs of his day, though?
Zulu Kid, whose real name was Michael Flamier, was an extremely tough Italian from Brooklyn who credited his occupation as a black smith for his strength. He displayed his toughness by once allowing a man to break a pool cue over the back of his neck without causing him any concern. While in training he would walk and jog from Corona, Queens to Jaimaca, Queens and back for a total distance of over 15 miles. He was brought into boxing by Charles Gerard who operated the "Mile a Minute" boxing club where Zulu Kid used to train. His style was to absorb punishment while working his way in close in order to bang away at opponents. After boxing Zulu Kid went on to work for the sanitation department for 35 years before he was forced to retire in 1959 at the age of 64 after being injured when he was hit by a car while coming off of a bus. He died in 1973.
I always figured smithy work probably would have been a beneficial "side job" (or main gig, in all likelihood, given that old-timers generally maintained employment full-time even while keeping ring schedules that by today's standards are off the chart) and found it curious that more pugs weren't swinging hammers on the side. Plenty of firemen and sailors, but too many blacksmiths, oddly. The upper body strength and stamina you'd build up from such labor alone would give it plenty of crossover utility. Of course, Flammia was described by contemporary journalists as being a bit ungainly so perhaps the cons outweighed the pros similar to how bodybuilding is a detriment in the ring, sacrificing agility for an intimidatingly brutish appearance that serves little real function.
No footage that I know of. Unlikely he would have been filmed unless as a sparring partner in training footage of someone higher placed.
I was thinking maybe his challenge of McCoy if nothing else, but then I suppose 1915 was a tad early to presume even a world title bout (save for a real blockbuster) getting filmed.
