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Joe Grimm no doubt, the guy never won a fight but he fought everyone of the greatest during his career. Each of them thought they could take him down, they all won by points.
[img]http://sugarhanrules.tripod.com/JoeGrim3.jpg[img]
Here is his boxrec, http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=010815
All of the names are from Boxing Scenes 1991 issue of the ten greatest chins.
[img]http://sugarhanrules.tripod.com/JoeGrim3.jpg[img]
Here is his boxrec, http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=010815
Originally posted by B. R. Bearden
As Nat Fleischer would say of him, "Grim could neither box nor punch but he possessed an abundance of courage, in fact, too much for his own good. He was slow on his feet and even slower in his thought process. Though he had none of the assets that go to make a good fighter, for many years he was a great drawing card only because of his staying powers and his raw courage. His ability to absorb punishment was incomparable."
Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, and an avid boxing fan born in the era of Grim, said, "If he ever won a fight, it is not on record. He was neither a boxer nor a fighter in the true sense of the word. He was wide open; a blind man could hit him."
Joe Grim began his career in 1903 with a match against Philadelphia Jack O' Brien, future Hall of Famer. It was a six round contest between O'Brien's punching ability and Grim's toughness. O'Brien broke the knuckles of his right hand trying to stop the unknown kid who came in wide open, throwing windmill punches the ring posts could duck. The fight was a No Contest both by official score and by any method of judging a bout, but it ushered in the bizarre, side-show career of Joe Grim.
Grim's notoriety grew with each succeeding fight. He took terrible beatings from the greatest fighters of his era yet always ended his fights by walkingto the ropes and shouting to the crowd, "I am Joe Grim! Nobody can knock me out!"
It wasn't from lack of trying. The best punchers of the first two decades of the 20th century from lightweight to heavyweight took their turns trying to put the Indian Rubber Man down for the count. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Joe Walcott, Joe Gans, Jack Johnson, Johnny Kilbane, Sam McVey, Tommy Sullivan, and Battling Levinsky all took their shots, some more than once. They could put him down, they just couldn't make him stay down.
In Grim's 4th fight he was matched with the great Joe Walcott, the famed welterweight champion. He took a shellacking but was still standing after six rounds.
In his next fight he stepped in with Bob Fitzsimmons, former World Heavyweight Champion and current World Light Heavyweight Champion. For six rounds Ruby Robert used every punch known to pugilism to try to finish Grim. He drove in the body blows which had dropped Jim Corbett and won Fitz the title but Grim's rock-hard body accepted them without complaint. In those six furious rounds Bob knocked Grim down sixteen times! And sixteen times, Grim got back up. He even managed to land the last blow of the fight, a kind of "I'm still here" message to his tormentor. As Robert E. Howard described it, he then reeled to the ropes and, grinning through torn lips, shouted his defiance into the crowd, "I am Joe Grim! I fear no man! I challenge that bigga Jeem Jeff' fora da title".
But Jim Jeffries, heavyweight champion already on the verge of retiring undefeated, wasn't interested in fighting an unknown who had just lost his 5th straight fight without a win to the mix. Instead, the promoters set Grim up with Joe Gans, World Lightweight champion and future HOF inductee. Gans weighed in at 138 to Grim's 165 but extra weight was all Grim had in his side of the scales; that and his amazing resilience. The Old Master Gans had no difficulty dealing with the roundhouse swings and the wide open stance of the Italian. He worked inside and battered Joe to a sixth round No Decision which every paper dubbed a totally one-sided victory. Three months later they tried it again, meeting in a 10 round fight, and the only difference was the extra four rounds of pounding Grim absorbed.
Word of Grim spread and people flocked to see who would knock him out first. A succession of fighters tried, some more than once, but come the final bell, Joe Grim would still be standing and able to hurl his challenge to the world, "Nobody can knock me out!"
Twenty or so fights, and losses, into his career Joe Grim laced up to meet future heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in July, 1905. Jack was looking for his shot at the title, but in March he'd lost a 20 rounder to Marvin Hart and he needed something to minimize the loss. A knockout win over the man nobody else could knockout would surely make the boxing crowd take notice. Even though Johnson weighed 210 to only 165 for Grim, there were still doubts he could put the human punching bag away. Confident of his punch, Johnson had wagered heavily that he'd knock the man out.
Some 3000 people, including Nat Fleischer, future founder of The Ring, paid to see the match in Philadelphia and it would be even money on which fighter was the main draw. In the first three rounds Grim was beaten around the ring. He would drop and the crowd would shout, "Get up Joe!" and Joe would get up, a broad grin on his bloodied face. In the fourth Johnson landed a punch that dropped his opponent to the floor with a thud. Grim waited on hands and knees as the referee counted, then jumped up before the count of "ten". Three more times he went down in the round, three more times he got up. The forth round followed suit, and in his corner, an amazed Jack Johnson declared, "He ain't human."
In the fifth Grim was down six times, three times for a count of eight and three times for a count of nine. Each time he rolled to his belly, climbed to his knees, and waited for the referee to "almost" count him out before rising amid the cheers of the crowd. It wasn't boxing, it was a circus act with the lion tamer letting the lions do their worst, then leaving the cage savaged and bloody to take his bows.
The sixth and final round saw a desperate Johnson trying to win his bets. Jack caught Grim with a right to the chin so hard, as Nat Fleischer said, ". it caused Grim to turn a complete somersault." The referee counted as Grim lay there senseless, some thought dead. It appeared he wouldn't beat the count, but on eight the bell rang, ending the fight and saving Grim from his first knockout. He had been knocked down eighteen times by one of the hardest punchers of his time but he hadn't been counted out. In Grim's mind, the defeat was a victory of the only sort he would ever know. More fights followed and the Iron Man didn't disappoint the fans of that cruder era. He didn't win, but he didn't fail to shout out after the final bell, "I'm Joe Grim! Nobody knocks out Joe Grim!"
Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, and an avid boxing fan born in the era of Grim, said, "If he ever won a fight, it is not on record. He was neither a boxer nor a fighter in the true sense of the word. He was wide open; a blind man could hit him."
Joe Grim began his career in 1903 with a match against Philadelphia Jack O' Brien, future Hall of Famer. It was a six round contest between O'Brien's punching ability and Grim's toughness. O'Brien broke the knuckles of his right hand trying to stop the unknown kid who came in wide open, throwing windmill punches the ring posts could duck. The fight was a No Contest both by official score and by any method of judging a bout, but it ushered in the bizarre, side-show career of Joe Grim.
Grim's notoriety grew with each succeeding fight. He took terrible beatings from the greatest fighters of his era yet always ended his fights by walkingto the ropes and shouting to the crowd, "I am Joe Grim! Nobody can knock me out!"
It wasn't from lack of trying. The best punchers of the first two decades of the 20th century from lightweight to heavyweight took their turns trying to put the Indian Rubber Man down for the count. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Joe Walcott, Joe Gans, Jack Johnson, Johnny Kilbane, Sam McVey, Tommy Sullivan, and Battling Levinsky all took their shots, some more than once. They could put him down, they just couldn't make him stay down.
In Grim's 4th fight he was matched with the great Joe Walcott, the famed welterweight champion. He took a shellacking but was still standing after six rounds.
In his next fight he stepped in with Bob Fitzsimmons, former World Heavyweight Champion and current World Light Heavyweight Champion. For six rounds Ruby Robert used every punch known to pugilism to try to finish Grim. He drove in the body blows which had dropped Jim Corbett and won Fitz the title but Grim's rock-hard body accepted them without complaint. In those six furious rounds Bob knocked Grim down sixteen times! And sixteen times, Grim got back up. He even managed to land the last blow of the fight, a kind of "I'm still here" message to his tormentor. As Robert E. Howard described it, he then reeled to the ropes and, grinning through torn lips, shouted his defiance into the crowd, "I am Joe Grim! I fear no man! I challenge that bigga Jeem Jeff' fora da title".
But Jim Jeffries, heavyweight champion already on the verge of retiring undefeated, wasn't interested in fighting an unknown who had just lost his 5th straight fight without a win to the mix. Instead, the promoters set Grim up with Joe Gans, World Lightweight champion and future HOF inductee. Gans weighed in at 138 to Grim's 165 but extra weight was all Grim had in his side of the scales; that and his amazing resilience. The Old Master Gans had no difficulty dealing with the roundhouse swings and the wide open stance of the Italian. He worked inside and battered Joe to a sixth round No Decision which every paper dubbed a totally one-sided victory. Three months later they tried it again, meeting in a 10 round fight, and the only difference was the extra four rounds of pounding Grim absorbed.
Word of Grim spread and people flocked to see who would knock him out first. A succession of fighters tried, some more than once, but come the final bell, Joe Grim would still be standing and able to hurl his challenge to the world, "Nobody can knock me out!"
Twenty or so fights, and losses, into his career Joe Grim laced up to meet future heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in July, 1905. Jack was looking for his shot at the title, but in March he'd lost a 20 rounder to Marvin Hart and he needed something to minimize the loss. A knockout win over the man nobody else could knockout would surely make the boxing crowd take notice. Even though Johnson weighed 210 to only 165 for Grim, there were still doubts he could put the human punching bag away. Confident of his punch, Johnson had wagered heavily that he'd knock the man out.
Some 3000 people, including Nat Fleischer, future founder of The Ring, paid to see the match in Philadelphia and it would be even money on which fighter was the main draw. In the first three rounds Grim was beaten around the ring. He would drop and the crowd would shout, "Get up Joe!" and Joe would get up, a broad grin on his bloodied face. In the fourth Johnson landed a punch that dropped his opponent to the floor with a thud. Grim waited on hands and knees as the referee counted, then jumped up before the count of "ten". Three more times he went down in the round, three more times he got up. The forth round followed suit, and in his corner, an amazed Jack Johnson declared, "He ain't human."
In the fifth Grim was down six times, three times for a count of eight and three times for a count of nine. Each time he rolled to his belly, climbed to his knees, and waited for the referee to "almost" count him out before rising amid the cheers of the crowd. It wasn't boxing, it was a circus act with the lion tamer letting the lions do their worst, then leaving the cage savaged and bloody to take his bows.
The sixth and final round saw a desperate Johnson trying to win his bets. Jack caught Grim with a right to the chin so hard, as Nat Fleischer said, ". it caused Grim to turn a complete somersault." The referee counted as Grim lay there senseless, some thought dead. It appeared he wouldn't beat the count, but on eight the bell rang, ending the fight and saving Grim from his first knockout. He had been knocked down eighteen times by one of the hardest punchers of his time but he hadn't been counted out. In Grim's mind, the defeat was a victory of the only sort he would ever know. More fights followed and the Iron Man didn't disappoint the fans of that cruder era. He didn't win, but he didn't fail to shout out after the final bell, "I'm Joe Grim! Nobody knocks out Joe Grim!"
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