Trivia

[Dempsey-Louis]

In 1910 what famous fighter spared, in front of the Capitol, with Speaker of the House "Uncle" Joe Cannon?

Hint: Uncle Joe was from Illinois.

The pro boxing publicity stunt was staged to quiet the reformers who were using the Johnson-Jeffries violence as an excuse to ban prize fighting (at the federal level.) Uncle Joe stopped them.

Later that year the ********s took control of Congress and Uncle Joe was out; two years later Sims got his anti-transportation of fight films act, passed.

I wonder if Paul Ryan would consider promoting the fight game for us.

[Bundana]

Battling Nelson

[OctoberRed]

Battling Nelson

^^^^^^

[Dempsey-Louis]

Battling Nelson

[Ben Bolt]

Trivia: Sonny Liston had so big thumbs, they had to make him special gloves (if to believe a book I read).

Wiki: Liston's fists measured 14 inches (36 cm) around, the largest of any heavyweight champion.

[Dempsey-Louis]

Some random fist sizes for comparison

Sonny Liston 14" *
Sonny Liston 15 1/2" **
Nino Benvenuti 13 1/2"
Nino Benventui 13"
Joe Frazier 13"
Muhammad Ali 13"
Tommy "Hurricane" Jackson 13"
Floyd Patterson 12 3/4"
Buster Mathis 12 1/2"
Rex Lyane 12 1/2"
Bob Murphy 12"
Archie Moore 12"
Ezzard Charles 12"
Joe Louis 11 3/4"
Joe Louis 11 1/2"
Lee Oma 11 1/2"
Sandy Saddler 11 1/2"
Emile Griffith 11 1/2"
Roberto Duran 11 1/2"
Rocky Marciano 11 1/2"
Sugar Ray Robinson 11 1/2"
Ken Buchanan 11"
Wille Pep 11"
Harry "kid" Matthews 11"
Al Singer 11"
Jimmy McLarnin 11"
Joey Maxim 11"
Sammy Fuller 10 1/2"
Tony Canzoneri 10 1/2"
Tony Canzoneri 11"
Larry Holmes 13 1/2"
Jose Torres 13 1/2"
Mike Tyson 13"
Tyrell Biggs 12 3/4"
**** Tiger 11"
Pete Rademacher 12 1/2"
Lee Savold 12"
Bruce Wood**** 12 1/2"
Gene Fullmer 12"
Billy Conn 12"
Bob Pastor 12"
Billy Conn 11"
Lew Jenkins 10"
Henry Armstrong 9"
Henry Armstrong 10 3/4"
Lou Ambers 11 1/2"
Tami Mauriello 12"
Paul Pender 12"
Luis Rodriguez 11 1/2"
Gus Lesnevich 12 1/2"
Natan Mann 12 1/2"
Willie Pastrano 12"


What I took away from this:

is that Pep and Saddler had large hands for featherweights.

is that Nino Benvenuti had big hands for a middleweight.

They didn't measure 'fist' in the 1920s, I was really hoping to get Dempsey; Wills; Firpo; and Willard - but no go. Dempsey had a 9" ankle lol (ankle but no fist, go figure)

I know some poster earlier claimed that Sullivan and Johnson had 14" fists but I can't find any primary source that supports those numbers; in fact I can't find any fist sizes before the late 1930s (except on boxing forums; a little help!)

* As claimed by NY Times for first Patterson fight; that does not necessarily make it so, these newspaper tales of the tape are notoriously inconsistent.

** As claimed by the NY Times for the first Clay (Ali) fight; see what I mean?

[mikeg1224]

Both Dempsey & Tunney had 11 & 1/4 " fists and Marciano had 11 & 1/2 ".

The largest fists belonged to Abe Simon, When I visited the IBHOF in Canastota in the early 1990s, there was a plaster cast of Simon's right hand. I don't remember the actual size but suffice it to say that it was enormous at over 15". As an aside, Abe suffered from acromegaly [a medical disorder of the pituitary gland resulting in freakishly large hands, feet & face]. You might remember Abe Simon from the movies he appeared in; specifically, "On the Waterfront" where he played a bartender who throws a can of beer at & cuts Father Barry, played by Karl Malden.

Speaking of fists, I am not a small man standing 6' 2'' tall with 11 & 1/2" fists. One night in the 1960s I was at Madison Square Garden and I sat behind Marciano and I noticed that his fists seemed much larger than mine but perhaps that is attributable to his arthritis having set in post-retirement.