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Larry Gains


BoztheMadman

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One of the most underrated heavyweights of his time, Larry Gains was an Afro-Canadian boxer who defeated guys like Max Schmeling (by ko), Primo Carnera, George Godfrey and Jack London and fought professionally for 19 years, amassing a record of 117 wins (63 by ko), 22 losses and 5 draws. He also holds the distinction of being the last Colored champion. Because of the color bar, he could never fight for a world title while in his prime. 
 

Lawrence Samuel Gains was born on 12 December 1900 in Toronto, and grew up in the Cabbagetown section. He started boxing at 20 and after a successful amateur career, he turned professional in 1923, aged 22. His height is a matter of dispute, he’s listed at 6’2 and half on Boxrec, while Wikipedia lists him as 6’1. He became known under the nickname “Toronto Terror”. Oddly enough, for his first fight, he was matched against a guy with over 100 fights and so had very little chance, losing by a TKO5. After going 21-7-2, he achieved his first great victory when he went to Cologne, Germany and knocked out their young hopeful and future great Max Schmeling in only two rounds! That was on 28 August 1925 and was the beginning of his successful career.


After a few more wins, he faced the then-best Black heavyweight, George Godfrey of USA and had to retire after six rounds, due to taking too much punishment. He was outweighed by almost 40 pounds against the very large Godfrey. He then became the Canadian champion by stopping Soldier Jones by TKO5 on 28 February 1927. On 11 November that year, he fought the light heavyweight champion Mike McTigue and came close to knocking him out, only to get robbed in a very unpopular draw after 10 rounds. He again fought George Godfrey for his “Colored” heavyweight title on 15 August 1928 in Toronto, and this time, Godfrey got disqualified for hitting him with a low blow in the third round from which he couldn’t recover, so Gains became the new Colored champion. He defended his title first by decision against Seal Harris, in December same year. 
 

Between April 1928 and October 1932, Gains went unbeaten, scoring 27 wins and 1 draw. On 28 January 1932, he fought the South African Don McCorkindale for the Commonwealth title, but was denied with a draw at Royal Albert Hall. They had a rematch on 3 March and this time Gains won by 15-round decision, dropping McCorkindale twice in round 9. Despite that, the decision was met with loud boos. He then scored his second great victory when he fought Primo Carnera, who at 6’6 and 267 pounds outsized him big time. The fight was held at White City Stadium in London and Gains won by outboxing the large and slow Italian for ten rounds and getting the decision. On 17 October however, he dropped a ten round decision to very good German Walter Neusel in Paris. After scoring six wins, all but one by ko, he fought McCorkindale again and after being dropped in round ten, he misjudged the count and rose too late, thus losing by a knockout officially. 
 

His Commonwealth title was not on the line however and he defended it on points against George Cook. At the end of the year, 11 December, he knocked out one of the best British heavyweights back then, Jack London, in two rounds. He lost his Commonwealth title in his next fight, to the outstanding Len Harvey, by PTS15 on 8 February 1934, in a fight where he looked in poor condition. On 10 September, he tried to win the now vacant title against Welshman Jack Petersen, but was stopped by TKO13 at White City Stadium. He kept fighting until 1942, but his prime was over and he lost the rest of his important fights. He was stopped by Tommy Farr by TKO6 and Len Harvey by TKO13 (cut eye), both in 1939, and three times by Jack London, including his last fight on 6 June 1942. He was now 41 and wisely retired. 

He won that colored title for the second time in 1935 against Obie Walker on points and held it till it became defunct in 1937, as mentioned above. He held a variety of low level jobs and lived in Essex. He also sang and drummed in his own band. Larry Gains died on 26 July 1983, while visiting relatives in Cologne, where he beat Max Schmeling. He was 82. He was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2015 and British Boxing Hall of Fame in 2023. That same year, on 1 November, a blue plaque in his honor was unveiled in his hometown of Toronto. Hence, 40 years after dying, he was honored for his contribution to Canadian boxing. Gains, along with Sam Langford, was one of few Afro-Canadian boxing stars in his time. Despite falling short of achieving the ultimate prize, at his best he showed he could have been a world champion if things were different in his heyday.

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