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The Young Corbetts


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In boxing history, there have been a few boxing aliases that were used by several boxers- such was the case with this one. Originally coined way back in late 19th century, there would be two world champions carrying the name/alias and altogether four boxers, of which only the last one was not significant. Thus begins the history of The Young Corbetts!

The story begins with a guy called George Green, who was the progenitor of the alias. Born on January 6 1872 (some sources claim 1873), Green was a 5’8 middleweight who called himself Young Corbett out of admiration for Gentleman Jim Corbett, who defeated John L Sullivan for world heavyweight title. He had his first known professional match on November 14 1889 and won on points against Billy Kramer. His first important bout came on July 31 1893, when he lost to “San Fran” Paddy Smith by TKO in the 28th round. In 1897, he had an exhibition bout against his idol Jim Corbett. That same year, he defeated noted fighter “Mysterious” Billy Smith by TKO12 but then lost to original Joe Walcott by TKO18, an outstanding boxer. In February 1898, he faced the world middleweight champ Tommy Ryan and lost to him by KO18. They fought again on 10 October 1901 and this time Ryan got disqualified in the 6th round for kneeing Green. Their third match with the world title at stake happened 30 January next year and Ryan won by KO7. 
 

Green or Young Corbett I retired after that but came back in 1909. He was unsuccessful and after 2 losses and 1 draw he retired for good in 1911. His record on boxrec is incomplete, as in that era not all fights were kept track of and some of them are reported as happening but not confirmed. George Green is described as a very talented guy who could box or punch, who lost only to the best and had long and grueling battles against all of them. His date of death is not listed. He also worked as a referee. 
 

We now come to no.2, the first world champion Young Corbett. His real name was William H. Rothwell and he was born on October 4 1880 in Denver and is so far the only world champion from Denver. He stood only 5’2 or 159 cm but packed a helluva punch and was very aggressive and tough. He turned professional in 1896, still aged 15, fighting as a featherweight. He went unbeaten in his 12 first fights before he lost to Billy Rotchford on points in 1899. In February 1900, he was knocked out in 2 rounds by Colorado Jack Dempsey, but knocked him out in 3 rounds in the rematch only a couple weeks later. On August 16 1901, he beat George Dixon by decision in 10 to win the Western title and this set up a fight with the world champion, Terrible Terry McGovern. McGovern was a ko artist but Corbett showed no fear, provoking him in the dressing room before the fight, which was staged on November 28 ‘01 at Hartford Coliseum. In a thrilling fight, Corbett dropped McGovern in the second round and Corbett got up and then dropped him to one knee, before Corbett put him down and out. After making three defenses, he fought McGovern again in the fourth and this time knocked him out in the eleventh round, March 31 1903. 

He would defend the title twice more, but in late 1903, for some reason, Abe Attell got recognized as the true world champion instead. Corbett II finally lost it to Jimmy Britt on points on March 25 1904. He went up to lightweight and fought future world champion Battling Nelson twice in 1904 and 1905, but was stopped both times, by TKO10 and TKO9. He faced his arch nemesis Terrible Terry for the third and final time October 17 1906 and knocked him down once, but it ended a draw. The rest of his career was forgettable and he retired in 1910 with a record of 59 wins with 48 ko’s, 13 losses and 2 draws. 
 

TO BE CONTINUED

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The third and according to many historians the best Young Corbett ironically did not choose that alias for himself but was given it against his will by an announcer. I have already written about him in detail, so this will be a shortened version. Born Raffaele Cappabianca Giordano in Potenza, Southern Italy, on 27 May 1905, he was raised in Fresno, California and grew to be 5’7 and a strong little guy. He became a pro already at the age of 14, in 1919. The announcer did not like the sound of his name so he called him Young Corbett the third instead. Back in those days, it was quite hard to change your name as a professional athlete, so it stuck. He had his first significant fight against Sergeant Sammy Baker, and won by an unpopular decision, 13 September 1928. He then defeated Jackie Fields, also by unanimous decision, on February 22, 1930. After also defeating Ceferino Garcia twice he then fought Jackie Fields for the world welterweight title, interestingly, on the same date as their first fight 22nd of February 1933. Corbett won by a decision again, but lost his world title already in his first defense to Jimmy McLarnin, who dropped him twice and stopped him in the first round. After defeating Bep van Klaveren, he moved up to middleweight and beat Gus Lesnevich on a cut in 5 rounds and famously knocked down and beat the much taller and clever Billy Conn, both in 1937. After losing to Conn in a rematch on points, he was recognized by California State Boxing Commission as the world champion for defeating the excellent Fred Apostoli by decision-once again on 22 February, 1938. They fought again on 18 November that year, this time with the legit world title at stake, and YC3 lost by TKO8 after getting knocked down twice in the last round. 
 

He retired after winning three more fights, last one was on 20 August 1940. His record is 124 wins, 33 by ko, 12 losses and 20 draws. He died on 15 July 1993, after coping with Alzheimer’s disease for 20 years, which shows his resilience. His natural resilience and strength, as well as boxing skills, enabled him to best men who were naturally bigger, especially at middleweight. While never a puncher, he was aggressive and knew how to land the right punches and knocked down guys that were not easy to knock down because of that, like Billy Conn. He was inducted into IBHOF in 2004 and a statue of him was erected in Fresno. 
 

Finally, we arrive at the last Young Corbett, number four. Unfortunately, he is included here only for the sake of carrying the same alias and being the last one to do it. Very little is known about him, except that he lived in San Francisco, just like the first Young Corbett, which is likely why he chose that moniker. He was a welterweight who only had four pro fights, winning the first by TKO3 against Pete Romero and second one on points against Luther Johnson. He then first drew against Al Rivers and then was knocked out by him in 3 rounds. All these fights happened in 1945. His record is therefore 2-1-1. There is no other info on him, but kudos to Boxrec for keeping track of him, for the sake of historical continuity. Thus, this glorious boxing name ceased to exist right after world war 2. Out of the four, only the second Young Corbett wasn’t from California, interesting to note. It is interesting how one boxer can inspire four guys to box and two of them to greatness. Gentleman Jim Corbett was one of the first clever and technical boxers and although not all of these guys were like that, they probably wanted to be. 
 

 

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