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"Bold" Mike McTigue


BoztheMadman
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The fortune favors the bold, the saying goes. And Mike McTigue was bold. But he didn't reach his peak and achieve his fortune until he was in his 30's. This Irish-born light heavyweight world champion was 30 when he became world champion and rather impressively, beating the guy who had dethroned the great Georges Carpentier, Battling Siki. Despite standing only 5'9, McTigue was of strong build and was tough, also possessing considerable amount of punching power. On top of that, he was also clever and could box. He was also known under another fighting alias, "Methuselah", due to fighting best at what then was considered advanced age for a prizefighter. He fought for 16 years altogether, leaving a record of 77 wins, 52 by ko, 26 losses and 9 draws.

 

Born Michael Francis McTigue in Kilnamona, County Clare, then a part of the British Empire, today Republic of Ireland, 26 November 1892. He emigrated to America in 1912 and settled in New York City. He had his first professional fight on 7 March 1914, most likely at middleweight, and beat the 62-36-23 Happy Davis by KO 3. His early career was a mixed bag however and he lost 9 times in his first 34 fights, 3 of those times by disqualification. His first notable fight was in 1918 against Harry Greb, a hall of famer and one of the best fighters ever; he dropped a 10-round decision to the more clever and experienced Greb, who reportedly won every round. He was knocked out for the first time that same year, by Frank Carbone in 5 rounds. Next year in December he again fought Greb and this time McTigue managed to win one round out of 10 but again was soundly outboxed and outfought and lost by decision. On 8 April 1920 he won the Canadian middleweight title by knocking out 21-1 Eugene Brosseau in 5. Bold Mike put Brosseau out cold with a single short right to the chin. He defended that title once by PTS15 against Joe Eagan. He then lost it to Jeff Smith by decision. All three fights happened during that same year. In September 1921 he was decisioned by the great Battling Levinsky and in March 1922 he for the first time fought against Tommy Loughran and dropped a decision to one of the most clever and polished fighters ever. By then, he had started campaigning as a light heavyweight, even though he never weighed in much above 160. Rather surprisingly, he was chosen as the first defense of the newly crowned world champion, Battling Siki of Senegal, who had surprisingly knocked out former champion Georges Carpentier previously. The fight was held on Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March 1923, at La Scala theatre in Dublin, despite the Irish Civil War still going on. The fight was scheduled for 20 rounds and all that is known is that McTigue emerged victorious, getting the best of the slightly taller Siki to win by decision, thus becoming a world champion at the age of 30.

 

Only 3 months later, on 25 June, McTigue again faced Loughran, in a no-title fight. His title was however at stake if he lost inside the distance, which he didn't, but he again dropped a newspaper decision to the taller and more polished Philadelphian. McTigue asked for a rematch in another non-title fight and this time managed to best the Philadelphian in a 12-round newspaper decision (previous fight had been an 8-round one). On 4 October that same year, he finally made his first title defense but under bizarre circumstances; Young Stribling was the opponent and the fight was in Columbus, Ohio. Despite breaking his hand before the fight, McTigue was forced to enter the ring at gunpoint and so the fight naturally became a farce, as well as the result, which was a draw, despite Stribling initially being declared the winer. It was then found out that the head of the committee of American Legion, Major John Paul Jones, had staged the fight and had threatened the referee Harry Ertle that he would not leave the arena alive if he didn't award the decision to Stribling. In March next year, the two had a rematch but once again without the world title at stake and this time Stribling got the nod after 12 rounds, after also flooring McTigue in the tenth. On 7 January 1925, McTigue fought Mickey "Toy Bulldog" Walker, who came in weighing at only about 150 pounds but overwhelmed McTigue with his aggression and natural strength and toughness, in the end earning a newspaper decision after 12 rounds. Once again, the title was not at stake but it was at stake in the next bout against Paul Berlenbach, 30 May that year at Yankee Stadium in NY. Berlenbach would finally dethrone the dubious champion after decisioning him over 15 rounds to win by UD. At the end of that year, 23 December, McTigue scored a disputed split decision victory over Tiger Flowers, the first black middleweight world champion. The referee gave the fight to Flowers but the two scoring judges scored it for Bold Mike, which would later be considered one of the worst decisions in boxing.

 

Next year on 15 March, he ran into the probably hardest punching light heavyweight of that time, Jack Delaney, who stopped him by TKO in 4 rounds at Madison Square Garden. His career seemed to be over and at 33 years of age, few thought that it would last much longer. However, in his next fight, he decisioned Lou Scozza, who would later give Jimmy Slattery a hard fight for the world title. Scozza was a clever and tough fighter who was never stopped in 114 fights. Now weighing above 170 as his body had developed, McTigue took on the heavyweight contender Johnny Risko in his next fight on 1 July 1926, at Madison Square Garden, and won by UD10. Risko outweighed him by 15 pounds. He then scored an impressive knockout over the even-heavier Emilio Solomon, who came in at almost 190 pounds, knocking him out in the eleventh round at Queensboro Stadium on 31 August. And then he again faced Paul Berlenbach in a light heavyweight bout on 27 January 1928. Berlenbach was by then no longer the champion but was still a heavy favorite to win. McTigue pulled off a big surprise victory when he stopped Berlenbach by TKO 4, first knocking him down at the bell in round 3 before knocking him out with a left uppercut. It turned out to be his final hoorah, as he lost his next fight to the heavyweight legend Jack Sharkey by TKO 12. He suffered a dangerous cut and would have gone the distance otherwise. He was down in the second round previously but gave Sharkey a good fight. He then faced his old adversary Tommy Loughran again, this time for the vacant NYSAC version of the world light heavy title, 7 October 1927 at MSG. McTigue was by now almost 35 and he was again outboxed and outpointed by Loughran over 15 rounds.

 

After suffering a humilating loss in his next fight against Mickey Walker, getting stopped in one round after being decked four times, McTigue was pretty much a washed up fighter. But he still kept on fighting for almost 3 more years. He never beat a ranked fighter again and lost 13 more times, also suffering three more knockout losses, two in one round and one in two rounds. He finally retired after his last fight in September 1930, aged almost 38. He actually didn't retire by his own choice but had his boxing license revoked. Which says something about his love for the sport. Upon retiring, he opened a bar on Long Island, which ran good, until the late 1940''s. He would entertain the guests with his story of the fight against Battling Siki, in which a guard positioned ringside poked his leg with a bayonet and said:"God help you if you lose-I bet three pounds on you!" Mike McTigue died 12 August 1966, aged 73. Charley Rose ranked him as the 10th best light heavyweight ever. Kilnamona Community Centre, opened in 2001, was named after him. Bold Mike was a guy who loved the sport of bruising and would fight anyone, literally anyone, always giving it all he had and usually giving a good account of himself. He was a late bloomer who proved one can always achieve greatness if one is persistent enough.

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