Joe Bowker

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Joe Bowker
Joe Bowker.jpg
Statistics
Real nameJoe Bowker
Weight(s)Bantamweight
Featherweight
Height5 ft 3+1⁄2 in (161 cm)
NationalityBritish
Born(1881-06-12)12 June 1881
Salford, Lancashire, England
Died22 October 1955(1955-10-22) (aged 74)
London, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights58
Wins43
Wins by KO13
Losses10
Draws1
No contests4

Joe Bowker (12 June 1881 – 31 October 1955) was a British boxer who was world bantamweight champion from 1904 to 1905.[1] His defeat of Frankie Neil on 17 October in London for the world bantamweight title was acclaimed as the most remarkable event in the sport in 1904.[2]

During his career, Bowker also won the European and British bantamweight titles, and the British featherweight title, holding the world bantamweight and British featherweight titles simultaneously from March to October 1905. In 51 professional fights, he compiled a career record of 40 wins, 8 losses and one draw with two no-decisions. Fourteen wins came by knockout.

text
Joe Bowker, British boxer.

He was regarded as a "wonderfully clever" fighter.[3] More than 40 years after Bowker retired from the ring, British boxing historian Maurice Golesworthy wrote of him: "Indeed, there are many authorities who rate Joe Bowker as the most skillful boxer ever produced in this country. That may be an exaggeration, but it is safe to say that there have been few better."[4]

Biography[]

Birth and early career[]

Born 12 June 1881 in Salford, England, Joseph Lord Bowker sharpened his skills in the boxing booths of England. At age 16 he joined Billy Hughes' boxing booth, defeating 60 opponents over the next four years.[5] At the age of 20 he won a novice bantamweight competition among 64 entries at the National Sporting Club in London.[6]

Chicago bantamweight Harry Harris, who traveled to London in 1902 to fight Pedlar Palmer for the world title, saw the young Bowker spar and was impressed with his style and poise. "He is built on the same lines as Joe Walcott," Harris said. "He has broad shoulders, a deep chest, and long, muscular arms. He is very quick but he did not impress me as being much of a puncher. As for cleverness, I think he knows more about the game than either (Billy) Plimmer or Palmer, and they were pretty gifted."[7]

Winning and defending the British Bantamweight Championship[]

In a very short time Bowker was rated the best bantamweight in Britain. He defeated in London for the British bantamweight championship on 15 December 1902, and successfully defended his title four times, beating Andrew Tokell, Bill King, Alf Fellows, and Owen Moran. The defeat of Fellows from Chicago, on 9 November 1903 at the National Sporting Club in London, was by a ninth-round knockout.[8]

Winning the World Bantamweight Championship in 1904[]

On 17 October 1904 in London, Bowker defeated Frankie Neil of San Francisco for the world bantamweight championship. A slight favorite at 11 to 10, Bowker was behind in the early rounds and almost beaten in the ninth. From that point to the end of the 20-round bout, Bowker "greatly improved and administered plenty of punishment."[9]

Following the fight, Jim Neil, father of Frankie Neil, protested to the referee that he thought his son should at least have earned a draw with Bowker. "Your boy swung repeatedly and missed," the referee explained to the elder Neil. "Now, if you were shooting at a bird and missed(,) that would be one for the bird, wouldn't it?" [10]

Winning the British Featherweight Title in March of 1905[]

In taking the world title from Neil, it was reported that Bowker was the "first foreigner" (non-American) to win a world boxing championship.[2]

On 20 March 1905, in London, Bowker knocked out Thomas "Pedlar" Palmer in the twelfth round to capture the British featherweight title. Two months later, on 29 May, Bowker successfully defended his world bantamweight title with a 20-round decision over Pinky Evans of Yonkers, New York. In 1906, Bowker confessed to reporters that he was too heavy at 115 pounds to defend his title.[11] He subsequently abandoned his world bantamweight title and moved up to the featherweight division.

Failure to meet Abe Attell, and fight with Jim Driscoll in May 1906[]

What promised to be Bowker's biggest fight never materialized. Abe Attell, world featherweight champion, had decided in February 1906 to travel to London to fight the reigning world bantamweight champ. The 15-round bout was to be held in May at the National Sporting Club. Attell's title would be on the line.[12] The match between Attell and Bowker was billed as "one of the most important international events" ever staged in England.[13] Another report later that year had Bowker traveling to Los Angeles to take on the winner of the Attel-Neil bout.[14] Attel defeated Neil on points on 4 July, but the Bowker-Attel fight never materialized.

The Welsh fighter, Jim Driscoll, proved to be Bowker's nemesis. Driscoll outpointed Bowker over 15 rounds in London on 28 May 1906, for the featherweight championship of Britain. In a rematch the following June, also in London, Bowker could not answer the bell after round 17.

Taking the Bantamweight championship of Europe in 1910[]

On 7 May 1910, a slimmer Bowker captured his fourth boxing title with an eighth-round knockout of Jean Audouy of France for the bantamweight championship of Europe.

A controversial loss to Digger Stanley on 17 October 1910 at the National Sporting Club cost Bowker his European and British bantamweight titles. The purse for the fight was nearly $3,000.[15] The bout ended suddenly, "a pitiful finish to a fine exhibition of boxing, in which Bowker proved himself the cleverer. But in getting down to weight Bowker weakened himself, which told in the end."[16] The end was described by author Guy Deghy: "In the eighth round of a splendidly even battle, Bowker ducked into a righthander that struck him on the jaw, and got the next one on the kidney. While he lay on the floor, writhing in agony, the Club doctor, Dr. Gilbert Lynch, was sent for. At the end of his examination, the referee, Douglas, decided that there had been no foul, and Digger Stanley was awarded the first bantamweight Lonsdale Belt."[17] Later, the kidney punch was banned from the sport.

Retirement from boxing in the early 1920s[]

After retiring from the ring, Bowker starred in boxing exhibitions. A "comedic boxing match" between Bowker and Wally Packard was on the card at London's first open air boxing contest on 31 July 1922. Bowker also worked as a fight trainer. At the 1924 Summer Olympics, he worked the corner of Harry Mallin, gold medal winner in the middleweight division. Later, he trained James O'Hanrahan who defeated Ed Tiernan in a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 17 February 1925. "O'Hanrahan gave Tiernan a boxing lesson in every round and his obvious knowledge of the game and his clean punching, especially with his right hand, reflected great credit on his trainer Joe Bowker."[18]

Bowker died in London on 22 October 1955 and lies buried in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.

Legacy and Tommy Mahon alias[]

Bowker was one of 80 boxers included in the popular Priddy Boxing Set of "Famous Boxers," published by W.R. Priddy Antiques in 1992.

In 2008, Bowker was ranked 74th on the all-time "top 100 British boxers" list, as compiled by Ron Lewis of The London Times.[19]

Bowker's bout against Jim Driscoll for the British featherweight championship is the subject of a famous painting by W. Howard Robinson, the noted representative artist and portrait painter of the early twentieth century. The painting, "An Evening at the National Sporting Club," completed in 1918, contains details of 329 sporting celebrities and took Robinson four years to complete.[20]

Speculation about Bowker's date of birth, date of death, and even his real name began as early as 1908 when an Ogden's cigarette card inaccurately listed his birth date as 20 July 1882. With the discovery by family members in 2006 of Bowker's official birth, marriage and death certificates, these questions were put to rest.

A number of boxing historians have written incorrectly that Bowker's real name was Tommy Mahon and that he used Joe Bowker as an alias. The error may have originated from a book published in 1986 in which author Denis Fleming recalled a meeting with Bowker that had taken place more than a half-century earlier. Fleming wrote that Bowker had been "a 15-year-old urchin from the Salford side of Blackfriars Bridge" whose "real name was Tommy Mahon."[5] Harry Mullen, the distinguished editor of Boxing News, perhaps assuming the accuracy of Fleming's account, perpetuated the myth. In a book published four years after Fleming's book, Mullen wrote that Bowker's real name was Tommy Mahon and that Bowker had been his mother's maiden name.[21]

It's possible that Bowker used Tommy Mahon as an alias at prizefights he didn't want the National Sporting Club to know about, as he was under contract to fight exclusively at the NSC.[22] It was reported that Bowker did tour with the boxing booths, as far as the west of Ireland, for extra income.[23]

Professional boxing record[]

Professional record summary
58 fights 43 wins 10 losses
By knockout 13 5
By decision 29 5
By disqualification 1 0
Draws 1
No contests 4
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
58 Win 43–10–1 (4) Charlie Ward KO 15 (20) Oct 9, 1914 New Cross Empire Theatre, New Cross, London, England
57 Win 42–10–1 (4) Harold Walker PTS 6 Jul 17, 1914 Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England
56 Win 41–10–1 (4) Robert Dastillon PTS 15 May 11, 1914 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
55 Win 40–10–1 (4) Biz Mackey KO 5 (10) Feb 16, 1914 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
54 Win 39–10–1 (4) Francis Charles PTS 10 Nov 24, 1913 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
53 Win 38–10–1 (4) Young Johnny Cohen PTS 15 Feb 3, 1913 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
52 Loss 37–10–1 (4) Charles Ledoux TKO 10 (15) Jan 29, 1912 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
51 Win 37–9–1 (4) George Allen KO 2 (?) Dec 18, 1911 London, England
50 Win 36–9–1 (4) Paul Til DQ 14 (20) May 29, 1911 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
49 Win 35–9–1 (4) Con Houghton TKO 8 (15) Mar 27, 1911 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
48 Win 34–9–1 (4) Alec Lambert KO 6 (15) Dec 12, 1910 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
47 Loss 33–9–1 (4) Digger Stanley KO 8 (20) Oct 17, 1910 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Lost IBU, NSC British, and world bantamweight titles
46 Win 33–8–1 (4) Jean Audouy RTD 8 (10) Mar 7, 1910 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Retained world bantamweight title
Won inaugural IBU bantamweight title
45 NC 32–8–1 (4) Johnny Summers ND 3 Apr 19, 1909 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
44 Loss 32–8–1 (3) Tommy O'Toole KO 2 (6) Mar 20, 1909 National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
43 Loss 32–7–1 (3) Al Delmont PTS 12 Mar 16, 1909 Armory A.A., Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
42 Loss 32–6–1 (3) Charlie Griffin TKO 8 (20) Apr 27, 1908 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
41 Win 32–5–1 (3) Cockney Cohen PTS 10 Dec 16, 1907 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
40 Loss 31–5–1 (3) Jim Driscoll KO 17 (20) Jun 3, 1907 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England For NSC British and 122lbs English featherweight titles
39 Win 31–4–1 (3) Harry Smith PTS 6 Mar 2, 1907 Public Hall, Canning Town, London, England
38 Win 30–4–1 (3) Harry Smith PTS 6 Feb 2, 1907 Public Hall, Barking Road, Canning Town, London, England
37 NC 29–4–1 (3) Young Bill Smith ND 3 Jan 21, 1907 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
36 Loss 29–4–1 (2) Jim Driscoll PTS 15 May 28, 1906 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Lost NSC British and 126lbs English featherweight titles
35 Draw 29–3–1 (2) Bill Fielder PTS 6 Mar 14, 1906 Glasgow, Scotland
34 Win 29–3 (2) Spike Robson PTS 20 Oct 23, 1905 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Retained NSC British and 122lbs English featherweight titles
33 Win 28–3 (2) Wally Pickard PTS 6 Jul 2, 1905 Nouveau Cirque, Paris, France
32 Win 27–3 (2) Pinky Evans PTS 20 May 29, 1905 National Sporting Club, London, England Retained world bantamweight title
31 NC 26–3 (2) Johnny Boyle ND 3 Apr 1, 1905 Waverley Market, Edinburgh, Scotland No decision trial bout
30 Win 26–3 (1) Pedlar Palmer TKO 12 (20) Mar 20, 1905 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Won vacant NSC British and 124lbs English featherweight titles
29 Win 25–3 (1) Frankie Neil PTS 20 Oct 17, 1904 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Won world bantamweight title
28 Win 24–3 (1) Owen Moran PTS 15 May 30, 1904 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Retained NSC British and 116lbs English bantamweight titles
27 Win 23–3 (1) Alf Fellows TKO 9 (15) Nov 9, 1903 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Won vacant British version of world 116lbs bantamweight title
26 NC 22–3 (1) Alf Fellows ND 3 Oct 19, 1903 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England No decision trial bout
25 Win 22–3 Bill King PTS 15 Oct 5, 1903 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Retained NSC British and 118lbs English bantamweight titles
24 Win 21–3 Andrew Dick Tokell PTS 15 May 25, 1903 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Retained NSC British and 118lbs English bantamweight titles
23 Win 20–3 Andrew Dick Tokell PTS 15 Mar 25, 1903 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Retained NSC British and 116lbs English bantamweight titles
22 Win 19–3 Harry Ware PTS 15 Dec 15, 1902 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England Won vacant NSC British and 118lbs English bantamweight titles
21 Win 18–3 Charlie Hickman KO 3 (15) Sep 16, 1902 Ginnetts Circus, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England
20 Win 17–3 Bill Fielder PTS 10 Jun 2, 1902 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
19 Win 16–3 Jack Guyon PTS 6 May 10, 1902 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
18 Win 15–3 Bill Lampshire PTS 10 Apr 21, 1902 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
17 Win 14–3 Harry Paul PTS 10 Mar 10, 1902 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
16 Win 13–3 Albert Wheeler RTD 5 (?) Feb 2, 1902 London, England
15 Win 12–3 Jack Guyon PTS 6 Dec 14, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
14 Loss 11–3 Jack Guyon PTS 6 Jan 21, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
13 Win 11–2 Bill Nicholson KO 1 (3) Jan 14, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
12 Win 10–2 Buck Shine PTS 3 Jan 14, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
11 Win 9–2 Wiliam Parry KO 3 (3) Jan 14, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
10 Win 8–2 John Ansell PTS 3 Jan 14, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
9 Win 7–2 Ernie Waterman PTS 3 Jan 12, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
8 Win 6–2 Dick Tarr RTD 2 (3) Jan 10, 1901 National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
7 Loss 5–2 Jim Pennington PTS 3 Jan 3, 1901 Boxing Club, Bolton, Lancashire, England
6 Win 5–1 Charlie Turner PTS 3 Jan 3, 1901 Boxing Club, Bolton, Lancashire, England
5 Win 4–1 Bill Doyle PTS 10 Jul 10, 1900 United Kingdom Exact date & location unknown
4 Win 3–1 Tom Owens PTS 10 Jun 10, 1900 United Kingdom Exact date & location unknown
3 Win 2–1 Pat Daly PTS 10 May 10, 1900 United Kingdom Exact date & location unknown
2 Win 1–1 Tom Perkins PTS 6 Jan 1, 1900 United Kingdom Exact date & location unknown
1 Loss 0–1 Billy Pennington PTS 4 Oct 31, 1899 Stalybridge Gymnastic Club, Stalybridge, Cheshire, England

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Lineal Bantamweight Champions". Cyber Boxing Zone.
  2. ^ a b New York Evening World, 2 January 1905
  3. ^ San Francisco Call, 24 April 1907
  4. ^ Maurice Golesworthy, The Encyclopaedia of Boxing, Robert Hale, London, 1960, pp. 35-36
  5. ^ a b Denis Fleming, The Manchester Fighters, Neil Richardson, Manchester, 1986, p. 3
  6. ^ Nat Fleischer, The Ring Record Book and Boxing Encyclopedia, Ring Book Shop, 1959, p.331
  7. ^ Washington Times, 20 October 1904
  8. ^ Police Gazette, 28 November 1903
  9. ^ New York Times, 18 October 1904
  10. ^ San Francisco Call, 7 November 1904
  11. ^ Los Angeles Herald, 29 April 1906
  12. ^ The Auburn, N.Y., Citizen, 26 February 1906
  13. ^ New York Evening World, 24 February 1906
  14. ^ Los Angeles Times, 14 April 1906
  15. ^ New York Times, 18 October 1910
  16. ^ New York Times, 29 October 1910
  17. ^ Guy Deghy, Noble and Manly: The History of the National Sporting Club, Hutchinson & Co., London, p. 184
  18. ^ New York Times, 18 February 1925
  19. ^ London Times, The Boxing Blog, 14 January 2008
  20. ^ Lewisham Archives Catalogue, 2003-2004, Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre, Lewisham Library, London
  21. ^ Harry Mullan, Heroes and Hard Men, Hutchinson, London, 1990, p. 14 ISBN 0-09-174167-X
  22. ^ San Francisco Call, 17 March 1907
  23. ^ Denis Fleming, The Manchester Fighters, Neil Richardson, Manchester, 1986, p. 3 ISBN 0-907511-97-X

External links[]

Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by
 British Bantamweight Champion
15 December 1902 – 17 October 1910 		Succeeded by
Preceded by British Featherweight Champion
20 March 1905 – 28 May 1906 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 European Bantamweight Champion
7 March 1910 – 17 October 1910 		Succeeded by
Major world boxing titles
Preceded by World Bantamweight Champion
17 October 1904 – October 1905
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Jimmy Walsh
Retrieved from ""