He was one of a handful of men who retired with an “official” unbeaten record. The others were Young Mitchell, Jimmy Barry, and Rocky Marciano.
JACK
McAULIFFE ... "Quick As Greased Lightning"
By Tracy Callis
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Jack McAuliffe boxed during the
years when fighting was evolving from the use of bare knuckles to gloves.
Sugar (1982 p 31) wrote, “Jack McAuliffe was a lightweight superstar
during the transitional period when boxing shifted from the bareknuckle
era to adaptation of the Marquis of Queensberry rules.” He was one of a handful of men who retired with an “official” unbeaten record. The others were Young Mitchell, Jimmy Barry, and Rocky Marciano. |
McAuliffe was a product
of the “new school of pugilism” and an exponent of the more polished boxing
style - a heady, crafty, intelligent boxer who (like Gene Tunney years later)
studied the every move, tactic, and tendency of his opponents. He was blessed
with that wonderful, natural gift of extreme quickness, was light on his feet
and employed springy, bouncy, brisk movements.
Jack was an active
puncher who not only boxed cleverly but slugged it out with stiff punches too.
He was a master strategist, not a terribly crunching, power-hitter but possessed
a wicked, sharply-driven, straight left jab that cut opponents up much like
Ezzard Charles could do to his foes in more recent times. Mee (1997 p 236)
called Jack “Quick-thinking, sharp-punching, and an expert ring general.”
Haldane (1967 p 168)
described McAuliffe, “undoubtedly a sterling pugilist, who was not called the
‘the Napoleon of the Ring’ for nothing. He could fight as well as box and he
was as hard and durable as any man of his time, for these were the days of
two-ounce driving gloves.”
McAuliffe was born in
Ireland and moved to Bangor, Maine in this country as a young child. He grew up
in a rough neighborhood and learned to scrap there. After a few years, his
family moved to Williamsburg, NY and, as a youth, he worked as a barrel-maker.
There, he met another young man who liked to box
and became good friends with this fellow worker, who had a natural gift for the
fistic game. His friend taught him many secrets about the sport. The name of
this friend was Jack Dempsey, who went on to become one of the all-time greats
of the ring as “the Nonpareil”.
What the “Nonpareil” taught McAuliffe was
invaluable and Jack often had Dempsey in his corner during fights – giving him
advice. Fleischer (1944 p 35) wrote that Jack “always trusted the
Nonpareil’s good judgment and felt the odds to be in his favor whenever
Dempsey was in his corner.”
| Dempsey soon won the
Lightweight Championship of America and, later, when he gave it up to fight at a
heavier weight, he “named” McAuliffe as an outstanding claimant for the
vacated title. This gesture gave credence to Jack’s ability as a fighter and
when he joined up with Billy Madden and toured the country, whipping many
“comers”, his claim of champion was enhanced. |
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Jack then proceeded to
challenge Jimmy Mitchell, a talented and popular pugilist of the time, to fight
for the crown, and when Mitchell refused, many acknowledged McAuliffe as
champion. Victories over Jack Hopper, Billy Frazier, and the Canadian champion,
Harry Gilmore, solidified Jack’s claim as Lightweight Champion.
Johnston (1936 p 302)
recorded that Jack “quickly demonstrated his right to the crown. He took on
all the men in the class who challenged him and disposed of them all.”
As champion, he liked
the high life, good food, and fine clothes. He also loved the race tracks and
was addicted to gambling habits. McCallum (1975 pp 225 227) called him “the
Dapper Dan of the ring” and “the Beau Brummel of the sports world”.
Accordingly, he did not take to training too well and never over trained. On a
number of occasions he came in heavier than planned - but he was such a talented
fighter, it usually did not matter.
During his career,
McAuliffe beat such talented fighters as Joe Ellingsworth, Billy Ellingsworth,
Jack Hopper (twice), Charles “Bull” McCarthy (twice), Billy Frazier (twice),
Harry Gilmore, Billy Dacey, Paddy Smith, Jimmy Carroll (twice), Austin Gibbons,
Billy Myer (twice), Horace Leeds, and had a controversial win over Young Griffo
(see below).
In a nip-and-tuck
battle with scrappy Harry Gilmore in January of 1887, McAuliffe
knocked out the Canadian Champion in what many boxing veterans of that
day called “the fiercest and most exciting fight they had ever seen between
star lightweights” (see Fleischer 1944 p 34).
While McAuliffe
officially had an unbeaten record during his career, there were three fights in
which he may not have been the better man. In November of 1887, at Revere,
Massachusetts, he fought Jem Carney of England in a 74-round contest. Jack was
the much better boxer but Jem was aggressive and rough. The fight turned into a
war of dirty tactics with several knockdowns and plenty of blood, kneeing, and
eye-gouging.
Many feel that Carney was better in this fight and
was proving to be stronger in the last few rounds that were fought. Jack
appeared very tired when his supporters, tired of the questionable tactics by
Carney, broke into the ring during the final session. The referee stopped the
fight and promptly declared the fight a “draw” in a controversial decision.
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The fight ended in a
draw after 64 hard fought rounds but from all accounts, Myer was better. Billy
once said “I know that I could have whipped him that night at North
Judson [even though] he might now knock me silly in five minutes” (see
Chicago Tribune, Feb 16 1889).
Jack later avenged
himself in a second bout by knocking Myer out. Afterwards, in a third match, he
convincingly whipped Billy again.
When Young Griffo came
to America, Jack met him in a ten-rounder in August of 1892 and came away with
the official decision. However, Jack afterwards said “he’d been beaten in
the Coney Island set-to” (see McCallum 1975 p 263).
In 1890, McAuliffe took
on Jimmy Carroll, who had backed George LaBlanche against the “Nonpareil”
Jack Dempsey when LaBlanche used the “pivot blow” to beat the outstanding
Champion. Being a close and loyal friend of Dempsey, McAuliffe took the fight in
a very personal way and poured it on Carroll, finally knocking him out (see
Johnston 1936 p 306).
While working in the
corner of the great John L. Sullivan at New Orleans against Jim Corbett in
September of 1892, Sullivan told McAuliffe that everyone gets “his” sooner
or later and advised Jack to retire before it happened to him. Jack wisely took
his advice (see Johnston 1936 p 308).
Mee (1997 p 236) wrote, “Jack McAuliffe was a great lightweight although historians argue over his rightful status simply because of the chaotic nature of the sport when he was claiming to be champion of the world.” He added, “Nobody denies that McAuliffe was extraordinarily talented.”
Harry Gilmore, a great lightweight fighter of that
day, Canadian Lightweight Champion, and “Professor of Boxing” in his Chicago
school for many years once said, “To a greater degree than any other
Lightweight Champion I have known, Jack McAuliffe outclassed the best men of his
day.” He went on to say, “On top of that, he was a lightning thinker, and as
fine a general as ever performed between the ropes” (Fleischer 1944 p 6)
|
Haldane (1967 p 225) ranked McAuliffe along with
Joe Gans, Benny Leonard, and Battling Nelson as the greatest lightweights who
ever fought while Jimmy Johnston, President of the National Sports Alliance,
named Jack as the #1 All-Time Lightweight (The Ring, May 1926 pp 12 13). Spider Kelly, oldtime trainer (The Ring,
Oct 1924 p 14) said, “Jack McAuliffe was the best lightweight that ever lived.
I’ve seen them all and boxed with Gans, Everhardt, Lavigne, Griffo, and many
others, but to my way of thinking McAuliffe was far above any of them. He was as
strong as a bull, clever, could hit like a middleweight, and had a great head on
him.” |
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In an article in The
Ring by Tom Ephrem (June 1939), Billy Myer, having seen all the lightweights
up to that time, still rated “McAuliffe as the greatest of all lightweights,
past or present.”
In the opinion of this writer, McAuliffe was the
#6 All-Time Lightweight, perhaps a shade below the likes of Benny Leonard, Joe
Gans, Roberto Duran, Henry Armstrong, and Aaron Pryor. “Napoleon Jack” is in
a class with Packey McFarland, Barney Ross, Tony Canzoneri, and Pernell
Whitaker. Not bad company!
 |
The following is a tribute to McAuliffe (from
Fleischer 1944 p 1): Napoleon,
war-master, was a terror to his foes, It
was a fitting sobriquet for one whose clever wits |
Credits:
A special thanks to Mark Dunn (of Bloomington, Illinois) for supplying pertinent
data related to Jack McAuliffe. His tedious and thorough search of the Chicago
(Il) Tribune, the Bloomington (Il) Bulletin and Daily, the Peoria (Il) Daily
Transcript, Herald-Telegraph, and Journal, and the St. Louis (Mo) Post-Dispatch
newspapers of the 1880s and 1890s is greatly appreciated.
References
Chicago Tribune.
Feb 16 1889. “Myer Anxious to Fight” (contained in the Chicago Tribune,
Feb 16 1889 issue)
Curley, J. Jun 1926. “Tommy Ryan Greatest
Fighter of All Time …“ (contained in The Ring, Jun 1926 pp 4, 5, 13).
Ephrem, T. Jun
1939. “Billy Myer, The Streator Cyclone” (contained in The Ring
magazine, Jun 1939 issue). The Ring Publishing Corp.
Fleischer, N. 1944. Jack
McAuliffe (The Napoleon of the Prize Ring). New York: The Ring Publishing
Corp.
Haldane,
R.A. 1967. Champions and Challengers. London: Stanley Paul and Co.
Johnston,
A. 1936. Ten - And Out! New York: Ives Washburn, Publisher
Johnston, J. May 1926.
“Jimmy Johnston Names Greatest Fighters of All Time …“ (contained in The
Ring, May 1926 pp 12, 13).
Kelly, S. Oct 1924.
“Greatest Fighters as Viewed by a Veteran“ (contained in The Ring,
Oct 1924 p 14).
McCallum, J. 1975. The
Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions. Radnor, Pa: Chilton Book Company
Mee, B. 1997. Boxing:
Heroes & Champions. Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books, Inc.
Sugar, B. 1982. 100
Years of Boxing. New York: Gallery Press
Stillman, M. 1920. Great
Fighters and Boxers. New York: Marshall Stillman Association.
Van Court, D. 1926
The Making of Champions in California. Los Angeles: Premier Printing
Company