Charles Henry "Jack" Blackburn (May 20, 1883 – April 24, 1942) was an American boxer and boxing trainer. Fighting in the first half of his career as a lightweight and later a welterweight, he was known for an exceptional defense and fought many men above his weight class, including six bouts with the great Sam Langford. He fought Joe Gans three times in no-decision bouts, defeating him once according to newspaper accounts and made good showings against Harry Lewis, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, and Harry Greb. He found most of his fame training 1937 World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, but also had a significant role in training 1926 Lightweight Champion Sammy Mandell. He helped to train World Bantamweight Champion Bud Taylor and World Light-Heavyweight Champion John Henry Lewis as well."Jack Blackburn, Louis Trainer, Dies in Chicago", The Courier Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, pg. 14, April 25, 1942
Early life and career
Birth in Versailles, Kentucky, May 1883 Blackburn was born the son of a minister on May 20, 1883, in Versailles, Kentucky. At the age of ten he moved to Indiana, where he was raised in Indianapolis and Terre Haute. In one of his earliest bouts, according to the Pittsburgh Courier, he knocked out Eddie Gardner, brother of the better known Oscar, in eleven rounds in 1899. Frank Sutton was his trainer for a large portion of his career after Blackburn came to Pittsburgh to box around 1903. At one time Sutton operated a boxing club on Ross Street in Pittsburgh, though Blackburn did much of his mid-career boxing in Philadelphia.Blackburn, Jack, "How I trained Joe Louis to Beat Carnera", The Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 14, July 20, 1935
Blackburn fought 147 recorded professional fights, often against considerably heavier opponents, though many of his fights were never recorded. He fought notable boxing legends Joe Gans, Sam Langford, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Panama Joe Gans, and Harry Greb and finished with a final record omitting newspaper decisions of 99–26–19. After retiring from boxing around 1923, he became a trainer, most notably of legendary heavyweight champion Joe Louis.
Bouts with Black Philadelphian boxer Dave Holly Blackburn met Black Philadelphia boxer Dave Holly on at least five occasions. He first met Holly on May 4, 1903, drawing with him in a newspaper decision at the Sports Club in Philadelphia. Blackburn likely lost to Holly in a close six-round newspaper decision on November 21, 1903, at the National Athletic Club in Philadelphia. On August 26, 1904, three Philadelphia newspapers considered Blackburn the victor over Holly in a close six-round match at the Manhattan Athletic Club in Philadelphia. On January 20, 1905, the two met again in a no-decision bout in Philadelphia.
On January 10, 1906, Blackburn defeated Holly at the National Sporting Club in Wilmington, Delaware, in a close six-round newspaper decision. Blackburn floored Holly with a right to the jaw in the second round, but in the third Holly sent Blackburn to the mat for a count. In the fourth through the sixth, the Pittsburgh Press considered Blackburn to have the advantage, though the fighting was close. On October 11, 1906, the Philadelphia Item considered Blackburn the victor over Holly in a six-round match at the Broadway Athletic Club in Philadelphia. All of these matches were likely originally no-decision bouts."Jack Blackburn Won", Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 14, January 11, 1906 Holly was a Black Philadelphian boxer who would meet Sam Langford and Joe Gans on several occasions, including a bout with Joe Gans in a World Lightweight Championship bout on July 23, 1906.
Boxing career highlights
Bouts with World Lightweight Champion Joe Gans
Boxing with a three-inch reach advantage on November 2, 1903, Blackburn impressively defeated the great World Lightweight Champion Joe Gans in a close non-title, six-round newspaper decision at the Washington Sporting Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Blackburn was actually down in the first round from a short right to the jaw, but fought on gamely. Blackburn scored frequently with straight lefts to Gans, as well as blows to the body."The World of Sport", Harrisburgh Telegraph, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, pg. 6, November 3, 1903 On March 25, 1904, Blackburn lost to Joe Gans in Baltimore, Maryland in a fifteen-round points decision. The Philadelphia Item noted that "Gans won easily". It was Blackburn's first loss by decision, but it was to one of the greatest black lightweights in history.
On December 31, 1903, boxing as a light welterweight at 142, Blackburn lost to 1907 World Welterweight Champion Mike "Twin" Sullivan at the Chelsea Athletic Club in Chelsea, Massachusetts in fifteen rounds in the opinion of most of the Boston newspapers. The bout was most likely a pre-arranged draw.
On January 8, 1904, Blackburn drew with Black boxer Sam Bolen in a close fifteen-round decision at Shlegel's Hall in Baltimore, Maryland. The Scranton Republican felt strongly that Bolen had the better of the bout in every round but the second, when he was briefly down on the mat."Met in the Ring", The Scranton Republican, Scranton, Pennsylvania, pg. 1, January 9, 1904 He fought Bolen one other time, in a six-round win by newspaper decision on December 3, 1904, before the National Athletic Club in Philadelphia.
On October 13, 1905, Blackburn fought a fifteen-round pre-arranged draw at the Marlborough Theatre in Marborough, Massachusetts, with Black New York based boxer Larry Temple. A talented adversary, Temple would fight Joe Walcott, Sam Langford, and Harry Lewis in his career. Blackburn fought Temple on September 4, 1905, in a twelve-round draw in Sharon Pennsylvania, sandwiched between two bouts with Sam Langford.
Boxing later on June 9, 1906, Blackburn lost to Gans in a six-round bout decided in Gans' favor by newspaper decision at the National Athletic Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Boston Morning Journal wrote that "Gans showed that he was his opponent's master in every department of the game."
Bouts with future World Colored Middleweight Champion Sam Langford Blackburn fought the extraordinary Sam Langford a noteworthy six times in his career. On December 23, 1903, perhaps in one of his most memorable fights, Blackburn met Langford for the first time in a twelve-round pre-arranged draw at the Central Athletic Club in Boston, Massachusetts. Three local Boston papers, including the Boston Globe and Herald wrote that Blackburn likely had the better of the bout. On January 11, 1904, Blackburn and Langford fought a six-round draw at the Washington Sporting Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On September 9, 1904, Blackburn drew with Langford at the Marlborough Opera House in Marlborough, Massachusetts in a fifteen-round points decision. The fight was sensational, and Blackburn may have been outweighed by Langford by well over thirty pounds.
On September 20, 1905, in front of a substantial crowd of 600, at the Lyric Athletic Club in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Blackburn and Langford met in a ten-round draw. The boxing was fierce and drew blood and both boxers had the better of their opponent at times, with Langford finding a way to counter the keen left of Blackburn. In the third round Blackburn was doubled over the ropes by Langford, and may have been out but for the bell."Jack Blackburn and Sam Langford Draw", The St. Louis Post Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, pg. 16, September 21, 1905
Gans and Blackburn met earlier on August 18, 1905, in Leiperville, Pennsylvania, in what was considered a great bout, though Blackburn lost in a fifteen-round points decision. Langford would rightfully claim the World Colored Heavyweight Championship when Jack Johnson vacated it in July 1909, and defend it for several fights, though he would be denied a chance at Johnson's new World Heavyweight Title. Langford would take the World Colored Middleweight Championship defeating Young Peter Jackson in a twenty-round bout on November 12, 1907, at the Pacific Athletic Club in Los Angeles.
Wins over Jimmy Gardner, Blink McCloskey, and George Cole 1904–07 On January 2, 1904, Blackburn defeated well known light and welterweight Jimmy Gardner at the Central Athletic Club in Boston, Massachusetts in a twelve-round points decision.
On September 14, 1904, Blackburn defeated prolific Jewish Philadelphian boxer Blink McCloskey in a six-round newspaper decision by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Record. McCloskey was a boxer of considerable ability and usually lost only to boxers of considerable talent.
On June 10, 1905, Blackburn first met Black Philadelphian boxer George Cole in Philadelphia, losing in a six-round newspaper decision of the Philadelphia Item. Cole's win was something of an upset. On January 1, 1907, Blackburn decisively won his first newspaper decision over Cole at the Philadelphia Athletic Club, giving Cole a "bad whipping". On June 7, 1907, at the New Pen Art Club in Philadelphia, Blackburn won again in a six-round newspaper decision over Cole.
Ten bouts with Black boxer George Gunther On January 3, 1906, Blackburn first met Black boxer George Gunther at New Castle, Pennsylvania in a fifteen-round bout, defeating him in the opinion of several newspapers. On January 31, 1906, Blackburn defeated Gunther by newspaper decision in a ten-round bout in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, though Blackburn was down in both the third and sixth rounds. Fighting as a 132-pound lightweight, Blackburn was outweighed by ten pounds though having a three-inch height advantage.St Louis Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, pg. 14, February 1, 1906 On February 7 he would defeat Gunther in a six-round newspaper decision in Pittsburgh in the opinion of three Pittsburgh newspapers as well as the smaller Newcastle Herald."Blackburn Won", New Castle Herald, New Castle, Pennsylvania, pg. 6, February 8, 1906 He would meet Gunther a total of ten times drawing with him once, and fighting many close bouts in which he was usually the victor in the opinions of most newspapers.
In their December 6, 1907, bout, Blackburn knocked out Gunther in the fifth round at the Industrial Athletic Club in Philadelphia. After sidestepping a rush by Gunther, Blackburn's knockout blow was the result of a well-timed right on Gunther's jaw. The fifth saw some heavy blows on both sides."Blackburn Knocked Out George Gunther", Evening Star, Washington, D.C., pg. 9, December 7, 1907 In their April 18, 1907, six round bout at the Broadway Athletic Club in Philadelphia, Blackburn had the better of the close match, in the opinion of the Philadelphia Item but was still battered by the end. Gunther was dropped for a count of nine in the second, but showed a slight advantage in the remaining rounds and took the lead in the sixth when Blackburn showed fatigue."Blackburn in a Hard Battle", The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 26, April 19, 1907 On May 23, 1907, against at Philadelphia's Broadway Athletic Club, Blackburn fought what the local papers ruled a draw with Gunther, though the Pittsburgh Press felt a hard left hook to Gunther's face in the fourth gave him the advantage in the bout."Australian Got a Beating", The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pg. 26, May 24, 1907 Gunther would face many great boxers in his career including Sam Langford, Harry Lewis, and George Carpentier in France.
Bouts with Jim Barry, July, September 1907