THE GREATNESS OF TOM MOLINEAUX [recycled]

Jack Johnson takes his rightful place as the first black heavyweight champion of the world. But, nearly one hundred years earlier, a freed American slave by the name of Tom Molineaux came within not one but two questionable occurrences of turning the trick.

Nearly everything we know of Molineaux comes from Pierce Egan's seminal work Boxiana, Volume I published around 1820. So much of what follows is taken from that book. Molineaux was the son of Zachary Molineaux, another slave who legend has it was unbeaten in his life as a fighter. Tom was born in 1784 in Georgetown, Virginia and was taught the sport by his father. Like his father before him Tom fought slaves from other plantations for the recreation of the slave-owners. The story goes that in 1807-1808 his owner won a huge bet on Tom, and in thanks granted Molineaux his freedom and $500, a huge sum in the day. Molineaux went to New York but struggled to find fights and in 1809 signed on as a sailor as a way to get to England.

Now boxing at this time was conducted under the Broughton Rules. The key components are that fights were bare knuckled, that a round ended either upon a knockdown or a throw (above the waist only), that both fighters then had 30 seconds to get to the center of the ring and that the fights were to the finish.

When Molineaux got to England two things happened. First he began to trash talk to get himself noticed. The second is he befriended Bill Richmond. Richmond was another freed slave who was probably the first prominent black boxer. He was known as the Black Terror. He went to England after the Revolutionary War as a servant of a British Nobleman. The best way to think about Richmond is as a fighter he was BHOP, smart, agile, slick and able to handle much larger men. Richmond himself was a small middleweight. He fought until he was 50 years of age. It is as a trainer that we care most about Richmond. He had a boxing academy and was so prominent as a trainer that he often seconded prominent white fighters, including champions.

Egan's description of Molineaux is fascinating mostly for its point of view. Molineaux isn't a threat because of his skin color, he is a threat because he isn't English! The idea of a non-Englishmen holding the crown animates the entire country. Molineaux stood a little over 5'8 and weighed between 185 and 200 pounds in his various fights. He is described as uneducated, bold, handsome, honorable and full of what Egan calls "Bottom." That word, one of my favorites, describes the combination of a man's "wind" (what we'd call fitness or stamina), his "fighting spirit" or "heart" (which words mean the same as those words do today), but also a third quality that Egan only implies. That is the ability to deal with the vagaries of luck, misfortune and injury and to keep coming. Bottom is a great word. Molineaux's style is offensive in nature and crude when he arrives in England. He principally relies on his strength. Bill Richmond will soon change that. Let's go through what we know of Molineaux's career.

Bristol-On July 24, 1810 Molineaux meets a 6' tall "robust man" in the city of Bristol. Though the man's name is lost to history, it is telling that his second is the reigning world champion Tom Cribb. After an hour of "milling" Molineaux has so hammered the Bristol Man that his face has not single recognizable feature left. Molineaux not only wins but he does so in fine style and he earns a step up the ladder.

Tom Blake-"Tough Tom" is renowned for his Bottom. On August 21, 1810 the two come together and again Champion Cribb is in Blake's corner. In the first round Molineaux drops Blake with a shot to back of the neck. In the second Blake lands his best punch and Molineaux is unfazed and begins to knock down Blake's guard with his left and dropping right hand bombs. By the fourth Molineaux is in command and Blake tries a new tactic, going to the body. But he simply cannot hurt the American and, like every other round thus far, is the man to fall. By the sixth Blake's face is a mass of gore, and in the seventh Blake makes his last stand and trades with Molineaux but again is dropped. Finally in the eighth round Molineaux moves strictly to the attack and knocks the game Blake unconscious.

What the commentary reveals is the impact of the training of Bill Richmond taking hold. Molineaux's Bottom had already been proven, as had his power, but now craft had been added. In the month between fights it seems The American had improved markedly. He was so impressive that at ringside it was widely held that he was a logical challenge to the champion Cribb. To Cribb's credit, he did not dispute the notion and a fight was set for December.

Tom Cribb, known as The Black Diamond, was a former British sailor who had gotten out of the service in 1805. He was the the first man who fought while moving backwards to be accepted as a fan favorite. He was about the same size as Molineaux. He had already beaten the legendary Jem Belcher twice as well as Tom Blake and Bob Gregson. Now 30 years old, Cribb is famous for his "scientific" skills and is thought to be the finest fighter ever to be champion.

Cribb-Molineaux I-On December 18, 1810 in Sussex, in a driving rain,the two men meet. The betting says Molineaux will be finished within 15 minutes. The festivities commence when to cheers Molineaux walks to the ring and throws his hat into it signalling a challenge. Minutes later Cribb does the same signalling acceptance. In the first round feinting is the order of the day, then Molineaux is thrown. In the second The champion staggers the challenger, gets a right in return. Cribb drops Molineaux with a bodyshot in the third. The fifth round saw infighting of the highest order that ends with Molineaux dropped to a knee. The ninth was the longest round yet with Cribb dominating and visibly dismayed by the beating Molineaux is able to absorb. Cribb's straight left is dominant and once again Molineaux is down and this time thought to be badly hurt. In the tenth Cribb resorts to his famous "milling on the retreat." The idea now is to settle in for a long fight and let Molineaux wear himself out. But in the twelfth The American begins a remarkable rally, chasing the champion and landing a hard right on Cribb and then throwing him. In the fourteenth Molineaux literally runs Cribb over with his body and then drops him, really drops him. The complexion of the fight has thoroughly changed. The fifteenth is a toe to toe round and now Cribb regains the momentum with a shot to Molineaux's throat.

The nineteenth round is where the questionable happenings begin. Egan states that at the beginning of the round both fighter's faces are so badly damaged that only their skin color makes them distinguishable. Cribb is on the retreat when Molineaux literally pins him on the ropes. The challenger has the champion in such a wrestling hold and the champion has so countered him that neither man can move. While the two men hold one another and the seconds of each try to figure out what to do, fans storm the ring and in the melee, though still tied up with Cribb, Molineaux breaks a finger. How'd you like to bare knuckle it with a busted finger? But in the scrum the positions have changed enough that Molineaux's free hand now lands several body blows and Cribb goes down. By the twenty sixth round (a little over a half hour of fighting) Molineaux's left eye is closed and the right eye is beginning to. In the twenty eighth round the second, and more famous, of the questionable events occurred. It is clear Molineaux badly hurt the champion and dropped him. After that things get a little fuzzy. At the referee's call of time Molineaux struggles to the line. Cribb stands, sways and falls. His seconds continue their work on him but at the second call by the referee Cribb is still not "up to scratch." There is a considerable school of thought that says at this point Tom Molineaux has won the fight and the championship. No one though has ever heard Molineaux make that claim. But before the referee calls a halt, Jem Ward, Cribb's second, accuses Molineaux of carrying "bullets" in his hands. Molineaux shows the referee his empty hands and Bill Richmond jumps Ward and a scrum ensues. It isn't clear how long all this has given Cribb to recover, but when the melee is over Cribb is able to continue. It is a tribute to his fitness and Bottom that Cribb now quickly asserts himself and takes over the fight. Molineaux can no longer really see and he tries to use wrestling skills from this point on. Though he fights bravely until the end, it is now a foregone conclusion. After 55 minutes and 39 rounds in a driving rain Tom Molineax says he has had enough.

The fight is so highly regarded and Molineaux is so undeterred that he sends a letter the next week to Cribb asking for a rematch, lamenting the rain in the last fight and fascinatingly writes (or probably has someone do on his behalf) "I express a confident hope that the circumstance of my being a different color to that of the peoples from whom I have sought protection will not in any way operate to my prejudice." It doesn't.

Rimmer-In May 1811, the American returns to the ring for I guess what one would call a tune-up. But I don't think those really existed in bare knuckle contests. While Rimmer is game and does some damage, Molineux clearly controls the action and in 21 rounds he is the winner.

Cribb II-The major difference in the second fight is how the fighters trained. Molineaux, needing money, travels, spars and is now seen as a threat to British supremacy and so now meets with hostility wherever he goes and he takes refuge in pubs and brothels. He comes into the second fight almost fifteen pounds lighter, none of it for good reason. Cribb, on the other hand, has gone through the most rigorous training at an English country estate while not having to worry about a thing. Cribb came into the second fight also ten pounds lighter, but in the peak of fitness. 20,000 fans watch this rematch in September, 1811. For about five rounds Molineaux puts up a great battle but his lack of fitness tells from then on. In the ninth Cribb breaks Molineaux's jaw and it is over for all intents and purposes. But Cribb allows the American extra time to recover and to make sure no questions exist this time around. The fight continues and Molineaux is knocked cold at the 19 minute mark in the eleventh round.

Tom Molineaux has left America, alone, traveled to England, alone, talked himself into prominence, alone, fought gamely and skillfully for the championship, was probably robbed of what should have been his, and now will go into decline, alone. He has several more fights, wins all but one, has a dreadful falling out with Bill Richmond for which he is arrested, goes broke, moves to Ireland, becomes a drunkard and in 1818, at only 34, dies of liver failure.

The story of Tom Molineaux is as inspiring and as sad as any in the history of the sport. Let me leave you with a few of Pierce Egan's words.

Molineaux proved himself as courageous a man as ever an adversay contended with...he astonished everyone not only with his extraordinary power of hitting and his gigantic strength, but also by his acquaintance with the science, which was far greater than any had given him credit for.

Tom Molineaux was inducted into the HOF in 1997

yep the real old old pioneer years indeed..tom and cribb were probably the most recognized names of that era ..the amazing thing is a 19 minute round.good report.