[JCWeb]

Thanks for the encouraging comments. Now on to the final installment covering the first 25 years for the BW Division.

51 World Title Bouts
title changed hands 5 times
6 different champs

Title Lineage (number successful defenses in parens):

1888 - 1889 Johnny Murphy (1)
1889 - 1892 George Dixon (7)
1892 - 1895 Nunc Wallace (7)
1895 - 1897 Cal McCarthy (3)
1897 - 1901 Jimmy Barry (14)
1901 - Harry Harris (13)

A pretty short list with a much more "orderly" transition of title holders than seen in other divisions (i.e. HW and FW, for example). This actually looks more like what you might see in a boxing history book for some of these divisions! Dixon, as IRL, moved up to FW shortly after losing the title to Wallace in 1892. McCarthy also dabbled in the FW division but mostly I kept him as a BW. Murphy, Wallace and McCarthy did not hold the BW crown IRL whereas the other three did. Several BW contenders who were title-holders/or claimants IRL who did not claim the belt in my uni included Tommy Kelly, Chappie Moran, Terry McGovern (lost in 4 title shots, 2 each to Barry and Harris), Brits Pedlar Palmer and Billy Plimmer and three active boxers (Bowker, Neil and Forbes) who still have a chance once the current champ, Harris, starts to age in 1907. (Hughey Boyle, an early title claimant, was not in my DB.) One highlight here has been the rivalry between Barry and Harris, who met only once IRL (1899, the final bout of Barry's undefeated career) and going into 1906 it stands at two wins apiece and one draw in the five 15-round title bouts, with all five going the distance.

Jan 1906 Top Ten Ratings
WBA Champ: Harry Harris (USA) 37-14-1 (24)
1. Jimmy Barry 52-2-2 (38)
2. Al Delmont 15-3 (9)
3. Phil McGovern 21-6-1 (7)
4. Harry Forbes 25-13-1 (10)
5. Biz Mackey 17-3-1 (7)
6. Owen Moran 20-3 (12)
7. Joe Bowker 18-7-1 (11)
8. Hugh McGovern 15-5-1 (8)
9. Kid Beebe 15-10-1 (6)
10. Tommy Feltz 18-9-1 (12)

Lesser Titles:
NABF: Barry (USA)
USBA: P McGovern (USA)
CBU: Moran (UK)
GBU: Bowker (UK)
EBU: Thomas Pedlar Palmer (UK) 29-22-3 (19) ranked 12th

Barry at Post-Prime, Delmont at Pre-Prime for two more bouts, others are at Prime. It would be ironic if one of the "other" McGoverns came away with the Title when their Hall Of Fame counterpart "Terrible Terry" could not. Barry's situation presents a stern test of my aging system. He has managed to hang on now for almost 7 years past his real life retirement year of 1899. Right now I plan to make no adjustments, but if the database becomes clogged with too many older boxers I may have to re-think it. (I do have a rule that boxers will a losing record are subject to retirement roles, but so far that has only come into play once as most have padded their records with so many wins versus TCs early on to prevent this.)

Retired List (7 so far, Casper Leon to be added and Barry will be there some time...)

Chappie Moran (UK) 1889-1897 22-16 (10) No Titles
Tommy Kelly (USA) 1888-1899 28-14-2 (22) USBA Champ
Cal McCarthy (USA) 1886-1899 33-15-1 (29) WBA Champ
Johnny Murphy (USA) 1885-1901 39-16-3 (30) WBA Champ
Walter Croot (UK) 1887-1901 39-18-1 (28) EBU and CBU Champ
Nunc Wallace (UK) 1885-1904 55-14-5 (34) WBA Champ
Billy Plimmer (UK) 1889-1904 35-18-3 (25) CBU, GBU Champ

This concludes the historical retrospective of the first 25 years of action. Next report will cover the year 1906, which I am a couple of days away from wrapping up.