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FW Recap
First, to respond to Lee's last post: No, right now the plans for Dempsey are to milk the KO streak as there are plenty of HWs out there without having to mix it up (and risk an undesirable loss) with the likes of Langford, Jeannette, Wills or McVey. So the decision not to rush to a title bout is similar to how I "managed" Benny Leonard, who did emerge as LW champ but only after his 20th bout when he reached Prime career stage.
Now, here is the FW historical retrospective. The WBA Champions:
Torpedo Billy Murphy 1886-87
Fred Johnson 1887-89
Abe Willis 1889
Young Griffo 1889-92, 1895-96, 1897-98, 1902-03
Solly Smith 1892-93, 1898
Jack Skelly 1893, 1894-95
Frank Murphy 1893-94
Johnny Griffin 1894
Ben Jordan 1896-97, 1899-1900
George Dixon 1897, 1898-99
Dave Sullivan 1898, 1900
Harry Lyons 1899, 1900
Young Corbett 1900-01
Oscar Gardner 1901
Aurelio Herrera 1901-02
Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan 1902
Abe Attell 1903-05, 1907-14
Jem Driscoll 1905-06
Terry McGovern 1906-07
Jimmy Walsh 1914-15
Eugene Criqui 1915
Johnny Kilbane 1915-
A total of 22 (!) different WBA titleholders in the FW division. Young Griffo in the early years and Attell more recently have been the two dominant performers. (Attell has recently regained the crown in 1916, another victory over Kilbane!) Many of these guys held the belt for a very short time, indicative of the fact that most of the RL FWs from the early years were fairly evenly matched ratings-wise, except for Attell and perhaps also Griffo. Dixon and McGovern advanced from the BW ranks to claim the FW crown, with the difference being Dixon had also been World BW champ whereas McGovern had failed to capture the BW crown. Driscoll went on to win the LW title in addition to the WBA FW belt.
All-Time Records
Most Bouts
Young Griffo 90
George Dixon 83
Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan 75
Solly Smith 74
Fred Johnson 71
Active: BT Sullivan 75 Abe Attell 68 Owen Moran 63 Cove, Hayes 55
Most Wins
Young Griffo 75
Abe Attell 63
George Dixon 58
Harry Lyons 51
Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan 46
Active: Attell 63 BT Sullivan 46 O Moran 41 Hayes 37
Most KO Wins
Fred Johnson 34
Terry McGovern 33
Benny Soloman, Johnny Griffin, Young Griffo 29
Active: BT Sullivan 25 Attell 24 Hayes 22 Eddie O'Keefe 17
Consecutive Wins
Young Griffo 31
Abe Attell 27
Fred Johnson 21
Harry Lyons 18
Benny Soloman, Eddie O'Keefe 17
Active: Attell 27 E O'Keefe 17 Many 11
Consecutive KO Wins
Frank Murphy 13
Benny Soloman 12
Harry Lyons, George Chaney, Johnny Griffin, Johnny Kilbane 10
Active: Kilbane, Chaney 10 E O'Keefe 8 Attell 7
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