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FOR RARE, HARD-TO-FIND BOXING ITEMS SUCH AS, POSTERS,

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UNIQUE ITEMS.

PLEASE CONTACT LOU MANFRA AT 718-979-9556 OR

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no.260july-august 2011

Tom Sharkey (above), Chappie Moran, Jack Taylor, Richie Mitchelland Denis kicks off, "Nolan's World." Heeee's baaaack. And you'll never guess what he's got to show you from his collection (no peeking).

The Gallery

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JO SPORTS, INC. - Craig HamiltonP.O. Box 607Brookhaven, NY 11719Phone/fax 631-286-0970Email: craig@josportsinc.com

TERMS:1. Please add $8.00 for postage. Foreign orders billed separately.2. NYS residents add 8.625% sales tax.3. All autographs are guaranteed for life.4. Check or money order payable to: JO Sports, Inc.5. Visa, Mastercard & American Express accepted.6. Paypal to our account: chamiton@aol.com (no L in account name)7. Payment is due within 10 days of order.

JO SPORTS, INC. BOXING SALEVISIT OUR WEBSITE:www.josportsinc.comThousands Of Boxing Items For Sale!

SPECIAL ITEMS:1. ALI-MAC FOSTER ON SITE POSTER (1972):April 1,

1972; 20 ¼” x 28 ½”; Excellent.$5,0002. OSCAR BONAVENA SIGNED PHOTO:5” x 7 ¼” inscribed

photo in blue marker; Excellent.$3003. “PANAMA” AL BROWN INK SIGNATURE:Ink signature

on 3 ½” x 4 ½” album page; Circa 1931; Excellent.$3754. GEORGES CARPENTIER ORIGINAL POSTER: 47 ½” x

63” artistic poster by Don; On linen; Circa 1920’s; Excel-lent.$3,500

5. JAMES J.CORBETT EYE OF DEATH POSTER (1919):40” x 78” lithographic poster on linen; Circa 1919; Excel-lent.$2,500

6. JAMES J. JEFFRIES INK SIGNATURE:Bold ink 3 ½” long signature on blank back of letter. Circa 1948; Excellent.$750

7. STANLEY KETCHEL INK SIGNATURE ON POSTCARD:Signed in ink, “Young Ketchel.” Postcard to Ol-lie Ketchel dated 1905.Extremely rare. Excellent Condition. 3 ½” x 5 ½.”$7,500

8. JERRY QUARRY FIGHT WORN ROBE (FRAZIER FIGHT-1969):June 23, 1969; Pinkish red; Knee length; Ex-cellent. Video & LOA.$2,500

9. JOHN L. SULLIVAN INK SIGNATURE (1894):Bold ink signature dated Nov. 4th, 1894. 2 ¾” x 5.” Excellent.$1,750

10. DEMPSEY-GIBBONS ORIGINAL PANORAMA PHOTO

(1923):July 4, 1923; 8” x 30 ¼”; Excellent. $3,500

WANTED:Autographs, Antique & Wire Photos, Cabinet Cards, Rare Books, Posters, Programs, Tick-ets, Championship Belts, Awards & Trophies, Fight Worn Equipment, Advertising Pieces and Bound Volumes of The Ring, Boxing Il-lustrated, Boxing & Wrestling and The Police Gazette (pre-1930). Loose copies of The ring and Police Gazette pre 1930 only if clean.

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LES WOLFF SPORTS, LLCPO. Box 917, Plainview, NY 11803 - (516) 933-7787 - Fax (516) 933-7747

email LWolff1823@aol.comAppraising, Auctioning, Collecting, Buying, Selling, and Trading Sports memorabilia

since 1970Visit my website: Leswolffsportsllc.com

How much is it really worth? Don't wait, call today for you appraisal

Les Wolff, LLC Memorabilia

67 Mustafa Hamsho full cancelled check $50 68 Larry Hazzard 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $75 69 Clarence Henry 8”x10” color and BxW magazine photos auto-

graphed personalized $50 70 Against All Odds autographed book by Larry Holmes $50 71 Larry Holmes 8”x10” UPI, 8”x10” color photos autographed $50

each72 Larry Holmes typed letter good content autographed $50 73 Evander Holyfi eld 8”x10” autographed color photo $150 74 Akihko Honda 8”x10” BxW photo autographed in Japanese very

tough autograph of the new hofer $150 75 Al Hostak 8”x10” color and BxW magazine photos autographed

personalized $50 76 Sultan Ibragimov 8”x10” autographed color photo Heavyweight

Champion $100 77 Sultan Ibragimov/Wladamir Klitschko autographed by both on a

window card from the 2/23/08 fi ght $150 78 Beau Jack 8”x10” BxW magazine 3 different autographed $40 79 Ingemar Johansson 8”x10” BxW photos autographed $75 80 Kevin Johnson 8”x10” autographed color photo The King-Pin $75 81 Vitali Klitschko 8”x10” autographed color photo $75 82 Raging Bull by Jake LaMotta autographed Library copy $75 83 Jake LaMotta 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed signed Rag-

ing Bull personalized $75 84 Roland LaStarza 8”x10” color magazine autographed personalized

$100 85 Rex Layne 3x4 BxW magazine photo autographed $25 86 Sugar Ray Leonard 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed or SI

cover autographed $50 87 Gus Lesnevich 8”x10” BxW photo autographed personalized $75 88 Lennox Lewis 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 89 Sergei Liakhovich 8”x10” autographed color photo of the newest

heavy weight championship from Russia $150 90 Danny Little Red Lopez 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $100 91 Ricardo Lopez 8”x10” autographed color photo $25 92 Tommy Loughran 8”x10” BxW magazine photo autographed person-

alized $100 93 Sammy Mandell 3”x5” autograph with special inscription former

light weight champion of the world $100 94 Rocky Marciano 3”x5” autograph or album page Absolutely mint

$750 each95 Sergio Martinez 2 different 8”x10” color photos autographed $75

each96 Vince Martinez 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed personal-

ized $50 97 Oleg Maskaev 8”x10” autographed color photo. New Heavy Weight

Champion. $150 98 Harry Kid Matthews 8”x10” color magazine photo and 3”x5” BxW

magazine photos autographed $50 each99 Joey Maxim 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed personalized

or 5”x7” BxW magazine photo autographed $75 each100 Barry McGuigan BxW postcard picture autographed $75 101 Jimmy McLarnin 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $75 102 Brian Mitchell 8”x10” BxW photo autographed New Boxing HOFer

$150 103 Erik Morales 2 different 8”x10” color photos autographed $40 each104 Sugar Shane Mosely 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 105 Ken Norton 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $50

106 Mogens Palle 8”x10” BxW photo autographed of Boxing's Newest HOFer from Denmark $75

107 Laszlo Papp BxW postcard photo autographed $75 108 Floyd Patterson 8”x10” BxW photo personalized, 2 different BxW

postcard pictures autographed $100 each109 Floyd Patterson 8”x10” BxW photo and color magazine both auto-

graphed and NOT personalized $125 110 Willie Pep 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $50 111 Willie Pep 4 different 5”x7” BxW magazine photos autographed $50

each112 Samuel Peter 8”x10” autographed color photo 5 different poses WBC

Heavy Weight Champion $100 113 Franco de Piccoli 2 different 5”x7” BxW magazine photos auto-

graphed. 1960 Olympic Gold medal heavy weight champion $100 each

114 Jerry Quarry 5”x7” color and BxW magazine photos autographed $100 each

115 Sugar Ray Robinson cut autograph personalized $150 116 Edwin Rosario 8”x10” BxW magazine photo autographed of this

deceased champ $100 117 John Ruiz 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 118 Lou Salica 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $75 119 Eligio Sardinas aka Kid Chocolate autograph on a bill some water

damage not effecting the autograph. Very rare autograph $300 120 Max Schmeling 8”x10” BxW photo autographed 2 different poses

$100 121 Max Schmeling 3 different 5”x7” BxW magazine photos auto-

graphed $50 122 Ed Schuyler 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $75 123 Bruce Seldon 8”x10” autographed color photo tough autograph of the

former heavyweight champion $75 124 Jack Sharkey 8”x10” BxW photo autographed personalized $200 125 Earnie Shavers 8”x10” BxW photo autographed personalized $20 126 Billy Soose 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed $25 127 Leon Spinks 8”x10” autographed color photo $20 128 Michael Spinks 8”x10” autographed color photo $75 129 Antonio Tarver 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 130 Antonio Tarver 3”x5” autograph $25 131 John Tate 8”x10” sepia photo autographed $100 132 Ernie Terrell 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $50 133 Pinklon Thomas 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 134 Joe Tipman autographed BxW postcard picture of his Tavern $200 135 Marcel Thil autographed Picture postcard Champion du Monde de

Boxe $350 136 James Toney 8”x10” autographed color photo with championship

belt $75 137 Jose Torres 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $75 138 Bruce Trampler 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $75 139 Felix Trinidad 8”x10” autographed color photo $75 140 David Tua 8”x10” autographed color photo $30 141 Tony TNT Tubbs 8”x10” autographed color photo former heavy

weight champion $75 142 Tony TNT Tubbs 5”x7” BxW photo autographed former heavy

weight champion $50 143 Mike Tyson 8”x10” BxW photo autographed $150 144 Mike Tyson Fund Transfer to pay his ex-wife child support auto-

graphed by Mike $250 145 Fernando Vargas 8”x10” autographed color photo $50 146 Chico Vejar 8”x10” color magazine and 8”x10” BxW magazine

photos autographed personalized $75 147 Jersey Joe Walcott 8”x10” color magazine photo autographed $150 148 Cooley Wallace 5”x7” BxW magazine photos autographed personal-

ized $10

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Fifteenth Round

Boxing Mailing Address Directory …..

Since 1996 BoxingHelp.com has published a directory of mailing addresses for the sport of boxing. This directory includes over 3, 000 mailing addresses for boxers, promoters, managers, trainers, matchmakers, gyms and clubs, etc. Contact your favorite boxer/request autographs or use the directory to assist your business or boxing career….

Annual Subscription

Directory & quarterly updates for 1 year

United States $32.95

International $50 (US$)We accept cash, checks or money orders. Please make checks and money orders payable to Ultimate Boxing Address List.

Ultimate Boxing Address ListPO Box 112Westmoreland, NY 13490-0112Web: http://www.BoxingHelp.comEmail: info@BoxingHelp.com

The new website is bringing in new members, old blood coming back to the fold and some interesting ques-tions from the public at large. I urge you to send me an email so, as subscribers, you can get access to the gallery. Lots of things in there are things you’ve seen in black and white that you can now see in color. And you can also see scans of material no one has ever seen before. Any sub-scriber can use any image with our full permission as long as you give boxingcollectors.com the credit and you do not misrepresent what is pictured. If you have questions about something, let me know... Here’s an admission. When I fi rst started BCN I really only watched the big fi ghts on TV. I rarely watched ESPN at all except to catch up on my alma mater, Auburn. But the past few years I have become a pas-sionate watcher of all the cable fi ghts and it is those guys, especially those with the almost interchangeable Hispanic names, that have me remembering what it really was to be a true fan. Lots of these were the fi ghts that in times past were held in the smaller venues like Marigold Gardens in NYC or Dreamland Park in Newark or any of 100 different spots up and down the west coast and east coast and Chi-cago. Don’t let folks say, “Those were the days” until you remind them that there are great fi ghts right now and just a click away. And just as I write this, I watch a great fi ght on ESPN 2 between Paris and Coleman. Then I see the Agbeko versus Mares-and-Mora(the referee) fi ght. Easily the worst refereeing in the modern era in a televised fi ght.... It’s fun-ny, I was talking to a guy I met the other day and he said, “Ya know, it ain’t like the old days, I can remember when it was Sugar Ray... and Hagler.” “Jeez,” I thought, “those were old days?” Then I remembered that even in those days folks were complaining because these guys weren’t Ali and Liston and before that the original Sugar Ray and, say, Gene Fullmer. Up for sale right now on Craig’s site is a letter signed by Tom Sharkey to Nat Fleischer offering to write an article for the Ring about how the old time enthu-siasm for the fi ght game could be restored. It is dated 1938. No, you can’t argue that boxing draws the same percentage of sports fans in this country as it once did but then there’s more of all sports available now. Any time, however, a Filipino and African can fi ll up Dallas Stadium and make a bazillion bucks on pay per view and everybody who is anybody knows the fi ght won’t even be competitive, well, boxing is probably okay.... So what’s your favorite punch to see delivered well? For my money it’s a left hook to the body. That was also the featured punch as Paris took out Coleman. If you said “repeated left hooks to the thigh and gonads” you are in the Abner Mares camp.... I inadvertently credited Andy Baran for the info and photos in the last issue in that Hardcard article on the CDV’s. Should have given credit to Aaron Conyers who has quite a card collection to draw from. Looking forward to his continued help as well as Andy’s. And yours! Keep punching.

3

Boxer addresses are not guaranteed authentic by BCN but are collected from readers and passed on as related. We always need addresses.

BOXING COLLECTORS' NEWS is solely pub-lished and owned by Don Scott Consulting and Publishing LLC. No material herein can be used without permission.

SUBSCRIPTIONS are $24 for fi rst class mail delivery. Canada is $30 per year and other non-US is $40 (all funds US). Please note that overseas will be mailed fi rst class .

AD RATES: are as follows: : 1/4 page $25; 1/2 page $50, 3/4 page $75 and full page is $100. All ad submissions must be submitted digitally unless prior agreement is made. There us a 10% discount for full year of ads paid in advance. All ads must be in our hands by the 10th of the month with payment. No faxed ads.

NO CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED FOR SUBS OR ADS.

OUR HOMEPAGE: www.boxingcollectors.com. Our email and Paypal address: donscott4@suddenlink.net

A D D R E S S E SA D D R E S S E S

HARDCARD

Lately there has been a sell off of a collection of 42 different cabinet photos on eBay, a few at a time. The photos are all 1880’s to early ‘90’s and, so far, all are John Wood cabinets. Since I have been collecting cabinets for over 30 years I only bid on what I need and as this collection dribbles out, the prices have gone up as collec-tors know the collection is dwindling. I was able to snag the cabinet shown here for less than $300. While is an unassuming pic, it is of someone I have never seen before.

Michael “Chappie” Moran claimed the bantamweight title in 1889 when he beat Spider Kelly though most record books show George Dixon as title holder. Kelly and Dixon fought a draw in 1888. Moran and Dixon never met. His name is written on the re-verse with “pickpocket,” presumably his nickname.

Moran would slip down in a bout in England in 1896 and die three days later from an internal rupture suffered in the slip. A tragic

end to a good career.Many of these cabinets are in fairly rough shape. All are also

“cupped” a condition sometimes referred to as “curling.” You can see that in this photo. When I get a cupped cabinet I put it in my al-bum back-to-back with another cupped card and let them work each other out. I have had modest success over the years.

Kelcie Banks, 207 N 6th St, Las Vegas, NV 89101

Abner Mares, c/o Golden Boy Promotions, 626 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 350, LA, CA 90017

Jean Pascla, c/o Groupe Yvon Michel, 10172 St-Laurent, Montreal, QC, H3L 2N8, Canada

Verno Phillips, 250 8th St, Troy, NY 12180

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www.boxingcollectors.comBCN’s website has been completely overhauled and isn’t it about time?

Now subscribers are given free access to a members-only area of the website that contains nearly 4000 photos of boxing memorabilia in our gallery with more added each month.

Members also have access to downloadable back issues and to the latest news on the boxing memorabilia front.

There’s also a special price on the fi rst and last 50 back issues remaining in inven-tory.

And for the fi rst time, you can subscribe to BCN online using Paypal. If you do not have a Paypal account you can use Paypal’s guest feature and pay with a credit card. That will redirect you back to the site so you can verify your email address, set up a password and start enjoying the members-only area.

Great, but what if you already have a subscription and it is not near lapsing? No prob-lem. Just go on the site and email me and I will send you your password. You may also email me at donscott4@suddenlink.net.

Oh and while on the site, take the pop quiz!

13

Consignments Wanted for Upcoming Auctions,

Cash Advances Available.

Heritage Auctions is always accepting consignments of fine sports collectibles and trading cards for upcoming auctions. With a bidding membership of more than 600,000, and a dedicated marketing division experienced in gaining international press coverage for Signature® Auctions, Heritage finds the buyers that pay record-setting prices.

Call 800-872-6467 or email one of our experts today to discuss how you can consign to a Heritage auction event.

Mark JordanConsignmentDirector MarkJ@HA.comext. 1187

Chris IvyDir. of Sports AuctionsCIvy@HA.comext. 1319

Mike GutierrezConsignmentDirector MikeG@HA.comext. 1183

Derek GradyVice President of Sports Auctions DerekG@HA.comext. 1975

TX Auctioneer licenses: Samuel Foose 11727; Robert Korver 13754; Scott Peterson 13256; Bob Merrill 13408; Mike Sadler 16129; Andrea Voss 16406. This auction is subject to a 19.5% Buyer’s Premium. 20524

SPORTS COLLECTIBLES PLATINUM® AUCTIONN O V E M B E R 1 0 - 1 1 , 2 0 1 1 | D A L L A S | L I V E & O N L I N E

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3500 Maple Avenue | Dal las, Texas 75219 | 800-872-6467

DALLAS | NEW YORK | BEVERLY HILLS | SAN FRANCISCO | PARIS | GENEVA

1908 Jack Johnson Heavyweight Championship Presentational Pendant 

Sold for: $28,600

1978 Muhammad Ali’s Three-Time Heavyweight Champion Ring

Sold for: $59,750

Autographs – Game Used Equipment – Vintage Sportscards – Trophies and Awards – Tickets and Publications – Athlete Personally Owned Items – Sporting Ephemera

Free catalog and The Collector’s Handbook ($65 value) for new clients. Please submit auction invoices of $1000 +  in this category, from any source. Include your contact information and mail to Heritage, fax 214-409-1425, email catalogorders@ha.com, or call 866-835-3243. For more details, go to HA.com/FCO.

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Snap . Smile, you're in BCN

Richie Mitchell may have been one of the best fi ght-ers to never hold a title. At one time he fought, in suc-cessive fi ghts in 1915, Ad Wolgast. Johnny Dundee and Johnny Kilbane, losing only to Dundee. He had only 3 amateur fi ghts when he turned pro in 1912, fi ghting mostly, at fi rst, in and around his native Milwaukee.

He challenged Benny Leonard for the title in 1921, going down 3 times after sending Leonard to the canvas in the fi rst. He went into a career tailspin after that fi ght, los-ing 7 of his fi nal 11 fi ghts before retiring in 1923.

He also fought Joe Rivers, Rocky Kansas and Lew Tendler in his career and fi nished with a career 13-6-1 in decision authorized fi ghts and 36-7-12 in newspaper deci-sions. Mitchell died in 1949.

And here's another guy you rarely see anything on (this is a fi rst for me). Jack Taylor was one of those Black fi ghters that never rose to the success of some of the other men of the day but was well-respected. The Nebraska Tornado had a career which spanned 1917-1939. He fought Sam Langford (4 times 0-2-2), lost to Carnera but was 1-1 against Max Schmeling (his last quality win), beat Battling Siki, fought Kid Norfolk and many others. This is a Parisian postcard, signed. He fought in Paris in 1924, '25 and '29.

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Here are some frequently asked questions already about the new site:

How about swapping links? If you are a regular dealer advertising in BCN, we will be happy to include a link on our dealer page. We will be adding some helpful links to the members-only site in days to come but we see long lists of links as simply not helpful to our subscribers or BCN.

Can I run an ad on the website? In the future this will be added and existing long-time dealers will have fi rst shot but BCN never wants a site crammed with ads that do not connect directly with the needs of collectors. In fact, if it doesn't mean any-thing to the hobby, it won't run.

Is it true BCN is going all digital? We can’t rule this out but it is not in the cards for the foreseeable future. For those of you who still do not have a computer, just keep your mailbox - for now.

This site has been live only three weeks at this writing and we are fi elding phone calls daily from people with something to sell or wanting to buy. We have also added new subscribers and, frankly, some old ones who had lost track of BCN and we them.

I am proud to fi nally bring a website to BCN that it and you deserve. Like I said, isn’t it about time?

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This month, in addition to our regular gang of features we are starting a new periodic column called The Gallery. This column will contain images of memora-bilia of a fi ght or fi ghter, most of which do not, as yet appear in the website gallery. You’ll get a brief article and then some rare images of real memorabilia. We’ll do this largely with subjects we have featured before but when additional memorabilia has become available. Let’s start this off with a man who was never champion but who “fought them all.” He had his own article in BCN some years back but we have since accumulated some things you may enjoy looking at. Following publication we will post these in color, on the private gallery area of the website.

Now here is Tom Sharkey...

Born in 1873 in Ireland, Sharkey fought Corbett (twice), Maher (twice), Ruhlin (three times), Goddard (twice), Fitzsimmons (twice), Choynski, Jeffries (twice), Mc-Coy and Australian Billy Smith. The latter was his fi rst name fi ght. He scored kayos 34 times in 37 wins. Five of his 7 losses came in his last 7 bouts. He retired in 1904.

He was a former sailor and garnered that nickname when he stepped into the ring. Of course, the schooner tatooed on his chest was also an instant reminder. He got out of the Navy and began his career in 1893 in Hawaii. Sharkey was as rough and tumble as they get. It is said that hitting and holding was his forte and he once took a glove off Jeffries in a fi ght and when the ref tried to get it back on, took a free shot at Jeff. At 5’9”, Sharkey was always swarming under jabs and catching power shots coming in with his head and long arms. He was, ac-cording to Jeffries, the toughest man he ever faced. Sharkey loved to dress nice, see and be seen. He appeared in several mostly forgettable movies. His last days were spent in a rest home in California. I have ordered his biography, I fought Them All, by Greg Lewis and Moira Sharkey. I can’t wait to read it.

The Gallery

Above: Tunney watches the square off between Sharkey and Jeffries in one of their exhibitions. They became fast friends. Lower right: Sharkey with theatrical folks.

11

What makes them so unique is the total fi nality of the photo and that it is the very last picture ever taken of them. Let me know if you have similar photos to these as I would want to get a copy of it at dnolan@juniper.net.

And to the person who bought that ashtray… I will give you twelve bucks for that thing now. A nice 20% profi t to you…. So who says you can’t make a little money col-lecting boxing memorabilia? Til next time…

Ray Robinson

Ketchel

Greb

Editor's note:Great to have Denis back, isn't it? His collection of casket photos should not surprise long-time subscribers who will remember his story in BCN about wandering all over a cemetary in a driving rain looking for a boxer's grave!

10

“Geez, This is the Most Crowded It’s Ever Been Here!”

was the most often sentence heard from almost every collector I ran into over June 8-13 at our annual Worldwide Memorabilia Fair up in Canastota this year. Yes I guess when you have the very best induction class going in since the Inaugural class way back when it should have been expected.

But the sheer number of folks who attended this year was mind-boggling. Granted Tyson, Stallone, Chavez and Tszyu were going to draw a crowd but I was even surprised at how many boxing and non-boxing fans came out of the woodwork. Jeff Brophy told me the amount of credential requests they had received overwhelmed previous years. Not even close. I could not remember the last time I had seen this many people up there and am hard-pressed to think of one that was even second to this attendance. (I was not present for the initial class that were inducted.)

As Don stated in the previous BCN, most dealers did quite well despite our lagging economy and folks really questioning what they should spend their dime on. Which will lead me to the item I missed later in the story…

So being armed with a limited budget since I am getting on in years and thinking more and more about grazing in the sun like the cattle soon, I purchased only 3 major items this year but they all fi t into my collection and wants perfectly. Chas and Kymberly Taylor of London had brought over non-personalized David Haye gloves in both Everlast and Lonsdale variety. They told me he usually will request to personalize so this was a rare opportunity. Now think me foolish or not but I thought Haye had brought some life back into the heavyweight picture and really thought he had a legitimate shot at getting to Vladimir and had the power to perhaps pull it off. So I wanted one of these gloves if he did and picked a Lonsdale one for the British connection. Alas, I like many others were very disappointed with what happened on July 2 in a rather lackluster contest. ‘Nuff said.

The second item was one Craig Hamilton of JO Sports had lying in his van. I am a sucker for rare histori-cal items like this. It was a very old single glove with familiar white paint by the hand of Stanley Weston on it “Used by Terry McGovern/ Horton Law Days.” As many know I am a collector of signed gloves owning over 2,000 and have other historical gloves also fi ght-worn, handwraps etc. We agreed on a price I could live with and I had item #2.

The third one was a little more diffi cult and took some real thinking on the part of its owner to part with as it was not really for sale but part of his personal collection. Bill Pollock of Florida who runs Champions of the Ring

(and is in Chicago at the National as I write this) knows I am a Stanley Ketchel nut from way back since I was born in Detroit and am half-Polish. He brought out a binder in the parking lot and showed me a piece I had never seen before and really liked. It was an 11” by 14” movie theater lobby card which advertised the showing of the Jack Johnson-Ketchel fi ght of six weeks before. It was from the Worcester Theater in Massachusetts. He told me he really didn’t want to part with it and I kept probing to see what it might take to move that poster from Florida to New York where I live.

Bill is interested but non-committal and says he would really have to decide if he wants to part with this treasrure.

A couple days later I am sitting having a meal in Graziano’s with a table full of folks and Bill leans down and whispers a number in my ear that I can live with and I added a deal-sweetener and told him he could pull out of the frame if he wanted which he took me up on. Great piece from 1909.

Now to the disappointing part of my story and believe it or not it is about a $10 item. At the show on Saturday as usual I do a couple quick passes at the show to see if anything strikes my fancy right off the bat. Gives me a good chance to say hi to everyone since I know most of the folks setting up and ask them if they have any obvious things I might want to look at as they know I have particu-lar faves.

Well during my fi rst couple passes, there was a dealer (I think right next to Dave Bergin) who had a simple clear glass ashtray. What made it unique was it had on the bot-tom a photo image of Jack Johnson laying in state in his open casket. Now, that is interesting I said as I asked how much and kept moving along. Now few people know this but as Don collects photos of boxers mowing their lawns I collect photos of boxers after they have taken the fi nal count, especially if it is an open casket and you can see the fi ghter. I have great respect for these fi ghters and to see them in perhaps the very last photo taken of them has always appealed to me. I have included some in this article to show you some great examples. Three of the very great-est at rest…

So this piece keeps rolling around in my mind and I return back to this dealer’s table to buy it - It is gone, sold already. Damn! I want to kick myself for being so stupid and not pulling the trigger on a $10 item that fi ts in a category that I collect. So since returning from the HOF I have looked online for any original or copies of this Jack Johnson open casket photo and cannot fi nd it anywhere. Anyone?

And that brings to mind are there any other ones out there? Joe Louis, Sullivan, Fitzsimmons, Jeffries?

Nolan's Worldby Denis Nolan

7

At top: signed postcard of Sharkey taken at a night in which he fought an exhibition. A valuable piece due to the guy at far right. Middle: 3 cabinets. Two of these by Busnell. Bottom: Sharkey stands in car on the way to the fi ght 7/4/10 in Reno.

8

Lelands.com * 130 Knickerbocker Ave * Suite H * Bohemia, NY 11716 Phone: 516-409-9700 * Fax: 631-750-5216

info@lelands.com

9

Lot 439 November 2007 Auction$16,472

Lot 444 December 2003 Auction$45,380

Lot 96 April 2007 Auction$48,638.Lot 96 Ap$48,638

Lot 211 - November 2008 Auction $17,047

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