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BCN205 Woodland ParkGeorgetown, TX 78633

The number on your label is the last issue of your subscription

FIRST CLASS MAIL

BCN on the web at www.boxingcollectors.com

PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.HEAVYWEIGHTCOLLECTIBLES.COM

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

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS, ETC.

WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO

PURCHASE UNIQUE ITEMS.

PLEASE CONTACT LOU MANFRA AT 718-979-9556 OR

EMAIL US AT HEAVYWEIGHTCOLLECTIBLES@YAHOO.COM

no.248 september, 2009

21BCN is 21 years old and we celebrate by putting Buffalo Bill on the cover? Has your editor finally lost it? Okay, those are separate questions but at least one is answered by showing you the inside of this program in this anniversary issue of BCN.

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JO SPORTS, INC. - Craig HamiltonP.O. Box 607

Brookhaven, NY 11719Phone/fax 631-286-0970

email: 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.

WANTED:Autographs, Antique & Wire Photos, Cabinet Cards, Posters, Programs, Tickets, Advertising Items, Championship Belts, Awards & Trophies, Rare Books and Bound Volumes of The Ring, Boxing Illustrated, Boxing & Wrestling and The Police Gazette.

AUTOGRAPH POLICY:Each autograph offered for sale is scrutinized before it is placed on our website. It is compared with examples collected over thirty years of dealing and collecting boxing memorabilia. Each autograph will come with a letter of authenticity from JO Sports, Inc. If an item we sell has a letter of authenticity from anyone else it will be noted in our write-up and sold with the item. I do not recognize so called third party expert authenticators. Any purchaser desiring an opinion from these so called experts should obtain it before making the purchase from JO Sports, Inc. No refund will be granted because an autograph sold by JO Sports, Inc. has been rejected or granted a “no opinion” by any third party authenticator. Unlike these experts I am unable to authenticate baseball players, football players, soccer players, hockey players, world leaders, presidents, senators, movie stars, crime figures, literary figures, billiard players, astronauts, NASA scientists, inventors, the rich and famous, rock and roll singers, jazz singers, opera singers, song writers, civil rights leaders, historical figures or real estate moguls. I can not authenticate Mother Teresa, Roberto Clemente, Al Capone, Charles Dickens, Pele, Wernher Von Braun, Jim Thorpe, Moses, Shirley Temple or the Magnificent Seven. My only expertise is boxing. I do know that a purported signature of Battling Nelson on a picture of Terry McGovern is likely not a signed photograph of Battling Nelson. I do pay attention to the history behind each autograph sold. People who obtain exemplars from me will not then sit in judgment of my expertise. Please review my policy carefully and review each signature carefully before buying. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

JO SPORTS,INC. BOXING SALE:

VISIT OUR WEBSITE!www.josportsinc.comOver 8,000 Boxing Items For Sale

SPECIAL ITEMS:1. SULLIVAN-CORBETT OF-

FICIAL TICKET: 9/7/1892; Corbett wins Heavyweight Title. Excellent Condition. No creas-ing, minimal edge and corner wear. Minor foxing. One of the finest examples we have had. $3,500.00

2. SANCHEZ-LOPEZ I ON SITE POSTER: 2/2/1980. Salvadore Sanchez wins Featherweight Title. Excellent Condition. Paper poster on linen. Bold images and print. Rare.22” x 28.” $2,000.00

3. PETER JACKSON STONE LITHOGRAPH: 1890’s Stone Litho by Crocker Company of San Francisco. Done on heavy stock paper. Minor stain in lower right corner. Have not seen another. 16” x 28.” $8,000.00

4. ROBINSON-MAXIM ON SITE POSTER: 6/23/1952. Cardboard poster picturing both fighters. Repaired at corners. Bold color and images. 22” x 28.” $12,500.00

5. JAMES J.CORBETT STONE LITHOGRAPH: Circa early 1890’s stone litho by The Strobridge Litho Company of Cincinnati picturing Corbett in his famous bust pose. 21 ½” x 27.” Has some minor fading and slight discoloration The only example we have seen. $7,500.00

6. FITZSIMMONS-JEFFRIES I PRE FIGHT POSTER: 6/9/1899. Paper poster mounted on board picturing both fighters. Some missing pieces at the border. Gen-erally clean. Bold print and images. 11 ½” x 25.” The only example we have seen. $3,500.00

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

1 Jack Johnson 8x10 BxW photo autographed while Champion Rare Boxing pose with PSA and JSA plus LWA letters. True one of a kind and only the second one I have ever had in boxing pose. $7,500

1a Muhammad Ali/Trevor Berbick program Ali’s last fight excellent condition. Ex-tremely rare $1,500

1b Jack Dempsey/Gene Tunney 18x22 1974 Living Legends Litho autographed by both $1,250

1c Rocky Marciano/Jersey Joe Walcott 4/10/53 full unused ticket excellent condition some tape stains on back $200

2 Muhammad Ali autographed Everlast glove with a full JSA letter. $1,250

3 Jess Willard/Jack Dempseyautographs on the back of Dempsey restaurant postcard. Very rare both together. $750

4 ALI vs. Frazier 14x24 Thriller In Manila Window card poster by Leroy Nieman. Mint shrink wrapped. $250

5 Muhammad Ali Complete Sports Illustrated 35th Anniversary from 1989 autographed on the cover Muhammad Ali and Cas-sius Clay underneath. Recent autographs. Beautiful autographs. $500

6 Muhammad Ali/Ken Norton 9/28/76 MSQ Full Unused Ticket to there Fight $350

7 Muhammad Ali vs Lyle Alzado fight pro-gram for there exhibition fight $125

7a Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton 9/28/76 Yankee Stadium program $100

8 Muhammad Ali 8x10 4 different color magazines with vintage 1970’s autographs. Nice big beautiful autographs $750

9 Muhammad Ali 4/23/73 Sports Illustrated complete with 2 Ali autographs and Ken Norton $500

10 Muhammad Ali AKA Cassius Clay movie 1 sheet $500

10a Muhammad Ali autographed cut laminated dated 9/29/77 while champ $250

11 Lou Ambers autographed article form a Sport magazine $100

12 Dave Anderson 8x10 BxW photo auto-graphed. Boxings newest HOFer. $50

13 Henry Armstrong 8x10 color magazine photo autographed personalized $150

14 Abe Attell autographed album page with special inscription 12 years World Feather Weight Champion $100

15 Buddy Baer autographed magazine article personalized $100

16 Max Baer 8x10 BxW photo autographed not personalized and vintage. Unusual pose made out to his trainer Izzy your number

one dated 1938 $500 17 Nino Benvenuti 8x10 BxW photo auto-

graphed $50 18 Trevor Berbick 8”x10” BxW photo auto-

graphed $150 19 Jimmy Bratton 5x7 BxW magazine photo

autographed $50 20 Lamon Brewster 3 different 8”x10” color

photos autographed. WBO heavyweight champion $50 each

21 Tommy Burns autographed return envelope to Nat Fleisher all written in Burns hand-writting $750

22 Hector Macho Camacho 8x10 BxW photo autographed $50

22a Orlando Canizalez/Junior Jones 8x10 color photo autographed by both $200

23 Jimmy Carter 8x10 BxW magazine photo autographed $50

24 Hurricane by Rubin Hurricane Carter book autographed $150

25 Marcel Cerdan 2 different 5”x7” BxW photos autographed $750 each

26 Julio Ceaser Chavez 8x10 color photo autographed $100

27 Cassius Clay 3/25/59 2nd title Intercity Golden Gloves employee and photogra-phers passes $300

28 Cassius Clay 2/29/60 Tournament of Cham-pions employee and photographers passes $300

29 Gerrie Coetzee 8”x10” BxW photo auto-graphed $50

30 Billy Conn 5x7 BxW magazine photos autographed 3 different $75 each

31 Henry Cooper 5x7 Broadcasters color card autographed $50

32 Jim Corbett 5x7 BxW photo with Kathleen O’Connor autographed by both from the movie The Midnight Man $750

33 Jim Corbett cut autograph $500 34 Diego Chico Corrales 8”x10” color photo

autographed 2 different poses $150 35 George Sugar Costner autographed maga-

zine photo $50 36 Chuck Davey 8x10 BxW magazine photo

signed 3 times $50 37 American Son by Oscar De La Hoya auto-

graphed book $75 38 Oscar De La Hoya 8”x10” autographed

color photo $100 39 Oscar De La Hoya 8x10 BxW magazine

photo autographed $100 40 Tony DeMarco 8x10 BxW magazine photo

autographed $50 41 Jack Dempsey 8x10 color magazine photo

autographed personalized $250 42 Jack Dempsey 3x5 BxW magazine picture

autographed $100 43 Michael Dokes 8”x10” color photo auto-

graphed $30 44 Buster Douglas 8”x10” color photo auto-

graphed personalized $50

45 Roberto Duran 8x10 color photo auto-graphed $50

46 Cornelius Boza Edwards autographed Box-ing card $25

47 Tommy Farr small magazine photo auto-graphed personalized $75

48 Jackie Fields 8”x10” BxW photo auto-graphed personalized. He is the youngest Gold Medal winner at 16 and was Welter-weight champ. $250

49 George Foreman Lean Machine Manual autographed manual $50

50 Bob Foster 1991 Kayo card autographed $10

51 Joe Frazier color postcard photo with a vintage autograph $50

52 Kid Gavilan 8x10 BxW and color magazine photos autographed personalized $75

53 Humberto Gonzalez 8x10 color photo autographed of the newest HOFer $25

54 Bobby Goodman 8x10 BxW photo auto-graphed New Boxing HOFer $100

55 Rocky Graziano 8x10 color magazine photo autographed personalized $100

56 Rocky Graziano autographed 5x7 BxW magazine photos 2 different $75

57 Rocky Graziano 3x5 autographed $50 58 Marvin Hagler 7/2/90 SI cover autographed

$75 59 Marvin Hagler 8x10 color photo auto-

graphed $100 60 Mustafa Hamsho full cancelled check $50 61 Clarence Henry 8x10 color and BxW maga-

zine photos autographed personalized $50 62 Against All Odds autographed book by

Larry Holmes $50 63 Larry Holmes 8x10 UPI, 8x10 color photos

autographed $50 each64 Larry Holmes typed letter good content

autographed $50 65 Evander Hollyfield 8x10 color photo auto-

graphed $150 66 Al Hostak 8x10 color and BxW magazine

photos autographed personalized $50 67 Sultan Ibragimov 8x10 color photo auto-

graphed Heavyweight Champion $100 68 Sultan Ibragimov/Wladamir Klitschko auto-

graphed by both on a window card from the 2/23/08 fight $150

69 Beau Jack 8x10 BxW magazine 3 different autographed $40

70 Joe Jacobs 12/24/31 MSQ promissory check to MSQ for $1,000 at 6%. Rare. $250

71 Ingemar Johanson 8”x10” BxW photos autographed $75

72 Kevin Johnson 8x10 color photo auto-graphed The King-Pin $75

73 Vitali Klitchko 8”x10” autographed color photo $75

74 Joe Koizumi 8x10 BxW photo autographed of Boxings Newest HOFer from Japan $75

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Fifteenth RoundBoxing 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

Okay, I didn't watch the Mayweather fight. Maybe when he fights Pacquiao. Maybe. Did catch two good fights on Shobox... .Showtime is really stepping up with this supermiddleweight box-off. We all have to be watching that. Some are actually saying that this is a symptom of a declining sport - that they have to make good fights now to keep fans. A sign of des-peration. Man, you can't keep some folks happy. We have said, all through the past so-called "fat" years that box-ing had jumped the shark when it tried to make non-matches into superfights. Okay, now fan pressure, largely assisted by the cage match trend, is making promoters and networks make decent fights. You will remember that we said that mixed martial arts would actually help boxing in the long run by doing just that. I think this will con-tinue until we see if MMA is here to stay. It currently lacks legitimacy though it does feature something that fans like - lots and lots of white American faces. Wish that didn't matter but how else do you explain, for instance, so many white folks watching cars drive around a track be-ing a sport? If MMA or NASCAR had jumped up in 1910, who knows where we'd be now?.. Please note the big Heriatge auction the first week in October and that Lelands has its big catalogue auction in November. Prices in these sales should say where the hobby is right now. After the Lelands sale, we'll look at both and see what surprised us... Keep punching.

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 published and owned by Don Scott Consulting and Publishing LLC. No material herein can be used without permission.SUBSCRIPTIONS are $24 for first class mail delivery. Canada is $30 per year and other non-US is $40 (all funds US). Please note that overseas will be mailed first 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 a10% 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 DISCLAIMER: BCN does not guarantee the authenticity of items advertised herein except those in an Editor's Sale. Complaints (or compliments) should be directed to BCN forthwith. Photos herein as representations of collectibles.BCN, 205 Woodland Park, Georgetown, TX 78633

phone: 512-240-4375Back issues are $2 each in US, $3 each outside US.

A D D R E S S E S

What is It?

Last issue we showed you this and asked the question above. Tony Gee writes in and notes there were actually two prints done at the time.:

Chris Arreola, c/o Goosen-Tudor Promo-tions, 15300 Ventura Blvd ste 400, Sher-man Oaks, CA 91403

Dana Rosenblatt,1850 Beacon St #603, Brookline, MA 02445

Augie Sanchez, 2664 South Highland Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89109

John Ruiz, PO Box 2581, Taunton, MA 02780

4 13

It was 1988 and I had been writing articles for SCD for a few years and collecting boxing memorabilia for about 8 years overall. Boxing was then, and is now, a relatively small segment of the sports memorabilia hobby but SCD was always pretty good about running my articles and there was some in-terest. I mean SCD has always sought to be about all sports collecting but in the 1980’s the hobby was dominated even more than today by baseball. But boxing memorabilia can be found back to the early 1700’s and the sport has a raucous and rich tradition that has probably always had collectors.

We boxing collectors had our own newsletter back then, called, “Collectors’ Corner,” published by boxing writer, Jerry Fitch, out of Cleveland. It was a mimeo-graphed two pager that had Jerry’s column, a few boxer addresses and then a list of classified ads, which were free if you subscribed. Collectors’ Corner went on for about 3 years or so before Jerry decided to give up the ghost and do something else. He asked if anyone wanted to keep the newsletter going. I thought, “why not?”

So I pur-chased his subscriber list and his boxer ad-dress list. I was peck-ing at my first com-puter, an Apple IIC with an imagewriter dot matrix printer and I thought, “How hard can it be?”

I started with about 50 subscrib-ers who responded to a flyer I sent out to the guys on Jerry’s list (most of whom are still with me) and my first issue was in August 1988. It was four pages. I called it Boxing Collector’s Newsletter. There were 4 boxer addresses, an article on a bogus Marciano signature, one on T218 cards, a half page of classified ads and exactly one

display ad, an auction being run by boxing collector/dealer, Jerome Shochet. First auction item was an autobiography of Jack Johnson, signed, $215 minimum bid. I don’t think it sold. The end of the newsletter contained my final ram-

blings, which I called “The Fifteenth Round.”

Then BCN just sort of took off, ads and subscribers rose.

It has taken some interesting turns along the way. For instance, in my second year, collector Bob Shepard and I were trying to figure out how to get boxing collectors

together for a convention of sorts when one of my other subscribers, Joe Gibilisco, sent me a video of a dinner that had been held to promote the future opening of a boxing

hall of fame in upstate New York. I called the director there who told me that they were opening in 1990 and were looking for ways to get folks involved. He and I skulled out a collector show as part of the induction weekend and there has been one every year since. I haven’t missed any of those, either. Now “Canastota” is used in the same sentence with “Cooperstown” and collectors have been there since the doors opened. I like to think BCN had a small hand in that.

And the scandals and great finds have all been chronicled in BCN over these past 15 years. These all come our way by a loyal subscriber base that is con-stantly feeding information into BCN.

The most noted shocker was the snooping out of a massive number of supposedly vintage signed pieces by some of the rarer and obscure signers in the sport. Over a two-year period our reporting of these forgeries actually caused my own collection to lose value. I thought I had signed pieces of Marvin Hart, Stanley Ketchel, Joe Gans and George Dixon at the time, but what I had were intentionally altered photos with old looking forged signatures. So did lots of other

folks. The photos turned out to be only a few years old. The repercussions of these disclosures lost me a couple of friends who were upset BCN had devalued their collec-tion but the truth is the truth and we had all been fooled. Ketchel, who died in 1910 could hardly have signed a

In 2003 I did an article for the Ring on BCN. It was fun but many of you didn’t see it so I decided I would update the heck out of it and run it here. It gives some history of BCN and provides, I think, a pretty good retrospective. Interspersed here youy will see some rare pieces featured through the years, also. If you are a longtime subscriber, you may enjoy the trip dowm memory lane.

In the Beginning...

BCN -21 years of service to the hobby

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

Heritage Auction Galleries is always accepting consignments of fine sports collectibles and trading cards for upcoming auctions. With a bidding membership of more than 450,000, and a dedicated marketing division experienced in gaining international press coverage for

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CAll 800-872-6467 Or EmAIl OnE Of OUr ExPErTS TOdAy TO dISCUSS hOw yOU CAn COnSIGn TO A hErITAGE AUCTIOn EVEnT.

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Dallas, Texas 75219

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Sports@HA.com

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JOnAThAn SChEIErConsignment Director JonathanS@HA.comext. 1314

mIkE GUTIErrEzConsignment Director MikeG@HA.comext. 1183

STEPhEn CArlISlEConsignment Director StephenC@HA.comext. 1292

PETEr CAldErOnConsignmentDirector PeterC@HA.comext. 1789

ChrIS IVyDirector of Sports AuctionsCIvy@HA.comext. 1319

Receive a free copy of this catalog, or one from another Heritage category. Register online at HA.com/BCN16095 or call 866-835-3243, and mention reference #BCN16095.

The entire catalog will go online approximately September 7 at HA.com/Sports.

Bid in Our upcOming Fall Signature® auctiOn!

1970’s Muhammad Ali Training Worn Trunks & Robe

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1887 N174 Old Judge Godfrey SGC 84 NM 7HA.com/716-101050

1887 N174 Old Judge Cleary SGC 84 NMHA.com/716-101049

1927 E211 York Caramels #20 Bud Taylor SGC 80 Ex/NM 6HA.com/716-101021

12 5

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

info@lelands.com

when peeled away from its antique photographer’s board, had the familiar blue “Kodak” stamped on the reverse. When I went to write all this down, I knew I had crossed over. I wasn’t just a hobby guy any more. Small scale or not, I was a journalist.

But for years it bothered me that, journalist or not, I had soft pedaled the evidence that pointed clearly in one direc-tion. I was able to rectify that some 161 issues later when I told the whole story.

But the great finds of legitimate material have been the mainstay of BCN. Fight-worn gloves from Ali, Louis, Dempsey, Robinson, and many, many more have been reported and many of these have been advertised for sale only in BCN. And real signatures have been uncovered including the rarest ex-amples known of guys like Terry McGovern, Peter Jackson, Joe Gans, Marvin Hart, Stanley Ketchel and Sam MacVea. How far do we go to know? Well, two collectors actu-ally ran down a photocopy of Terrible Terry McGovern’s marriage license application, which still resided in the NYC files.

Usually articles start with sub-scribers writing in to BCN regarding this oddity or that and I just peck away at the story until it goes as far as it can.

Most BCN articles that are still worth reading over the years have been in one of three veins: a class of collectible is researched; the memorabilia of one fighter is researched; or the memorabilia from a specific fight is looked at. We like doing all three but if we can assemble a group of memorabilia on one fight such as Johnson-Jeffries or Dempsey-Carpentier, I enjoy the feel of the article better. Once in a while we do some light-hearted stuff. Once I ran a series of photos I have collected with prizefighters mowing their lawns. Among these were Liston and Dempsey. One day I will run a group of photos of, say, “boxers with their Moms.” I actu-ally did one recently, “boxers with their dogs.” What can I say, I have one of those weird collector-bizarro minds. But it does add some humor into a hobby that, like its bigger sibling, baseball, sometimes takes itself way too seriously.

One of our most requested back issues of BCN is the one on pre-1900 cards of John L. Sullivan. Over the years we have assembled quite an array of these and every

few years I find another and run it. I have included a rundown of the high points and

low points of BCN through the 20 rounds (years) below.Through it all there have been the collectors

and dealers. I can honestly say I have been most blessed because I have known these folks. Maybe there’s just something about boxing collectors or maybe it’s just that the fraternity is small but this is generally a very civil end of the collecting hobby.

My wife helps me put the stamps and mailing la-bels on but I largely do the rest. Oh, and from day 1, in case you’re wondering, BCN has never lost money. It has never made much, but it has always sustained itself. I never de-signed BCN to be a big gamble with a fancy 4 color cover that had to sink or swim. Some issues I work for minimum wage but usually not even though I have not changed my subscription or ad rates in years.

From time to time I am asked how long I can keep BCN going. I never know how to answer that. Maybe I should ask them, “How long you plan on loving your wife?” It’s that sort of thing.

Keep punching.

The 20 Rounds of BCNRound 1

The first year of BCN started with a four-pager and ended with an 8 pager. We ran a ticket stub on each cover and start running each heavyweight champion’s signature, in turn. Along the way we saw an increase in ads (Leland’s became our first big supporter with an ad every issue) and we covered some of the basics.

Best punch: the article in #2 showing the rare Graziano Leaf card. The first time the collecting hobby world had ever seen it as far as we know. Best counter-punch: Unfortunately, issue #5 published a Marvin Hart signature that was found to be a forgery - ooof! So much for autographs and good inten-tions.

Round 2Issue 13 announced the new Boxing Hall of Fame

would be opening in Canastota and issue 14 scooped the sports journalism world by announcing Stanley Weston would be saving Ring Magazine from going out of busi-ness. In #18 we invited folks to the first annual collectors’ show at that Hall of Fame. We finished the year at 10 pages.

Best punch: #19 showed, for the first time in the 20th century, what a Nonpareil Jack Dempsey signature looked like and the article investigating the provenance on that signature is still pretty good reading. Round 3

cont. page 10

6 11

JO SPORTS, INC.www.josportsinc.com

on pre-1900 heavyweight great, Peter Jackson. I had an issue lying on my desk at work when one of my female co-workers spotted the cover and title “Black Prince” and said, “Umm, he could be my Black prince any day!” Somewhere, Jackson smiled.Round 12

Over the years boxers have lent their names to whiskey. Sub-scribers found examples of Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey whiskey.

The Lennox Lewis photo on the cover of #141 was an exclusive from the Ring’s photographer, Frank Vitucci.

Best punch: Denis Nolan’s conversation with Frank Reynolds and Mark Mausner beginning in #144 was a hobby original and a heck of a lot of fun. Those guys know signed gloves and a good time and the interview went on for a couple of is-sues. Round 13

By this time every-one had an email address and website and the millennium had come and gone.

We featured articles and memorabilia on guys like Luis Firpo, Pancho Villa, and Battling Siki. If they aren’t familiar names, you aren’t into the old stuff. We ran authentic signatures of Joe Gans and Peter Jackson.

Best punch: Then found the sash Dempsey wore in the ring against Carpentier in the first million-dollar gate.Round 14

This was the year, having acquired the Bill Schutte archives, Harry Shaffer stepped up and started telling us things from the files we never knew, nor would we ever know had he not the passion to tell us. Charlie Mitchell, Owen Moran, Harry Harris, and the Dixie Kid came alive for us in this round.

Best punch: It’s Ketchel’s year again as we showed rare shots of him in three issues. Round 15

Boxing collectors often talk about the Jeffries Barn but what was it? We ran a story and pictures. That issue also had an index of all previous 14 years.

Jack McAuliffe, Jem Driscoll, Les Darcy, Luther McCarty, Old Joe Walcott were all profiled thanks to Harry.

Round 16Any round that starts with a signed pic of Canada

Lee and ends with a real signed photo of Joe Gans, is a good round for BCN. Along the way we profiled Matty Mathews, Ike Weir, jack Randall, and showed the Dixie

Kid autograph.Best punch: In our

200th issue we told a tale of three feathers: Kilbane, Criqui and Dundee. I remem-ber asking myself, “Who else tells folks about these kind of guys?”

Round 17The star of this round

was Harry again with a great two-parter that covered the Ketchel-Papke wars and other

events of that era. But the most mayhem may have been at a landmark auction of fight-worn material by Geppi’s.

Best punch: Hank Kaplan gets into the HOF!Round 18This one started with an Ali memorabilia piece

and an idex of all issues to date. Willie pep heard the final bell and we had some rare looks at Kid Norfolk, Battling Siki, and Duran.

Best punch: Our article on rare cabinet photos in issue 227.

Round 19The big names showed up in this round. Larry

Holmes memorabilia made its entrance into BCN lore but the rare early memorabilia of guys like Louis and Mar-ciano got the most comments.

If you slogged with us through the Sullivan silks over three issues, you learned something or just waited us out until we could move on.

Best punch personally: the article on Enrique Bolanos in 229 made a pretty good case for his induction

into the HOF, something that still hasn’t happened..Round 20Issue 242 was a kayo according to the comments

we have received. It tells the lurid tale of those discovered forgeries from Jimmy Jacobs. Second best punch was our less than mysterious article on Mysterious Billy Smith.

So this issue celebrates our 21st year in business and we are still here. Oh, we have less than 400 subscrib-ers now and the website is still due for an overhaul but we are hardly hanging on by fingernails. Just look at SCD over the same time period for comparison. It is a shadow of its former self and struggling.

No, this is still fun, still a privilege to serve the hobby and all I need is some more ideas for articles and that damn Louis-Dorazio program and I will be on to year 22.

10 7

A harbinger of things to come was the first rare boxing program known to sell for pretty good money. This was Corbett-Fitzsimmons and went for $4,200. This was also the year Josh Evans went to Australia and came back with some great boxing stuff. The Interna-tional Boxing Hall of Fame opened in Canastota in 1990 and we were there.

Best punch: issue #27 had a feature article on Boxing Sheet Music subtitled, “Boxing Stuff You Can Dance To” and contained a two page spread showing every HW champion’s signature from Sullivan to Ali. Unfortunately the Hart was the forgery.

Round 4The 1990’s went into full swing and the hobby

was red hot and it was just 1991. Many of the auction results shown in #48 would be good prices today.

Best punch: Sullivan-Corbett fight memorabilia, Johnson-Jeffries memorabilia and we started using a laser printer so folks could actually read BCN without going blind. Best counterpunch: the Ali price guide inside #42 is now so out of date as to be hilarious.Round 5

We started off with a close look at Liston signatures (with Ali, the most forged signature found, in my opinion) and along the way ran Dempsey-Carpentier memora-bilia. We also said goodbye to Billy Conn. We also announced the opening chapter in the saga of the sale of the famed Duke Hott collection that we also reported in SCD.

Best punch: There was also a nostalgic look at collecting in 1956 by examining one of Goodwin Goldfaden’s old sale lists. Goody is a BCN subscriber now but was one of the earliest vintage sports collectible dealers.

Round 6Jim Stinson did a signing with Carlos Monzon

that predated Monzon’s death in a traffic accident by only a couple of months. Best counterpunch: we take a bazillion jabs when we report all those forgeries mentioned earlier.Round 7

Greg Gongora interviewed Sandy Saddler before he became less lucid. But the big news was the Duke Hott auction. Hott was sort of the Barry Halper of boxing col-lecting at the time. What no one knew, including Duke, is that he had some (not all) of the aforementioned forgeries.

Best punch: Most would give us credit that #81 was, perhaps, one of our best issues. The cover, the two-page pictorial and first person article put our best foot forward. I wrote the article in longhand at LAX waiting for the redeye back. Some have since suggested I should write

all the articles in airports and with little sleep.

Best counter-punch: in an earlier issue of BCN, I had pointed out I lost in an SCD auc-tion of the Graziano Leaf card because I wasn’t a “speculator” who would spend $800 for the item. In #75 we report that card sold for over $10,000. That would explain why we ain’t rich.Round 8

We did an article on boxing Stereoviews, Sullivan cards and Corbett memorabilia.

Best punch: The Corbett cover on #89 and the 8 different antique photos of him in the article were the first time anyone had shown those.Round 9

We caught the Ring 75th Anniversary and reported on that. And ran across several personal postcards signed by Stanley Ketchel. Round 10

The round started with more rare signed postcards, these from the early 20th century heavyweight, Sam MacVea.

The story on a pair of Marciano gloves in #115 typified the effort that must be made to establish provenance on fight-worn items and we got good comments on that one. In several articles we have done on fight-worn stuff we have tried to actually show the detec-tive work, or lack of it.

Best punch: The emergence of a Jack Johnson-Stanley Ketchel official fight program

capped off the year for BCN.Round 11The article in #129, “Low Friends in High Places,”

about memorabilia of fixed fights, got some laughs. We ran a picture of the referee helping up Ad Wol-gast after he and Joe Rivers had simultane-ously knocked each other down. We also ran the Jake LaMotta-Billy Fox program. That was the fight Jake admitted throw-ing. We had some other examples.

Best punch: the cover and article

Memory Lane continued

JO SPORTS, INC. - Craig HamiltonP.O. Box 607

Brookhaven, NY 11719phone/fax 631-286-0970

email: craig@josportsinc.com

8 9

Lelands.com · 12 American Way #8 · South Dennis, MA 02660516.409.9700 or 508.247.0890 · Info@Lelands.com

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

info@lelands.com

If you read the Siki book you know that the outcome of this fight was pre-ordained. Siki would go down four times and stay down the last time. For this he was to receive Carpentier's share of the purse. Instead, Siki went along with the sham for a few rounds and then, apparently infuriated that the French war hero was not pulling his punches, launched a vicious attack that crumpled Carpentier like a French cafe table hit with a wrecking ball.

\On this month's cover is the cover to the program and, shown here, is the inside two pages and the pages showing Siki's record. Which goes to show you, collectors, live long enough and it will eventually be found.

Doublecross at Stade Buffalo