Oct 23, 1912. Paris, France

Billy Papke, the middleweight fighter of Illinois, tonight defeated the French champion, Georges Carpentier. The Frenchman quit after the seventeenth round.

At the weighing in at 3 o'clock in the afternoon Papke exceeded the middleweight limit. Carpentier was under weight. The Frenchman's manager immediately claimed the title of middleweight champion. He said : "The fight will proceed as arranged, but it will not be for the title which now belongs to Carpentier".

"It was the hardest fight of my career" said Papke, after Carpentier, the idol of the French sporting public, threw up the sponge.

It was evident from the first few rounds that Carpentier was no match for Papke, whose infighting tactics completely baffled the Frenchman. But he fought with great pluck and determination. At the end of the eighth round Carpentier's right eye was closed. He fought warily after that and kept away from the American as much as possible.

In the fifteenth the Frenchman came back quite strongly, and in both that round and the sixteenth he gave a good account of himself.

Papke opened the seventeenth with a terrific left hook to the jaw which floored and practically finished the Frenchman. Carpentier gamely got to his feet and managed to drag out the round, but obviously he was unable to continue and after a brief consultation with his seconds gave up.

Papke recieves $5,000 for his end of the purse, with certain other emoluments. He had to pay a forfeit of $1,000 to Carpentier for overweight.

(Associated Press)

..................................................

*this video originally appeared on the YouTube channel of Steve Lott, who has allowed it to also be on this YouTube channel for use on the Classic Boxing Society blog or various posts, as the original title was 'This Day in Boxing...'

Steve Lott's YouTube channel is highly recommended for all classic boxing fans as is the official website for the Boxing Hall of Fame, Las Vegas which Steve is president of..

https://www.youtube.com/user/BoxingHOF

http://boxinghalloffame.com/

On the afternoon of September 22, 1922 fight fans packed the Buffalo Velodrome in Paris, France to see Georges Carpentier defend his light-heavyweight title against Battling Siki.

Nicknamed the “Orchid Man” for the corsages he often wore with his tailored suits, Carpentier had been fighting professionally since he was 14. Although he was coming off a failed attempt to win Dempsey’s heavyweight title, he’d helped secure boxing’s first million-dollar gate. Fighting again as a light-heavyweight, the Frenchman’s future was still bright—so bright that Carpentier’s handlers were taking no chances. They offered Battling Siki a bribe to throw the fight. Siki agreed, under the condition that he “didn’t want to get hurt.” What followed was one of the strangest bouts in boxing history.

Although Siki later admitted that the fight was rigged, there’s some question as to whether Carpentier knew it. Early in the first of 20 scheduled rounds, Siki dropped to a knee after Carpentier grazed him, and then rose and began to throw wild, showy punches with little behind them. In the third, Carpentier landed a powerful blow, and Siki went down again; when he got back on his feet, he lunged at his opponent head first, hands low, as if inviting Carpentier to hit him again. Carpentier obliged, sending Siki to the canvas once more.

At that point, the action in the ring turned serious. Siki later told a friend that during the fight, he had reminded Carpentier, “You aren’t supposed to hit me,” but the Frenchman “kept doing it. He thought he could beat me without our deal, and he kept on hitting me.”

Suddenly, Battling Siki’s punches had a lot more power to them. He pounded away at Carpentier in the fourth round, then dropped him with a vicious combination and stood menacingly over him. Through the fourth and into the fifth, the fighters stood head to head, trading punches, but it was clear that Siki was getting the better of the champion. Frustrated, Carpentier charged in and head-butted Siki, knocking him to the floor. Rising to his feet, Siki tried to protest to the referee, but Carpentier charged again, backing him into a corner. The Frenchman slipped and fell to the canvas—and Siki, seemingly confused, helped him get to his feet. Seeing Siki’s guard down, Carpentier showed his gratitude by launching a hard left hook to Siki’s head just before the bell ended the round. The Senegalese tried to follow Carpentier back to his corner, but handlers pulled him back onto his stool.

At the start of round six, Battling Siki pounced. Furious, he spun Carpentier around and delivered an illegal knee to his midsection, which dropped the Frenchman for good. Enraged, Siki stood above him and shouted down at his fallen foe. With his right eye swollen shut and his nose broken, the Orchid Man was splayed awkwardly on his side, his left leg resting on the lower rope.

Siki returned to his corner. His manager, Charlie Hellers, blurted out, “My God. What have you done?”

“He hit me,” Siki answered.

Referee M. Henri Bernstein didn’t even bother counting. Believed by some to be in on the fix, Bernstein tried to explain that he was disqualifying Siki for fouling Carpentier, who was then being carried to his corner. Upon hearing of the disqualification, the crowd unleashed a “great chorus of hoots and jeers and even threaten the referee with bodily harm.” Carpentier, they believed, had been “beaten squarely by a better man.”

Amid the pandemonium, the judges quickly conferred, and an hour later, reversed the disqualification. Battling Siki was the new champion.

Siki was embraced, just as Carpentier had been, and he quickly became the toast of Paris. He was a late-night fixture in bars around the city, surrounded by women, and he could often be seen walking the Champs-Elysees in a top hat and tuxedo, with a pet lion cub on a leash.

(By Gilbert King)