Cyber Boxing Zone -- Peter Felix

Peter Felix

BORN

July 17 1866; St. Croix, West Indies

DIED

November 10 1926; Sydney, Australia (heart disease)

HEIGHT

6-3 1/2

WEIGHT

176-186 lbs

Peter Felix was born on the 17th July 1866 on the West Indian Island of St.Croix, the same birthplace as the immortal Peter Jackson, who he claimed to be his first cousin (Jackson was actually in Felix’s corner for some of his fights). Felix was tall for his time, standing at 6’ 3” tall, and weighing in around 180 pounds. He was said to be a flashy dresser, extravagant and a bit of an extrovert, quite the opposite of the quiet, gentlemanly Jackson. He started his pugilistic career in Australia in 1894, with a 12th round knock out win over Dan Keeley in Melbourne. The year of 1895, proved to be one of the most fruitful of his career, with three very impressive points victories over the wild man Joe Goddard, and a points victory over the superbly skilled but light punching Mick Dooley. 1896 saw him defeat Starlight Rollins, beat Mick Dooley in two out of three fights, and beat Dan Keeley for the Victorian Heavyweight title with a 5th round knock out win. The next two years saw him draw with Mick Dooley, Tut Ryan and Bill Doherty. It must also be noted that during the depression years of the 1890’s that Peter Felix also fought in unofficial bouts in travelling boxing troupe’s, which toured the agricultural shows of Australia, putting on their fights in tents.

Next up, he scored a draw with an old and sick Peter Jackson over 25 rounds in Melbourne, then he captured the coveted Australian Heavyweight title with a 7th round knock out win over Bill Doherty in Kalgoorlie. Racist attitudes had raised their ugly heads prior to this bout, when Doherty had beaten Dooley to win the Australian crown. Dooley has been quoted as saying “You’re too good for me Bill, but I would sooner lose to you than Felix. Keep” - his voice broke and died to almost a whisper – “Keep the championship white”. Doherty failed to do this. Felix defended his title successfully with a 20 round draw with Doherty, but then lost it to the ubiquitous Doherty via a 20 round points loss. Felix never won the Australian title again, though he challenged for it three times, once against Doherty for a points loss in 1902, and twice against world title challenger Bill Lang for two knock out losses in 1907 and 1908 (Felix was 41 years old when he faced Lang).

In Felix’s next notable bouts he beat the giant woodchopper Bill Heckenberg with a 2nd round knock out, drew with Arthur Cripps and beat the Maori, George Renaulf on points. Age was starting to catch up with the old warhorse, though he was still fighting in main events. The years of 1904 and 1905 saw him lose inside the distance against world title challengers “Boshter” Bill Squires (3 times) and “Gunner” James Moir. In 1907, Felix challenged the legendary Jack Johnson for World Coloured Heavyweight Championship. Felix was knocked out in 1 round.

Felix kept fighting until 1915 (aged 48 years old), though his last real “big time” fight was in 1908 in the very first main event ever held at the Sydney Stadium, in Rushcutters Bay (the stadium where Jack Johnson beat Tommy Burns). In this fight he lost on points over 20 rounds to Sid Russell.

Peter Felix retired to Sydney where he passed away on the 10th November 1926 of a heart attack aged sixty. He fought a large number of world class fighters, and held his own against most of them. He was perhaps a bit unfortunate that his career started at the advanced age of 28 years old.

Record – Total Bouts: 50, Wins 24 (9 KO), Losses 19 (12 KO by), Draws 7

1894 Dec 27 Dan Keeley Melbourne, Vic, Aus KO 12 1895 Jan Dan Keeley W 10 Mar 4 Joe Goddard Melbourne, Vic, Aus W 10 Jul 10 Tom Ball Sydney, NSW, Aus W 10 Oct 16 J. Murphy Blenheim, South Island, NZ KO 1 1896 Apr 4 Mick Dooley Melbourne, Vic, Aus LK 2 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia Jun 27 Mick Dooley Melbourne, Vic, Aus ND 8 -Felix lasted and claimed the win Aug 1 Mick Dooley Melbourne, Vic, Aus ND 10 -Felix lasted and claimed the win Sep 26 Dan Keeley Melbourne, Vic, Aus D 10 Oct 10 Starlight (Edward Rollins) Melbourne, Vic, Aus W 15 Oct 31 Dan Keeley Melbourne, Vic, Aus KO 5 1897 Jul 3 Mick Dooley Brisbane, Que, Aus D 10 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia 1898 Oct 8 James "Tut" Ryan Melbourne, Vic, Aus D 20 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia; Some sources report "D 15" Dec 24 Bill Doherty Fremantle, WA, Aus D 20 1899 Dec 2 Bill Doherty Kalgoorlie, WA, Aus TK 7 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia; Some sources report 12/04/99 1900 Jul 16 Bill Doherty Sydney, NSW, Aus L 20 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia; Some sources report "D 20" in "Kalgoorlie, WA, Aus" Dec 3 Bill Doherty Kalgoorlie, WA, Aus D 20 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia; Some sources report "L 20" in "Ultimo, NSW, Aus" 1901 Jun 17 Mick Dooley Melbourne, Vic, Aus KO 2 Bill Doherty L 20 1902 Jul 7 Bill Doherty Melbourne, Vic, Aus LK 13 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia 1903 May 18 Bill Doherty Melbourne, Vic, Aus L 20 Jul 27 Bill Heckenberg Sydney, NSW, Aus KO 2 Sep 22 Jim Scanlon Melbourne, Vic, Aus WF 15 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia Nov 23 Alf James Melbourne, Vic, Aus KO 3 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia 1904 Jan 4 George Ruenalf Melbourne, Vic, Aus D 16 Apr 12 "Soldier" Jack Thompson Sydney, NSW, Aus KO 5 Jun 4 Bill Smith Sydney, NSW, Aus LF 6 Aug 20 Bill Squires Newcastle, NSW, Aus LF 11 Sep 7 Arthur Cripps Sydney, NSW, Aus D 20 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia Nov 22 Bill Squires Sydney, NSW, Aus LK 1 1905 Feb 14 James "Gunner" Moir Sydney, NSW, Aus LK 2 -Some sources report 2/13/05 Dec 12 Bill Squires Sydney, NSW, Aus LK 7 1906 May 1 Mally Johnson Sydney, NSW, Aus WF 3 Jun 19 Arthur Cripps Sydney, NSW, Aus WF 17 -Some sources report "WF 16" Jul 31 Peter Kling Sydney, NSW, Aus LK 4 Oct George Ruenalf Cobar, NSW, Aus LF 11 Nov 27 Tim "Draffin" Murphy Sydney, NSW, Aus LF 5 1907 Feb 19 Jack Johnson Sydney, NSW, Aus LK 1 -Negro Heavyweight Championship of the World Some sources report 12/19/06 Aug 26 Malley Jackson Broken Hill, NSW, Aus KO 14 Oct 3 Bill Lang Broken Hill, NSW, Aus LK 12 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia; Some sources report 10/07/07 1908 Feb 17 Bill Lang Melbourne, Vic, Aus LT 7 -Heavyweight Championship of Australia Aug 21 Sid Russell Sydney, NSW, Aus L 20 1909 Apr 13 Sid Russell Sydney, NSW, Aus KO 16 May 25 Jack Whittaker Sydney, NSW, Aus W 20 Jul 5 Mike Williams Melbourne, Vic, Aus LK 1 Sep 8 Bill Turner Hobart, TAS, Aus LK 8 Nov 27 Bob Fitzsimmons Sydney, NSW, Aus EX 2 Dec 8 Billy McColl Tamworth, NSW, Aus LK 7 ***** The Following Bouts Are Reported But Not Confirmed ***** 1895 Joe Goddard W 20 Joe Goddard W 10 1911 May 22 Bill Turner Broken Hill, NSW, Aus LK 2

Peter Felix

Record courtesy of Tracy Callis, Historian, International Boxing Research Organization