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The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia -- Old Timer

Tommy West

BORN   May 29 1870; Cardiff, Wales
DIED March 21 1929; Louisville Kentucky
HEIGHT 5-5 1/2
WEIGHT 145-162 lbs

West was not a polished boxer but he was a very tough man; He asked "no quarter" and gave none; Tommy defeated such men as Joe Walcott, Frank Craig, Jack Bonner, George Byers, Billy Stift, Charley Johnson, "Wild" Bill Hanrahan, Paddy Purtell, Jim Watts, Abe Ullman, Dick Moore, Charles Stevenson and Doc Payne

Herb Goldman ranked West as the #75 All-Time Welterweight

1891
       Charles Hall                                                  KO  2
       Jack Robinson                                                 TK  2
          -Some sources report "W 2"
       Sailor Cotton                                                 KO  3
       Mike Bradley                                                   W  6
       Tom Murphy                                                     W  3
       the "Alaska Giant"                                            KO  2
       Pat McHugh                                                    KO  2

1892
Apr 28 "Mysterious" Billy Smith   Portland, Or                        D 10
          -Some sources report "D 11"

1893
Feb  6 Joe Choynski               Portland, Or                        L  3
Mar 22 Charles Johnson            Portland, Or                        D 31
          -Some sources report 4/18/93
Dec 22 Jack Burke                 Boston, Ma                          W  3
          -Some sources report "TK 3"

1894
Jan 11 Joe Walcott                South Boston, Ma                   LT  3
          -Some sources report "L 3"
Jan 31 Billy Murphy               Bath, Me                           ND  6
May  7 -West seconded "Torpedo" Billy Murphy vs Young Griffo in Boston, Ma
Jun    -West was engaged to help train Joe Choynski vs Bob Fitzsimmons
Jun 15 Joe Choynski               Worcester, Ma                      EX  2
Jun 18 John A. Sullivan           Boston, Ma                         EX  3
Jun 18 -West seconded Joe Choynski vs Bob Fitzsimmons in Boston, Ma
          Some sources report 6/17/94
Jul 26 -West seconded "Mysterious" Billy Smith vs Tommy Ryan in Minneapolis, Mn
Sep    -West was training Larry Farrell vs "Denver" Ed Smith for an October 11
           bout in Denver, Co
Oct 29 Ed Pitts                   Chicago, Il                        KO  1
Oct 31 -West was engaged as a sparring partner for Joe Walcott
Nov 15 Frank O'Neil               Chicago, Il                         D  7
          -Some sources report "ND 7"

1895
Feb 10 George Fitzgerald          Lyons, Il                           D 15
          -Some sources report "D 16";
           Some sources report "ND 15" on 2/15/95
Mar 11 Frank O'Neil               Chicago, Il                         D  6
Mar 14 Frank Barnett              Oshkosh, Wi                         D  6
Mar    -West trained Casper Leon vs Jimmy Barry for Mar 30 in Chicago, Il;
           They trained in Kankakee, Il
Jul 19 Charles Johnson            Baltimore, Md                      KO  1
          -Some sources report "Chris Johnson";
           Some sources report "Brooklyn, NY"
Oct  4 Mike Harris                New York, NY                       TK  7
          -Some sources report "W 7";
           Some papers mistakenly report Harris was the winner
Nov 23 Ted Burke                  New York, NY                       KO  3
Dec 21 Alf Hanlon                 New York, NY                       KO  3

1896
Jan    Billy "Shadow" Maber       Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled but not held;
           Maber contracted pneumonia
Jan 31 Charles "Kid" McCoy        New York, NY                       LK  2
          -Some sources report McCoy as "Kid Morrow"
Feb 28 Jack Collier               Brooklyn, NY                       KO  3
          -Some sources report 2/29/96;
           Some sources report "New York, NY"
Mar 16 "Scaldy" Bill Quinn        Long Island City, NY                L 10
Mar    Jack Gorman                New York, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled for Mar-Apr 1896; The outcome is not known
Apr  4 Billy "Shadow" Maber       Brooklyn, NY                        D 10
Apr 20 Jack Collier               Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled but not held; Collier did not show
Apr 20 Mike Padden                Brooklyn, NY                       KO  2
Apr 27 Jack Van Houten            New York, NY                        W  3
Jun    Harry Fischer              Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Aug    Fred Morris                New York, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Aug 24 Johnny Gorman              Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled but not held; Gorman did not show
Aug 24 Max Kane                   Brooklyn, NY                       TK  2
          -Some sources report "Maxy Dane"; Others report "Marty Kane";
           Reports vary - "W 2" - "NC 2"; Police intervened
Aug    Billy Armstrong            New York, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Oct 19 "Texas" Billy Smith        New York, NY                       KO  2
          -Some sources report "Tarantula" Billy Smith in "Bronx, NY"
Nov  7 Billy Stift                New York, NY                       KO  9
          -Some sources report "KO 7"
Nov  9 Johnny Gorman              New York, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Nov 16 -West seconded Joe Choynski vs Peter Maher in New York, NY
Nov 17 Billy Payne                Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled but postponed
Nov 24 Billy Payne                Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Nov 28 -West seconded George Dixon vs Frank Erne in New York, NY
Dec  9 Joe Walcott                New York, NY                        D 19

1897
Jan  2 Paddy Purtell              New York, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Jan  2 -Syracuse (NY) Daily Standard ran a story bout West knocking out
          Joe Walcott
Jan 12 Charles Johnson            Albany, NY                         TK  7
          -Some sources report "TK 8"
Mar  3 Joe Walcott                Brooklyn, NY                        W 20
Apr  3 "Australian" Jim Ryan      New York, NY                        W  8
          -Some sources report "TK 8" in "Brooklyn, NY"
May 15 Paddy Purtell              New York, NY                       TK  5
          -Some sources report "W 5"
Sep 30 Tommy Ryan                 Brooklyn, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Oct  2 Jim Watts                                                    SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Oct 11 -West seconded Tommy Shortell vs Jimmy O'Donovan in Trenton, NJ
Oct 17 -Syracuse (NY) Herald reports on a past bout between West
           and Tommy Ryan
Oct 28 Jim Watts                  Long Island, NY                    KO  4
          -Police intervened; Some sources report "KO 5"
Nov 18 "Mysterious" Billy Smith   New York, NY                      SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Nov 29 George Ryan                Brooklyn, NY                       KO 15
Dec 17 -West seconded Charles "Kid" McCoy vs Dan Creedon in Long Island City, NY
Dec 20 Bill Heffernan             Buffalo, NY                       SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known;
           Some sources reported the bout was cancelled
Dec 31 -Syracuse (NY) Evening Herald reported the scheduled Jan 10 1898 
           bout with "Mysterious" Billy Smith was "off" due to negotiation problems

1898
Jan 10 "Mysterious" Billy Smith   Buffalo, NY                       SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Jan 20 Dan Murphy                 Waterbury, Ct                       D 20
Feb 24 Dan Murphy                 Bridgeport, Ct                     TK 17
          -Some sources report "W 17"
Mar 11 Jack Bonner                Philadelphia, Pa                   ND  6
Apr 22 Joe Walcott                Philadelphia, Pa                   ND  6
Jun 13 Tommy Ryan                 New York, NY                       LT 14
          -Welterweight Championship of the World
Nov 14 "Mysterious" Billy Smith   Bridgeport, Ct                      D 20
          -Some sources report "W 20"
Dec  2 Tommy Ryan                 Philadelphia, Pa                   ND  6
          -This was a "tame" fight;
           It looked like a "pre-arranged draw";
           Some sources report "NC 6"

1899
Jan 21 Abraham "Abe" Ullman       Brooklyn, NY                        W 20
          -Some sources report "New York, NY"
Feb 28 Jack Bonner                New York, NY                       WF  8
          -The referee stopped the bout; 
           Bonner rubbed a substance on his gloves
Apr  4 Dan Creedon                New York, NY                        D 20
Jun 12 Patsy Raedy                Syracuse, NY                       KO  5
Sep  4 George Byers               Coney Island, NY                   KO  7
Oct 21 Charles Stevenson          Brooklyn, NY                       KO 13
Nov 24 Frank Craig                Brooklyn, NY                       TK 14
          -Some sources report "W 14"; Some sources report "New York, NY"
Dec 30 James E. "Doc" Payne       Brooklyn, NY                       TK  2
          -Reports vary - "W 2"- "KO 2"

1900
Jan  9 Jack Root                  Chicago, Il                         L  6
Feb 16 Dick Moore                 Baltimore, Md                      WF  4
          -Some sources report "KO 4"
Feb 26 Kid Lyons                  Trenton, NJ                         W   
Mar 23 Patsy Corrigan             Baltimore, Md                      KO  3
Apr  6 Jack Bonner                New York, NY                       TK 16
          -Some sources report "W 16"
Jun 19 "Wild" Bill Hanrahan       Coney Island, NY                   KO 17
Aug 27 Joe Walcott                New York, NY                       TK 11
          -Walcott was winning but injured his left arm
Oct 15 "Philadelphia" Jack O'Brien Philadelphia, Pa                  ND  6
          -Some sources report "W 6"
Nov 26 Jack Bonner                Philadelphia, Pa                   ND  6

1901
Mar  4 Tommy Ryan               Louisville, Ky                         LT 17
         -Middleweight Championship of the World
Mar 29 Marvin Hart              Louisville, Ky                         LK 16
Sep 23 George Johnson           Bath Beach, NY                         EX   
          -At West's training camp, in the rear of Shuber's Hotel, 
           at the foot of Bay 22nd Street, Bensonhurst, West struck 
           Johnson, 37, black, a light blow to the jaw; Johnson died 
           on September 24; West was arrested but released later
Sep 26 Al Weinig                Fort Erie, Ont, Canada                SCH   
          -This bout was scheduled but not held; West was under arrest

1902
Feb 24 "Young" Peter Jackson    Philadelphia, Pa                       LT  2
          -West quit for no apparent reason;
           The promoter withheld his payment;
           Some sources report "L 2"
Jun 23 Joe Walcott              London, Eng                             L 15
          -Welterweight Championship of the World
Aug 27 -West was the timekeepers for the wrestling match between
           Max Luttbeg and Teddy Sitter in Brooklyn, NY
Nov 20 -West was scheduled to referee the wrestling match between
           Tom Jenkins and Teddy Sitter in Brooklyn, NY

1903
Jan 1 Jack Bonner               Leighton, Pa                          SCH   
         -This bout was scheduled but not held; The crowd was too small

*** The Following Bouts Are Reported But Not Confirmed ***

1896
May    Jack Reid                                                        L  3

1906
Oct 23 Ray Bronson              Bloomington, In                        LK  4
          -Bronson fought "Louisville" Tommy West

*** Much Data Was Provided By Mike DeLisa ***

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