The Great White Hopes (20 page)

The references to Smith’s patriotism must have puzzled the Gunboat, a former heavyweight champion of the Pacific Fleet, because, by his own admission, he had spent most of his sea duty in the waters off China and Japan serving time in the brig for insubordination. However, the writer went on to report that Cowler, who lost in the tenth round, was obviously affected by Buckley’s remarks: ‘Cowler is tired of being asked why he isn’t in the trenches.’

Cowler was reduced to the status of a mere ‘opponent’, fighting wherever he could earn a few dollars, crossing and recrossing the continent by train. A list of the cities in which he fought gives some idea of the peripatetic life led by the White Hopes. Between 1915 and 1919 Cowler visited, often more than once, New York, Boston, Rochester, Wheeling, Buffalo, Providence, St Louis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Jersey City, Oakland and Baltimore.

In 1919, after Johnson had lost his title, Cowler actually fought the fat and washed-up former champion in Mexico City. Johnson still had enough to knock the Englishman out, but Cowler was as game as a pebble. Shortly before the end, Johnson muttered to him, ‘Why don’t you give up, Tom?’ to which the Cumbrian replied rather incoherently, ‘I shall when you leave me alone!’

An unusual White Hope was the Canadian Sandy Ferguson. A big, brave and reckless man, Ferguson was born in New Brunswick in 1879 and started boxing when he was 19. He fought out of Boston and was undefeated in his first sixteen contests. He soon developed a reputation as a man who would fight anyone anywhere. Unlike most of his white contemporaries, Ferguson never drew the colour line and went in with most of the leading black fighters of his era.

From an early age Ferguson displayed a reckless streak which was to cause him considerable grief. In 1901, he secured a post as sparring partner to the gangling Cornish-born Bob Fitzsimmons, the former world heavyweight champion. Ferguson proved to be no respecter of persons, as the
Police Gazette
of 15 June reported with a straight face: ‘Bob Fitzsimmons has lost his sparring partner, “Sandy” Ferguson, of whom great things were expected. While boxing the other night “Sandy” started to mix it up with Bob. The result was a smashed ear, a bloody nose and several other catastrophes for “Sandy”, followed by his sad departure for his home in Boston.’

In the same year, still smarting from the adverse newspaper publicity, Ferguson embarked upon a ten-fight tour of Britain, where, in three fights, he lost to, beat and drew with a leading English heavyweight, Ben Taylor. He was overmatched, however, when he came in as a last-minute substitute for Bob Armstrong to box one of the leading black American heavyweights, Denver Ed Martin, at the National Sporting Club. Ferguson put up a very brave show before being beaten in the fifth round.

Ferguson’s courageous display against the big black fighter was commented upon favourably when the Canadian returned home at the beginning of 1903. He was regarded as a good rough-and-tumble fighter who needed only to pay more attention to his training to be worthy of a title shot against James J. Jeffries. If ever there was a time for a white fighter to go carefully and avoid all the hard men while his contender status was strengthened, it was now.

Instead, feckless and broke, Ferguson agreed to meet the new rising black star Jack Johnson over ten rounds in Boston. Ferguson fought bravely but was outclassed by the black boxer. One newspaper account said that the white fighter was made to look a novice against the silky skills of the Galveston man.

For a white fighter to have gone in with Jack Johnson once could have been seen as an error, but the foolishly brave Ferguson then fought the future champion four more times over the next three years. In fact, Ferguson was a heavy drinker and had an expensive lifestyle, when he could afford one. Mixed-race matches were frowned upon in many quarters, but they drew large crowds, and even losing to a prominent black fighter like Johnson, Langford or Jeanette could earn a white boxer a good purse.

Ferguson soon drank away most of his money from the first Johnson bout, and the next month he turned up with boozy optimism at the black fighter’s contest with Joe Butler at the Philadelphia Athletic Club. After Johnson had knocked Butler out in the third round, Ferguson reeled into the ring and challenged the victor to a return match. Johnson, who had not even broken into a sweat against Butler, looked at his challenger with the anticipation of a cat offered a saucer of cream, and agreed quickly, before the white man could change his mind.

They fought a six-round, no-decision bout in the same hall two months later. This time Ferguson did better, but all the newspaper verdicts went in his opponent’s favour. Ferguson then boosted his record with an impressive first-round knockout against Bob Armstrong, a veteran black fighter. This victory may have given Ferguson delusions of grandeur, although it is more likely that he had drunk most of his ring earnings away again and was broke. He accepted an offer to fight Johnson over twenty rounds in Colma in December 1903. Johnson won handily over the distance, although Ferguson won plaudits for his phlegmatic endurance.

Ferguson, however, was already building up a reputation as an unreliable fighter. On 26 March 1904, the
Police Gazette
reported that the Boston-based fighter had stormed out of a proposed match in Gloucester, Massachusetts. ‘The main attraction was to have been between Sandy Ferguson of Chelsea and Walter Johnson, of Philadelphia, but owing to some disagreement in the choice of a referee, Ferguson would not go on and left the club.’

Ferguson met Jack Johnson in another six-round, no-decision meeting, and then, a year later, on 18 July 1905, the two men had their most spectacular clash. It took place at the Pythian Rink in Chelsea, Massachusetts. By this time the Canadian heavyweight had built up quite a following with his spectacularly inept efforts to best Johnson, and a large crowd turned up to see what his opponent would do to him this time. Every seat was taken in the packed, sweltering hall, and at the back standees were crushed shoulder to shoulder in a swaying mass.

The first three rounds were probably the best Ferguson had ever fought. He stood toe to toe, slugging it out with Johnson, who was forced to abandon his normal defensive mode. The crude Canadian landed a number of crushing right hands on Johnson’s shaven head, and even forced the black man back to the ropes on several occasions.

By the fourth round Ferguson’s lack of fitness caught up with him, and Johnson began to surge forward as the crowd screamed to the white fighter not to give up his advantage. The contest was so exciting that brawls were breaking out all over the hall between supporters of the two heavyweights.

By the fifth round, Ferguson had shot his bolt and was beginning to foul Johnson in a desperate effort to stay in the match. In the sixth round he hurtled a left hook deliberately into his opponent’s groin. Johnson screamed and fell writhing to the canvas. In an effort to fool the referee and get him to start the count, Ferguson leapt over the ropes and headed from the ring through the incensed crowd, trying vainly to give the impression of a victorious fighter abandoning the field of conflict in triumph.

The referee was not deceived. Sternly he called the white fighter back to the ring. When the wide-eyed innocent returned, protesting vehemently, the referee disqualified him. A riot broke out in the hall. Chairs were thrown and punches exchanged, while non-belligerents tried to push their way through to the exits. In the end the police had to be called in to restore order.

By this time Ferguson was probably giving more trouble to his managers than he was to his opponents. Between 1904 and 1912 he is recorded as having at least four different handlers. As soon as one gave up on the wilful fighter, another could soon be found to take on the heavyweight for a percentage of his purses. Among the venal but misguided ten-per-centers associated with Ferguson during this period were Alec McLean, Johnny Mack, Carl Harris and George Little.

The 1905 fight with Johnson sickened Ferguson of managers and the fight game for the time being. He was only 26 but he had had over fifty hard fights and was going nowhere. Temporarily he abandoned the ring. In 1906 he had only one fight and there were none in 1907. Still he was not ignored in the police reports of local and national newspapers. The
Milwaukee Free Press
of 4 April 1907 reported, ‘John Alexander Ferguson, known in the ring as “Sandy” Ferguson, challenger of Johnson and Jeffries, has been sentenced to four months in jail in Boston for idleness and disorderly conduct. This is the second term “Sandy” is serving in jail.’

Between court appearances Ferguson made sporadic attempts to earn a legitimate living. Briefly he returned to Nova Scotia. On one occasion at least he secured the commendation of his skipper when, serving as a deckhand on a mackerel ship putting out of Gloucester, he was reported to be the only crew member who was not fighting drunk when returning from a bout of shore leave.

Ferguson also revisited prison after he had been found guilty of hitting his wife on the arm with a frying pan. And in 1908 he had two bouts. True to form he selected about the hardest opponents he could find, losing in twelve rounds each to Sam Langford and Joe Jeanette.

Then, in 1909, as the White Hope campaign got under way, Sandy Ferguson found himself in demand again. By the standards of most white heavyweights he had quite a creditable record. He had dodged no one and had fought the new world champion no fewer than five times. Responding to the rustling of dollar bills, Ferguson made a comeback. In his adopted home city of Boston he knocked out two young White Hopes, Jim Barry and Al Kubiak, and, still on his own turf, found Sam Langford in a charitable enough mood to let him go twelve soporific rounds for a drawn verdict.

Suddenly, to his surprise, Sandy Ferguson found himself being touted in the newspapers as, along with Jim Flynn, an experienced White Hope. It was too good to last. Ferguson was too unstable to stay and consolidate his position in the States. Instead he went off for a wild old time in Paris, which was welcoming American fighters.

The
Portland Daily Advertiser
of 6 May 1909 commented, ‘Another American heavyweight pugilist is on his way to England and France. This time Sandy Ferguson, the big Boston slugger, whose twelve-round bout with Sam Langford in Boston last week was called a draw, is the one in search of fame and coin on the far side of the big pond.’

In Paris he beat and lost to Joe Jeanette, but he soon succumbed to the multifarious pleasures of the French capital and eschewed training completely. When he returned to the USA, Ferguson was wildly out of condition. This did not prevent him from accepting an offer to fight Jeanette yet again. They met at the Boston Armory Athletic Club. Their fight was a disgraceful one. The two men mauled and pushed and exchanged few clean blows. Jeanette launched the few attacks that did take place, while Ferguson hid behind a wall of crossed gloves. In the seventh round the white man’s manager quit in disgust and stormed out of the arena. In the eleventh round, the
Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin
reported, ‘Ferguson stalled the entire eleventh round, with the crowd yelling and hooting at his efforts to quit without deliberately lying down.’ At the end of the twelve rounds, to the fury of the crowd, which had rejected the local man because of his lack of fighting spirit, Ferguson was declared the winner. The referee, Jack Sheehan, explained lamely that, while Jeanette had landed the most punches, Ferguson’s blows had been stronger.

The news of Ferguson’s ‘victory’, when it was announced in the newspapers, enhanced his reputation as a White Hope. There was talk of matching him yet again with Jack Johnson, should he repeat his win over Joe Jeanette. For his part, the furious Jeanette was insisting on another shot at the white man. Boston would have nothing to do with yet another meeting between the two heavyweights, but they were matched to fight again in New York.

The return bout was another shocker. Ferguson had done no training for the bout, while Jeanette was determined to avenge the so-called defeat in their last encounter. The white fighter knew that he had no chance against an untrammelled Joe Jeanette, and gave a disgraceful exhibition.

The New York correspondent of
Boxing
was scathing in his condemnation of the way in which Ferguson froze when he saw Jeanette advancing on him with a dreadful anticipatory gleam in his eye, and accused the white fighter of having done most of his training in barrooms. ‘Ferguson aspires to the championship title, but by his showing he is more fit for the occupation of cow-puncher between decks. I was told before the fight that Sandy had trained for the contest, but I could guess in two attempts just what the surroundings of his training quarters were, and the elbow-work must have been severe. “Red-hair” got cold feet in the fifth round, but his seconds forced him to continue. The merciful end came in the eighth.’

It was the finish of Ferguson as a White Hope. He fought on, but now he was just a trial horse, cannon fodder for better-managed white heavyweights. He was beaten by Jim Barry, Porky Flynn, Tom Kennedy and even by the elderly Tony Ross. Of this last bout, the
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin
reported, ‘Sandy Ferguson, the Boston heavyweight who has frequently been accused of possessing a yellow streak, quit cold in the fifth round.’ After this Ferguson tried to redeem himself by writing a plaintive letter to the sports editor of the
Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin
of 12 March 1910:

Just a few lines to let you know that I am on deck again. You can’t keep a squirrel off his perch. Some people with a lot of regard for Mr Sam Langford and Mr Jack Johnson, heavyweight champion, have been circulating reports in this neck of the woods that I am all through with the fighting game.

Reason – both are afraid of me and would like to see me out of the way. Johnson I knocked cold in Chelsea, but he was in right and got the decision. Did he ever desire a meeting with me since? Not on his natural!

Rich, isn’t it? I am enclosing a doctor’s certificate to prove that there is nothing to the reports.