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Part II-Light Heavyweights Through 1905
This report will follow the same format as for the Heavyweights but of course it will be alot shorter.
1885-1905 LH Division Capsule History
48 World title bouts
title changed hands 10 times
8 different champions
Title Lineage (successful defenses in parens):
1885-1886 Bob Fitzsimmons (3)
(Note: moved Fitz up to HW after being unbeaten (18-0) vs LHs through 1886.)
1886-1890 Joe Butler (7)
1890-1900 Joe Choynski (18)
1900-1903 Phila Jack O'Brien (5)
1903- George Gardner (0)
1903-1904 Charlie Haghey (2)
1904- Phila Jack O'Brien (0)
1904- Goerge Gardner (0)
1904-1905 John Wille (2)
1905- Jack Root (0)
1905- Phila Jack O'Brien (0)
Well, I didn't wait around until early 1900s to get the division going and of course there was a paucity of real contenders until then, which explains why Butler and Choynski lasted so long. Choynski moved up to HW shortly after losing the title in 1900 to O'Brien. A bit surprised to see Haghey and Wille make it to the top before Root. So far all who held the belt IRL have done so in my universe.
Current Rankings (Jan 1906):
WBA Champ Phila Jack O'Brien 36-13-1 (19)
1. George Gardner 35-5-1 (24)
2. Jeremy McWatt* 20-15-2 (3)
3. John Wille 20-4-1 (16)
4. Leo Houck 15-2 (7)
5. Jack Root 29-8 (22)
6. Clifford Marvine* 18-15-2 (3)
7. Charlie Haghey 16-10-2 (14)
8. Jack Sullivan 19-10 (12)
9. Fred Cooley 14-1 (9)
10. Chuck Carrick* 13-13-1 (27)
Title Holders:
NABF -- Wille (USA)
USBA -- Houck (USA)
CBU, GBU -- McWatt (UK)
More trial horses in top 10 because of lack of real-life fighters in this division. Only other RL boxer active now is Billy Stift (now in post-prime), who is ranked just outside of top ten. All with 20 or more bouts listed are in Prime, those with less than 20 are Pre-Prime.
Retired LHs so far (it's a short list):
Fitzsimmons -- see HW report
Joe Butler (USA) 1883-1902 56-20 (35) WBA Champ
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