[JCWeb]

To the last two posters -- Thanks for the interest shown, and frankly one of the reasons NP Dempsey's record seems so good is that the other MWs in my database during that era were fairly weak by comparision (LaBlanche, Donovan and Reagan) until the arrival of McCoy and Ryan who moved up from WW. I did not have Fitz at MW or guys like Creedon which may have caused a different result. This makes a great segway to one division (other than the HWs of course) where there has been a plethora of quality fighters over the first 25 years -- the Featherweight Division. Here are the basics:

58 World Title Bouts
26 times title changed hands
18 different champions

Title Lineage (number of successful defenses in parens):

1886 - 1887 Torpedo Billy Murphy (2)
1887 - 1889 Fred Johnson (1)
1889 - Abe Willis (0)
1889 - 1892 Young Griffo (7)
1892 - 1893 Solly Smith (1)
1893 - Jack Skelly (2)
1893 - 1894 Frank Murphy (0)
1894 - Johnny Griffin (0)
1894 - 1895 Jack Skelly (1)
1895 - 1896 Young Griffo (4)
1896 - 1897 Ben Jordan (0)
1897 - George Dixon (0)
1897 - 1898 Young Griffo (0)
1898 - Dave Sullivan (0)
1898 - Solly Smith (0)
1898 - 1899 George Dixon (0)
1899 - Harry Lyons (0)
1899 - 1900 Ben Jordan (1)
1900 - Dave Sullivan (0)
1900 - Harry Lyons (0)
1900 - 1901 Young Corbett (2)
1901 - Oscar Gardner (1)
1901 - 1902 Aurelio Herrera (0)
1902 - Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan (0)
1902 - 1903 Young Griffo (2)
1903 - 1905 Abe Attell (5)
1905 - Jem Driscoll (2)

Most interesting was the 1896-1899 time period where in eight consecutive title bouts, the title changed hands each time! The only thing closest to a dominant fighter here is Young Griffo, who has held the World title belt on four different occasions and made more successful defenses than anyone. He started off with 31 in a row before a surprise TKO loss to Solly Smith. More recently, Abe Attell had a similar career path, going 27-0 until losing the title via 15-round decision to Jem Driscoll in London. Perhaps hometown refereeing had something to do with it, and Attell is hoping for a rematch. Since just about every Tom Dick and the ever-popular Aurelio have held the title bout, the and just about only real-like FW champ or title claimant not represented here is Jimmy Britt, who started off as a LW in my database. (See discussion of current FW contender Terry McGovern below).

Jan 1906 Top Ten Ratings
Champ: Jem Driscoll (UK) 25-1 (21)
1. Abe Attell 28-1 (17)
2. Harry Lyons 41-8-1 (23)
3. Terry McGovern 26-10-1 (23)
4. Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan 26-9-1 (16)
5. Young Griffo 68-8-3 (29)
6. Young Corbett 24-10-4 (18)
7. Aurelio Herrera 23-9-1 (22)
8. Eddie Santry 25-16-1 (15)
9. Benny Soloman 28-9 (24)
10. Joe Bernstein 26-16-1 (13)

Lesser Titles
NABF: Lyons (USA)
USBA: BT Sullivan (USA)
CBU: Griffo (AUS)
GBU: kind of dormant, since Driscoll is champ and Jordan only UK fighter left in database.

All the top 10 guys are in Prime of their careers, except of course for Griffo, who has been around so long I am going to think about renaming him "Old Griffo." One fighter I have been disappointed in so far is McGovern, who has yet to rise to the occasion and claim a even a lesser NABF or USBA title here after failing to take the WBA crown in the lower BW ranks, but "Terrible Terry" still has a few good years left to make his mark in the FW class. We'll see if he can deliver on that promise.

Retired FW Boxers (5 so far, look for more in the coming years with guys like Smith, Griffo and Dixon on the verge of retirement):

Torpedo Billy Murphy (NZL) 1882-1899 36-18-2 (28) WBA Champ
Abe Willis (AUS) 1885-1899 28-23 (16) WBA Champ
Johnny Griffin (USA) 1887-1901 37-17-2 (29) WBA Champ
Frank Murphy (USA) 1885-1903 43-20-2 (27) WBA Champ
Jack Skelly (USA) 1888-1903 37-21-2 (19) WBA Champ

Next post will conclude the historical retrospective with a look at the Bantam division and then I will follow with an update on the 1906 action which is currently on-going.