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Al Palzer (January 1, 1890 – July 26, 1917) was a boxer who fought from 1911 to 1915, one of the " White Hopes" during the reign of world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, an
Al Palzer (January 1, 1890 – July 26, 1917) was a boxer who fought from 1911 to 1915, one of the " White Hopes" during the reign of world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, an African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
. The Palzer, who was German-American, fought in the heavyweight division at a weight of 218 to 228 lbs. Palzer was one of the first boxers to fight for the World White Heavyweight Championship The White Heavyweight Championship was a title in pretense created when the " White Hopes" of the time that African-American Jack Johnson was the world heavyweight champion had failed to wrest the title from him after four and one-half years. The ...
title.
Biography
He was born on January 1, 1890. On March 9, 1911, he lost anewspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club o ...
to Frank Moran in a 10-round bout held in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Moran had fought Johnson in a four-round exhibition in April 1909 in Pittsburgh and later lost a title match with Johnson in Paris on June 27, 1914.
Palzer participated in a "White Hope" tournament organized by promoter Tom O'Rourke at New York City's National Sporting Club that was held in May 1911. Ironically, O’Rourke had managed the legendary African American boxers Joe Walcott Joe Walcott is the name of two championship boxers:
*Barbados Joe Walcott (1873–1935), boxer from British Guiana
*Jersey Joe Walcott
Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an A ...
and George Dixon. He also had signed Palzer to a contract before the tournament, and likely manipulated it so that Palzer could win. Other White Hope tournaments were created in response to O'Rouke's contest.
On December 19, 1911, Palzer fought Al Kaufman
Al Kaufman (6 January 1886 – 7 April 1957) was an American boxer and film actor.
Biography
Kaufman, born on September 25, 1888 in North Dakota, was a heavyweight boxer and one of the " White Hopes" of the era when Jack Johnson, an African Am ...
in Brooklyn and scored a K.O.
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
in the fifth round of their 10-round bout. Kaufman had fought Jack Johnson for the world heavyweight title in San Francisco on September 9, 1909. The 10-rounder ended in a no-decision, and the two fighters met in Reno, Nevada, to box an exhibition in July 1910.
On New Year's Day 1913, Palzer met Luther McCarty
Luther Quinter McCarty (March 17, 1892 – May 24, 1913) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1913. He was considered by most to be the greatest of all the " Great White Hope" fighters who fought during the time of ...
in Vernon, California
Vernon is a city five miles (8.0 km) south of downtown Los Angeles, California, the nearest separate city to downtown Los Angeles. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States Census, the least of any incorporated city in the state. I ...
, to determine the "White Heavyweight Championship" of the world. McCarty won the title by way of a T.K.O. in the 18th round. It would be a title he would hold for the rest of his life, which would only be a short five months.
Palzer retired in 1915 after having racked up a record of nine wins (six by K.O.) against four losses. He also lost four newspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club o ...
s.
He died on July 26, 1917, when he was shot to death by his father.
References