Joe Butler (18 May 1866 - 1 January 1941) was 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 ...

boxer who was the colored middleweight champion of the world in the

Gay Nineties The Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term and a periodization of the history of the United States referring to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the United Kingdom as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedly ...

. Born in

Paoli, Pennsylvania Paoli ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chester County near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated in portions of two townships: Tredyffrin and Willistown. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 5,575. His ...

, the 6′ 0½″ Butler fought out of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

during his career. Known as "The King of the Middleweights", Butler had quick hands and fast footwork and was known as canny fighter who could box or slug it out with an opponent.

Colored Championship

Butler fought colored middleweight champ

Ed Binney Ed Binney (April 19, 1864 – unknown) was an African American boxer who was the colored middleweight champion of the World in the 1890s. Born Edward Phinney in Washington, D.C., the middleweight fought out of Boston and Cambridge, Massachuse ...

on November 13, 1892 in Philadelphia and prevailed. Binney had won the title from

Harris Martin Harris Martin (April 2, 1865 – April 26, 1903) was an American boxer known as "The Black Pearl". He declared himself the first colored middleweight champion of the world after a fight with "Black Frank" Taylor in Minneapolis in 1887. Harris ...

, "The Black Pearl", the self-declared world colored middleweight champion. Binney had also defeated the former "Negro Middleweight" title holder

Johnny Banks Johnny Banks (born December 25, 1861 in Richmond, Virginia), was an African American boxer who fought under the sobriquet "The Darkey Wizard" and was the Negro Middleweight Champion of the World during the mid-1880s. Standing 5'6" tall (some ...

, "The Darkey Wizard", in a non-title fight in 1888. Butler lost his title in his only defense, when he was defeated by

Frank Craig Frank Craig (April 1, 1868 – January 1, 1943) was an American boxer who was the colored middleweight champion of the world in the Gay Nineties. The 5′10" Craig fought at a weight of between 153 and 169 lbs. as a middleweight and li ...

on 20 February 1894 in Philadelphia. In his career, Butler won 40 fights ( knocking out his opponent in 33 of the bouts), lost 23 (and was knocked out 13 times), and drew three. He also had six

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 ...

s, winning two and losing four.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Joe 1866 births 1941 deaths American male boxers African-American boxers Middleweight boxers World colored middleweight boxing champions People from Paoli, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania Boxers from Pennsylvania 20th-century African-American people