Timothy Joseph O'Connor (1892–1961) was an American boxing referee and government official for the city of Boston who served as traffic commissioner and commissioner of the

Boston Fire Department The Boston Fire Department provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It also responds to such incidents as motor vehicle accidents, hazardous material spills, utility mishaps, ...

Early life

O'Connor was born on March 30, 1892 in Charlestown. He was the youngest of eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew O'Connor of Crookston,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He graduated from the Mechanical Arts High School in 1907 and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Boxing

O'Connor became interested in boxing during his time in the Army. He made his professional debut as a referee for Frank Ducey, the matchmaker for the Casino Athletic Club of

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

. In 1920 he refereed the first ever bout regulated by the Massachusetts Boxing Commission - a fight between welterweights Nate Siegal and Paddy Flynn. On December 21, 1920, O'Connor refereed a bout between Harry Greb and Bob Roper. During the six round, Greb hit O'Connor in the mouth, which caused him to bleed profusely. O'Connor grabbed Greb around the waist and planted him on his stool. Greb eventually won the 10 round fight by decision. In 1922 O'Connor officiated a bout between light-heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and Chuck Wiggins at Mechanics Hall. In 1924, Lawrence J. Sweeney of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' questioned O'Connor's decision to declare Quntion Romero-Rojas victorious over Jack Renault. Sweeney felt that O'Connor had penalized Renault for "carrying" Romero-Rojas. The following year, O'Connor refereed a bout in which

Jack Sharkey Jack Sharkey (born Joseph Paul Zukauskas, lt, Juozas Povilas Žukauskas, October 26, 1902 – August 17, 1994) was a Lithuanian-American world heavyweight boxing champion. Boxing career He took his ring name from his two idols, heavyweight ...

was given a 2 to 1 decision over George Cook. Sweeney wrote that Cook was entitled to the victory and that the officials who gave Sharkey the victory "have outlived their usefulness". He proclaimed that the decision would "just about ruin the sport in the Bay State". On February 7, 1927, O'Connor disqualified

Al Mello Alfons Mello Tavares (January 31, 1906 – October 31, 1993) was an American Olympic and professional boxer who was a contender for the world middleweight title in 1929-30. He held the New England Welterweight title during his career. Early ye ...

in the first round of his fight with George Kid Lee. It was one of Mello's four career disqualifications for low punches and one of Lee's three victories over Mello. On April 2, 1928, O'Connor declared Roberto Roberti victorious over Ted Sandwina as a result of a foul in the third round of their fight at Mechanics' Hall. The Massachusetts Boxing Commission suspended Sandwina for three months for the foul. On May 17, 1929, O'Connor disqualified Jim Maloney for hitting his opponent,

Riccardo Bertazzolo Riccardo Bertazzolo (4 July 1903 – 5 March 1975) was an Italian boxer who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was born in Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of ...

, after the bell. On December 13, 1929, O'Connor stopped a fight between welterweight champion

Jackie Fields Jackie Fields (Jacob Finkelstein, February 9, 1908 – June 3, 1987) was an People of the United States, American professional boxer who won the World Welterweight Championship twice. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Fields as the #19 ran ...

and Gorilla Jones in the seventh round. O'Connor believed that both men were performing below their usual standards and declared the fight a no contest. On November 10, 1931, O'Connor declared a fight between Joe Sekyra and Paul Swiderski a no contest early in the eight round. David F. Egan of ''The Boston Globe'' described the fight as a "farcical exhibition" where the fighters "meant no harm to each other" Egan praised O'Connor for exercising "excellent self-restraint in allowing them to meander as long as they did". O'Connor warned both fighters four times before ending the bout. On September 17, 1937, O'Connor refereed a bout between the undefeated Ralph Zannelli of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

and

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Although nonpartisan scoring favored Jackson, the fight was ruled to be a no-contest in what was seen as a "home-town decision". O'Connor favored Jackson while Judges Jim Shaughnessy and Eddie Curley voted for a split verdict. Other notable bouts officiated by O'Connor include Joe Tiplitz vs. Johnnie Downs, Tommy Gibbons vs. Pat McCarthy, Hambone Kelly vs. George Robinson,

Jack Britton Jack Britton (October 14, 1885 – March 27, 1962) was an American boxer who was the first three-time world welterweight boxing champion. Born William J. Breslin in Clinton, New York, his professional career lasted for 25 years beginning in ...

vs. Frankie Schoell,

Sully Montgomery James Ralph "Sully" Montgomery (January 12, 1901 – September 5, 1970) was an American professional football player and boxer. Montgomery played college football for the Centre Praying Colonels of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He ...

vs. Battling McCreary, Red Chapman vs. Johnny Dundee, George Cook vs. Bob Lawson, Tommy Loughran vs. Johnny Risko,

Young Stribling William Lawrence Stribling Jr. (December 26, 1904 – October 3, 1933), known as Young Stribling, was an American professional boxer who fought from Featherweight to Heavyweight from 1921 until 1933. He was the elder brother of fellow boxer Her ...

vs. Maxie Rosenbloom, Tiger Flowers vs. Eddie Huffman, Al Mello vs. Johnny Mendelsohn, Jack Delaney vs. Jack Humbeck,

Ernie Schaaf Frederick Ernest Schaaf (September 27, 1908 – February 14, 1933) was a professional boxer who was a heavyweight contender in the 1930s but died after a bout. Career Schaaf weighed in his prime which was average in that era. In the 1930s he we ...

vs. "Big Boy" Peterson, Jim Maloney vs.

Tom Heeney Thomas Heeney (18 May 1898 – 15 June 1984) was a professional heavyweight boxing, boxer from New Zealand, best known for unsuccessfully challenging champion Gene Tunney for the heavyweight championship of the world in New York City on 26 July ...

, Johnny Indrisano vs. Vince Dundee, Johnny Indrisano vs. Lou Brouillard, Lou Brouillard vs. Sammy Slaughter, Lou Brouillard vs. Tony Shucco, Jack Sharkey vs. Phil Brubaker, and Tiger Jack Fox vs. Lou Brouillard.

Government

In 1911, O'Connor joined the survey and design section of the Boston public works department's highway division as a rodman. In 1929 he was promoted to junior civil engineer and transferred to the new Boston traffic commission. He was made chief traffic engineer in 1954 and promoted to traffic commissioner in 1957. In 1959 he was named fire commissioner. He retired on January 1, 1960. O'Connor died on October 31, 1961 at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Mayor

John F. Collins John Frederick Collins (July 20, 1919 – November 23, 1995) was an American lawyer who served as the mayor of Boston from 1960 to 1968. Collins was a lawyer who served in the Massachusetts Legislature from 1947 to 1955. He and his children cau ...

ordered all municipal flags at half-staff in respect for O'Connor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Connor, Joe 1892 births 1961 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I American boxing referees Commissioners of the Boston Fire Department People from Charlestown, Boston People from West Roxbury, Boston