John Patrick Kilbane (April 9, 1889 – May 31, 1957) was an American
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...
boxer in the early part of the 20th century. He held the World Featherweight title from 1912 to 1923, the longest period in the division's history, having defended the title against four contenders during the reign.
[ Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Kilbane as the No. 2 ranked featherweight of all-time, while '']The Ring Magazine
''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...
'' founder Nat Fleischer
Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector.
Career
Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ' ...
placed him at No. 5.[Cyber Boxing Encyclopedia - Johnny Kilbane](_blank)
CyberBoxingZone.com Retrieved on 2014-04-30[All-Time Featherweight Rankings](_blank)
BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2014-04-11. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Kilbane as the 8th best featherweight ever.[All-Time Light Heavyweight Rankings](_blank)
IBROresearch.com Retrieved on 2014-04-29 He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1960 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
in 1995.
Early life
Kilbane was born to John and Mary (Gallagher) Kilbane in Cleveland, Ohio on April 9, 1889. His mother died when he was 3 years old and his father went blind when he was 6. He attended school until the sixth grade when he dropped out to help support his family.
Career
Kilbane's first professional fight was in 1907, for which he earned around $25.
World featherweight champion
On February 22, 1912, Kilbane took the featherweight title from Abe Atell in a twenty-round match in Vernon, California. When he returned to Cleveland, on St. Patrick's Day, he was given the greatest welcome ever given to a native Clevelander, with more than 100,000 people turning out. He held the featherweight championship for 11 years through numerous fights. He finally lost it to Eugene Criqui. The high number of "no decision"s in his career reflected early boxing rules in many states in the U.S. that dictated "no decision"—ND—unless a fight ended by knockout.
Kilbane fought 1904 World Bantamweight champion Jimmy Walsh in a World Featherweight Title match on May 21, 1912, at the Pilgrim Athletic Club in Boston, Massachusetts to a twelve-round draw decision. They had previously fought in a non-title match on May 30, 1911, in a 12-round draw bout in Canton, Ohio, that was characterized as "full of clinches", with neither man "doing much hard work."
In October 1917 - while still World Featherweight Champion - Kilbane became a lieutenant in the U.S. 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, cl ...
— assigned to Camp Sherman located near Chillicothe, Ohio — training U.S. soldiers in self-defense 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 ...
.
After losing the featherweight title in 1923, Kilbane won at least two exhibition bouts, and then retired from boxing.
Life after boxing
Kilbane would referee boxing matches after retiring from boxing, as well as operating a gym, serving in the Ohio Senate and acting as Clerk of the Cleveland Municipal Court.
Kilbane was such a popular prizefighter in his day that his name appeared in print as a verb. An unsigned commentary in the sports pages of the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' on May 16, 1912, reported on an episode involving Detroit baseball player Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...
, who the day before, in a game between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
, had gone into the stands after a heckler. The commentary said, "The famous baseball player from Detroit, Ty Cobb chased after a heckler during a game with the New York Yankees and 'Johnny Kilbaned' him right where he stood...and in so doing stopped the profane and intolerable language dead in its tracks, along with the heckler himself".
Kilbane was a distant relative of the Irish boxer John Joe Nevin
John Joseph "John Joe" Nevin (born 7 June 1988), is an Irish professional boxer. He is a two-time Olympian, and a London 2012 silver medalist.
Early life
John Joseph Nevin was born in Mullingar, County Westmeath, and is a member of the Travell ...
, the footballer Darren Fletcher
Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is currently the technical director of Manchester United, where he spent the majority of his playing career. He mostly played as a centr ...
, the wrestler Giant Haystacks
Martin Austin Ruane (10 October 1946 – 29 November 1998) was an English professional wrestler of Irish parentage, best known by the ring name Giant Haystacks. He was one of the best-known wrestlers on the British wrestling scene in the 1970s ...
and the Irish footballer Kevin Kilbane
Kevin Daniel Kilbane (; born 1 February 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger or full back. Kilbane won 110 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team, fourth behind only Robbie Keane, Shay Given and John O ...
. His family was originally from Achill
Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Brid ...
, County Mayo, 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 died on May 31, 1957, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Awards and honors
*12-year reign as World Featherweight Champion
*1995: International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee
*2012: Street where Kilbane grew up in Cleveland (Herman Avenue) was renamed Kilbane Town and
*2012: Statue on Achill Island
Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Br ...
, Mayo Mayo often refers to:
* Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo"
* Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States
Mayo may also refer to:
Places
Antarctica
* Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land
Australia
* Division of Mayo, an Aust ...
, 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 ...
from where his parents emigrated.
*2014: Statue in Cleveland's Battery Park neighborhood.
Professional boxing record
All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.
Official record
All 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 are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.
Unofficial record
Record with the inclusion of 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 in the win/loss/draw column.
References
External links
*
Johnny Kilbane
at Flickr Commons
Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...
Johnny Kilbane
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilbane, Johnny
1889 births
1957 deaths
Boxers from Cleveland
Featherweight boxers
World boxing champions
American male boxers