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Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
writer and collector.


Career

Fleischer was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. After he graduated from
City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ''
New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...
'' while studying at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, t ...
. He served as the sports editor of the ''Press'' and the ''Sun Press'' until 1929. Encouraged by
Tex Rickard George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York Ci ...
, he inaugurated in 1922 '' The Ring'' magazine. In 1929 Fleischer acquired sole ownership of the magazine, which he led as editor-in-chief for fifty years, until his death at
Atlantic Beach, New York Atlantic Beach is a village located off the South Shore of Long Island in the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the village population was 1,707. The incorporated village of Atl ...
in 1972."Mr. Boxing, Himself"
''Sports Illustrated''
In 1942, Fleischer began to publish the magazine's annual record book and boxing encyclopedia, which was published until 1987. In addition, Fleischer wrote several other books about the lives of some world champions and about boxing history. Fleischer contributed to the founding of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and was twice presented with its James J. Walker Award. After Fleischer's death, the BWAA named an award after him. Fleischer, who had been instrumental in creating ''The Ring'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954 (disbanded in 1987), was himself an inaugural 1990 inductee to 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 ...
.


Carruthers-Songkitrat match

In 1954, Fleischer was involved with the "Bare-footed Title Fight", a world championship bout fought in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
's open air Chulalongkorn Stadium during a tropical
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
. Thai General Pichai invited Fleischer as a special guest to his homeland, as a way to ensure that the World Bantamweight Championship bout, between champion Jimmy Carruthers of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...
and challenger Chamroen Songkitrat, would follow the international boxing rules. It rained on the day of the fight, and 60,000 people (including the boxers) were drenched. Fleischer suggested the fight be postponed and that they wait to see if the weather would get better the next day, but General Pichai ordered the bout to take place, reasoning that it would be hard to send off 60,000 people and the other thousands who were stranded outside under the pouring rain, to have them return the next day. In an effort to better their traction in the flooded ring, this became the first recorded match in modern world boxing history where the fighters removed their footwear. Carruthers retained his crown by decision, and retired shortly after.


Ali-Liston rematch

Fleischer was seated at ringside on May 25, 1965, at the heavyweight championship rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston in
Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous c ...
to report on the contest for ''The Ring''. Fleischer played a role in the strange and controversial ending of the fight. When Liston went down in the first round from Ali's infamous 'anchor punch," Ali did not go to a neutral corner. Instead he circled near the fallen Liston, taunting him to get up shouting "Nobody will believe this!". By the time Liston did rise to continue the fight, he had been on the canvas for more than ten seconds. Fleischer yelled at referee Jersey Joe Walcott (the former heavyweight titlist) to inform him that the knockdown timekeeper's count had reached ten with Liston still on the canvas. Walcott improperly declared Ali the winner by knockout even though he had not gone to a neutral corner. By rule, if a fighter delays going to a neutral corner after scoring a knockdown, the count is not to start until he gets there.


Fleischer and lineal titles

As editor of ''The Ring'', Fleischer believed that professional boxing titles had to be won and lost within the ring. His policy in recognizing world champions followed a principle that a fighter could not be stripped of a title by any state or national boxing commission. (A title could only be vacated by a champion who retired, died, or voluntarily relinquished the crown to fight in a different weight class.) This policy was severely tested in 1967 with Muhammad Ali. Ali had won the world heavyweight championship by dethroning Sonny Liston in 1964. As part of the antiwar movement in the United States during the Vietnam era, Muhammad Ali lost his world heavyweight crown in the eyes of most American boxing commissions when he refused to be inducted in the U.S. Army. Despite Ali possessing no boxing license in the United States and no passport to travel outside America to fight, ''The Ring'' continued to list Ali as the rightful world champion in its heavyweight rankings until 1970 when Ali informed Fleischer he was retiring from boxing. (Ironically, later that same year Ali won a court victory that allowed him to box again.) Fleischer's continued recognition of Ali as world champion for more than two years was considered controversial. Many boxing fans at the time criticized ''The Rings policy—and Fleischer specifically—for continuing to list Ali as world heavyweight champion while he was inactive. Despite its recognition of Ali as world champion, ''The Ring'' continued to commonly refer to him as Cassius Clay or Clay/Ali until the early 1970s.


Published works

*Fleischer, Nat (1936)
''From Milo to Londos: The Story of Wrestling Through the Ages''
The Ring Athletic Library. *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischer, Nat 1887 births 1972 deaths American magazine founders Boxing writers Jewish American writers People associated with physical culture The Ring (magazine) people