Patrick "Packey" McFarland (November 1, 1888 – September 22, 1936) was an American

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

and

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

divisions. Despite an extraordinary winning record, he was unable to secure a match for either world title. The '' Ring Record Book and Boxing Encyclopedia'' suggests McFarland was the best fighter never to become a world champion.

Professional career

McFarland was born on November 1, 1888, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. McFarland became a professional boxer in 1904. In 1905 he beat

Jimmy Britt Jimmy Britt (October 5, 1879, in San Francisco, California – January 21, 1940) was a boxer from 1902 to 1909. He fought Joe Gans twice for the World lightweight title but lost both bouts. In a career spanning 23 bouts, Britt met 6 different Ha ...

, who had a disputed claim to be the

world champion, although this fight was not for a title. In 1908 he defeated future lightweight champion

Freddie Welsh Freddie Welsh (born Frederick Hall Thomas; 5 March 1886 – 29 July 1927) was a Welsh World lightweight boxing champion. Born in Pontypridd, Wales, he was nicknamed the "Welsh Wizard". Brought up in a tough mining community, Welsh left a working- ...

in one bout and drew with him in another. He also defeated old foe Britt in another bout that year. In 1910 he met Welsh again for the British version of the lightweight title. The bout ended in another draw, with Welsh retaining his title. McFarland never fought for another world title bout. On April 26, 1912 he beat Matt Wells at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, 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 ...

. He later defeated future welterweight champion

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 ...

during the later part of his career. losing his first fight and winning 98 there on. He retired in 1915 after fighting to a draw with Mike Gibbons. He was a boxing instructor at Camp Zachary Taylor in 1918. On January 27, 1933, he was appointed to the Illinois Athletic Commission by Governor

Henry Horner Henry Horner (November 30, 1878 – October 6, 1940) was an American politician. Horner served as the 28th Governor of Illinois, serving from January 1933 until his death in October 1940. Horner was noted as the first Jewish governor of Illinois ...

. McFarland also managed his sizable investments and was director of two banks. When interviewed in 1980 actor James Cagney said Packey McFarland "was my idol. He was a hell of a boxer. He was a real fighter because he did it all and never even got a black eye. Which was great of course because of the hero worship I felt for him." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NYqp-UblWE ames Cagney talks about Packey McFarland 21:27 to 21:51

Death

McFarland died at

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

, of a streptococcus infection which had attacked his heart.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

, 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 o ...

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

s in the win/loss/draw column.

References

External links

*
Cyber Boxing Zone Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McFarland, Packey 1888 births 1936 deaths Boxers from Chicago International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees American male boxers Welterweight boxers