John Linwood Fox (April 2, 1907 – April 6, 1954), or Tiger Jack Fox as he was better known, was a colorful, hard punching, American

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

boxer. Fox fought from 1928 to 1950.

Boxing career

Fox claimed he got his start in boxing when he was picked up, while hitchhiking in Georgia, by boxer

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 ...

. At that time, Stribling was travelling from town to town and engaging in boxing matches, basically meeting all comers. Stribling offered Fox a job as a sparring partner. Although he had no experience, Fox, out of work and hungry, accepted the offer. His first sparring session with Stribling almost ended his boxing career. Stribling toyed with him, and eventually knocked him senseless with a right hand to the jaw. Fox claimed he didn't sleep that night, re-living the events of the day, and studying how to avoid a similar fate the next day. Fox concluded that if he stepped forward when Stribling threw his right, he would be inside the punch and in position to hit Stribling with his left. The next day, the two sparred again. This time when Stribling threw his right, Fox was waiting and executed his manoeuvre to perfection. Surprised by Fox's left hook, Stribling's knees buckled. Fox then jumped in and hit him with another left hook, which sent Stribling to the canvas. Although he was fired on the spot, Fox thought that if he could knock Stribling down, he could hold his own with anyone. Fox then made his way to Indianopolis, where he hung around a boxing gym until he was offered a fight. Fox accepted and was on his way. He relocated in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

to train under bantamweight champion

Bud Taylor Charles Bernard "Bud" Taylor (July 22, 1903 – March 6, 1962) was an American boxer from Terre Haute, Indiana. Nicknamed the ''"Blonde Terror of Terre Haute"'', he held the NBA World Bantamweight Championship during his career in 1927. ''The R ...

and became the "Indiana colored heavyweight champion." He fought frequently for the next nine years without losing a bout. His first loss was by a split decision to light heavyweight champion

Maxie Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

. Fox claimed he engaged in over 300 fights, but many were not recorded. He claimed that he never fought a preliminary bout in his career, just main events. Fox was defeated by

Melio Bettina Melio Bettina (November 18, 1916–December 20, 1996) was a professional boxer who was briefly the Light Heavyweight World Champion. Amateur career Bettina won the 1934 Intercity Golden Gloves at light-heavyweight (2nd Div.) by decision over Tony ...

in his only crack at the light heavyweight championship, NYSAC version. In this elimination bout to name a champion, Fox was stopped in the 9th round. Two months before the fight he was stabbed near the heart in a

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

hotel in a dispute over a woman. Fox also fought and knocked out in two rounds former

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserw ...

champion

Bob Olin Robert Lous Olin (July 4, 1908 – December 16, 1956) was an American boxer who became the World Light Heavyweight champion on November 16, 1934, against Maxie Rosenbloom at Madison Square Garden. He was trained by Ray Arcel and managed by Haro ...

, and he knocked out

Lou Brouillard Lucien Pierre Brouillard, better known as Lou Brouillard, (May 23, 1911 – September 14, 1984), was a Canadian professional boxer who held the World Welterweight Title and a version of the World Middleweight Title.

in seven. He was kayoed in three rounds by future lightheavyweight champion

John Henry Lewis John Henry Lewis (May 1, 1914 – April 18, 1974) was a hall of fame American boxer who held the World Light Heavyweight Boxing Title from 1935 to 1938. ''The Ring'' boxing magazine named Lewis the 16th greatest light heavyweight of all-time. His t ...

. Two of Fox's more surprising victories came against future

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

champion

Jersey Joe Walcott Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the NYSAC, NBA, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight titles from 1951 to 1952, ...

. On May 12, 1937, Fox knocked out Walcott in the 8th round. In the following year Fox again defeated Walcott, this time by a ten-round decision. Fox is second on the all-time list for first-round knockouts, and was named to 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 ...

's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Tiger 1907 births 1954 deaths Boxers from Washington (state) Light-heavyweight boxers Sportspeople from Spokane, Washington American male boxers