Kid Norfolk (born William Ward, 10 July 1893 – 15 April 1968) was an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who fought as a Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight from 1910 through 1926, holding wins over many notable boxers of his day including

Joe Jeanette Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Billy Miske,

Jack Blackburn Charles Henry "Jack" Blackburn (May 20, 1883 – April 24, 1942) was an American boxer and boxing trainer. Fighting in the first half of his career as a lightweight and later a welterweight, he was known for an exceptional defense and fought m ...

Harry Greb Edward Henry Greb (June 6, 1894 – October 22, 1926) was an American professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Pittsburgh Windmill", he is widely regarded by many boxing historians as one of the best pound for pound boxers of all time. He was the Ame ...

Tiger Flowers Theodore "Tiger" Flowers (August 5, 1895 – November 16, 1927) was an American professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Georgia Deacon", he rose to prominence in the early 20th century, becoming the first African-American World Middleweight Boxing ...

Battling Siki Louis Mbarick Fall (16 September 1897 – 15 December 1925), known as Battling Siki, was a French light heavyweight boxer born in Senegal who fought from 1912 to 1925, and briefly reigned as the World light heavyweight champion after knocking ...

, and

Gunboat Smith Edward "Gunboat" Smith (February 17, 1887 – August 6, 1974) was an Irish American boxer, film actor and later a boxing referee. During his career, Smith faced twelve different Boxing Hall of Famers a combined total of 23 times. Among the all- ...

. Norfolk was inducted into 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 2007.

Professional career

Born William Ward in Belmont, Virginia, Norfolk moved with his family to Panama as a youngster. He made his professional boxing debut on 29 November 1910 at the Albaugh Theater in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, losing a six-rounder to Kid Jasper on points. He fought in Baltimore through 1913, then began campaigning in Panama in 1914. He took his name from having been born on Norfolk Street back in Belmont.

Panamanian heavyweight title

Norfolk defeated Abraham Hollandersky decisively in January 1914 in Colon, Panama. Hollandersky had briefly held the Panamanian Heavyweight title from May 1913. Norfolk first officially fought for the Heavyweight Title on 16 May 1915, taking on Jeff Clark at the Vista Allegre Bull Ring in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. Clark (who weighed 173) gave Kid Norfolk (weighing in at 174) a beating, and won the 20-rounder on points. Their weights properly classed them as light heavies. In a rematch on 12 November 1916, Kid Nortolk took Clark's title away from him on points in 20 rounds. The Kid defended the title against one time world heavyweight contender Arthur Pelkey, a Canadian who had held the

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...

's heavyweight title and the White Heavyweight Championship during the latter days of Jack Johnson reign. The Kid K.O.-ed Pelkey in the 13th round. Norfolk fought

Sam Langford Samuel Edgar Langford (March 4, 1886 – January 12, 1956), known as the Boston Tar Baby, Boston Terror and Boston Bonecrusher, was a Black Canadian boxing standout of the early part of the 20th century. Called the "Greatest Fighter Nobody Know ...

for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship on 17 December 1917 at Stockyards Stadium in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and was K.O.-ed in the second round of the scheduled 20-round bout. On 30 May 1921, The Kid fought Lee Anderson for the colored light heavyweight title in a scheduled 10-round bout in Phoenix, Arizona. Anderson won on a technical knock out when Norfolk returned to his corner in the ninth round, being unable to continue to fight. (They would meet another three times in non-title bouts between 1922 and 1924, and The Kid prevailed each time.) Of their first meeting in Phoenix for the "Colored World Championship", there was surprisingly little coverage, though the Arizona Republic wrote "two thousand fans watched the fights and every one of the 2000 is will to admit it was the best fight ever staged in the state". Norfolk was unable to return to battle at the opening of the ninth round, claiming blindness, as his "left eye was completely closed."

Norfolk vs. Greb

His next fight was against future world middleweight champ

on 29 August 1921 in a 10-rounder at

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. The Kid, who at 178¾ lbs. outweighed Greb by 17 1/2 lbs., won four of the first five rounds and knocked Greb down in the third. Greb, however, won all of the last five rounds. Greb won a

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 ...

, when two of the three newspaper covering the fight and the Associated Press gave him the win. During the fight, The Kid apparently landed a punch that caused a detachment of the retina in Greb's eye that later led to Greb going blind in that eye.

World colored light heavyweight champion

When Norfolk fought The Jamaica Kid on 20 December 1921 at Madison Square Garden in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, he had claimed the world colored light heavyweight title. He beat the Jamaica Kid on points in an eight-round bout. In Atlanta on 30 January 1922, Norfolk faced

, the boxer who would dethrone Greb and become the first African American world middleweight champ in 1926, K.O.-ing him in third round of a 10-rounder. He met reigning colored heavyweight champ

Harry Wills Harry may refer to: TV shows *Harry (American TV series), ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin *Harry (British TV series), ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons *Harry ...

on 2 March 1922 in Madison Square Garden in New York City for a 15-round non-title bout, losing to the great champion via a K.O. in the second round. Wills outweighed him by 25¾ lbs. He had a draw in a fight with Tiger Flowers on the Fourth of July 1922 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and they fought again on 8 May 1923, in Springfield, Ohio for the colored Light Heavyweight Title. The Kid prevailed by K.O.-ing Tiger at 2:50 in the first round of their scheduled 12-round bout, in possibly his greatest and most historic victory. Though technically a world championship, there was surprisingly little coverage of the fight, with the ''Cincinnati Enquirer'' writing only one line, "Kid Norfolk stopped Tiger Flowers in one round the other night in Springfield, Ohio." Norfolk received far more coverage of non-championship bouts he had against well known white opponents.

Norfolk vs. Greb II

Norfolk fought Greb one more time on 19 April 1924 in a scheduled 10-rounder in Boston. The Kid won when Greb was disqualified for fighting in the sixth round. The fight was wild and wooly, The Kid besting Greb through the first five rounds. In the second round, Greb had lowered his head and The Kid through the ropes and into the press section, which should have disqualified him, according to 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 ...

''. The last two rounds was a brutal, dirty fight, in which Norfolk intentionally punched Greb in the groin several times. When Greb retaliated, he was disqualified which angered the crowd and forced the referee to quit the ring. The result of the fight was a six-month suspension for both fighters. The boxing commission suspended both Greb and Norfolk six months for fighting after the bell.

Later career

On 25 May 1925 at the Stadium Rink in

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

, Norfolk fought Canadian light heavyweight champ Jack Reddick in a 12-rounder, winning a decision on points. Though the fight was between two men who had held World Championships, newspaper coverage was minimal. Norfolk retired in 1926 with an official record of 70 wins (with 38 K.O.s) against 22 losses (being K.O.-ed seven times) and six draws along with 30 wins and two losses via

s. Despite being a top contender, he never challenged for a world title, the color bar having been drawn in the light heavy and heavyweight divisions in his era. Norfolk died in 1968.

Honors

Norfolk was inducted into the

in 2007.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official Record

All

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norfolk, Kid 1893 births 1968 deaths African-American boxers Boxers from Virginia Light-heavyweight boxers World colored light heavyweight boxing champions International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees American male boxers 20th-century African-American sportspeople