Michael Joseph O'Dowd (April 5, 1895 in St. Paul, Minnesota – July 28, 1957) was an American boxer who held the World Middleweight Championship from 1917 to 1920.

Biography

O'Dowd won the title on November 14, 1917 by knocking out Al McCoy in the sixth round after dropping him six times.Mike O'Dowds's Professional Boxing Record
BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-18. O'Dowd was the only active boxing champion to fight at the front 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 ...

(1918, while serving in the U.S. Army).Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame - Mike O'Dowd
MNBHOF.org Retrieved on 2014-04-30 During his career he claimed victories over Hall of Famers

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 ...

, Mike Gibbons, Kid Lewis and Jeff Smith. On February 25, 1918, he held the legendary

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 ...

to a draw. O'Dowd was knocked out just once in his career, his last fight on March 16, 1923.Cyber Boxing Encyclopedia - Mike O'Dowd
CyberBoxingZone.com Retrieved on 2014-04-30 O'Dowd died on July 28, 1957 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at a Veteran's hospital, aged 62. He was inducted into the

Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame The Minnesota Boxing Hall of Fame is a commemorative organization with plans to create a museum. It celebrates the history of boxing in the state of Minnesota by honoring individuals whose achievements within the sport are noteworthy. History Thou ...

in 2011 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 2014.International Boxing Hall of Fame - Mike O'Dowd
IBHOF.com Retrieved on 2014-04-05

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