Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
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Joseph Francis Hagan (better known as Philadelphia Jack O'Brien) (January 17, 1878 – November 12, 1942) was an American world light heavyweight boxing champion in 1905 when he defeated
Bob Fitzsimmons Robert James Fitzsimmons (26 May 1863 – 22 October 1917) was a Cornish professional boxer who was the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (the man who beat John L. Sulliv ...
for the universal world title. Rather than defending his title, O'Brien instead abandoned it in order to fight at heavyweight.
Nat Fleischer Nathaniel Stanley Fleischer (November 3, 1887 – June 25, 1972) was a noted American boxing writer and collector. Career Fleischer was born in New York City. After he graduated from City College of New York in 1908, Fleischer worked for the ''N ...
, founder and editor of ''The Ring'' Magazine, ranked O'Brien as the No. 2 All-Time Light Heavyweight, and famed boxing promoter Charley Rose ranked him as the No. 3 All-Time Light Heavyweight. O'Brien was inducted into the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1968, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987, and the
International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...
in 1994.


Biography

Born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Hagan was the older brother to Young Jack O'Brien and the cousin of heavyweight boxer Jack Rowan. To mark his sixtieth birthday in early 1938, he was profiled in a 5000-word article in ''The New Yorker'' by
A J Liebling Abbott Joseph Liebling (October 18, 1904 – December 28, 1963) was an American journalist who was closely associated with ''The New Yorker'' from 1935 until his death. His ''New York Times'' obituary called him "a critic of the daily press, a ...
. O'Brien turned pro in the 1890s. He stood 5-10½ and weighed between 152 and 165 pounds. He was agile, quick and limber, a two-handed puncher who landed often but not a particularly hard hitter. His best punches were a left jab and a hard overhand right, and he was a good defensive fighter who blocked punches well and counterpunched accurately. By 1900 he weighed 155 pounds, but with many good men fighting at this weight their talents were at a discount. O'Brien conceived the idea of going to England where, he heard, the competition was softer. He knocked out Dido Plum, the British middleweight champion, in six rounds, and George Crisp, the heavyweight titleholder, in eleven. O'Brien returned to Philadelphia in May 1902 and on December 20, 1905, won the world light heavyweight championship with a 13-round RTD over
Bob Fitzsimmons Robert James Fitzsimmons (26 May 1863 – 22 October 1917) was a Cornish professional boxer who was the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (the man who beat John L. Sulliv ...
in
San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, but abandoned the title without ever defending it. He challenged world heavyweight champion Tommy Burns on November 28, 1906, in Los Angeles, and got a 20-round draw. The referee was former world champion
James J. Jeffries James Jackson Jeffries (April 15, 1875 – March 3, 1953) was an American professional boxer and List of world heavyweight boxing champions, world heavyweight champion. He was known for his enormous strength and stamina. Jeffries fought out of ...
. O'Brien challenged Burns again in Los Angeles on May 8, 1907, and this time Burns won the 20-round decision. He fought the fearsome middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel in a 10-round No Decision on March 26, 1909, in which O'Brien was saved by the bell at the end of the 10th round. He fought heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six-round No Decision on May 19, but on June 9 he faced Ketchel again and was beaten in three rounds. Hagan managed a gym on the seventh and top floors of the Rosemont building at 1658 Broadway, New York City, in the late 1920s/early 1930s. World middleweight champion
Harry Greb Harry Greb (June 6, 1894 – October 22, 1926) was a professional boxer. Nicknamed "The Pittsburgh Windmill", "The Smoke City Wildcat", and "The Pittsburgh Bearcat", he is ranked by BoxRec as the fourth greatest boxer of all time, pound for poun ...
trained at O'Brien's gym, and the only existing films of Greb in action are workouts and sparring with O'Brien. O'Brien was also the chief second to
Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...
at the 1926 Dempsey- Tunney bout in Philadelphia. Retiring in 1910, counting newspaper decisions stands at 192 fights 147–16–24 (5 no contests) with 55 knockouts.


Death

He died on November 12, 1942.


In popular culture

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is a featured character in ''The Killings of Stanley Ketchel'' (2005), a novel by
James Carlos Blake James Carlos Blake (May 26, 1943 – January 11, 2025) was an American novelist as well as a writer of novellas, short stories, and essays. His work has received extensive critical favor and several notable awards. He has been called “one of th ...
.


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 encyclopedia 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 ...
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
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 ...
s in the win/loss/draw column.


See also

*
List of light heavyweight boxing champions This is a chronological list of world light heavyweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: Championship recognition 1903–1910 The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainc ...


References


External links

* *
Philadelphia Jack O'Brien - Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Philadelphia Jack Boxers from Philadelphia Light-heavyweight boxers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees 1878 births 1942 deaths American male boxers Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Yeadon, Pennsylvania)