Click to Subscribe
“Keeping Lavigne Sober”
George Henry “Kid” Lavigne : Born 12/6/1869 Died 3/9/1928
© 2017 James LaFond
MAR/9/17
Of all the fighters of the present day, Kid Lavigne is the one I most admire. He is the grandest little man of our time"
- John L Sullivan
Bay City, Michigan
Lightweight
Right-handed
Lightweight champion 1896-99
Fought 1886-1909
Total Bouts 56
Won 35
Lost 6
Draw 10
No Decision 5
KO 19
KO’d 4
W/F 0
L/F 0
NC 0
Biography
The second world lightweight champion, also known as the Saginaw Kid, Lavigne began boxing under his brother Billy’s tutelage in Michigan logging camps in sanctioned bare knuckle affairs. His first three fight, against Morris McNally, who he KO’d in Round 1, was under Queensbury Rules. His next two fights were also in Michigan against George Siddons and both ended in draws, the first fight after 77 rounds and the rematch in 55 rounds. His bouts in the 1880s were most likely fight with “skin tight” gloves, possibly under LPR rules and may have been broken up by police interference.
George’s later fights were sometimes fought under conditions which did not permit a decision. These conditions persisted until 1920, when The Walker decision legalized boxing. During the roughly 25-year “No Decision Era” newspaper decisions were often rendered by ringside writers. His trainer, Biddy Bishop, famously claimed that keeping him sober for 11 days was a “tremendous achievement.” The latter half of his career was plagued by lax training, larger men, and the deleterious effects of heavy drinking. Beyond the ring George continued to be plagued with alcoholism and worked odd jobs until he landed a night watchman job with Ford Motor Company in Detroit.
Notable Bouts
-2 draws with George Siddons, logging 132 rounds in Saginaw and Grand Rapids, Michigan
-A 30-round win over Joe Soto in San Francisco
-A 50-round draw with Jim Burge in San Francisco
-2 draws with Young Griffo in New York
-A “Negro-must-KO” fight with Joe Walcott in Maspeth, NY
-A KO of Dick Burge in London to win the World Lightweight Title
-A TKO of Joe Walcott in San Francisco
-An 18-round KO of Andy Bowen, resulting in Bowen’s death
The Punishing Art
A Rocky Lockridge Tribute
modern combat
Like Vlad Said!
eBook
masculine axis
eBook
beasts of aryas
eBook
triumph
eBook
the first boxers
eBook
hate
eBook
predation
eBook
let the world fend for itself
eBook
song of the secret gardener
eBook
america the brutal
eBook
ranger?
eBook
sorcerer!
eBook
the greatest lie ever sold
eBook
wife—
eBook
book of nightmares
eBook
your trojan whorse
eBook
when you're food
eBook
honor among men
eBook
fanatic
eBook
uncle satan
eBook
cracker-boy
eBook
z-pill forever
eBook
night city
eBook
the combat space
eBook
on the overton railroad
eBook
blue eyed daughter of zeus
eBook
into leviathan’s maw
eBook
the lesser angels of our nature
eBook
sons of aryas
eBook
menthol rampage
eBook
winter of a fighting life
eBook
fate
eBook
within leviathan’s craw
eBook
solo boxing
eBook
son of a lesser god
eBook
on combat
eBook
all-power-fighting
eBook
the year the world took the z-pill
eBook
under the god of things
eBook
logic of steel
eBook
dark, distant futures
eBook
logic of force
eBook
barbarism versus civilization
eBook
fiction anthology one
eBook
broken dance
eBook
thriving in bad places
eBook
the sunset saga complete
eBook
the greatest boxer
eBook
by the wine dark sea
eBook
the gods of boxing
eBook
time & cosmos
eBook
the fighting edge
eBook
taboo you
eBook
advent america
eBook
orphan nation
eBook
songs of aryas
  Add a new comment below:
Name
Email
Message