AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 58
Holman Williams (born January 30, 1915 in Pensacola, Florida — died July 15, 1967) was a world welterweight and middleweight boxing contender. Williams is a member of the infamous Murderers’ Row, a group of black fighters who were never able to get a world title shot.
Watch The Scoop from Monday to Friday featuring Canadian heavyweight champ Bola Ray, who lends his vast experience in the sport and provides his comments and analysis on boxing, on YouTube and TalkinFight.com/live. #boxinghistory @georgechuvalo
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Transcribed:
Hello boxing fans around the world.
Thank you very much for joining us tonight, again, uh on talk and fight uh for another episode of the scoop featuring the champ, bola ray and uh, i’m sure you’ve got another exciting story.
There should be a movie for us this evening.
What do you got for us ray? Actually, you know what generally this this whole week could be, should be a movie series um, the more i read about this era of boxing, the more incensed i become at the utter injustice and the hope of the whole scenario, not just the afflicted athletes, but boxing History as a whole, the amount of what ifs and who would have won debates are nothing shy of endless and there’s no true solution that will ever be produced.
It’S lost in history, the legendary trainer eddie fudge once said when he too was a fighter.
Actually, he was a stablemate of this.
This uh athlete i’m speaking of he would rather watch this guy shadowbox then actually watch other fighters fight.
This fighter was described as pure poetry in the 40s and 50s, sorry, 30s and 40s, okay, um and yet because of his membership to the black murders row.
He and history never saw him in a world title fight.
My name is bola raymond olubuwali, and this is the scoop born january 30th.
1915 in pensacola florida was one holman williams.
Not much can be found on his early years other than he began boxing in 1928 and had a successful 38 fight career.
Now what that record was is also lost in time um, but he fought at a as a in those years um for those who don’t know phantom weight, 118 pounds um, but then in 1932, at the ripe old age of 17 he turned from and he entered The professional ranks at featherweight, okay again for those who don’t know featherweight, i believe, is 1 30.
um.
He also moved up the ranks during his professional career to welter and then even middle now.
Little was written about the man, but somehow he made his way to detroit and was boxing out of some gym.
There were, and that’s where he met and trained with his stable mates, the likes of legendary future legendary trainer, eddie fudge and future legendary heavyweight world heavyweight champion joe lewis holmen.
This is when um eddie fudge actually said.
He’D much prefer to watch holmen shadowbox then actually watch others fight.
Now holmen was renowned for his elusive box um defensive boxing, in which his timing and swiftness of foot made him.
Arguably the greatest boxer of all time, and this is all lost or pretty much lost.
All because of a racist past in boxing which would not permit selective black fighters to actually get an opportunity to a world title fight, the legendary joe lewis, joe lewis, arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time, at least in the conversation, at least in the top five.
In most people’s opinion, looked at him as an inspiration just to let you know exactly the magnitude of this guy and yet there’s very little footage of him or history of him anywhere to be found.
Now, during his career of 187 fights a number that just seems so ridiculous, or even even by way of a typo just doesn’t make any sense by today’s standards.
Holmen earned himself a number of straps for that now, um in his 30th fight, holmen williams, 27 wins two losses.
One draw goes up against baby tiger flower, his actual ring name and wins by 8th round tko for the negro lightweight title, joe lewis actually presented the belt to williams in this fight.
Now i genuinely don’t know if history would have forgiven him if he had lost to a grown man called baby tiger flowers.
I’M pretty sure i wouldn’t forgive myself, but that’s just me now.
Fight number 35 of his on march 13th 1936 began the legacy of the black murderers row, the first fight of the legendary unofficial tournament of the most feared and avoided black fighters of the era.
Now, 21 year, old, holman williams, with a record of 32 wins two losses in one draw end up: losing a majority decision to his fellow 21 year old, hubert lewis.
You know the coca kid hardwick.
My yesterday’s show um just to show the the the nature and uh the playing field that they had in those days.
The next month, fight number 35 or sorry.
36 was again between these two phones of which the title switch ends.
No sorry, it did switch um hard work beat him again, but this time a little more decisively williams would dance with him hardwick again, at which point in time they fought actually 11 more times.
How did they not get bored of each other? I don’t know, but they follow 13 times in total, where hardwick won eight times williams, one three with two draws williams, even danced with the legendary archie moore now who, until he was actually fortunate enough to actually fight for the world.
Title was actually seen as one of the members of this unfortunate fraternity.
The black murderer’s rome moore, came in at a heavy 172 and a half pounds and lost two rounds to holmen for low blows now, holmen much smaller at 163.
um.
This cost him the decision in the 10 round contest.
More was the aggressive throat and sports writer at ringside, differed with the official decision and gave more a slight edge in going his way, but heavier and stronger than his opponent.
Moore had the fight all on his way at first and pounded the points but kept boring in with williams williams got in the fifth and offset moore’s.
Rushing and sharp and fast punches are more, was dealt an actual loss due to seventh eighth round low blow.
Count.
Sorry for your luck, the world colored middleweight championship was our title was actually revived, because the the scenario back in the day would have it that there was just a lack of interest and even though yeah these guys were world champions right um, they were paid much There was very little organization in the structure of the league of the belt, the whole nine yards, so it was just a watered down version, but at least it was something that black fighters could actually go and uh and fight towards now um.
It was revived in the 1940s and he fought charlie burrow.
Remember that name charlie, who had been the colored welterweight champ fought williams for the title on the 14th of august 1942.
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Brawl won the fight with the ninth round tko.
This is the first time williams was ever stopped in his career williams won the title in the decision in their rematch the 16th of october.
The same year then lost the title january 15th, the following year, the coco kid in 12th round decision williams fought borough, seven times where he won three of them.
He lost three of them and there was one that was called a no contest um.
Due to the fact that the referee felt that there wasn’t enough activity in the tenth and final round and stop stop the action after after his retirement, he helped develop young fighters in akron ohio, assisting lee thornton.
When thornton opened up club, wonder william helped out as a weekend, maintenance, man and well one weekend, he was asleep in the club and he was killed when a fire engulfed the whole club and him holmen was inducted into the international boxing hall of fame in 2008.
Again, a little consolation for such an absolute treasure in history um.
I can’t stress it enough.
Um history can enrage some, and i think justifiably so, and especially because of scenarios like this, this guy was an absolute treasure um.
He was part of that crew.
When i think of the great sugary robinson he could, he literally could float on water um.
He was nothing shy of an icon, a brilliant fighter, but then, when you start doing the research and finding out it was cats like this, that he refused to fight how much, how much more poetic were they in comparison to him? You know um, he refused to come out to california, even though his handlers had said we’re going out to california to do a tour.
This is one of the reasons why he didn’t go to california and retracted what his handlers had said so because he was, he knew that these guys were a step above and all because the color of the skin made it.
These absolute champions did not create enough of an a nest egg in their careers, and their careers were insane 187 fights and still in his late in his late years, he didn’t have enough to own a home to have comfort.
He offered so much to society and got nothing, hence why he was sleeping in the gym or living in the gym that he was working at as a maintenance man post career.
That’S nothing, shy, sad and should be seen as a travesty.
Yeah, like you said nothing shy of movie worthy, but i digress.
That’S my show and with that, if you like this episode, please hit the like button.
Subscribe, don’t forget to smash the notification bell, it’s your boy bala and that’s the scoop.
Thanks ray before you jet off um, how do they get the the moniker murderer’s row? Is it given to them or they choose themselves because they are so powerful and yeah? No, so the whole murderer’s role or black murderer’s role was had nothing to do with crime.
Had nothing to do with uh, taking a life or anything like that, it was that they would kill you in the ring in the event that you fought them.
Um iconic, like things i just can’t even begin to fathom think about the fight um, the the episode.
I did on monday with um aaron wade where he’s already finished his career and finally, the legendary sugary robinson allows him in as a sparring partner not to fight him, because he he was signed to fight him twice and backed out sugary robinson.
The man that i witnessed knocked a man out with a seven punch combination all with one hand, with his left hand and sent him flying on the seventh quarter.
This is that same sugar, ray robinson, was deathly afraid of these guys.
Okay, he got just destroyed like busted, ribs and whatnot when he refused to pay wade what he owed him inspiring.
These guys were just a step above and history’s lost this, but yeah.
That’S where the whole murders role came from, they they would destroy you.
You had very little chance, hence why they have to end up fighting each other in their own unofficial tournament wow.
I had no idea yeah a few.
A few people didn’t so yeah, i’m glad you’re bringing them to light these.
These are great stories and that they deserve to be told.
That’S that’s.
That’S the objective.
Um awesome, so we’ll see you tomorrow, night same time, same channel sure, um and uh have yourself a good day.
Cheers
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