Frank Childs (born July 17, 1867, Texas; died June 20, 1936, Waukegan, Illinois[1]), "The Crafty Texan", was an African American boxer who fought professionally out of Chicago from 1892 to 1911 and twice held the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. Fighting at a weight of between 160 and 185 lbs., the short, stocky Childs fought middleweights, light-heavyweights and heavyweights. He had a powerful punch.[2]
Journeyman
He made his pro boxing debut on February 18, 1892 in Los Angeles against French Canadian George LaBlanche from Quebec, knocking him out in the third round. They fought again on March 24, with four-ounce gloves. In the eighth round, LaBlanche grabbed Childs by the waist, threw him to the canvas, and then kicked him. The badly hurt Childs got up and wrestled LaBlanche, putting him in a half-nelson before elevating LaBlanche and throwing him. The police stopped the fight and the referee awarded Childs the decision after disqualifying LaBlanche.
Childs fought 15 more bouts before getting a shot at the colored heavyweight title. Along the way, he fought Bob Armstrong, the colored heavyweight champ, in a six-round non-title contest held on March 7, 1897 in Philadelphia. Childs won on points. His fight before that had been with white heavyweight contender Joe Choynski (the mentor of future colored heavyweight and world heavyweight title-holder Jack Johnson), who won by knockout (K.O.) in the third of a three-round fight.
In the intervening thirteen months before Armstrong gave him a shot for the title, Childs squared off on January 8, 1898 at Chicago's 2nd Regiment Armory against a boxer named Klondike (real name John Haines or John W. Haynes), so called because he was supposed to be a great find (evoking the Klondike Gold Rush). It was Klondike's first fight, and he was K.O.-ed by Childs. Klondike would go on to beat future world heavyweight champ Jack Johnson in Johnson's third pro fight and claim what he called the "Black Heavyweight Championship".
Childs and Klondike would meet again, frequently, as African American boxers were forced to fight one another often due to the color bar.
World Colored Heavyweight Champ
Childs first fought for the World Colored Heavyweight crown on January 29, 1898, knocking out colored champion Bob Armstrong in the second round. On February 26, he defended the title against Klondike on a technical knock-out in the fourth round of a scheduled six-round bout. In another six-round defense held in Chicago on June 3, he retained the title by drawing with Charley Strong, who had fought Armstrong for the title vacated by Peter Jackson.
In his next fight on September 4 of that year, he lost the title to George Byers on points in a 20-rounder. Regardless of losing the title, Childs fought Armstrong again on March 4, 1899 in Cincinnati, Ohio in a fight announced as a title bout, despite Byers being the legitimate champion. Childs defeated Armstrong via a TKO in the sixth round of a 10-round bout.
On August 11, 1899, he won the "Black Heavyweight Championship" claimed by Klondike Haynes in a six-round contest in Chicago by outpointing the so-called "Black Hercules". On October 28 of that year, they met in a rematch in Chicago in which Childs retained the black heavyweight title by kayoing Haynes in the third round of a six-round contest.
On March 16, 1900, Childs put his black heavyweight title on the line and Byers put up his coloured heavyweight crown in a six-round bout that ended in a draw. He next fought Joe Butler on December 15, 1900 for the black heavyweight title, dispatching Butler via KO in the sixth. Finally, he took back the Coloured World Heavyweight Championship legitimately from Byers on March 16, 1901 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, kayoing him in the 17th round of a 20-round fight. (He did not put up his black heavyweight title, which he never claimed again.)
He lost the coloured heavyweight title to Denver Ed Martin in a bout in Chicago on February 25, 1902, being out-pointed in a six-round contest. Not one to surrender a title easily, he billed his October 9, 1902 fight with Joe Walcott as a defence of his coloured heavyweight title. He beat Walcott via a TKO in the 3rd round when Walcott quit, claiming that he was injured. Childs was winning the fight at the time.
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Jack Johnson eliminated any pretensions Childs had to the colored crown when he beat him via TKO in the 12th round of a fight on October 21, 1902 in Los Angeles. Childs's corner claimed he dislocated his elbow. He lost to Joe Choynski on December 1, 1902, being outpointed in a six-rounder. After a 16-month lay-off, he beat Chicago Jack Johnson (not the future champion) on successive days in March 1904, knocking him out in the 2nd both times.
The real Jack Johnson had won the colored heavyweight title from Denver Ed Martin on February 5, 1903, and June 2, 1904 in Chicago, the two champs, the reigning champion and the two-time former champion, met in a six-round bout. Johnson won on points.
He met up with old adversary Klondike Haynes on July 7 of that year and KO'd him in the 8th. There was no talk of championships, colored or black. Jack Johnson was the champ. After losing on points to Denver Ed Martin in a six-rounder on November 1, he retired. He came back six years later and fought tyro light-heavyweight Horace "Jack" Taylor[permanent dead link] on February 2, 1911. The six-round bout, Taylor's second pro fight, resulted in a draw.
Record
In a career that stretched from 1892 to 1911, he racked up a career record of 41 wins (25 by knockout) against nine losses (being KO-ed three times) and eight draws.[3]
Legacy and honors
In 2020 award-winning author Mark Allen Baker published the first comprehensive account of The World Colored Heavyweight Championship, 1876-1937, with McFarland & Company, a leading independent publisher of academic & nonfiction books. This history traces the advent and demise of the Championship, the stories of the talented professional athletes who won it, and the demarcation of the color line both in and out of the ring.
For decades the World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a useful tool to combat racial oppression-the existence of the title a leverage mechanism, or tool, used as a technique to counter a social element, “drawing the color line.”
Professional boxing record
| 57 fights | 40 wins | 9 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 24 | 2 |
| By decision | 14 | 6 |
| By disqualification | 2 | 1 |
| Draws | 8 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Age | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Draw | 40–9–8 | Jack Taylor | PTS | 6 | Feb 2, 1911 | 43 years, 200 days | Exact location unknown, US | Exact date unknown |
| 56 | Loss | 40–9–7 | Denver Ed Martin | PTS | 6 | Nov 1, 1904 | 37 years, 107 days | Exact location unknown, US | Exact date unknown |
| 55 | Win | 40–8–7 | Klondike Haynes | KO | 8 (?) | Jul 6, 1904 | 36 years, 355 days | Houghton, Michigan, US | |
| 54 | Loss | 39–8–7 | Jack Johnson | PTS | 6 | Jun 2, 1904 | 36 years, 321 days | Apollo Hall, Chicago, Illinois, US | For world colored heavyweight title |
| 53 | Win | 39–7–7 | Chicago Jack Johnson | KO | 2 (6) | Mar 14, 1904 | 36 years, 241 days | American A.C., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 52 | Loss | 38–7–7 | Joe Choynski | PTS | 6 | Dec 1, 1902 | 35 years, 137 days | Lyceum A.C., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 51 | Loss | 38–6–7 | Jack Johnson | TKO | 12 (20) | Oct 21, 1902 | 35 years, 96 days | Hazard's Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, US | Lost world colored heavyweight title claim |
| 50 | Win | 38–5–7 | Barbados Joe Walcott | TKO | 3 (6) | Oct 9, 1902 | 35 years, 84 days | Apollo A.C., Chicago, Illinois, US | Retained world colored heavyweight title claim |
| 49 | Loss | 37–5–7 | Denver Ed Martin | PTS | 6 | Feb 24, 1902 | 34 years, 222 days | America A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | Lost world colored heavyweight title; Both fighters claimed the title |
| 48 | Win | 37–4–7 | Wild Bill Hanrahan | KO | 4 (6) | Feb 3, 1902 | 34 years, 201 days | America A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 47 | Win | 36–4–7 | Walter Johnson | PTS | 6 | Jan 18, 1902 | 34 years, 185 days | America A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 46 | Win | 35–4–7 | Jack Mulligan | TKO | 5 (?) | Jan 6, 1902 | 34 years, 173 days | Kenosha, Wisconsin, US | |
| 45 | Win | 34–4–7 | George Byers | KO | 17 (20) | Mar 16, 1901 | 33 years, 242 days | Hot Springs, Colorado, US | Won world colored heavyweight title |
| 44 | Win | 33–4–7 | 'Mexican' Pete Everett | PTS | 10 | Dec 21, 1900 | 33 years, 157 days | Colorado A.C., Denver, Colorado, US | |
| 43 | Win | 32–4–7 | Joe Butler | KO | 6 (6) | Dec 15, 1900 | 33 years, 151 days | Chicago A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | Retained black heavyweight title |
| 42 | Win | 31–4–7 | Fred Russell | PTS | 10 | Jul 20, 1900 | 33 years, 3 days | Colorado A.C., Denver, Colorado, US | |
| 41 | Win | 30–4–7 | Fred Russell | PTS | 6 | Jun 15, 1900 | 32 years, 333 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 40 | Win | 29–4–7 | Fred Russell | PTS | 6 | Jun 8, 1900 | 32 years, 326 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 39 | Win | 28–4–7 | Tommy Dixon | KO | 2 (6) | Apr 27, 1900 | 32 years, 284 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 38 | Draw | 27–4–7 | Jack Bonner | PTS | 6 | Mar 17, 1900 | 32 years, 243 days | Chicago A.C., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 37 | Draw | 27–4–6 | George Byers | PTS | 6 | Mar 16, 1900 | 32 years, 242 days | Star A.C., Chicago, Illinois, US | Retained black heavyweight title; For world colored heavyweight title |
| 36 | Win | 27–4–5 | Jack Bonner | PTS | 6 | Mar 2, 1900 | 32 years, 228 days | Tattersall's, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 35 | Win | 26–4–5 | Klondike Haynes | KO | 3 (6) | Oct 28, 1899 | 32 years, 103 days | Chicago A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | Retained black heavyweight title |
| 34 | Draw | 25–4–5 | Joe Kennedy | PTS | 6 | Oct 13, 1899 | 32 years, 88 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 33 | Win | 25–4–4 | Klondike Haynes | PTS | 6 | Aug 11, 1899 | 32 years, 25 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | Won black heavyweight title |
| 32 | Draw | 24–4–4 | Tom 'Stockings' Conroy | PTS | 6 | May 26, 1899 | 31 years, 313 days | Tattersall's, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 31 | Draw | 24–4–3 | Jack Bonner | PTS | 6 | May 19, 1899 | 31 years, 306 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 30 | Win | 24–4–2 | 'Mexican' Pete Everett | PTS | 6 | Mar 24, 1899 | 31 years, 250 days | Star Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 29 | Win | 23–4–2 | Ed Dunkhorst | PTS | 8 | Mar 20, 1899 | 31 years, 246 days | Cadillac A.C., Detroit, Michigan, US | |
| 28 | Win | 22–4–2 | Bob Armstrong | TKO | 6 (10) | Mar 4, 1899 | 31 years, 230 days | Stag A.C., Cincinnati, Ohio, US | Claimed vacant world colored heavyweight title |
| 27 | Win | 21–4–2 | Joe Butler | DQ | 2 (6) | Jan 21, 1899 | 31 years, 188 days | Tattersall's, Chicago, Illinois, US | Butler DQ'd for hitting in the clinches despite both men having agreed not to |
| 26 | Win | 20–4–2 | Tom 'Stockings' Conroy | PTS | 6 | Dec 19, 1898 | 31 years, 155 days | Fort Dearborn A.C., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 25 | Win | 19–4–2 | Charley Strong | PTS | 6 | Nov 8, 1898 | 31 years, 114 days | Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 24 | Win | 18–4–2 | Henry Baker | KO | 3 (6) | Sep 24, 1898 | 31 years, 69 days | America A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 23 | Loss | 17–4–2 | George Byers | PTS | 20 | Sep 14, 1898 | 31 years, 59 days | Lenox A.C., New York City, New York, US | Lost world colored heavyweight title |
| 22 | Draw | 17–3–2 | Charley Strong | PTS | 6 | Jun 3, 1898 | 30 years, 321 days | Tattersall's, Chicago, Illinois, US | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 17–3–1 | Billy Keough | KO | 1 (6) | Apr 16, 1898 | 30 years, 273 days | Chicago A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 20 | Win | 16–3–1 | Klondike Haynes | TKO | 4 (6) | Feb 26, 1898 | 30 years, 224 days | Chicago A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | Retained world colored heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 15–3–1 | George Grant | PTS | 6 | Feb 7, 1898 | 30 years, 205 days | America A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 18 | Win | 14–3–1 | Bob Armstrong | KO | 2 (6) | Jan 29, 1898 | 30 years, 196 days | Chicago A.A., Chicago, Illinois, US | Won world colored heavyweight title |
| 17 | Win | 13–3–1 | Klondike Haynes | KO | 6 (6) | Jan 8, 1898 | 30 years, 175 days | 2nd Regiment Armory, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 16 | Win | 12–3–1 | George Grant | KO | 1 (?) | Nov 1, 1897 | 30 years, 107 days | McGurn's Handball Court, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 15 | Win | 11–3–1 | Kentucky Rosebud | KO | 3 (?) | Aug 2, 1897 | 30 years, 16 days | Saint Joseph, Missouri, US | |
| 14 | Win | 10–3–1 | Bob Armstrong | PTS | 6 | Mar 7, 1897 | 29 years, 233 days | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | |
| 13 | Loss | 9–3–1 | Joe Choynski | KO | 3 (3) | Nov 15, 1895 | 28 years, 121 days | Sam T. Jack's Opera House, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 12 | Win | 9–2–1 | Rufus Thompson | PTS | 8 | Mar 20, 1895 | 27 years, 246 days | Tattersall's, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 11 | Win | 8–2–1 | Bob Harper | KO | 3 (?) | Oct 29, 1894 | 27 years, 104 days | McGurn's Handball Court, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 10 | Win | 7–2–1 | Ed Pitts | TKO | 2 (5) | Sep 22, 1894 | 27 years, 67 days | Chicago, Illinois, US | Police intervened |
| 9 | Loss | 6–2–1 | Dan Creedon | PTS | 3 (6) | Jun 5, 1894 | 26 years, 323 days | Madison Street Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 8 | Draw | 6–1–1 | Hank Griffin | PTS | 20 | Apr 1, 1893 | 25 years, 258 days | Los Angeles, California, US | |
| 7 | Win | 6–1 | 'Australian' Billy Smith | KO | 12 (?) | Feb 15, 1893 | 25 years, 213 days | San Francisco, California, US | |
| 6 | Win | 5–1 | James J. Walker | KO | 3 (?) | Jan 12, 1893 | 25 years, 179 days | Palo Alto A.C., San Francisco, California, US | |
| 5 | Loss | 4–1 | John Rivers | DQ | 2 (?) | Nov 29, 1892 | 25 years, 135 days | Pastime A.C., Los Angeles, California, US | Childs had his man out cold but was robbed by an incompetent referee who ignored the entrance into the ring of Rivers' second, then took that man's word as evidence of a foul blow |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | John Rivers | TKO | 4 (4) | Nov 16, 1892 | 25 years, 122 days | Pastime A.C., Los Angeles, California, US | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Al Butler | KO | 1 (4), 0:24 | Aug 30, 1892 | 25 years, 44 days | Pastime A.C., Los Angeles, California, US | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | George LaBlanche | DQ | 8 (?) | Mar 24, 1892 | 24 years, 251 days | Pastime A.C., Los Angeles, California, US | LaBlanche DQ'd for grabbing Childs by the waist, throwing him down, and then kicking him |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | George LaBlanche | KO | 3 (?) | Feb 18, 1892 | 24 years, 216 days | Pastime A.C., Los Angeles, California, US |
References
- ^ Ancestry.com. Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original records.
- ^ "Frank Childs (the "Crafty Texan")". Cyber Zone Boxing. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ "Frank Childs". BoxRec. Retrieved 17 May 2012.