The Greatest Champion Who Never Was

By Lenny Cavallaro

This is the story of Tom Molyneux, a man born into slavery in the United States, who wins his freedom with his fists and later fights for the world championship in England. This novella offers an intriguing look at the brutal world of bare-knuckle boxing during the early 1800's and a detailed analysis of the dirtiest championship bout of all times.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lenny Cavallaro
• Release date: Jul 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223919872

Lenny Cavallaro

Lenny Cavallaro is an accomplished musician, composer, and author. He earned his B.A. at the University of Connecticut and later earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree from West Virginia University. He has served on the English and/or music faculties of several colleges in New England. A hapless woodpusher, he has nevertheless written about chess on numerous occasions and co-authored Superstition and Sabotage with Viktor Korchnoi. This is his first book for Russell Enterprises.

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Dedication:

To my son, Jacob, and daughter, Maya, with love.

About the Author

Lenny Cavallaro is a Renaissance man steeped in the classics: Greek tragedy, Shakespearean drama, and classical music. He has also boxed, earned a third-degree black belt in karate, run marathons, and practiced hypnosis and reiki professionally.

Cavallaro’s earlier fiction includes Trojan Dialogues: The Memoirs of Diomedes. His interests in Shakespeare and Sophocles spawned Two Oedipal Plays—the one-act Hamlet, Revisited and Odysseus Acanthoplex, a restoration of fragments by the great Greek tragedian.

In 2022, White Bird Publications released the first two volumes of The Passion of Elena Bianchi, and (following the publisher’s demise) the author has since uploaded the last pair. Later in 2022, Russell Enterprises presented Sherlock Holmes and the Mysteries of the Chess World. In addition, Cavallaro has edited and revised Paganini Agitato, a novel by Ann Abelson, which is slated for release by Fomite Press in 2023.

An accomplished pianist and composer, Cavallaro performed Bach’s Six Partitas to the highest critical acclaim in Carnegie Recital Hall and achieved even more recognition as a composer. In 2015, he wrote a conjectural completion of Contrapunctus XIV from Bach's unfinished masterpiece, The Art of the Fugue.

For updated information about the author’s works, visit his website or substack:

https://www.lennycavallaro.com/literature

or

https://substack.com/profile/98518182-lenny-cavallaro?utm_source=%2Finbox&utm_medium=reader2-nav.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

For over half a century, boxing's heavyweight division was completely dominated by black champions. The late Rocky Marciano did indeed enjoy a short reign at the top, stepping over the aging shells of Joe Louis, Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, and Archie Moore during the 1950s. Sweden’s Ingemar Johanssen knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1959, but lost the rematch a year later. South African Gerrie Coetzee earned a partial claim to the crown, the WBA version only, in 1984, and lost it in his first defense. The few unified titleholders since that time were all black.

Later in the 20th century, various alphabet soup champions earned their belts, including pugilists from the former Soviet states, all of whom were indeed white. In fact, the Klitchko brothers may be deemed to have held a unified crown between them.

As of this writing (July 2023) most consider the undefeated Tyson Fury a truly imposing white champion. However, he is not universally recognized as titleholder...

Almost forgotten in the period of Black hegemony was the lengthy and far uglier history of denial. Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title in 1967 and denied the right to box for well over three years because of his opposition to a controversial war. During the 1920's, Harry Wills could not get a title shot, because Jack Dempsey drew the color line. A decade earlier, Jack Johnson had been driven into exile and ultimate bankruptcy—a story by now quite familiar. Peter Jackson’s challenge to John L. Sullivan (ca. 1890) fell on deaf ears, because of Sullivan's refusal to fight any colored fighter.

Even more tragic, however, is the true-life story of Tom Molyneux (1784-1818), a Black man born into slavery, who literally earned his freedom with his fists. He subsequently made his way to England, where he faced the bare-knuckle boxing champion, Tom Cribb, in an epic bout in 1810. Although Molyneux apparently knocked Cribb out, he nevertheless lost the fight as the result of shady maneuvers (including a fraudulent claim of foul) by Cribb's seconds. Much weakened by illness at the time of their rematch the following year, Molyneux suffered a brutal beating in a lop-sided defeat.

The Greatest Champion Who Never Was is loosely based on events in Molyneux’s life. The narrative offers action, pathos, a study of racism and human exploitation, and an intriguing glimpse of prize-fighting during the Napoleonic era.

The novella is an amalgam of historical fact and romanticized fiction. One of the major characters is Bill Richmond who, like Molyneux, was born into slavery. He, too, fought against Cribb and did, indeed, open a tavern called The Horse and Dolphin. So much for history. It is unclear how much Richmond to do with Molyneux. Some sources report that Richmond trained his compatriot, while others express skepticism that there was much, if any, contact between them. Although the account of the first Cribb-Molyneux fight is quite accurate (based on existing records), that of the Cribb-Richmond encounter is pure fabrication.

Elsewhere: Molyneux's death at the hands of Cribb in the rematch is totally contrived. In fact, Molyneux died seven years after the second fight with Cribb. The various backers, connivers, nobles, and/or promoters on both sides of the ocean are all fictitious, save for Lord Byron, who apparently enjoyed boxing and actually did frequent The Horse and Dolphin. That the great poet attended the first Cribb-Molyneux fight is highly unlikely. The love interest (Belinda) is not based on any known historical character. Finally, the Championship Belt, while thoroughly deserved, is—unfortunately—yet another literary creation. Ironically, the descendants of Tom Cribb actually do possess the belt their ancestor proudly wore!

* * *

Cribb and Molyneux fought the first time in December, 1810, at Copthall Common, Sussex. Cribb had been reluctant to fight, but was prevailed upon to do so in order to preserve the honor of England (and, we must assume—given the racial climate of the times—the White race). The match took place in a cold, driving rain. Cribb got the worst of it from the outset, and even his dirty tactics—he actually bit Molyneux's thumb down to the bone!—proved to little avail. Molyneux scored first blood in the 2nd round. After the 23rd round, Cribb was too badly beaten to come to scratch, but his ingenious handlers resorted to a trick unparalleled in boxing history. They had protested a foul, citing a lead weight or weights in the Negro's hands. The umpire had to search not only the boxer's hands, but also his pockets, and the persons of his handlers and backers. These distractions, plus the disturbances within the unruly crowd, gave Cribb several extra minutes to recover. Meanwhile, Molyneux expended emotional energy in his rage over the accusation. Moreover, his muscles, heated by the violence in the ring, were soon chilled and stiffened by the dampness and cold. When the fight resumed, Cribb gained the upper hand, and finally knocked out his foe in the 40th round (fifty-five minutes). [Of course, there are also reports that Molyneux struck his head on a ring-post and fractured his skull in the 30th round, but we have ignored these as unreliable, since they certainly contradict other accounts.]

The second bout took place in Thistleton Gap, Leicester, before a crowd estimated at 25,000. The weather was splendid, but Molyneux was clearly out of shape—probably because of failing health. Though he attacked ferociously and nearly demolished Cribb very early, he soon tired. By the 10th round, Cribb had broken Molyneux's jaw and nearly blinded him. The Black tried to quit, but was pushed out for one last round by his handlers (cf., below). The 11th round proved to be the last, a mere 19 minutes after hostilities had commenced.

* * *

Though gloves were sometimes used for sparring, the Cribb-Molyneux fights came long before the Marquis of Queensbury, or even the London Prize Rules. Boxers used their bare fists to strike. Kicking, scratching, biting, eye-gouging, and choking were presumably illegal, but a fair amount of wrestling was permitted. The rules were similar to those of Cumberland wrestling today. An opponent could be thrown or taken down by various techniques from the waist up; it was illegal to grab below the waist. It was also illegal to strike an opponent who had gone down, or to fall on top of him. Nevertheless, many fighters contrived to lose balance and land on top of their foes anyway.

A round was not the three-minute period, punctuated by a minute of rest, which we have today. A round was called each time a fighter went down. The fallen pugilist had thirty seconds to toe the scratch—i. e., to resume fighting. If he were unable to get up again, the fight was over. Some rounds lasted mere seconds; others, for long periods of time. Towards the end of the bare-knuckle brawls, it was all too common that a hopelessly beaten man would be revived by his seconds and pushed out to the center of the ring time and again. There, unable to defend himself, he would be beaten to the ground repeatedly, until the blood lust and honor of all participants had been satisfied—or until yet more serious damage could be inflicted.

In the United States, plantation owners often wagered large sums on bouts between their biggest slaves. From numerous accounts, it seems these fights were probably even more brutal than the organized contests in England.

One final note, this one strictly editorial. While I made a legitimate attempt to transliterate the southern Black dialect spoken by Tom Molyneux, it was generally impractical to mimic the Cockney and other dialects spoken in England. Thus, those portions of my text are far more sanitized in print than they actually were to the ear!

CHAPTER 1: ZACK (1798)

The elegant carriage had slowed to a halt a few yards in front of the magnificent white columns of the Molyneux mansion. Slaves in livery rushed out to hold open the door, waiting for the White man to emerge.

Yo’, Matt! yelled one of the Blacks. Go tell Massuh Mol’nuh dat Squire Wilson is heah! Without a word, the second Negro darted into the house.

Meanwhile, a number of slaves, having seen the carriage approach, began an organized walk towards a field near the mansion. As they marched past the wretched shacks in which they lived, they looked forward to the recreational break that awaited them. Master Molyneux enjoyed good rapport with the poor souls he exploited, and always allowed them to watch the prize-fights he hosted.

Of all the Negroes, it was a youth about 14 years of age who seemed most excited. An impressive physical specimen in his own right, young Tom might himself be fighting for Massuh within a few years. This day, however, it was his father, Zack, who would toe the scratch, for in 1798, there was no one around who could match Zack.

Tom turned to the