Jimmy Reagan

Jimmy Reagan's birthdate is unconfirmed. The Evening standard stated in October 1910 that Reagan was 21 years old.[4] While The Salt Lake tribune stated he was 23 years old in February 1911.[5] While the papers contradict each other, as Reagan couldn't be 21 in late 1910 and 23 in early 1911, they both leave the possibility of Reagan being born in 1888 making that the most likely birthyear. He was born of both Irish and Italian descent, with his father being Irish, and his mother Italian. He began fighting professionally around late 1907 in the Oakland, California area, and won all but two of his first nine fights in the following year, primarily in short four and six round bouts.[2][6]

On July 16, 1908, in a rare early career loss he met the gifted Willie Ritchie at the Reliance Athletic Club in Oakland, California, and came up on the short end of a six-round points decision. Ritchie was one of the most accomplished opponents Reagan would meet in his early career and would hold the World Lightweight Title from 1912 to 1914.

He met Monte Attell for the first time on November 30, 1908 in an important fifteen-round draw at the Dreamland Pavilion in Oakland.[2]

World Bantamweight Champion Jimmy Walsh

On January 29, 1909, Reagan met Jimmy Walsh at the Dreamland Rink in San Francisco for a twelve-round World Bantamweight Title match. According to the Oakland Tribune, "Reagan led in every one of the twelve rounds with Walsh and was entitled to the verdict," though admitting the "title was a very close one."[7]

Joe Woodman, Walsh's manager, admitted that Walsh had been beaten in eight of the twelve rounds, though it was a surprise to much of the audience who believed that Reagan had been overmatched with Walsh in the days before the fight. Walsh was considered to have a more clever boxing form and finesse, particularly in the early rounds, but Reagan was the aggressor, delivering more blows, and taking the initiative in the final rounds.[8] Three days after taking the World Bantamweight Championship, he was signed to appear in a local Vaudeville House at a salary of $250 a week, an impressive sum for the era.[9]

On February 22, 1909, he lost to Monte Attell in a thrilling twenty round title fight at the Mission Street Arena in San Francisco. In the first six rounds the fighting was quite close, with Attell down four times in the early rounds. Reagan was down twice in the eighth, once for a nine count. Reagan knocked down Attell with a right to the jaw just as the bell sounded ending the sixth round, but Attell recovered, though dazed by the blow. According to the Oakland Tribune, Attell took every round from the eighth through the twentieth.[2][10]

On August 8, 1909, he finally lost the World Bantamweight Title to the exceptional Attell, brother to World Featherweight Champion Abe, in a fourth of ten-round knockout in Oakland, California only seven months after taking the title. The bout was billed as the 115 pound World Bantamweight championship. Reagan was able to hold his title for only one month. Perhaps if he had the opportunity to meet challengers less skilled and dominant than Monte Attell, he would have held the title far longer, but Attell was a local boxer and would not be denied his chance.[2]

On September 5, 1910, he defeated Peanuts Sinclair in a thirteen-round knockout at the Fair Grounds in Ogden, Utah on what was then Labor Day. The fight was billed as an "Inter-Mountain Featherweight Championship", though Sinclair was not a featherweight of great national prominence.[2] He trained at the Hermitage at Ogden Canyon for the well publicized bout, and told the press he would consider retiring if he lost the bout. Sinclair's training at Willard Bean's Gymnasium included pulley work, a form of strength training, shadow boxing, club swinging, and rope dancing. Apparently Reagan was accurate in his belief that he had an edge in the match. A very large crowd was expected to attend the bout.[11][12] Reagan worked out with the punching bag, skipping rope, medicine ball, and sand bag.[13]

On October 7, 1910, he lost to Gene McGovern in the Fairgrounds in Ogden, Utah, in an eleventh round disqualification. The original call was a knockout by Reagan, but upon closer examination, the Referee Tom Painter ruled that Reagan had hit McGovern below the belt. After consulting with three physicians who examined McGovern, Painter made the binding ruling and awarded the bout to McGovern, reversing the rule of a knockout by Reagan. A crowd of 1500 witnessed the vigorous bout that saw Reagan dominating in every round. McGovern was counted out after he had laid down after the final blow. The bout was to have been for the Inter-Mountain Featherweight Championship.[14]

Between August 1916, and May 1919, he began losing bouts with greater frequency, winning only 1 of 14 of his late career bouts. Though a number of the boxers he met after his loss of the title were competent or even gifted, his boxing dominance was relatively brief for a former World Champion.[2]

All information in this section is derived from BoxRec,[26] unless otherwise stated.

• List of bantamweight boxing champions

• Boxing record for Jimmy Reagan from BoxRec (registration required)
• Jimmy Reagan - Cyber Boxing Zone