Kid Lavigne

George Henry "Kid" Lavigne (December 6, 1869 – March 9, 1928) was boxing's first widely recognized World Lightweight champion, winning the vacant title on June 1, 1896.

Early life

He was born in Bay City, Michigan to French-Canadian parents, Jean Baptiste Lavigne and Marie Agnes Dufort, who immigrated to the area from St. Polycarpe, Quebec in 1868. As a youth he worked in his mother's boarding house and later trained as a "cooper" in a sawmill, building barrels to ship salt, a byproduct of many of the mills in the area that sat upon large salt deposits. The "Kid" got the boxing bug from his brother Billy Lavigne who was tutored in the fistic arts by black heavyweight and local barber, C. A. C. Smith. Billy would later become the Kid's manager through various parts of his professional career. Lavigne began his amateur boxing career by taking on the best bare-knuckle fighters of the logging camps. He had his professional debut as a 16-year-old, fighting under the Marquess of Queensberry rules with gloved fists and timed rounds against Morris McNally. It was a first-round knockout.

Pro career Kid Lavigne became a professional boxer in 1886 and was undefeated with 32 wins, 11 draws, 10 no decisions and 1 no contest in his first 54 fights over a span of 12 and 1/2 years. After defeating the local talent of the area in his first 12 fights he fought journeyman George Siddons in two battles of 77 and 55 rounds in a span of two months. The first bout went five hours and nine minutes...the longest fight to date under Queensberry rules. While both were ruled draws Siddons conceded defeat in the second bout and with it Kid Lavigne became lightweight champion of the Northwest.

After fighting several bouts on the West Coast in the early 1890s he landed a bout in 1894 with the lightweight champion of Australia, Albert Griffiths, aka Young Griffo. Griffo was considered by all to be the most gifted boxer of the era whose ability to avoid getting hit was legendary. The Kid managed to get a draw in this eight-round contest and a year later another draw over 20 rounds. In December 1894 he fought the lightweight champion of the south, Andy Bowen, a veteran of the longest fight in the history of modern boxing, a 110-round, 7 hour and 19 minute marathon. It was in the 18th round that Bowen, being beaten badly by Lavigne, was knocked down hitting his head sharply on the unpadded ring surface. He never regained consciousness and died the next morning at 7:00 am. At first Lavigne was arrested for the death of Bowen but was later found to be innocent of any wrongdoing as a coroner's inquest ruled that Bowen's death was the result of hitting his head on the floor of the ring.

After Lavigne's disastrous defeat of Bowen he was universally recognized as the American lightweight champion. He found it more difficult to get matches in his own weight class and was finally matched with Barbados Joe Walcott, the "Barbados Demon". Boxers in both middle and heavy weight classes respected and were wary of the skills of Walcott, though he fought ten to twenty pounds lighter. In what has become known as possibly the greatest fight of the early Queensberry era, Lavigne, battered and bloodied with John L. Sullivan at ringside pleading with the referee to halt the carnage, rallied for the win by pummeling Walcott in the latter part of the 15-round bout.

With few left stateside to challenge the indefatigable Lavigne, he sailed for London to fight "Iron Man" Dick Burge, the English champion in June 1896. He stunned Burge with his relentless pressure and hard hitting, knocking him down repeatedly in the 16th and 17th rounds before the referee called a halt and awarded the fight to Lavigne by technical knockout. He was now the first undisputed lightweight champion of the world under Marquess of Queensberry rules. He successfully defended his title six times, including a rematch with Joe Walcott where he punished Walcott through 12 rounds. Just prior to the beginning of the 13th a sponge sailed into the ring from Walcott's corner signaling the end. Feeling somewhat invincible the Kid decided to try his skills in a heavier weight class when he challenged his good friend and current welterweight champion, "Mysterious" Billy Smith. In March 1899 Lavigne fought briskly for 10 rounds getting the best of Smith. The tide turned and Smith had him out on his feet in the 14th and was sizing-up the knockout blow when the Kid's manager and brother, Billy Lavigne, stepped into the ring and stopped the fight. In the first loss of Lavigne's career, Smith won on a technical knockout. Lavigne finally lost the title in a 20-round decision to Frank Erne in July 1899. Lavigne was beaten again that year by a nineteenth-round knockout from George "Elbows" McFadden.

Retirement He fought on sparingly over the next few years, but his addiction to alcohol and his lack of proper training took its toll. After another knockout at the hands of young Jimmy Britt, Lavigne sailed for France and opened a boxing school in Paris for three years. He returned to the states and opened a saloon in Detroit, "Kid Lavigne's Triangle Cafe". He continued to believe he could make a comeback and fought a few exhibitions. His lost his final match in six rounds against "Fighting" Dick Nelson in 1909. Finally closing his saloon in late 1913, by 1914 he found himself working for the Highland Park Plant of the Ford Motor Company near his home in Detroit. After his first wife Julia Drujon died in 1922, he remarried two years later to Flora M. Davey. He had no children. He worked at Ford until his death of a heart attack at his home at 111 LaBelle Avenue on March 9, 1928, and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw. He was 58 years of age, and like many boxers of his era, had a life somewhat shorter than average.

Honors Lavigne was inducted into the Ring Hall of Fame in 1959, the Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame in 1965, the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

In other media

Writer Lauren D. Chouinard, a cousin of Kid Lavigne's, wrote a biography of the Kid titled Muscle and Mayhem: The Saginaw Kid and the Fistic World of the 1890s (2013).

Writer Robert E. Howard wrote a poem eulogizing Kid Lavigne called "Kid Lavigne is Dead".

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes58Loss35–6–11 Dick NelsonPTS6Dec 25, 1909 57Loss35–5–11 Young ErneTKO6 (6)Jan 19, 1907 56Win35–4–11 Jack RobertsRTD5 (6)Jul 2, 1905 55Loss34–4–11 Jimmy BrittTKO8 (20)May 29, 1902 54Win34–3–11 Tim HegartyKO4 (20)Dec 12, 1901 53Loss33–3–11 George "Elbows" McFaddenKO19 (25)Oct 6, 1899 52Loss33–2–11 Frank ErnePTS20Jul 3, 1899 51Loss33–1–11 Mysterious Billy SmithTKO14 (20)Mar 10, 1899 50Win33–0–11 Tom TraceyPTS20Nov 25, 1898 49Draw32–0–11 Frank ErnePTS20Sep 28, 1898 48Loss32–0–10 Wilmington Jack DalyNWS6Apr 11, 1898 47Draw32–0–10 Wilmington Jack DalyPTS20Feb 17, 1898 46Win32–0–9 Barbados Joe WalcottTKO12 (20)Oct 29, 1897 45Loss31–0–9 Owen ZieglerNWS6May 17, 1897 44Win31–0–9 Eddie ConnollyTKO11 (25)Apr 30, 1897 43Loss30–0–9 Charlie McKeeverNWS6Mar 8, 1897 42Win30–0–9 Kid McPartlandPTS25Feb 8, 1897 41Win29–0–9 Owen ZieglerPTS6Jan 11, 1897 40Win28–0–9 Jack EverhardtTKO24 (25)Oct 27, 1896 39Draw27–0–9 Charlie McKeeverNWS6Jul 20, 1896 38Win27–0–9 Dick BurgeTKO17 (20)Jun 1, 1896 37Win26–0–9 Barbados Joe WalcottPTS15Dec 12, 1895 36Draw25–0–9 Young GriffoPTS20Oct 12, 1895 35Win25–0–8 Jack EverhardtKO5 (20)Aug 26, 1895 34Win24–0–8 Jack EverhardtPTS20May 30, 1895 33Draw23–0–8 Jerry MarshallPTS8Apr 11, 1895 32Win23–0–7 Andy BowenKO18 (25)Dec 14, 1894 31Win22–0–7 Johnny GriffinTKO15 (15)Oct 29, 1894 30Win21–0–7 Jerry MarshallPTS10Sep 17, 1894 29Draw20–0–7 Solly SmithPTS8Mar 7, 1894 28Draw20–0–6 Young GriffoPTS8Feb 10, 1894 27Win20–0–5 Billy GaffneyNWS10Mar 29, 1893 26Win20–0–5 Eddie MyerKO22 (?)Feb 12, 1893 25Win19–0–5 Martin ShaughnessyKO9 (10)Nov 21, 1892 24Draw18–0–5 Jim BurgePTS50 (?)Aug 10, 1892 23Win18–0–4 Harry JonesKO8 (20)May 25, 1892 22Win17–0–4 Charles RochettePTS10Mar 17, 1892 21Win16–0–4 Joe SotoKO30 (?)Nov 20, 1891 20Win15–0–4 Jimmie LuciePTS4Oct 15, 1891 19Win14–0–4 Sam EatonRTD5 (15)Nov 3, 1890 18Draw13–0–4 Billy BoucheyPTS3Apr 14, 1890 17Win13–0–3 Morris McNallyPTS3Mar 13, 1890 16Win12–0–3 Billy O'BrienPTS4May 12, 1889 15Draw11–0–3 George SiddonsPTS55 (?)Apr 25, 1889 14Win11–0–2 Butch KenneyPTS4Mar 10, 1889 13Draw10–0–2 George SiddonsPTS77 (?)Feb 28, 1889 12Win10–0–1 Jack MentonPTS12Sep 21, 1888 11Win9–0–1 Chub WhitneyKO3 (?)Jun 10, 1888 10Draw8–0–1 Pike JohnsonPTS8Mar 2, 1888 9Win8–0 Dan ConnorsKO5 (?)Feb 10, 1888 87–0 Red ElliottND3Feb 28, 1887 7Win7–0 Jack CherryPTS8Dec 28, 1886 6Win6–0 Red ElliottPTS4Nov 18, 1886 5Win5–0 Jimmy PriestKO3 (?)Oct 28, 1886 4Win4–0 Bob RalphKO3 (?)Oct 19, 1886 3Win3–0 Billy RobertsKO3 (?)Sep 21, 1886 2Win2–0 Billy WhiteKO1 (?)Sep 11, 1886 1Win1–0 Morris McNallyKO1 (6)Sep 7, 1886

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column. ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes58Loss36–9–12 Dick NelsonPTS6Dec 25, 1909 57Loss36–8–12 Young ErneTKO6 (6)Jan 19, 1907 56Win36–7–12 Jack RobertsRTD5 (6)Jul 2, 1905 55Loss35–7–12 Jimmy BrittTKO8 (20)May 29, 1902 54Win35–6–12 Tim HegartyKO4 (20)Dec 12, 1901 53Loss34–6–12 George "Elbows" McFaddenKO19 (25)Oct 6, 1899 52Loss34–5–12 Frank ErnePTS20Jul 3, 1899 51Loss34–4–12 Mysterious Billy SmithTKO14 (20)Mar 10, 1899 50Win34–3–12 Tom TraceyPTS20Nov 25, 1898 49Draw33–3–12 Frank ErnePTS20Sep 28, 1898 48Loss33–3–11 Wilmington Jack DalyNWS6Apr 11, 1898 47Draw33–2–11 Wilmington Jack DalyPTS20Feb 17, 1898 46Win33–2–10 Barbados Joe WalcottTKO12 (20)Oct 29, 1897 45Loss32–2–10 Owen ZieglerNWS6May 17, 1897 44Win32–1–10 Eddie ConnollyTKO11 (25)Apr 30, 1897 43Loss31–1–10 Charlie McKeeverNWS6Mar 8, 1897 42Win31–0–10 Kid McPartlandPTS25Feb 8, 1897 41Win30–0–10 Owen ZieglerPTS6Jan 11, 1897 40Win29–0–10 Jack EverhardtTKO24 (25)Oct 27, 1896 39Draw28–0–10 Charlie McKeeverNWS6Jul 20, 1896 38Win28–0–9 Dick BurgeTKO17 (20)Jun 1, 1896 37Win27–0–9 Barbados Joe WalcottPTS15Dec 12, 1895 36Draw26–0–9 Young GriffoPTS20Oct 12, 1895 35Win26–0–8 Jack EverhardtKO5 (20)Aug 26, 1895 34Win25–0–8 Jack EverhardtPTS20May 30, 1895 33Draw24–0–8 Jerry MarshallPTS8Apr 11, 1895 32Win24–0–7 Andy BowenKO18 (25)Dec 14, 1894 31Win23–0–7 Johnny GriffinTKO15 (15)Oct 29, 1894 30Win22–0–7 Jerry MarshallPTS10Sep 17, 1894 29Draw21–0–7 Solly SmithPTS8Mar 7, 1894 28Draw21–0–6 Young GriffoPTS8Feb 10, 1894 27Win21–0–5 Billy GaffneyNWS10Mar 29, 1893 26Win20–0–5 Eddie MyerKO22 (?)Feb 12, 1893 25Win19–0–5 Martin ShaughnessyKO9 (10)Nov 21, 1892 24Draw18–0–5 Jim BurgePTS50 (?)Aug 10, 1892 23Win18–0–4 Harry JonesKO8 (20)May 25, 1892 22Win17–0–4 Charles RochettePTS10Mar 17, 1892 21Win16–0–4 Joe SotoKO30 (?)Nov 20, 1891 20Win15–0–4 Jimmie LuciePTS4Oct 15, 1891 19Win14–0–4 Sam EatonRTD5 (15)Nov 3, 1890 18Draw13–0–4 Billy BoucheyPTS3Apr 14, 1890 17Win13–0–3 Morris McNallyPTS3Mar 13, 1890 16Win12–0–3 Billy O'BrienPTS4May 12, 1889 15Draw11–0–3 George SiddonsPTS55 (?)Apr 25, 1889 14Win11–0–2 Butch KenneyPTS4Mar 10, 1889 13Draw10–0–2 George SiddonsPTS77 (?)Feb 28, 1889 12Win10–0–1 Jack MentonPTS12Sep 21, 1888 11Win9–0–1 Chub WhitneyKO3 (?)Jun 10, 1888 10Draw8–0–1 Pike JohnsonPTS8Mar 2, 1888 9Win8–0 Dan ConnorsKO5 (?)Feb 10, 1888 87–0 Red ElliottND3Feb 28, 1887 7Win7–0 Jack CherryPTS8Dec 28, 1886 6Win6–0 Red ElliottPTS4Nov 18, 1886 5Win5–0 Jimmy PriestKO3 (?)Oct 28, 1886 4Win4–0 Bob RalphKO3 (?)Oct 19, 1886 3Win3–0 Billy RobertsKO3 (?)Sep 21, 1886 2Win2–0 Billy WhiteKO1 (?)Sep 11, 1886 1Win1–0 Morris McNallyKO1 (6)Sep 7, 1886

See also

Lineal championship

References

External links