9. Fistic Debut in New York

Beau’s success in the ring, coupled with his move to New York and the hiring of Chick Wergeles, made him a sensational topic among sportswriters. Beau was climbing the lightweight ladder and a match in Madison Square Garden was inevitable. Before entering the Garden ring, however, Beau had to make it through two fights at historic Ebbets Field in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, his first bouts in the state of New York.

Ebbets Field, c. 1913 (Library of Congress).

Home to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Ebbets Field was built by Charlie Ebbets. It opened on April 9, 1913, when the Dodgers hosted the Philadelphia Phillies. Ebbets Field was also home to one of the most momentous sporting events in professional baseball. Jackie Robinson (1919–1972) broke the color barrier in baseball when he debuted at Ebbets Field as the first black major league baseball player on April 15, 1947. Marking an early footstep in the Civil Rights movement and changing baseball forever, the Dodgers won the game with Robinson’s assistance. Subsequently, the Dodgers moved to California changing their name to the Los Angeles Dodgers and, unfortunately, the stadium was demolished.

On a warm August evening, Beau made his metropolitan fistic debut. Having lost only one of his last 22 bouts, Beau Jack rode into Ebbets Field to battle Minnie DeMore of Trenton, New Jersey. DeMore had credentials. He won the ­Tri-State Amateur Boxing Tournament in 1934 for the ­112-pound class. After debuting as a professional on January 27, 1938, DeMore went 11–3–1 in his first two years. Following his quick success, however, he had begun to wane. When he faced Jack, Minnie’s professional record was 13–13–1, having lost 10 of his last 12 fights.

The two faced off on August 5, 1941, in a ­six-round preliminary bout before the main event between welterweight titleholder Freddy “Red” Cochrane and his challenger Izzy Jannazzo. Beau didn’t waste any time in adding another victory to his record. Jack floored DeMore three times in the first round. Picking up where he left off, Beau floored DeMore again in the second round. When the bell sounded for round three, Beau rushed Minnie, throwing deluges of punches, knocking him down for the fifth time in the fight. Referee Jimmy Crowley called an end to DeMore’s night, one minute and seven seconds into the third round. With the TKO victory, Beau improved his overall record to 23–4–2, with 16 wins coming by way of knockout.

A wave of encouraging press followed Beau’s annihilation of Minnie DeMore. Sportswriter Harold Conrad boldly opined that Beau was in route to the lightweight championship. He was not the only one. Raymond Johnson of The Tennessean avowed that Jack would rule the lightweight title throne in a short time. Grantland Rice made the same prediction. “I don’t see how he can miss,” wrote Rice. “He’s got the greatest pair of arms I believe I’ve ever seen. They look like Wolgast’s. He has powerful shoulders and can hit as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen for his size, much harder than most of them.”¹ Rice unapologetically recognized that Beau knew little about boxing, but that didn’t affect his appraisal of Beau. “He just hits them and watches the other fellow fall,” Rice explained. “When they get up, if they do, he hits them again and turns his back, for he knows they’ll not get up again.”² It seemed the lightweight title was Beau’s destiny. Moreover, Beau’s popularity was rapidly rising. Reportedly, Chick Wergeles received over 90 requests from local Brooklyn fans to bring Beau back to Ebbets field after his spectacular knockout of Minnie DeMore.

As requested, Beau was back at Ebbets Field within two weeks. On Thursday night, August 14, 1941, Jack faced Al Roth (1913–1982) in an ­eight-round preliminary fight. Roth hailed from the Bronx and sported a 47–29–13 record. Only once in 89 professional bouts had Roth tasted the canvas. He was a short 5'4" tall dynamo who got off to a brilliant professional career going 22–0–5, but like Minnie DeMore, had faded since becoming a ­top-ranked lightweight, winning only one of his last ten bouts.

For the second time in a row, Beau stole the show at Ebbets Field, demolishing Al Roth in five rounds. In the second round, Beau stung Roth under his left eye and then peppered the spot with punches, opening a gash over the same eye by the next round. Beau was pounding Roth’s face with thunderous punches. By the fifth round, the referee stopped the fight upon the ring doctor’s advice, as “both eyes were merely slits in Al’s puffed, grotesque face.”³ Harold Conrad remarked, “Beau did a job on Roth that would have been the envy of a Washington Market butcher.”⁴ Roth retired from boxing after the fight. When asked what he aimed to do when he was finished boxing, Beau said, “I would like to be a bouncer in a saloon!”⁵

A week after demolishing Al Roth, the headline of Jack Cuddy’s article in the Danville Morning News read “Beau Jack Latest Sensation along Cauliflower Row.”⁶ In fact, the article was in newspapers throughout the country, thanks to Jack Cuddy, a United Press Correspondent. “Cauliflower row” was a term often used to refer to boxing experts and those intimately involved in the sport.

Two months later, Ebbets Field went on to host three games of the 1941 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees. The Brooklyn Dodgers finished first in the National League with a record of 100–51. They faced their ­cross-town rivals the New York Yankees, who had finished on top of the American League with a record of 101–53. Regrettably, for the Dodgers, Joe DiMaggio and the Yankees took the World Series four games to one.

_______

It was an anxious time in the States, as Americans sensed that the U.S. would soon enter World War II. Private land was being usurped by the government to make way for ammunition plants and workers. The American Federation of Teachers adopted an amendment barring Communists, Fascists and Nazis from membership as teachers were being fired as city school systems tried to purge themselves of “Reds.”

Madison Square Garden and Tex Rickard

For over a century, New York’s Madison Square Garden was the ultimate boxing venue. Beau Jack would fight in the third version of the Garden. Adjacent to Madison Square Park, the original Garden was a converted railroad station, located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. After Commodore William Vanderbilt acquired the lease in the 1870s, he named the venue Madison Square Garden. Vanderbilt couldn’t make the Garden lucrative, so he closed shop and had the building demolished.

The second Madison Square Garden was built in 1890 at the same location by a consortium led by J. P. Morgan and the Madison Square Garden Company. Not profitable, they sold it to another company that likewise failed to make it gainful. The New York Life Insurance Company, which held a $2.3 million mortgage, called for the Garden to be flattened like the original Garden.

George Lewis “Tex” Rickard, c. 1919 (Library of Congress).

In the darkness of impending doom, George Lewis “Tex” Rickard (1870–1929) came riding in to save the day. An avid boxing fan, Rickard grew up orphaned but turned into an extremely successful boxing promoter. He promoted Joe Gans when he defeated Oscar “Battling” Nelson in 1906, and Jack Johnson when he defended his title against James J. Jeffries in the “Fight of the Century” in 1910.

In 1916, Rickard rented the Garden with funds loaned to him by his friend Mike Jacobs and staged a fight between Jess Willard, the “Kansas Giant,” and Frank Moran. Willard wore the heavyweight belt that he acquired by defeating Jack Johnson in 1915. Over 13,000 spectators filled the Garden, providing a gate of $151,254 to see Willard, standing 6'6½" tall and weighing 235 pounds, defend his title against Moran.

Three years later, Tex brought Jess Willard to the Bay View Park Arena in Toledo, Ohio to face heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. Dempsey demolished the “Kansas Giant” who outweighed him by more than 40 pounds. Willard went down for the seventh time in the third round. With his right eye closed shut, his right cheek swollen and blue, and blood covering his body, Willard threw in the towel. Thereafter, Rickard entered a financially prosperous relationship promoting Jack Dempsey.

In the early 20th century, boxing was difficult to promote in New York. Legalized boxing was a subject of intense debate in New York at the time. The Frawley Law, passed in 1911, sanctioned boxing but limited the number of rounds to ten. Ringside decisions were not permitted. Instead, sportswriters would provide their verdict in the next day’s paper. In 1917, the Slater Law repealed the Frawley Law, and once again, boxing was not legal in New York. However, in 1920, the Walker Law was passed, ending a ­three-year ban.

Named after its advocate, former New York senator and mayor James J. Walker, the law created the New York State Athletic Commission and provided ­much-needed regulations for boxing. Two judges would now render decisions on all bouts. If the judges disagreed, the referee would make the decision. All clubs, physicians, referees, judges, timekeepers, professional boxers, managers and trainers were required to be licensed with the Commission. ­Five-ounce gloves were mandatory for fighters up to and including the lightweight class. ­Six-ounce gloves would be used for the heavier divisions. With the passing of the Walker Law, Rickard quickly signed a ­10-year lease on the Garden. Despite the lease, New York Life foreclosed on the Garden in 1925 to erect an office building.

Given the second Garden’s demise, Tex Rickard decided to construct the third version. Built in 1925, the third version of the Garden was located in Manhattan on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets. The indoor venue was a ­triple-decked arena with a seating capacity for boxing of 18,500. The first event at the “new” Garden featured light heavyweight champion Paul Berlenbach as he defeated Jack Delaney. In addition to numerous boxing matches, concerts, and other events, the Garden was also home to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. It survived 43 years before closing in 1968, shortly before the opening of the fourth Madison Square Garden.

Madison Square Garden III, c. 1940 (author’s collection).

Beau Enters the Ring at Madison Square Garden

The evening of Tuesday, August 26, 1941, was a momentous occasion at Madison Square Garden. Beau made his historic debut in a ­six-round preliminary battle to the Gus ­Lesnevich–Tami Mauriello light heavyweight championship fight. Little did anyone know, but Beau was embarking on a ­record-breaking historical journey at the Garden.

In his first encounter inside the Garden ring, Beau met Columbian Guillermo Puentes, the lightweight champion of South America. Puentes had earned the nickname “macieste,” or “strong man,” after knocking out Oliver White and defeating Julie Kogon. He had a hard right hook and carried “dynamite in both hands.” Although Puentes had lost three bouts in a row, resulting in a professional record of 7–6–1, his style was similar to Beau’s. He was aggressive and threw flurries of punches. Both fighters stood at a comparable height, but Beau had a ­five-pound weight advantage at 136 pounds.

Jack and Puentes came out slinging at the opening bell. It was a hectic and frenzied slugfest. Puentes aggressively pushed the action and hurt Jack three or four times. Resiliently, Jack survived, earning an unpopular ­six-round victory. A chorus of boos greeted Beau when renowned announcer Harry Balogh (1891–1961) raised his hand in victory. The win was great, but it wasn’t the debut Beau sought. He was a crowd pleaser, and the booing saddened him.

Between 1933 and 1957, Harry Balogh reigned as the most famous boxing announcer in the world. It was Harry who initiated the tuxedo and stiff front shirt, making it the standard uniform for announcers. After introducing the combatants, Balogh would always exclaim, “And may the better boxer emerge victorious.” An advocate for unity, he also used his platform in the center of the ring to fight racial prejudice. He even learned enough Spanish to introduce Spanish boxers in their native language.

The disappointing boos did not last long for Beau. He fought 11 of his next 21 contests at Madison Square Garden, winning each one. Beau later admitted that at 20 years of age, those big lights at Madison Square Garden scared him to death.

Beau had three weeks to prepare for his next fight. Movies and arcade shooting galleries were Jack’s choice for relaxation. He would walk to the 50th Street shooting gallery, where he would shoot pigeons and ducks as they traveled across the backdrop. Taking in a movie was also a favorite pastime of Beau’s. Movies playing at the time included Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, John Wayne in Shepherd of the Hills, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour in Caught in the Draft and showing for the 45th consecutive week, Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

In front of a crowd of 11,945 spectators, Jack was set to enter his second duel at Madison Square Garden on September 19. The main event featured a lightweight battle between “up and coming” Sugar Ray Robinson and Maxie Shapiro. Robinson won by TKO in the third round after knocking Shapiro to the canvas four times, improving his undefeated streak to 24 victories.

Featured in an ­eight-round preliminary match, Beau was scheduled for a rematch with Guillermo Puentes. Puentes, however, fell ill before the fight. Veteran ­26-year-old Jewish boxer Al Reid agreed to substitute for Puentes. A natural featherweight, Reid, whose birth name was Abe Reibman, had six years of boxing under his belt and a respectable record of 56–29–13. Possessing uncanny speed and finesse, Al’s resume included victories over Joey Fontana (47–7–5), Bernie Friedkin (47–6–10), and Joey Iannotti (29–2–3). Moreover, a year prior, he handed undefeated top lightweight contender Maxie Shapiro his first loss in 39 contests.

At the opening bell, Reid came out throwing leather. As he kept Jack at bay, it became obvious that a fierce battle had erupted. Nonetheless, the tide turned in the seventh round. Beau landed two consecutive uppercuts to Reid’s chin, dropping him hard to the canvas. As Reid sluggishly made it to his feet, Jack landed a vicious body hook, dumping him right back on the canvas. Reid was done and Referee Arthur Donovan had seen enough. Donovan stopped the fight 1:31 minutes into the seventh round, awarding Beau victory by technical knockout. Harry Balogh again raised Jack’s hand in victory. Beau reveled in his victory on the big stage of the Garden.

Reid’s next fight on November 18, 1941, would be his last. The next day he joined the U.S. Coast Guard. Reid finished his career with a 60–28–12 record and was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.

Beau’s success did not sit well with Bobby Ruffin, a young white fighter from Astoria, Queens, New York, sporting a record of 35–13–6. On September 22, 1941, Maurie Waxman, Bobby Ruffin’s mouthpiece, issued a challenge to Jack, claiming that Beau had only fought pushovers and nobody the likes of his fighter. Both Ruffin and Jack had victories over Young Johnny Buff, Minnie DeMore, Al Reid and Tommy Speigal. A fight with Ruffin, however, would not happen for several years.

It was a windy evening outside the Broadway Arena on October 14. Broadway Arena was referred to as a “Brooklyn Institution, second only to the Dodgers.”⁷ A couple of blocks off Broadway, the arena backed up next to Halsey Street near Saratoga Avenue. Although it was home to the Gothams, a professional basketball team, and wrestling was often on the card, the beloved arena was most treasured as the oldest neighborhood fight club in Brooklyn, drawing fans from Coney Island to New York’s Lower East Side. The 4,­500-seat venue featured a ­much-anticipated weekly Tuesday night fight card.

Jack appeared in the main event on October 14. For the second time, he was matched against Tommy Speigal, in what was again declared a bout of “nationwide fistic significance.” Five months earlier, Beau had belted out a unanimous decision over Tommy in Holyoke. Even though Beau had not lost in his last 15 bouts, the feisty, unorthodox, 5'8" Uniontown fighter came into the match as a six to five favorite. Speigal was out to halt Beau’s winning streak and get revenge for his previous loss. He trained rigorously for the rematch. Speigal’s training showed at the ­weigh-in. Tommy had lost over five pounds since their last fight, standing 131 pounds on the scale to Beau’s 135½ pounds.

From the ringing of the opening bell to the clanging of the closing bell, both fighters brawled at a blistering pace. Much of the bout was fought inside, as the combatants stood next to each other swapping blows. Speigal threw nasty punches, but when they closed in on each other, the shorter Beau landed the better blows. Effectively offsetting his shorter reach, Beau stuck close to Speigal and pounded away. Jack consistently connected with ripping right uppercuts, repeatedly snapping his foe’s head back in pain. Speigal’s left jabs were his most effective offense, opening a small cut next to Beau’s left eye. It was a close fight, especially after Beau was penalized for a low blow in the fifth round, but Beau once again emerged victorious on the scorecards. The next day the headline in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle read, “Beau Jack Now Ready for Big Time.”⁸

Tommy only fought four more bouts before retiring due to health issues. Problems with his stiff leg had progressed into bone tuberculosis. Unfortunately, Speigal spent his last years in the Sunny Acres Sanitarium and Cleveland Hospital before passing away on November 9, 1945, at the young age of 32. His record was 76–42–9.

Sinking Ships

While Beau was immersed in boxing, the United States was getting closer and closer to entering World War II. Axis powers⁹ had sunk their eighth American ship, the tanker I. C. White, between Brazil and the western bulge of Africa. On October 4, Secretary of State Cordell Hull emphatically denounced the torpedoing and sinking of the tanker, strengthening President Roosevelt’s hand in seeking any potential revision of the Neutrality Act, which limited U.S. involvement in the war. Two weeks later, a German ­U-boat torpedoed the Kearny, a U.S. destroyer, near Iceland. To make matters worse, a German ­U-boat sank the destroyer Reuben James on October 30, killing almost 100 men.

Moving Up the Lightweight Ladder

Madison Square Garden was bursting with a sellout crowd of 20,551 rowdy spectators on Halloween night, October 31, 1941, to witness the main event. Featured sensational lightweights were unbeaten Sugar Ray Robinson and ­ex-champion Fritzie Zivic. It was the year’s ­second-largest crowd, providing Beau a great occasion to cultivate more supporters. Beau appeared in a preliminary ­eight-round rematch with Guillermo Puentes. Two months earlier, Jack had defeated Puentes in a controversial decision. Sitting ringside to assess the boxers was lightweight boxing sensation Allie Stolz. Stolz, the former New Jersey featherweight titleholder, boasted an impressive 46–4–2 record. The winner of the contest between Jack and Puentes was contracted to be his next opponent.

The booing of the fans following his previous victory over Puentes troubled Jack. Beau loved to please the fans. The more they clapped, the better he fought. He wasn’t going to give them a reason to jeer again. Coming into the match, Jack had a 4¾ pound advantage over Puentes, who weighed in at 130¼ pounds.

Unlike their first contest, much to Beau’s liking, the rematch produced a decisive winner. Jack came out fast and furious. Even though he began to dawdle in the middle rounds, Beau accelerated the pace in the final two rounds, punishing Puentes with destructive left jabs and right uppercuts to the head. Beau painlessly scored a unanimous decision over Puentes. In the main event, Robinson extended his undefeated streak to 27, by taking a ­10-round unanimous decision over Zivic. As customary, Chick gave Beau Jack $1 for spending money after the fight, so Beau could unwind by taking in a couple of dime movies.

Along with his success, Beau developed one weakness. Sharp dressing became an obsession. He loved buying new clothes. His wardrobe featured ­fawn-colored sports jackets, tailored pants, ­pork-pie hats, and even silk underwear. One of Beau’s favorite outfits was a green ­pork-pie hat, ­peg-top pants, and a yellow checkered jacket with a purple tie and yellow shoes. Colorful is an understatement.

As Beau moved up the lightweight ladder and began to fight for larger purses, sportswriter Bob Considine reported that Jack had become the ward of Lansing B. Lee, Jr., of Augusta, one of Augusta’s most distinguished lawyers. Considine explained that half of Beau’s earnings, or $850 from the Puentes fight, was sent to Lansing for safe keeping in a trust account for Beau.¹⁰ Jack’s training expenses, room and board and clothes were paid for out of the remaining $425. Interestingly, less than a year later, in May 1942, Lansing Lee filed for Dismission as Guardian of Beau Jack’s property.

Following several weeks in Augusta, Beau soon returned to New York to begin training for his upcoming bout. Although he was supposed to meet Allie Stolz, it didn’t happen. Instead, he would battle Sammy Rivers, aka Santiago Rivera, on December 1, 1941. Sammy was a robust ­two-fisted body puncher but had a dismal professional record winning only one of his 45 fights. With Madison Square Garden not available due to the Ice Follies performances, smaller venues were thrust into the boxing limelight. Ridgewood Grove Arena, located at Palmetto Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Queens, New York, was the venue for Beau’s contest against Rivers. Seating 5,000 spectators, Ridgewood Grove Arena was a boxing mecca between 1926 and 1956.

The loyal Ridgewood fans were eagerly anticipating the Tuesday night fight card featuring the main event between Beau Jack and Sammy Rivers. As expected, Beau did not need eight rounds to finish off his prey. Beau swarmed Rivers at the opening bell, unleashing flurries of punches. All Sammy could do was to hold on to Beau for dear life. On occasion, the taller Rivers futilely struggled to force Beau out of his rhythm by slugging long range but his efforts were to no avail. The harm done by Beau in the third round proved to be fatal for Rivers. Beau’s furious series of stiff punches created a deep cut under Rivers’ left eye. Sammy, with blood running down his face, tried to carry on, but Referee Joe Vaccarella prevented Rivers from answering the bell in the fourth. Damage to Rivers’ eye was too severe. With the stoppage, Beau earned a ­trouble-free victory via technical knockout. The next day’s headline in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle read, “Rivers Doesn’t Even Make Beau Breathe Hard.”¹¹

Pearl Harbor and James Wergeles

Horror struck the morning before Beau’s next fight. At 7:35 a.m. Hawaiian time on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, Hawaii, killing more than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors and wounding more than 1,000 more. In what the United States “officially and unequivocally described as treacherous and utterly unprovoked,” the Japanese destroyed more than 20 naval vessels, including eight battleships and more than 300 fighter planes.

Three civilians were killed in this shrapnel-riddled car by a bomb dropped from a Japanese plane eight miles from Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 (Library of Congress).

Among those injured was Chick Wergeles’ ­19-year-old son, Marine Private ­First-Class James Arthur Wergeles (1922–2013). The noise of ­anti-aircraft guns awoke his company on the morning of December 7. Accounting the events of the day, James expressed, “we couldn’t believe it was an attack—so the men in my tent rolled over and went back to sleep.”¹² The delayed reaction was experienced by many of the servicemen at Pearl Harbor. Despite their disbelief, the men in James’ outfit were quickly awakened again by an exploding piece of shrapnel that tore through their tent. “I was bending over to pick up some gear,” gasped Wergeles, “when a piece of shell whistled over my head and hit a buddy in the neck.”¹³

Wergeles jumped in a jeep and headed toward the waterfront. Unfortunately, in the shock of the moment, the vehicle crashed, breaking James’ back in three places. He was subsequently transported to the St. Albans Naval Hospital on Long Island for treatment.

Remarkably, James would heal quickly enough to be in the first wave of invading Marines in the Guadalcanal Campaign. During the battle that waged from August 7, 1942, through February 9, 1943, he was injured again, this time hit with shrapnel in his back. Doctors thought he might be crippled for life, but James rebounded once again. Following his service in World War II, James Wergeles became the Publicity Director for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association.

Jack Stumbles Against Freddie Archer

A day after Pearl Harbor and hours after President Roosevelt and Congress declared war on Japan, Beau squared off with Newark, New Jersey’s crack ­19-year-old lightweight, Freddie Archer (1922–1985). Archer was on a tear, winning his last 8 bouts and only suffering two defeats in his previous 20 matches. Archer had already defeated future titleholder Ike Williams and former Beau Jack opponents George Zengarass, Tommy Speigal, Joe Rivers, and Bob Reilly. He was not unstoppable though. ­Twenty-four-year-old Tippy Larkin knocked Archer out in the first round of their fight six months earlier. George Zengaras, whom Beau defeated several months earlier, had put Archer on the canvas as well. Still, Archer was considered one of the top ­135-pounders.

St. Nicholas Skating Rink, New York City, c. 1901 (Wikimedia Commons).

The contest took place at the 4,­000-seat St. Nicholas Arena located at Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan on December 8. It was about eight miles away from Beau’s last fight venue, Ridgewood Grove Arena. The arena previously operated as a skating rink known as St. Nicholas Rink. In the early 1900s, the skating rink was overhauled and renamed St. Nicholas Arena, and began hosting boxing matches and other entertainment. Known as the “Bucket of Blood,” the arena was filled with cigar smoke on fight nights. It was demolished in 1962 to make way for an office building.

At the ­pre-fight ­weigh-in, Archer weighed 137½ pounds to Beau’s 136¼ pounds and stood 5'7" tall. Even though Archer had an outstanding record, the oddsmakers favored Beau three to one over Freddie. It was a close, ­tough-fought battle. After eight rounds of action, the decision went to the scorecards. In one of the year’s largest upsets, Archer was awarded the decision on points, thanks in part to Jack losing the sixth round because of a low blow. Beau later recalled his loss to Freddie Archer as one of his biggest disappointments. Not only did he lose to Archer, but it was also the day after Pearl Harbor.

Freddie Archer had Beau’s number. They fought for the second straight time at St. Nicholas Arena in an ­eight-round feature on December 29, 1941. The Newark fighter used his powerful left hook, dropping Beau for a ­2-count in the second round, recording Beau’s first taste of the canvas. Throughout the bout, Archer continually caught Beau with his left hook when Beau tried to come inside. After eight rounds, Archer was again victorious on points. Who knows how it affected the outcome, but after the fight, it was learned that Beau was suffering from a high fever and pneumonia.

Archer finished his professional career with a remarkable 88–24–3 record. In 1945, The Ring magazine ranked Freddie Archer as the number four welterweight in the world. Archer was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame on November 1, 1981.

War Rationing

Because of World War II, there were severe shortages of materials, fuel, and foods. In 1941, President Roosevelt created the Office of Price Administration (OPA) to place price ceilings on most goods and implement a system of rationing. The OPA established nationwide rationing through War Ration Books containing removable stamps good for specific rationed items.

The initial War Ration Books designated for sugar were issued to Americans on May 5, 1942. Some of the other items rationed during the war included cheese, canned food, meat, coffee, butter, jams, jellies, cooking oil, gasoline, fuel oil, coal, nylon, silk, and tires. Much of the processed and canned foods were shipped overseas to U.S. and Allied troops, creating a high demand for food items. Citizens were also requested to return tin cans and waste fat to the local Salvage Committee after the ration was used to make munitions for the military.

Beginning on May 15, 1942, gasoline was rationed in the Eastern United States. Within the next four months, gas was limited across the entire nation. Even whiskey was restricted. According to a city jailer in Roanoke, North Carolina, it decreased the Monday morning drunks’ population in his jail from 180 to 76 guests.

The government underscored the patriotic fervor in supporting the war cause and our troops overseas. The War Ration Books contained language such as, “rationing is a vital part of your country’s war effort.” By rationing, the everyday American could contribute to the war effort. The ration stamps themselves often featured drawings of airplanes, guns, tanks, and aircraft. Violation of the rationing rules was equated to “treason,” subjecting one to punishments ranging as high as ten years’ imprisonment or a $10,000 fine, or both. Needless to say, fake cards were commonplace, and a black market developed for rationed items, but overall the rationing process worked reasonably well.

Sports were also affected by World War II. For example, there was a shortage of available wood, making baseball bats and bowling pins hard to find. Having had professional baseball discontinued during World War I, baseball officials didn’t know whether to plan for a 1942 season. Executives requested Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis to question the president. President Roosevelt responded swiftly and decisively, signing what became known as the “Green Light Letter” that signaled baseball to keep going. President Roosevelt stated, “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.”¹⁴ Baseball provided relaxation and ­low-cost entertainment to ­hard-working Americans whose work was desperately required for the U.S. war effort.

1. Raymond Johnson, “One Man’s Opinion,” Tennessean, August 20, 1941, 10.

2. Ibid.

3. Harold Conrad, “Roth Stopped by Beau Jack,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 15, 1941, 13.

4. Ibid.

5. Al Abrams, “Sidelights on Sports,” Pittsburgh ­Post-Gazette, August 19, 1941, 13.

6. Jack Cuddy, “Beau Jack Latest Sensation Along Cauliflower Row,” Danville Morning News, August 20, 1941, 7.

7. Harold C. Burr, “Broadway Arena Boro Institution,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 13, 1947, 16.

8. “Beau Jack Now Ready for Big Time,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 15, 1941, 19.

9. The Axis powers were comprised of Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.

10. Bob Considine, “Old Haunts Are to See Beau Jack,” Philadelphia Enquirer, November 4, 1941, 14.

11. Billy Goodrich, “Rivers Doesn’t Even Make Beau Breathe Hard,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 2, 1941, 16.

12. “Went Back to Sleep at Pearl Harbor, Says Wounded Vet,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 7, 1943, 13.

13. Ibid.

14. Hal Bock, “Continuing Games at a Time of Conflict,” ­Post-Star, December 7, 2001, 24.