Bob Montgomery & Beau Jack - Interview Half a century after their epic series of battles for
the Lightweight Championship of the world. Hall of Famers,
"Bobcat" Bob Montgomery and the Georgia shoe shiner,
Beau Jack, connected recently by telephone for the first time
in many years. They reminisced for some time about old friends,
family, and fights. Montgomery summed up their bouts by saying
"whoever was having a good night won that one" Jack
replied, "I guess we each had two good nights."
Beau and Bob were two members of a trio of lightweights of
the forties, the other being Ike Williams, that some say made
up the greatest group of lightweights, at one time, in boxing
history.
The two first met on May 21, 1943, in a bout that saw Montgomery
captures Jack's Lightweight laurels via a unanimous 15 round
decision. Later that same year Beau regained his title by
pounding out a unanimous verdict again over 15 rounds.
The following year, in their closest contest, Montgomery got
his revenge and his championship back on a split decision
over the 15 rounds. The two warriors fought their fourth and
last time in a 10 round non title bout that saw jack leave
as victor.
Bob Montgomery
Harry: How Did you get into boxing?
Bob: I'd had amateur fights back in Sumter. I won 22. The
fights were for watches, which we hocked for $7. So when I
got up north and saw what fighters made I decided to fight
professionally.
Harry: You were unbeaten in your first 23 fights before losing.
Bob: Yes, 23 straight. I was 19 and I lost to Tommy Spiegal.
Harry: Were you discouraged?
Bob: I thought I had won, so I wasn't discouraged. I felt
I got robbed, but I was expecting a rematch. I never got it.
Harry: You were involved in some tough battles for a young
man before the Beau Jack fight.
Bob: Yes. They were tough fights. Lew Jenkins and Sammy Angott
- tough fights. They were the only ones I could get.
Harry: You defeated former welterweight king Fritzie Zivic.
How good was Zivic?
Bob: He had just beaten Jake Le Motta - that's how good he
was. He was a real good teacher.
Harry: Did Zivic hurt you in the bout?
Bob: Yeah, once in the fight. It was a tough fight. I won
a 10 round decision.
Harry: Was Zivic the dirty fighter many say he was?
Bob: Yeah, tough and dirty. He liked to hit and hold and hit
low. But we got that straight before the fight. I told him
"If you put your arm behind my head or use your thumb.
I'll hit you low."
Harry: Sounds fair. Did he listen?
Bob: No. He held and hit, so I hit him low and that was the
end of it.
Harry: You fought and won the Lightweight championship from
Beau Jack in New York.
Bob: Yes May 21, 1943. I won a 15 round decision.
Harry: How was the first fight with Beau?
Bob: Tough - real tough. Back and fourth, toe to toe. I figured
I won the last two rounds and saved it.
Harry: You lost the rematch with Beau Jack and your title
along with it. What happened?
Bob: He won it. I wasn't up to par. But he won it fair and
square. I almost had him out, but he came right back.
Harry: You won the title back in the rubber match with Jack.
Bob: Yeah on March 3, 1944. It was another tough fight.
Harry: The best known was the fourth fight. Tell us about
that.
Bob: That was the War Bond fight. We raised $35 million for
the US army. I lost, but it was my proudest fight, because
of what we did for our country.
Harry: Were you ever in trouble in that one?
Bob: You were always in trouble with Beau. You had to fight
the whole thing. It was no picnic. He was always in great
shape. We fought 55 rounds. He won 25. I won two fights; he
won two fights. Whoever had the better night won.
Harry: Would you have beaten Roberto Duran or Pernell Whitacker?
Bob: In my prime, yes. But not now. Now I can't beat anyone.
Harry: Was Beau your toughest opponent?
Bob: Oh, he was tough, but Ike Williams was the toughest.
Did you ever see anyone better than him? He was a great boxer
and puncher.
Harry: You beat him once.
Bob: I knocked him out on January 25, 1944 at 2:49 of the
12th round.
Harry: You have quite a memory of victories. Did you beat
him with pressure or was it one shot?
Bob: I just kept plowing with a right uppercut. I just kept
going until he went down.
Harry: Was Ike just coming up at that time?
Bob: Yes, he was coming up, but so was I.
Harry: Was it a great career champ?
Bob: It was. I was lucky. I never really got hurt. I was just
a boy from South Carolina and I became champ. Everyone knew
me. I made money. I still have plenty of friends.
Harry: In 1995 you were elected into the Boxing Hall Of Fame
in Canastota, New York. How did that make you feel?
Bob: Yes, June 11, 1995. Big pickings! I was very proud.
Beau Jack
Beau began his boxing career in Massachusetts. His first professional
fight saw him held to a draw with Frankie Allen on May 20,
1940. His commitment to training and conditioning supported
a whirlwind, winning style, punctuated by frequent bolo punches.
He was a busy fighter. Within two and a half years, Beau had
logged in 50 fights, which led him to a shot at the world
title. On December 18, 1942 in Madison Square Garden, Jack
KO 'd Tippy Larkin in three rounds for the vacant lightweight
championship. Larkin would later win the junior welterweight
crown in 1946. Jack's career is studded with wins over champions.
Harry: What was your childhood like?
Jack: I was raised by my granddaddy and grandmom on a farm
in Georgia. She gave me my name Beau Jack. She was a tough
woman. She was the boss and lived to 112. My granddaddy was
seven foot six.
Harry: Did you have an amateur career?
Jack: No, I started in the Battle Royal fights. Five men in
the ring, blindfolded until there was just two left to fight
it out. But I learned a trick. To duck down low in a corner
and let them come by me. Then I'd knock them off until there
was only one left to fight. First time I tried it, I won and
got the first fifty dollar bill I ever had. After that, I
won all the time.
Harry: How did you get started as a professional?
Jack: I was working at the Augusta National Golf Course shining
shoes. I asked around about going north with someone to be
a fighter. Only Mr. Bobby Jones had time for me. He talked
with the other members. He told me he had fifty members that
would give me 50 dollars each to go up north and start boxing.
he got Bowman Milligan to take me up to the Longmeadow Golf
Course in Springfield, Massachusetts and that's where I started.
Roadwork every morning at 4 o'clock in cold and sometimes
snow.
Harry: In your first year as a pro, you had 16 fights. You
lost two to Jackie Parker. Do you remember those bouts?
Jack: Do I? My trainer, Sid Behr, was a tough man never satisfied.
No matter how hard I trained, he said " No good. Do it
again." After the Parker fights, when I was 19, it don't
matter to Sid that he was more experienced. He kicked my pants.
After that I won ten straight, the almost all of 32 more until
Tippy Larkin.
Harry: You stopped Larkin in three rounds for the New York
version of the lightweight title in 1942. Were you surprised
he went so easily?
Jack: No, because he had to go if I was to win. He was a slick
boxer. It was hard for anyone to beat him if it goes the distance.
But he couldn't take my punch. I caught him with a bolo punch
coming off the ropes the way my trainer made me throw it.
And then I was champion.
Harry: After that you beat Fritzie Zivic.
Jack: I learned more about fighting from Fritzie than anyone.
If you didn't learn from him, you were crazy. If you got in
a clinch with that man and didn't do anything, he'd rip you
up. Not dirty, just a good fighter. My trainer, Sid Behr,
said "Don't give him a chance. Rip him all the time."
So I did. Left hooks in the gut got him. I was in top shape.
Harry: After two wins over Zivic you defeated Henry Armstrong.
Was he a "shot" fighter by then?
Jack: No, he could still punch and fight. He was my idol,
the greatest ever. I didn't want to fight him, but he talked
me into it. He threw so many punches, but I got to him with
my left hook. I was lucky to beat him and wouldn't want to
try it again.
Harry: After those tough bouts you lost your title to Bob
Montgomery. Six months later you would regain your lost laurels.
What did you do differently?
Jack: Oh those Montgomery fights! In the second fight I switched
to right hooks instead of lefts and that's what beat him.
I asked Behr how I was doing and he wouldn't tell me. Bob
almost knocked me out a couple of times, but I rolled and
bobbed out of it. Then I kept digging, kept throwing that
right with the bolo and got the decision. The third was a
good fight and Bob won it.
Harry: On February 21, 1947 you were stopped by Tony Janiro
in four rounds, but later decisioned fifteen months later.
How did you turn it around?
Jack: I hurt my leg in the first fight and broke my knee cap.
Without legs you are no fighter. I changed my style in the
second fight and used double hooks to beat him.
Harry: You then stopped future welter king, Johnny Bratton.
Jack: My trainer said, "No" to the fight, him being
a welterweight. But I talked him out of it. Bratton was a
great boxer, but I kept on him. I kept punching until I stopped
him in the eighth.
Harry: How difficult was it to battle Ike Williams?
Jack: I fought him four times and couldn't get past him. The
better shape I was in, the worse I got beat. I salvaged a
draw in the third bout. He was a great champion.
Harry: What was your greatest ring performance?
Jack: Against Fritzie Zivic, Henry Armstrong and bob Montgomery.
Harry: What was your proudest moment?
Jack: The fourth fight with montgomery where we raised $35
million for the War Bond drive. That was for the country I
live in. That was the proudest thing that could happen to
me.
Acknowledgement: This interview with Beau Jack could not have
been conducted without the guidance and assistance of Beau's
friend, boxing historian, Hank Kaplan.
