Boxer ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett brought glamour and style to brutal, bloody sport

IN 1892 bare-knuckle boxing champion John L. Sullivan was knocked off his perch by a dapper man in gloves.

James “Gentleman Jim” Corbett with punching bag in 1903.

UNDER London Prize Ring Rules, American boxer John L. Sullivan was the unassailable heavyweight champion. Sullivan had pounded the best fighters into submission in boxing’s bare-knuckle era.

But the sport was looking for more respectability and introducing Marquis of Queensberry Rules, which included wearing gloves, was part of the transformation. There were also new “scientific” boxers like James “Gentleman Jim” Corbett. In a 21-round match in New Orleans in 1892, Corbett knocked Sullivan off his championship perch with gloved hands.

Corbett became an international boxing superstar, more skilled at self promotion than Sullivan and his forebears. He brought wider acceptance to the sport that had once been seen as little better than street brawling.

James John Corbett was born on September 1, 1866, in San Francisco, the fourth of 10 children of Irish migrants Pat and Kate Corbett. James received a good education but was expelled at 14 for fighting the school bully.

The expulsion made Pat realise his boy was no academic and James was sent to work as a clerk. He later became a messenger boy in a bank, working his way up to the position of bank teller.

History. American James Corbett fighting Australian boxer Peter Jackson in 1891. An 1894 illustration

The job taught him to be well presented and polite and funded his hobbies. At first he took up amateur boxing but later tried baseball until an injury turned him back to boxing. He showed himself to be a thinking fighter, developing a style of moving around the ring, avoiding hits and planting punches where and when his opponents least expected. He grew to be 1.85m and although he was naturally right-handed he developed a powerhouse left punch that confused competitors. He began boxing at a time when the bare-knuckle age was giving way to the less brutal Marquis of Queensbury Rules, fighting all his bouts in gloves.

In 1886 he eloped with Mary Olive Morris Higgins to Salt Lake City in Utah, where he had his first professional fight, against American Frank Smith. Smith was disqualified for holding and wrestling, giving Corbett (then fighting under the name Jim Dillon) his first victory. He later returned to San Francisco, taking a clerical job but earning extra money as a boxing trainer. In 1889 he had his first professional bout using his own name, against Jewish boxer Joe Choynski. Authorities had banned the fight, so it was conducted in secrecy in a barn, but word got out and the police broke it up after five rounds. Promoters then hired a barge so they could hold the fight beyond police reach. Corbett won the gruelling 28-round match with a knockout.

An 1893 picture of boxer James “Gentleman Jim” Corbett in his finery.

The prizemoney allowed him to give up the day job and focus on fighting and training other boxers. In 1889 he took on “Mysterious” Billy Smith, a Sydney boxer, beating him twice on points. In 1890 Corbett was challenged by Jake Kilrain, the man who had recently unsuccessfully challenged Sullivan. That bout brought a challenge from Dominick McCaffrey, who Corbett defeated in Brooklyn in 1890.

He had also branched out into theatre, starring in his first play that same year in a minor role alongside Maurice Barrymore, of the famous acting clan (great grandfather of Drew Barrymore). Corbett’s fame spread, helped by his 1891 fight against Peter “Black Prince” Jackson, a West Indian boxer who made his name in Australia. The fight was a draw, lasting 61 rounds.

Actor Errol Flynn as Corbett in the 1942 film Gentleman Jim.

andsome and stylish, Corbett was dubbed “Pompadour Jim”, after his hairstyle. Later he became known as the “Californian Wonder” or “Gentleman Jim”, after he appeared in the 1892 play Gentleman Jack. His 1892 win against Sullivan saw him dubbed world heavyweight champion. Corbett refused any challenges, including Jackson, who was therefore denied any kind of world title. It was not until 1894 that he took on the challenge of British boxer Charlie Mitchell, his only successful title defence. That same year he took part in an exhibition match against Peter Courtney, believed to be the second boxing match ever filmed.

Knocked out by James J. Jeffries in 1900, his career seemed to be floundering. He later beat middleweight champ Charles “Kid” McCoy who was trying for the heavyweight title, but there were allegations the fight was fixed. Jeffries beat him with a technical knockout in 1903 and Corbett retired. He focused on his acting and in 1925 wrote a biography The Road of the Crowd, that was adapted to film as Gentleman Jim, starring Errol Flynn.

He died in 1933 of liver cancer.

Originally published as Boxer ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett brought glamour and style to brutal, bloody sport