‘Beloved in his home country, a statue of ‘The Wild Bull of the Pampas’ was erected in Buenos Aires following his death and ‘Boxing Day’ in Argentina is September 14th, the date of his valiant effort against Dempsey.’
International Boxing Hall of Fame
Long before John Ruiz beat Evander Holyfield to win the world heavyweight crown and become the first fighter from Latino roots to do so, or when Andy Ruiz Jr toppled Anthony Joshua to become the first fighter from Mexican heritage to also win world honours, there was Luis Ángel Firpo. As opposed to John Ruiz and Andy Ruiz Jr who were both born and bred in the USA, Firpo was one hundred percent Latino beef.
When you mention Luis Firpo to the average boxing aficionado, the usual response is some form of correlation to ‘the’ Dempsey fight. The fight which Firpo should have been crowned heavyweight champion of the world. The truth is, there’s so much more to the knockout artist who carried the moniker of, ‘El Toro Salvaje de las Pampas,’ (The Wild Bull of the Pampas) than that one fight and this article will shine a light on the Argentine adonis.
Born in Junín, Buenos Aires province on 1 October 1894, Firpo had hearing issues as a child. This consequently spurred his parents to move to the capital to seek better treatment and in doing so, they decided to permanently relocate there.
As a result of his hearing ailment, young Firpo was exempt from military service and started working in a brick factory. It was here he started to hone his boxing skills, fighting off thieves in twos and threes as they attempted to steal materials. His boss was appreciative of his employee, but he was also aware his fists could get him in a lot of trouble and urged him to use his skills in the square ring as opposed to perhaps getting into trouble protecting the pride of a few bricks.
The start to Firpo’s professional boxing career is a little hazy. Some claim he started fighting in 1917, with a debut fight in Argentina, whereas most records show it was at the beginning of 1918. With near on no evidence to substantiate the 1917 debut, we will work with a 1918 entrance into the sport.
Firpo got off to a bad start, but in all honesty, the matchmaking for the debutant was hardly a gradual approach into the sport of professional boxing. On 12 January 1918, self-managed Firpo took on seasoned pro, Angel Rodriguez in his own backyard of Montevideo, Uruguay. The 23-year-old Argentine was knocked down four times in the first round of the contest, unable to make the second stanza. It’s worth noting that Rodriguez’ record stood at 22 wins, 3 losses and one draw and he would go on to extend this record to 46 victories, incurring only one further loss over the next nine years.
Eight months after his fistic inauguration shellacking, on 14 September 1918, Firpo travelled to Chile to take on William Daly, stopping him in the seventh round. In his next five fights, he fought three times in Chile and twice in Uruguay, winning all five contests, with four of them failing to reach the distance.
On 1 November 1919, at the Hippodrome Circo in Santiago de Chile, Firpo took on Californian, Dave Mills for the vacant South American title…..which apparently North Americans could also fight for. Despite weighing 18lbs more than Mills, the American, with a lacklustre record of six wins, 10 losses and six draws, managed to last the full 15 rounds and take the title on points. Eager to avenge the loss, two fights and five months later, Firpo rematched Mills at the same venue, smashing the American in the first round.
After 10 fights on the road, Firpo was granted the opportunity to fight on Argentine soil, knocking out Anton Jirsa in the opening round. His next contest on home soil, on 11 December 1920 was the rubber match against Dave Mills, with the American intent on showing the onlookers that Firpo’s early stoppage success in their last bout was a fluke. Unfortunately for Mills, Firpo’s destructive hands repeated the same result, obliterating him once again shortly after the opening bell, and by doing so, retained his South American heavyweight title.
In his next two fights, Firpo beat Barbadian, Gunboat Smith in Chile and then in Buenos Aires, followed by a two round destruction of fellow countryman, Ferdinando Priano. With Firpo’s record now standing at 13 victories (10 by KO) and two losses, USA beckoned.
On 20 March 1922, Firpo, now a fully ledged 220lbs fighter, knocked out unbeaten prospect, Tom Maxted at the Maurel Garden, Newark. Over the next seven months, Firpo added a further three knockout stoppages to his resume for 1922, which set him up for his first major fight in America, against Louisville born, Bill Brennan, at nonother than Madison Square Garden.
Brennan was a tough Kentucky cookie who had fought Jack Dempsey twice, being stopped in their first encounter in 1918 ending in the sixth, then two years later, he lasted until the end of the twelfth round, before being halted by the Manassa Mauler en route to defending his world crown. It’s also worth noting Brennan fought the supremely talented Harry Greb four times in six months in 1919, lasting the distance each time, but losing a decision each time at the hands of the Pittsburgh Windmill.
When Firpo and Brennan locked horns at Madison Square Garden, Brennan was the favourite and far more experienced operator. Consequently, when the Argentine stopped him in the twelfth round, the same time it took Dempsey to dispose of his fellow American, this instantly got the boxing fraternity talking about a future clash against the champ. It probably also helped that Brennan, who suffered concussion from the fight, said, ‘Dempsey never hit me any harder than this fellow.’
Over the next five months, Firpo was in explosive form, clocking up seven wins on the bounce, including an eighth-round stoppage over former world champion, Jess Willard in front of 100,000 spectators, in a contest labelled as, ‘The Battle of the Giants.’ Admittedly, Willard was 42 and past his sell-by date, but the victory gained that all important attention to give Firpo traction to climb the rankings.
Then came the date, venue and opponent which would immortalise Firpo – 14 September 1923, Polo Grounds, New York – opponent: Jack Dempsey, for the world heavyweight title.
Coming off the back of an impressive winning streak and possessing knockout credentials in both hands, the first time Latin American world heavyweight world title challenger came into the ring two inches taller and 14lbs heavier than Dempsey. The normal capacity for the Polo Grounds was around 55,000, but for this contest, it was expanded to almost 85,000 to accommodate what was arguably the most highly anticipated world title clash up to that point. And it didn’t fail to deliver. It’s worth noting that over 150,000 people who queued up but failed to get tickets, remained outside.
The opening round was like an old-fashioned gunslinging contest, which saw both fighters throwing leather with bad intentions. Unfortunately for Firpo, Dempsey’s accuracy and speed put him on the seat of his shorts seven times in the first round and it was looking likely the contest was going to be concluded before the second session. However, Firpo had other ideas.
Towards the end of the round, Firpo let loose with a barrage of punches, with the last being a massive right hand, which sent Dempsey through the ropes. In today’s day and age, Dempsey would have been counted out and Firpo would and should have been crowned champion. Instead, he was caught by the reporters who sat ringside and at a dubious count of nine, which was officially nearer 17, Dempsey made it through the ropes, only to receive a further battering of punches. Yet somehow, he clung on until the end of the round. At a later date, Dempsey admitted, ‘I was down, and if it wasn’t for the public throwing me back in there, I would have never gotten back into the ring.’ In fact, whilst he was scrambling around on the floor, the major press outlets, including the New York Times, were already spreading the word that Dempsey had been dethroned and Firpo was the new king. That gives some perspective on the length of time Jack was down for.
Dempsey vs Firpo 1923 (Firpo on the canvas)
Once back on his feet, Dempsey withstood a further battery of punches and made it until the bell. His powers of recovery were incredible and after a total of 11 knockdowns between them, Dempsey mustered enough strength to find a knockout blow and bring the contest to a halt in just 57 seconds of the second round. Unsurprisingly, the contest was Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year for 1923. Somewhat a heavyweight version of Hagler versus Hearns in the 1920’s. The fight has been immortalised by the vastly talented artist, George Bellows, in an image which still receives worldwide recognition to this day, far beyond boxing’s vast array of admirers. In fact, you may catch a glimpse of it in the background of Goodfellas, as Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro discuss ‘business.’ Bellows sadly died in 1925 at the age of 42 from peritonitis after suffering from a ruptured appendix.
Dempsey and Firpo by George Bellows (Dempsey through the ropes)
Firpo may have lost the contest against Dempsey, but he won the hearts of millions of people around the planet, especially everyone in South America. To this day, a number of roads, avenues, schools and even football teams, have been named after him, across the continent. It’s also worth noting, Firpo made $156,250 dollars that night. With no management to pay and minimal overheads, I’m sure the life changing sum of cash helped take the edge off the loss.
Firpo returned to a hero’s welcome and his first three fights of 1924 were in his beloved Buenos Aires, all of which he won by stoppage. His intention was always to return to the USA and capitalise on his popularity post Dempsey and consequently, on 11 September 1924, he took on a man who should have been world heavyweight champion for a number of years if it hadn't been for the colour divide. Instead, he was crowned World Coloured Heavyweight Champion on three occasions. The man was Harry Wills.
When Firpo met Wills, who boasted 82 wins, seven losses and seven draws at the time, the Argentine was outboxed and outfoxed in front of an 80,000 strong crowd at Boyle’s Thirty Acres, Jersey City. Two months later he then lost a very wide points decision to Hungarian born New Jersey resident, Charley Weinert (originally Charles Weinsachzyowski), who he had actually knocked out in the second round the year before. Noticing his drop in form, he went into a slow retirement, having just one more fight in 1926 against old foe, Erminio Spanna, beating him on points over 12 rounds.
Firpo did however have one last swansong, returning to the ring at 45 years of age, fighting three times in 1936 in Argentina. He won the first two by early knockout against journeymen and lost the last contest against a half decent prospect in Arturo Godoy. Luis retired with a very respectable 31 wins four defeats, boasting 26 KO’s.
Thankfully, Firpo didn’t squander his money and invested into a number of businesses, including becoming a car dealer for American motor company, Stutz. However, it was his passion for ranching where he made his big money, owning almost 15,000 livestock between horses, sheep and cattle. However, Firpo’s business ethics rose some eyebrows, with claims of fraud hanging over his head relating to the purchase of land, with around a quarter of a million dollars going astray. Despite arrest warrants issued and potential prison time for Firpo, somehow he managed to evade any time behind bars.
After retirement, Firpo kept one eye on boxing at all times and even managed a fighter in 6ft 4inches Abel Cestac, with old foe, Dempsey. Unfortunately, Cestac was neither a Bull or a Mauler and despite mixing with the likes of Archie Moore, he never hit the same heights as his managers.
Referred to by many as the Godfather of Argentinian Boxing, Luis Ángel Firpo passed away on 7 August 1960, at 65 years of age. If you want to bump into a life sized version of one of Argentina’s favourite fighting sons, you may do so by visiting his impressive burial site at Recolata Cemetery.
Paul Zanon, has had 11 books published, with almost all of them reaching the No1 Bestselling spot in their respective categories on Amazon. He has co-hosted boxing shows on Talk Sport, been a pundit on London Live, Boxnation and has contributed to a number of boxing publications, including, Boxing Monthly, The Ring, Daily Sport, Boxing News, Boxing Social, amongst other publications.
