"Terrible" Terry McGovern
World Bantamweight Champ 1899-1900
World Featherweight Champ 1900-1901
JOHN TERRENCE McGOVERN
b. March 9, 1880
d. February 26, 1918
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This vintage original Bushnell photograph shows bantam and featherweight champion Terry McGovern doing some roadwork... McGovern is accompanied by his sparring partner Eddie Cain (middle) and manager Sam Harris... A nice clear image perfectly centered on photographer's mounting board... Formerly part of the Jim Jacobs collection which bears his stamp on the reverse
BUSHNELL PHOTOGRAPH
measures: 5 x 8" (photograph), 8.25 x 10.75"
(mount)
condition: (mount) crease at upper right corner, some minor chipping to other
three corners
(photograph) fully intact with no major flaws
$600
$16 insured shipping
Within two years, McGovern was a contender for the vacant world bantamweight title. He faced British bantamweight champ Tom (Pedlar) Palmer for the crown in 1899. Though previously unbeaten, Palmer could not last one round with the solid-punching McGovern, who knocked him out in less than two minutes. The next year McGovern took the world featherweight title from a declining George Dixon with an eighth-round knockout in Madison Square Garden. McGovern successfully defended his featherweight title several times in 1900 and 1901. He also scored a third-round knockout over the world lightweight champion Frank Erne in a non-title bout. He beat Hall of Famer Joe Gans in two rounds in 1900, although Gans later admitted to throwing the fight. McGovern's toughest opponent was Young Corbett, a fighter from Denver whose fierce attitude rivaled the ruthlessness that McGovern exhibited. A fight between the two, who were only seven months apart in age, was set up in 1901 in Hartford, with McGovern's title at stake. Observers have said that Corbett unnerved the champion by not showing any fear or deference toward him. Passing by McGovern's dressing room on his way to the ring, Corbett shouted, "Come on out, you Irish rat, and take the licking of your life." Corbett and McGovern each scored a knockdown in the first round, but in the second, Corbett handed McGovern the first knockout of his career. McGovern tried to win back the title from Corbett in 1903 but was knocked out again. McGovern fought infrequently for the next five years, never regaining his earlier skill. In the latter stages of his career, McGovern's behavior became erratic, and he spent time in various sanitariums. He collapsed while serving as a referee at an Army camp during World War I and died soon after. |