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FROM THE BOOKS
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A hard hitting lightweight and
cruel with it, was Oscar (Battling) Nelson (1882-1954) who reigned as
world champion for two years, but was the scourge of his division for
more than 25 years. He was a close-range hooker and an artist at
infighting, where he would slash away, more often than not holding
with one hand while he battered his rival's kidneys and liver with the
other. In a total of 132 bouts he was twice disqualified and was lucky
that it was not a lot more.
Born at Copenhagen, real name Oscar Matthew Nielson, he was
taken to the United States when a child and brought up at Hegewisch in
the lake district of Illinois. Here, in the winter months, he found
boyhood employment cutting and packing ice for the Chicago meat
markets. It was rigorous work that was interrupted from time to time
by fist fights. When he made a career of boxing at the age of 17, he
had already established a reputation as a hard and durable scrapper. |
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Gilbert Odd-Boxing, The Great
Champions
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