Gunboat Smith

Infobox_Boxer
name = Gunboat Smith
nationality = United States
realname = Edward Smyth
nickname = Gunboat
weight = Heavyweight
birth_date = February 17 1887
birth_place = Philadelphia, PA
death_date = August 6 1974
death_place = Leesburg, FL
style = Orthodox
total = 140
wins = 81
KO = 31
losses = 44
draws = 14

Edward (Gunboat) Smith (February 17, 1887 - August 6, 1974) was an American boxer and later a boxing referee.

Boxing career

Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent much of his youth in orphanages, working on farms and on the railroads. He joined the U.S. Navy, where he began boxing and won the heavyweight championship of the Pacific Fleet.

In 1910, Smith became known in the Oakland and San Francisco area by serving as a sparring partner for Jack Johnson and Stanley Ketchel before their Heavyweight title fight there.

From 1912-1915 Smith established himself as a leading candidate for the heavyweight title, beating among others future champion Jess Willard, Sam Langford (this is especially notable since many white fighters refused to fight black opponents), and many other ranked fighters.

In 1914, Smith won the "White Hope" heavyweight championship. This title, created by boxing promoters due to the unpopularity of the black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, was never widely recognized. He lost the "title" to Georges Carpentier later that year. [cite book
last = Heller
first = Peter
title = In This Corner...!
publisher = Da Capo Press
date = 1994
location = New York, New York
pages = 31
isbn = 0306806037]

After 1916 Gunboat Smith's career suffered a decline, in 1917 he suffered a loss by decision to future champion Jack Dempsey in a hotly contested four round fight. A year later he was knocked to the canvas nine times by Dempsey suffering a one-sided second round knock out.

In 1920 and 1921 Smith suffered a string of KO losses and retired after suffering a one round knockout to the great heavyweight contender Harry Wills.

After boxing

After his retirement, Smith went on to have a variety of jobs: runner on Wall Street, private policeman at Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium, and an actor in several small roles in silent films, including "Wings", the first Academy Award-winner for Best Picture. [cite book
last = Heller
first = Peter
title = In This Corner...!
publisher = Da Capo Press
date = 1994
location = New York, New York
pages = 32
isbn = 0306806037] He also refereed boxing matches, such as the Harry Greb vs. Tiger Flowers middleweight championship bout in 1926.

He died in 1974 in Florida.

References

External links

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