- Barney Aaron
Young Barney Aaron (born in 1836 in
London, England ; diedJune 4 ,1907 , inLong Island, New York ) was an Anglo-American boxer.The son of Hall of Famer Barney Aaron, he emigrated to the United States in 1855, and began boxing in 1856. Aaron became a U.S.
lightweight champion.Boxing career
Like his father before him, Aaron was a hard-hitting bare-knuckled fighter, but he fought in a new era under different rules than his famous father. The elder Aaron battled under "Broughton's Rules"; Young Barney fought under the Pugilistic Society's "
London Prize Ring Rules ," which had been developed in 1838. Modified in 1853, only three years before young Barney began his professional career, the Rules stated the ring should be 24 square feet, surrounded by two ropes. Any knockdown marked the end of the round, and the downed fighter had 8 seconds to "come to scratch" unaided, or the fight was over -- under Broughton's Rules, a fighter had 30 seconds to return to the center of the ring, and had the help of his handlers. Therefore, bouts were recorded according to the number of rounds and length of time; 3-minute rounds were not developed until the late-19th century.On
July 9 1856 , onRikers Island , Aaron fought a mulatto named Robinson beginning at daybreak. The bout lasted for 80 rounds, 2 hours and 20 minutes, and resulted in Aaron being declared the winner. [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:lu1x_dlr2e0J:www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/cw_units/html/rikersbook005.html+%22barney+aaron%22+young&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=26&gl=us The Rikers -- Page 5 of NYCHS excerpts from Edgar Alan Nutt's book ] at 209.85.165.104]On
September 2 1857 , he defeated American lightweight championJohnny Moneghan inProvidence, RI over 80 rounds. The fight lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes. With the victory he became the first Jewish fighter to win a ring championship in America.After losing the title the following year to
Patrick “Scotty” Brannagan in 1858 on a foul, he entered a seven-year period of inactivity because no fighter would face him.He returned to the ring in 1866, and lost a 47-round bid to regain the title against
Sam Collyer . After an excruciating 2 hours and 5 minutes, both men were taken off on stretchers. However, he defeated Collyer in the rematch onJune 13 1867 , in a 68-round battle that lasted one hour and 55 minutes to regain the championship.He won newspaper headlines in July 1874 for foiling two pickpockets trying to steal from the Rev. Henry Thorpe, whom they jostled as the elderly clergyman was "riding downtown on a Fourth Avenue [street] car." Aaron applied some of his celebrated "scientific boxing" technique, knocking both thieves down into the street, after first having retrieved the reverend's gold watch, which he returned. [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:lu1x_dlr2e0J:www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/cw_units/html/rikersbook005.html+%22barney+aaron%22+young&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=26&gl=us The Rikers -- Page 5 of NYCHS excerpts from Edgar Alan Nutt's book ] at 209.85.165.104]
His most famous bout was a 17-round win over
Arthur Chambers in 1878.In retirement, Young Barney remained in boxing by operating a gym in New York. He also served as a referee and officiated the 1883
John L. Sullivan vs. Herbert Slade bout.Hall of Fame
He was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007. [ [http://www.ibhof.com/aaronyoung.html IBHOF / Young Barney Aaron ] at www.ibhof.com]Notes
ee also
*
List of bare-knuckle boxers External links
* [http://www.ibhof.com/aaronyoung.html IBHOF bio]
* [http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=boxing&ID=21 Jews in Sports bio]
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