On This Day: October 4th

1923: Clare’s Mike McTigue retained his World light heavyweight in bizarre and controversial circumstances at Driving Park in Columbus, Georgia.

Stribling dominated the bout but referee Harry Ertle called a bout a draw. A near-riot ensued and, after consultation with the journalists present, Ertle then declared Stribling the winner. The American would be World champion however for less than three hours as Ertle would then revert back to his original result once he returned to his hotel room, explaining how he declared Stribling the winner due to a fear for his life. The decision was widely panned by sportswriters at the time.

For his part, McTigue was suffering from a broken hand and intended to withdraw before being goaded into competing in the lead up by the partisan home crowd who denounced him for having cold feet. On the night of the fight, McTigue claimed he was forced, at gunpoint, to enter the ring.

The two would rematch in New Jersey the following March in a non-title bout with Stribling being awarded a newspaper decision win after twelve rounds during which he floored McTigue in the tenth.

1982: Tyrone’s Tommy Corr guaranteed a bronze medal with a win in the semi finals of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. The Clonoe light middleweight outpointed Welsh boxer Paul Lewis in his quarter finals to make the last four following an opening round win over home fighter David Hall. In the semis Corr would be stopped by Canadian star and eventual gold medalist Shawn O’Sullivan.

1958: Jim ‘Spike’ McCormack outpointed champion Jimmy Brown over twelve in a Belfast derby at the King’s Hall to claim the BBBoC Northern Irish title. Also on the card, Billy Skelly outpointed George O’Neill in another Belfast derby to win the vacant BBBoC Northern Irish bantamweight crown.