Tommy Burns vs Bill Squires First Round KO!

[@dangosypethau]

Amazing. Love the hat flying into the ring at the end too.

[@Lickerboxing]

Haha! 😂

[@carspiv]

Also the unfurling of the American flag! It was July 4, after all. And Tommy Burns was………Canadian!! I guess he took American citizenship?

[@FighterGlory]

The Referee is Jim Jeffries!

[@Lickerboxing]

The legend!

[@anthonyryan5122]

@@Lickerboxing Looks like a 300 lb Jeffries although he did ref a lot of Burns fights.

[@frankierandle8779]

The referee is John L Sullivan, Jim Jeffries came out of retirement to challenge the man that beat Tommy Burns - Jack Johnson.

[@petertodorov1792]

That looks nothing like John L Sullivan The referee is an overweight Jim Jeffries

[@frankierandle8779]

@@petertodorov1792 what, the same Jeffries that challenged Johnson 3 years after this fight? You think so? Ok, anything you say kiddo.

[@DanSan11]

Thanks for this great footage! Burns had great foot work and a sneaky right hand to make up for his shorter size. In the old days of boxing, I consider being counted out early as getting off easy. When your opponent was allowed to stand over you waiting after a knockdown, with no time to recover was brutal! Jess Willard took a horrible beating from Dempsey in this manner.

[@grawakendream8980]

the announcer at the beginning was billy jordan, the michael buffer of his time. his famous catch phrase of the day was "Let 'er go!"

[@Lickerboxing]

Appreciate the info! Thank you.

[@theswampfox9584]

😂😂

[@gregorybush3224]

That guy was tough as nails. Dropped 3x and STILL tried to get back up.

[@archiethebold2000]

his real name was Noah Brusso, an Italian Canadian. he was the shortest HV champ in history. with one of the longest reach (for his height, 5/7)

[@curbozerboomer1773]

I think Sam Langford, a Black fighter who was also that height, would have taken him easily. Langford was sort of a freak, his arms were very long, and very muscular. Even Jack Johnson was afraid of him!

[@snivelinj7612]

I love these old fight films. Fighters were tough in those days but with few actual boxing skills.

[@hadronoftheseus8829]

Not so, just much more clinching. It wasn't any less skillful.

[@CC-xu2yz]

@@hadronoftheseus8829 Maybe some less, but the best fighters have always been very skilled.

[@andrejensen7837]

The difference in style is the fact there was allmost no padding in the glows

[@user-bq9ii9vz8e]

You are exactly right, don't listen to any of the numbskulls below. They wouldn't have known a jab if it was presented to them by Santa at Christmas. They didn't throw any combos, just the same stuff over and over and only one at a time. They had little defense outside of Jack Johnson and few boxing skills whatsoever. They were tough, I will say that.

[@hadronoftheseus8829]

@@user-bq9ii9vz8e They _did_ throw combos, they just didn't throw them as often because the much more frequent clinching and extended infighting left them fewer opportunities to. Why is this so difficult for some people to understand?

[@patricksweet4104]

My dumbass turning up the volume at the beginning

[@raymondcapusan4183]

Mine too

[@user-dh5cv6go1v]

Great flashback. Tku for post.

[@jamesmiller6637]

Burns was Canadian born in the same town as I was, Hanover Ontario.

[@Alex_Mitchell]

Those Grey County boys, eh?

[@Caskchap]

Burns was obviously a class above and it was really all over after that first right hand dropped Mr Sqires.

[@Lickerboxing]

The fight was scheduled for 45 rounds too 😅

[@carspiv]

Squires was a persistent fellow, though. He challenged Burns twice more over the next year and managed to last 8 and then 13 rounds before he got the message.

[@carlweingartenmultiphasere9648]

Beautiful HD scan, Licker. Glad to know this quality footage still exists.

[@Lickerboxing]

Found it on an online archive page. It was of great quality and thought it deserved sharing.

[@carlweingartenmultiphasere9648]

Absolutely, thank you for doing that. May I ask what archive?

[@Lickerboxing]

@@carlweingartenmultiphasere9648 Of course! www.loc.gov/

[@billthestinker]

Great upload thank you so much

[@Lickerboxing]

No problem!

[@CraftySouthpaw]

Burns was a criminally underrated fighter - he was rugged enough to handle much larger fighters on the inside, & had a great sneak right hand. For at least a century (and maybe still?), he held the record for most consecutive KOs in HW title defenses (8), tied only by Holmes. It's a shame that he's largely been "lost" to history simply because he lost to a legend in Jack Johnson.

[@user-bq9ii9vz8e]

He looked so silly against Jack Johnson nobody should really take him seriously as a heavyweight. I was embarrassed years ago when I saw him fight

[@Hadrada.]

@@user-bq9ii9vz8ehe was only 5 ft 7

[@user-bq9ii9vz8e]

@@Hadrada. Right, so he wasn't even a heavyweight fighter and he shouldn't have been champion and wasn't when he fought a real fighter like Jack Johnson.

[@Hadrada.]

But he was the heavyweight champion And he held the title when he was beat by Johnson

[@Hadrada.]

But he was the heavyweight champion And he held the title when he was beat by Johnson

[@joemonteleonezollo4967]

Notice how the ref stood out of the way.

[@bootsminor4364]

They fought 3 times Burns by KO every time.

[@FIGHTFAN777]

Vary skilled for that era

[@Lickerboxing]

Absolutely! Booming right hands from Burns.

[@CC-xu2yz]

Never any shortage of skill in boxing.

[@JoshSmith222]

Ref makes them both look like welter weights.

[@jeffhale2982]

Yeah, I looked at that ref and I thought, these are heavyweights?

[@carspiv]

The referee was former champion James J. Jeffries, probably blown up to over 250 lbs. Burns and Squires weighed in at about the same weight: 184.

[@jeffhale2982]

@@carspiv Thanks for the information about Jeffries. He was a great champion. I’d forgotten that was back in the day when many former fighters became referees.

[@carspiv]

@@jeffhale2982 YW. Also, remember that Burns was the SHORTEST heavyweight champ (5’7”). Jeffries was about 6’1” and was considered a GIANT at the time. Also I think the idea of a retired former champ refereeing a title fight was a kind of implicit “approval” of the legitimacy of the title claim of the winner since Jeffries hadn’t lost his championship in the ring but had instead retired.

[@markdowling287]

I did not realize that this was Jim Jeffries as the referee, but one thing I can say this is really really good fight footage from so long ago. Back then you had to actually move the camera with your arm for the speed control. There wasn’t an actual speed control in the camera so this person who did the camera work was really good because this if it had sound would be perfect.

[@Joeblow-ms3cv]

Indubidubly 🙂

[@user-it1ig8fn1r]

Ref is Jim Jeffries who came out of retirement to fight Johnson in 1910.

[@-Andre-Rodrigues]

Amazing stuff! Just subscribed ✌️

[@nickpilgrim1966]

Ref looks like he'd a had them both

[@butcherofntexas4966]

The ref is former HW Champ Jim Jeffries.

[@nickpilgrim1966]

@@butcherofntexas4966 thats amazing

[@davidhayes4650]

I've only just found this channel, its brilliant, well done 👏 👏 👏 👍

[@AndrewWilliams-kw6bc]

Think they fought 3 times, Squires from Australia

[@petergoerres9095]

Recht gute Bildqualitaet, die Boxtechnik hat sich bis heute stark verbessert!

[@joekavanagh7171]

Have you any footage of Burns v Jem Roche in Dublin? That was another quick knockout

[@Lickerboxing]

If there is footage of this bout then it is somewhere unaccessible. I can't find any record of it existing either.

[@Lickerboxing]

There was very few Tommy Burns fights filmed unfortunately.

[@Edward1312]

Burns wasn't sent to a neutral corner after the knock down, bizarre, he just stood over Squires watching him.

[@carspiv]

The neutral corner rule wasn’t enforced until the 2nd Dempsey-Tunney fight in 1927. Check out Dempsey’s fights with Willard and Firpo if you want to see REAL predatory hovering over a fallen opponent.

[@dlmullins9054]

You could back then. The neutral corner rule wasn't even thought of in 1907.

[@uncleterry2148]

Jack Dempsey was the reason for the neutral corner rule. After a knock down he would get behind the dazed opponent and absolutely destroy him when he tried to get up.

[@tonysmith2715]

Which version of fighting is this, ibf, ibo, iba, wba, wbc, wbf, abc, or xyz.

[@Lickerboxing]

There was no governing bodies such as the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF etc.. Only the Lineal Heavyweight title which Tommy Burns retained in this fight. Burns lost his title to Jack Johnson a year later.

[@manfredweber2841]

🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊

[@user-bq9ii9vz8e]

That was many times longer than some heavyweight fights of modern times, so the lead in was incorrect. It was not the shortest and fiercest by any means. Tyson drubbed Spinks and Marvis Frazier in seconds. There's been a ton of others.

[@The-Contractor]

Straight up fighting.

[@FrankinDallas]

Maybe had Squires put his hands up he could have blocked some of those punches.

[@danroper5121]

If this was at heavyweight just how big is that referee?

[@Lickerboxing]

Well, we know Burns was 5'7" so that may be a contributing factor.

[@Lickerboxing]

But you're right, he looks huge! 🤣

[@carspiv]

The referee was former champion James J. Jeffries. Jeffries had retired in 1905, having last defended his title a year before his retirement. If you want to know how big he got in retirement (his heaviest weight as champion was 220), rumor had him losing “100 pounds” in training for his comeback fight against Jack Johnson. Jeffries weighed in at 227 for that fight, so you can do the math. He was well on his way to 300 pounds by this point in his retirement.

[@Lickerboxing]

@@carspiv Wow! Thanks for the info!!

[@IsmaelGabarriJimenez-kw7er]

Buen combate del boxeo romántico boxeo clasico

[@cdcaleo]

Boxing matches were as much wrestling matches as any actual boxing back in the old days. Much more like a street fight.

[@michaelhiggs8657]

Australia Vs Canada. Why don't these fight's happen for the Commonwealth title anymore?

[@DW-nb2zc]

Besides the lines the quality is good

[@Lickerboxing]

Considering the footage is 117 years old, it's pretty good. Lines were extremely common on films around this time due to how new they are.

[@davewilson3113]

Where did the bout take place?

[@Lickerboxing]

Colma, California, USA.

[@carspiv]

@@Lickerboxing You are a victim of “spell correct.” We all know you meant “Colma” California. “Coma” is what Squires almost ended up in.

[@Lickerboxing]

@@carspiv I have failed you, Sir.

[@carspiv]

@@Lickerboxing No, no…you were sabotaged by technology. ‘Twas technology that victimized you.

[@carspiv]

@@Lickerboxing Not at all…you, like so many others (myself included), are a victim of technology run amok.Spell correct should mind its own damned business.

[@Drbob369]

A pure slugging contest no jabs

[@markdowling287]

I noticed one thing about Tommy burns. Every time I watch is all white films. I noticed the Tommy has really good legs. Most boxers nowadays only concentrate on their upper body and people like Deontay Wilder have legs like a chicken with Tommy burns, had a very powerful leg because he was constantly moving around and constantly using his legs for power.

[@david-dj8or]

Deontay Wilder was one of the hardest hitters so that pokes holes in your chicken legs theory.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Burns was sort of built like a not much larger, but very strongly built, Rocky Marciano.

[@joseangelrodriguez6197]

I've seen this three times. Ref only counts 8. I would understand if people got in the ring while Jeffries was still counting. It happened lots of times. But ref actually counted 8 and declared knockout BEFORE people got in the ring. Am I wrong?

[@postscript67]

I'm curious about that too. I'm presuming ten was the count in those days too, so did the referee count two (out loud without hand signal) in the time it took him to get round Burns and stand above Squires?

[@henryrasmussendk]

Against Bill Squires, as Jeffries is the referee...

[@hb9145]

Burns was 170 cm tall and had a reach of 185 cm.

[@kerrysupporter]

This was a fight not a boxing match

[@Hrcak1]

You can see sleeveless sunburn.

[@mda1218]

100% male physiques 👊🏼

[@auletjohnast03638]

🔵THAT WASN'T BOXING. MORE LIKE WRESTLING.🔴

[@user-it1ig8fn1r]

I've seen worse clinching recently. Burns could box.

[@kelvingolden252]

Look at the size of the ref

[@mda1218]

dude was ALL man 💪

[@northwestprof60]

Looks like Saturday night at about 1000 bars in the US. Most of these palookas back then were horrible, and these two certainly were

[@Durango_Kid]

No they weren't. Tommy Burns was the Heavyweight Champion of the World. And cruised around the world taking on the more prominent Heavyweight Champions of those countries and beating them. Burns was really just a middle with the wingspan of a heavy. He had good power and speed. He has been made fun of by the ignorant for decades but was in fact a fine fighter.

[@pukulu]

Burns' opponent knew little about defense. There was a lot of holding in fights during this period of time.

[@idx1941]

There is a lot of holding nowadays too

[@pukulu]

@@idx1941 Referees have cracked down on it in the last 30 years or so. Richard Steele never tolerated holding.

[@idx1941]

@@pukulu lol...there really is no crackdown. Fighters do a lot of holding and refs just break them. It's only a fighter who doesn't break that could face a foul. But that seldom happens. Ali held all the time! In the Burns fight the fighters broke when the ref commanded them, that's boxing. Just admit your comment was incorrect.

[@archcunningham5579]

Four ounce gloves ??? Tough dudes !!!

[@mda1218]

as ☠️ as bare knucks !

[@TheDharuma]

Noah Brusso

[@andreaselleri400]

Più che tirare pugni si danno delle spinte 😅

[@chipperjack8914]

Handbags at medium range

[@Lickerboxing]

😆

[@markwillies7666]

To add insult he got k-ode? by a bloke in ridiculous boxing trunks

[@mda1218]

better man 👊🏼 needed the added support 🍆

[@dan-vv8gs]

You sound like Andy Capp,bloke.😂

[@curbozerboomer1773]

It was not far from being a Speedo! His buns were kinda right there!

[@jameskinchen2148]

I couldn’t hear a thing.

[@Lickerboxing]

It's 1907... They didn't quite have the capability to record audio.

[@david-dj8or]

I assume the boxers were in a lot of cases just property of managers and told who to fight and not to fight. And higher up, I think that promoters and those who run boxing would have more say than managers. In Australia, we are told about Les Darcy. Darcy did not want to fight in the first world war so he went to America to fight. But those who control boxing said they would never let him get a fight after refusing to fight in the war.

[@csnide6702]

WTF ...? Is this a faculty sparring match for Charity held during "spirit week"...? We can now see why Jack Johnson mopped the floor with Burns.....

[@david-dj8or]

Modern fighters would mop the floor with Johnson

[@csnide6702]

@@david-dj8or quite possibly so .... but where does that land Burns....?

[@ptb2008]

Burns was juicing.

[@user-os5zu4ks6c]

Cetait boxeur la netaient pas humains tout simplement

[@andrewbradbury8527]

The little one was quite skilled, held their hands low, not a good thing

[@chrisbera7952]

Good grief! the form the technique was terrible!!

[@ChrisM-lb8xw]

When boxing was more like brawling 🙃

[@ianhope3203]

Hat salesman.🤣😅😂😭

[@SeamusMcGillicuddy0]

The intoxicants are Burns and Mickwire 🥃🥃🥃🍺🍻

[@DA-bp8lf]

Who the hell is Jim Jeffries???

[@ralphmarshall1000]

Buy todays standards, they didn’t even know how to box.

[@Lickerboxing]

For that time, they were the best of the best. Boxing has evolved over time. Gloved prize fighting was relatively new at this time.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Burns was only 5'7", and fought at around 175lbs...He had a wicked right hand for sure!. But once he was in the ring with a skillful Jack Johnson, at 6'1" and 210lbs, he was way out of his league. Johnson carried this guy, eventually knocked him out. The cameras were shut off when Burns was being knocked out--they did not want to show the world that a Black boxer was getting it done!

[@grawakendream8980]

this was the racist establishment's thumbing their nose at legitimate top black contenders, especially jack johnson. by matching a middling white heavyweight vs a non contender, for the title

[@worldobserver3515]

😥

[@dieminervaeule]

Burns fought Johnson for the title just one year later though.

[@grawakendream8980]

@@dieminervaeule he finally cornered him, after burns spammed title shots with weak challengers the whole time

[@david-dj8or]

Johnson was said to have dodged some legitimate top black contenders also. It's logical to want to get the best path to get money.

[@grawakendream8980]

@@david-dj8or that's moral equivalence, friend. you can't really equate burns' and johnson's experience of society 1 to 1

[@maydanlex]

Amazing how they don't keep their hands up to protect their faces.