Boxing's First Champion

Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson planted the seed that launched the great "Tex" Rickard.

- F. Daniel Somrack

The manly art of prizefighting has been around since the beginning of recorded time, but only in the last decade has the sport been promoted into a billion-dollar industry. The evolution of boxing from a working-class pastime of bare-knuckle brawling to a pay-per-view mega-attraction can be traced back to two legendary lawmen from the Old West: Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.

The seed that launched the career of the greatest showman boxing promoter in American history was planted during Wyatt’s years in Alaska.

Wyatt “Referee” Earp

Wyatt arrived in Nome in the summer of 1899. By then, Wyatt had gained some fame in the boxing world—not all good.

Wyatt, in his early 20s, began officiating boxing matches across Wyoming Territory for rail crews and buffalo hunters. Before Wyatt got linked with heavyweight champion Bob Fitzsimmons, a pal of Wyatt’s, Bat Masterson, helped Judge Roy Bean promote a bout between Fitzsimmons and Peter Maher.

With boxing outlawed in Texas, the bout was fought in a makeshift ring on Mexican soil, in the town of Coahuila, with spectators viewing the fight from a hillside overlooking the Rio Grande.

A former lawman in Dodge City, Kansas, Masterson secured the ticket handling and fight purse. He also covered the sport in his Denver, Colorado, newspaper column for George’s Weekly and promoted prizefights at his Olympic Athletic Club.

Masterson’s history in the boxing arena included serving as the timekeeper at the first World Heavyweight Championship, under the Queensberry Rules. In the 1892 battle, “Gentleman Jim” Corbett defeated “Boston Strong Boy” John L. Sullivan by knockout in the 21st round.

In the 1896 bout in Mexico, Fitzsimmons scored a knockout win in 95 seconds. Masterson moved on along the boxing circuit.