One of the forgotten greats

History can be unkind to truly outstanding boxers. Take Tod Morgan, for example.

Morgan, an exceptionally talented and undisputed world junior lightweight champion, is, sadly, an almost forgotten man.

Born in Ast Sequim in Washington on December 25, 1902, he grew up as Bert Morgan Pilkington before adopting the ring name Tod Morgan.

Discussions about the greats of the junior lightweight division should always include Morgan, along with Benny Bass, who took the title from him in 1929, Frankie Glick and Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

They were probably the best fighters in what was those days one of the newer divisions. The first champion was crowned only in 1921.

The junior divisions were, according to old reports, the brainchild of an Englishman, William A Gavin. He had gone to the United States to establish an international sporting club and felt the introduction of junior divisions and the resulting additional titles would benefit boxing.

The New York state legislature included the junior divisions in a bill that legalised boxing in the state in 1920. The Walker Law, as it was called, included five junior divisions: junior flyweight, junior bantamweight, junior featherweight, junior lightweight and junior welterweight.

However, only the junior lightweight and junior welterweight classes gained some acceptance.

The first “junior” champion was crowned after a fight between Johnny Dundee and George “KO” Chaney. They met on November 18, 1922, with the world junior lightweight title at stake. Dundee won on a foul in the fifth round.

The New York State Athletic Commission abolished the junior weight divisions on December 31, 1929, but the National Boxing Association ignored this and member states held junior title fights for the next five years.

“Junior” titles got a second chance on April 29, 1946 when both the NBA and New York State Athletic Commission recognised the fight between Tippy Larkin and Willy Joyce in Boston for the junior welterweight championship. Larkin won on points over 12 rounds.

The junior lightweight division was revived in 1949. On December 6 that year Sandy Saddler outpointed Orlando Zulueta over ten rounds to become the champion.

AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS POWERS

Morgan was at the height of his powers in the late 1920s. Having made his professional debut in 1920 and fighting in 70 bouts, losing only four, he got a crack at the junior lightweight title.

He fought the capable Mike Ballerino in December 1925 and stopped the champion in the tenth round. He was in action again five week later, beating Sammy Campagno in a non-title fight.

He had another 13 fights in 1926, including four successful title defences. One was against the legendary former featherweight champion Johnny Dundee, whose real name was Giuseppe Carrora and who had 337 professional fights in a career spanning 22 years.

In 1927 Morgan fought only six times and lost four of those bouts. The two he won were for the title, however. He defeated Vic Foley on points and won on a fourth-round foul against Joe Glick.

The next year, Morgan beat former bantamweight champion Eddie “Cannonball” Martin in two bouts, both on points over 15 rounds.

He also made successful defences against Santiago Zorilla, with whom he drew in their first match before winning the second on points.

In May 1929 Morgan defeated Baby Sal Sorio to record his eleventh successful defence. It was a record for the number of title defences in the junior lightweight division at the time.

Later that year he lost the title when he was knocked out in the second round by Bennie Bass, one of the greatest featherweights during the 1920s and 30s. Bass, who was born in Russia, took part in about 227 fights.

ELEVEN YEARS IN AUSTRALIA

Morgan did not slow down after losing the title. He fought 29 times in the next three years before moving to Australia. In his first fight there, in Sydney in September 1933, he beat Bobby Blay on points over 15 rounds.

He remained in Australia for the next eleven years fighting in another 62 bouts.

In 1941/42’, when he was 40 years old, he had four fights with Vic Patrick, who later became known as one of Australia’s best referees.

Morgan later returned to the US and died in Seattle on August 3, 1953.

Not many people know about him but he had 206 fights in a 22-year career and was world champion for four years, making 11 successful title defences.