Joe Choynski: Gatekeeper To Greatness
Greg Smith - 2/22/2005
Today, several leading heavyweights have migrated west and set up shop in California. James Toney, Vitali Klitschko, and Lamon Brewster represent the structural shift away from the traditional boxing factories of Detroit and Philadelphia to sunny Los Angeles. The West Coast is now the nerve center of boxing, and will probably remain that way for a while.
Interestingly enough, long before cities like Detroit and Philadelphia became famous for producing great Hall of Fame heavyweights like Joe Louis and Joe Frazier, California was once the hotbed of top heavyweights a little over 100 years ago.
Jim Corbett and James J. Jeffries were heavyweight champions who fought out of California, faced each other in two fascinating battles, and were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. Many historians contend that Corbett was the true pioneer of scientific boxing technique. Nat Fleischer bestowed Jeffries the honor of being the hardest heavyweight puncher in history. Irish immigrant and seaman Tom Sharkey also operated out of California, and is best known for his two hellish battles with Jeffries.
Around the same time Corbett, Jeffries, and Sharkey were flourishing, a smaller framed San Francisco based fighter was shaking up the heavyweight division with his craft and tremendous punching power, but never got the title shot many believe he deserved.
Joe Choynski, also known as "Chrysanthemum Joe" for his blonde hair, stood slightly over 5'10". During his distinguished twenty-year career, his weight fluctuated between the low 160s and low 180s. Despite his relatively slight frame, his style and pluck would remain permanently etched on the collective psyches of the elite fighters of his era.
Joe Choynski was born of Jewish extraction in San Francisco on November 8, 1868. He began his amateur career in 1884 with an exhibition bout against Jim Corbett. In 1888, Choynski turned pro, and compiled a record of 52-14-6 (22 KOs) before retiring in 1904.
Choynski faced the absolute elite of both the bareknuckle and gloved eras. He matched his skill and will not only against Corbett, Jeffries, and Sharkey, but also against Peter Jackson, Bob Fitzsimmons, Kid McCoy, Gus Ruhlin, the original Joe Walcott, Jack Johnson, and Philadelphia Jack O'Brien. Choynski fought an exhibition bout with John L. Sullivan in 1891. It was a veritable Who's Who of the wild pioneer days of the sport.
Choynski is often recognized for utilizing a scientific approach to defuse brute power. In looking at Choynski's record, it isn't surprising considering that 42% of his wins were by knockout. Ironically, his most famous opposition claimed that he was the hardest puncher they ever faced.
From Kelly Richard Nicholson's outstanding 2002 biography of James J. Jeffries, A Man Among Men, The Life and Ring Battles of Jim Jeffries, Heavyweight Champion of the World, Richardson describes the brutality of Jeffries' twenty round draw with Choynski. The bout was held at Woodward's Pavillion in San Francisco on November 30, 1897.
"In this bout Jeff took a punch that he remembered for the rest of his life. It came in the sixteeenth, when Choynski drew cheers from his comeback rally. Under siege, at this point, and backed to the ropes with Jeff coming forward, the smaller man set himself and unloaded a right hand on Jeffries mouth. Jeff caught it square, and it had the force of a sledgehammer. By his own reckoning, he never took a harder shot in his whole career. The blow landed on his nose and mouth, breaking his nose and actually wedging his lip between two front teeth. His handler cut loose the flesh when he returned to his corner, and for the rest of the fight Jeff spit blood by the mouthful to avoid swallowing it."
Before Choynski made an indelible impression on Jeffries, he fought Corbett in the pro ranks three times in 1889. A fourth bout was scheduled in 1892, but I've never seen a report verifying that the bout actually occurred. All told, their best bout was their second bout, which occurred on May 30, 1889, and took place on a barge in Benicia Bay near San Francisco. This bout marked a major turning point in Corbett's career because Gentleman Jim was able to stifle critics who opined that he was too cultured to dig down deep against the toughest available opposition.
Corbett reportedly wore two ounce gloves for the fight, and Choynski reportedly wore "skin gloves." Corbett learned valuable lessons against the tricky and hard punching Choynski. Hurt badly on several occasions, Corbett rallied and put Choynski down for the count in the twenty-seventh round, and then collapsed into the arms of his handlers at the end of the bout.
Years later, Corbett had this to say about his bout with Choynski in his autobiography: "Choynski was to be the very toughest battle I had ever fought or was to fight; one in which I was to receive more punishment than I have ever had in all my battles put together."
Choynski's 1894 bout with Bob Fitzsimmons is listed as a fifth round draw, but it is noteworthy that newspaper reports indicate the bout was actually stopped by police. Choynski decked Fitzsimmons with a wicked right to the jaw in the third round. Ruby Rob barely beat the count and was in dire straights for the remainder of the round, but Choynski couldn't land the coup de grace. In kind, the ultra-game Fitzsimmons rallied before the police stepped in.
Like Jeffries, Fitzsimmons later credited Choynski with being the hardest puncher he ever faced.
Fading and past his prime in 1901, Choynski squared off against a young Jack Johnson in Li'l Arthur's hometown of Galveston, Texas. Choynski used his experience to keep the younger Johnson at bay, and knocked him cold with a left hook in the third round. Choynski and Johnson were jailed for 23 days after the fight for violating a law forbidding a fight between a white man and a black man. While in jail, Choynski tutored Johnson on the finer nuances of the art.
Johnson wasn't knocked out again until 1915 when he lost his heavyweight title in the infamous, controversial bout with Jess Willard in Havana, Cuba. After Johnson retired, he listed Choynski as the hardest puncher of his career. "In my opinion, he was the hardest hitter, pound for pound, of the last 50 years. I think his left hook was much more effective than either Dempsey's or Louis's."
After Choynski's career ended, he helped Jeffries prepare for his 1910 comeback loss to Jack Johnson. Later in life, Choynski relocated to Cincinnati, where he died on January 25, 1943. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1960, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.
Choynski's inability to land a title shot has been argued by many. For instance, some claim that Corbett, Jeffries, and Fitzsimmons didn't grant Choynski a title shot and because the risk outweighed the reward. At the same time, however, Choynski also lost key bouts at inopportune times to Tom Sharkey, Gus Ruhlin, Peter Maher, and Kid McCoy. Thus, legitimate justification existed to keep Choynski from a title shot. In proper perspective, Choynski was always considered a serious threat in his prime, but was never truly considered an uncrowned champion.
Nevertheless, I believe Choynski occupies a special place in boxing history. He severely tested the best heavyweights of his era in savage battles. Perhaps more importantly, in analyzing his style, he should also be remembered as one of the first true boxer punchers in the annals of the sport.
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