1951 Heavyweight Boxing Title Bout Press Kit on eBay A press kit from the heavyweight boxing championship fight in July 1951 is now on eBay. The fighters were Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Wolcott. The kit contains a wealth of boxing history data.
News-Antique.com - May 07,2007 - A fascinating collection of boxing history ephemera is contained in a 1951 Heavyweight Championship Title Fight press kit now being offered on eBay. Posted on the auction site through TIAS by MasonvilleAntiques.com, the kit was produced for the July 18, 1951 match-up between Jersey Joe Wolcott and Ezzard Charles at Philadelphia’s Forbes Field. This background info got extensive use by the wire services, newspapers and radio outlets covering the event.
The press kit includes bios of the fighters, score sheets, a betting odds sheet, a history of the heavyweight championship, bios of the fighters’ managers, a list of prior champions, a record of top ticket prices for fights, and a good deal more.
It is an incredible collection of fight memorabilia – straight from the era when every Friday, across America, the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports was on the air! Everybody knew that Friday night was “Fight Night”. And of all the fighters, the heavyweights were the favorites.
Joe Louis was almost done, except for getting KO’d, a few months after this fight, by Rocky Marciano. (“The Joe Louis Story” movie would come out two years later, in 1953.) Cassius Clay was a nine-year-old scrapper on the streets of Louisville. Liston, Forman, Frazier and Tyson all were still kids, too.
These guys, Ezzard and Jersey Joe, were the great ones this summer, and all boxing fans’ attention, this Wednesday, was on Forbes Field and the classic struggle taking place there.
Doug Harris, the press kit's seller, thinks it’s strange that press kits don’t tend to survive like other paper memorabilia. Strange “because they contain so much in one handy-to-access collection.”
He says, “Imagine the digging you’d have to do, if you’re even a medium-avid fan of fights and fighters of the past, to come up with details on the top ticket prices at the two battles pitting Max Schmeling and Joe Louis against each other. Or the fighters who attracted the first $100 charge for a front-row seat? (Hint: It was half a century before that same price was charged at the June 19, 1946 Joe Louis-Billy Conn match-up.)”
Harris contends that “If you are a boxing buff, this $395.00 item should be for you. If you box in the buff, you probably have different priorities!”
The eBay item number for the item is 270117477757.
