Philadelphia Jack O'Brien

Joseph Francis Hagan (better known as Philadelphia Jack O'Brien) (January 17, 1878 – November 12, 1942) was the world light heavyweight boxing champion. Nat Fleischer, founder and editor of The Ring Magazine, ranked O'Brien as the No. 2 All-Time Light Heavyweight, and famed boxing promoter Charley Rose ranked him as the No. 3 All-Time Light Heavyweight. O'Brien was inducted into the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1968, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987, and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994.[1]

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
O'Brien in 1911
Statistics
Real nameJames Francis Hagan
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Light Heavyweight
Middleweight
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nationality American
Born(1878-01-17)January 17, 1878
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 12, 1942(1942-11-12) (aged 64)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights194
Wins145
Wins by KO52
Losses16
Draws28
No contests5

Biography
O'Brien in fighting pose

Born in Philadelphia, Hagan was the older brother to Young Jack O'Brien and the cousin of heavyweight boxer Jack Rowan.

To mark his sixtieth birthday in early 1938 he was the subject of a 5000-word profile in The New Yorker by A J Liebling. [2]

O'Brien turned pro in the 1890s. He stood 5-10½ and weighed between 152 and 165 pounds. He was agile, quick and limber, a two-handed puncher who landed often but not a particularly hard hitter. His best punches were a left jab and a hard overhand right, and he was a good defensive fighter who blocked punches well and counterpunched accurately.

By 1900 he weighed 155 pounds, but with many good men fighting at this weight their talents were at a discount. O'Brien conceived the idea of going to England where, he heard, the competition was softer. He knocked out Dido Plum, the British middleweight champion, in six rounds, and George Crisp, the heavyweight titleholder, in eleven.[3]

O'Brien returned to Philadelphia in May 1902 and on December 20, 1905, won the world light heavyweight championship with a 13-round TKO over Bob Fitzsimmons in San Francisco, California, but abandoned the title without ever defending it. He challenged world heavyweight champion Tommy Burns on November 28, 1906, in Los Angeles, and got a 20-round draw. The referee was former world champion James J. Jeffries. O'Brien challenged Burns again in Los Angeles on May 8, 1907, and this time Burns won the 20-round decision. He fought the fearsome middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel in a 10-round No Decision on March 26, 1909, in which O'Brien was saved by the bell at the end of the 10th round. He fought heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six-round No Decision on May 19, but on June 9 he faced Ketchel again and was beaten in three rounds.

His career record in 194 fights is 145 wins, 16 losses and 28 draws.

Hagan managed a gym on the seventh and top floors of the Rosemont building at 1658 Broadway, New York City, in the late 1920s/early 1930s.[4] World middleweight champion Harry Greb trained in O'Brien's at gym, and the only existing films of Greb in action are workouts and sparring with O'Brien.

He died on November 12, 1942.[5]

Notable bouts
Result Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes[6]
Loss Sam Langford TKO 5 (10) 1911-08-15 Twentieth Century A.C., New York, New York
Loss Stanley Ketchel TKO 3 (6) 1909-06-09 National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Draw Jack Johnson NWS 6 1909-05-19 National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Loss Stanley Ketchel NWS 6 1909-03-26 National A.C., New York, New York Newspaper Decision
Win Jack Blackburn NWS 6 1908-06-10 National A.C., New York, New York Newspaper Decision
Loss Tommy Burns PTS 20 1907-05-08 Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California For World Heavyweight Title
Draw Tommy Burns PTS 20 1907-05-08 Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California For World Heavyweight Title
Win Bob Fitzsimmons RTD 13 (20) 1905-12-20 Mechanic's Pavilion, San Francisco, California Won World Light Heavyweight Title
Win Young Peter Jackson PTS 10 1905-04-07 4th Regiment Armory, Baltimore, Maryland
Win Young Peter Jackson DQ 2 (15) 1905-03-24 4th Regiment Armory, Baltimore, Maryland
Win Dixie Kid NWS 6 1904-11-12 National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win Tommy Burns NWS 6 1904-10-07 Panorama Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Loss Bob Fitzsimmons TKO 6 (6) 1904-07-23 Baker Bowl, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Draw Kid McCoy NWS 6 1904-05-14 2nd Regiment Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Draw Tommy Ryan NWS 6 1904-01-27 National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Draw Barbados Joe Walcott PTS 10 1903-04-20 Health & Physical Culture A.C., Boston, Massachusetts
Win Joe Choynski NWS 6 1903-03-30 Washington S.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Win Peter Maher NWS 6 1902-10-30 Penn Art Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Win Peter Maher NWS 6 1902-10-03 Ariel A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Win Joe Choynski PTS 6 1902-09-29 America A.C., Chicago, Illinois
Win Young Peter Jackson NWS 6 1902-04-28 Washington S.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Win Barbados Joe Walcott NWS 6 1902-04-11 Industrial A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Newspaper Decision
Loss Young Peter Jackson KO 13 (20) 1900-02-14 Woodward's Pavilion, San Francisco, California

Exhibitions

Known Exhibitions fought by O'Brien:

  • 1909-8-20 EX4 Dick Gilbert, Denver, Colorado
  • 1909-2-11 EX4 Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1909-1-04 EX2 Fred Cooley, Washington S.C. Philadelphia, PA
  • 1909-1-04 EX2 Jack Reed, Washington S.C. Philadelphia, PA
  • 1909-1-04 EX2 Jack Cooper, Washington S.C. Philadelphia, PA
  • 1908-9-23 EX4 Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1908-4-04 EX4 Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1902-3-26 EX Jack McCann, Reading, Pennsylvania
  • 1902-3-26 EX2 Morris Mahoney, Reading, PA

O'Brien was also the chief second to Jack Dempsey at the 1926 Dempsey-Tunney bout in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is a featured character in The Killings of Stanley Ketchel (2005), a novel by James Carlos Blake.

See also
  • List of light heavyweight boxing champions

References
  1. Cyber Boxing Zone http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/obrien.htm.
  2. The New Yorker, 8 January 1938 Reprinted as “Old Silvertongue” in Back Where I Came From, an anthology of Liebling's writing about New York
  3. Liebling, A J (1966). Back where I came from. London: Fourth Estate. p. 116. ISBN 1872180965.
  4. See the Dec. 24, 1931 New York Times, and David Remnick, King of the World, p. 108 ("[Wiliam] Faversham had some slight acquaintance with boxing; when he was working on Broadway he kept in shape working out at Philadelphia Jack O'Brien's gym, where he sparred with another actor, Spencer Tracy.")
  5. "Jack O'Brien, Ex-Ring Star, is Dead at 64. Undefeated World Light Heavyweight Champion". Chicago Tribune. November 13, 1942. Retrieved 2010-07-23. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, the colorful fistic character who admitted he was the best light heavyweight in modern boxing history, died to-day...
  6. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien's Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-18.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Bob Fitzsimmons		 World Light Heavyweight Champion
20 Dec 1905–1905
Abandoned		 Succeeded by
Jack Dillon
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