KID McCOY … “DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE”
By Tracy Callis
Who was he – Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? For sure, he was both! He was fun loving, friendly, and kind but he was also deceitful, spiteful, and cruel. He was gentle, polite, and unassuming but he was also violent, ruthless, and dangerous. He would change from “Mr. Nice Guy” to “Mr. Villain” in a flash and there was no telling when the transition would take place. McCoy always carried a roll of money with him and he was likely to show up any place at any time. He liked good times, jokes, and women. They liked him too. Playwright Maurice Maeterlinck wrote that he was the “Handsomest human on earth”. He married eight times, three times to the same woman (see McCallum, 1975, p 192). |
Tall and skinny, pale and sickly-looking, he hardly looked like a fighter. That is, before the fight started. But, once it began, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind - the man could handle himself. The New York World newspaper once described his movements as “quiet and cat-like” and wrote that “He does not look the prizefighter, nor is he built like one.” |
Stillman (1920, p 44) wrote “He had a wonderfully quick left hand and a powerful straight right.” He later added that McCoy’s form was the “height of science, and his left hand the best the ring has ever seen.” |
Fast hands, fast feet, shifty, slippery, crafty, and
clever - that was the Kid. It didn’t matter much what the other man’s
style or ability was. Any advantage seemed to melt away once McCoy began
to pepper him with jabs and come home with brisk, snappy shots – with
either fist. |
Philadelphia Jack O’Brien said McCoy was “vicious, fast, and almost impossible to beat” (see McCallum, 1975, p 190). When his cruel streak surfaced (which was often), he would butcher his opponents excessively with his ripping, slicing type of punches. In many a fight, when he had his man staggering around and nearly out on his feet, instead of finishing him off, the Kid would suddenly change tactics and dance around his man cutting him up with his “corkscrew” punches.
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McCoy began his career with a series of victories. His
first loss occurred when he fought the scrappy Billy Steffers. Young and
cocky, the Kid thought so little of Steffers that he walked to the
center of the ring at the opening bell and stuck out his chin at his
opponent - big mistake. Billy caught McCoy on the point of the chin and
ended it right then.
McCoy met Steffers again, nearly four months later. This
time he was more cautious and sliced his man to shreds with cutting jabs
and stiff punches on the way to a 10-0 shutout win. |
McCoy held a grudge against Tommy Ryan, the great champion, for battering him around in a practice session as a young sparring partner. He swore to get even some day – and he did.
In 1896, he convinced Tommy he was sick and dying and needed money. Ryan agreed to a fight and trained sparingly. McCoy battered him cruelly. He bested the great Ryan again in 1897 and 1900. |
An interesting story surrounds McCoy’s fight with Tom
Sharkey. In the old days, when no films of an opponent were available
for study, fighters often hired men who had sparred with or fought
against their upcoming foe. McCoy and his entourage kidnapped big Bob
Armstrong, who was a frequent sparring partner of “Sailor Tom”, and took
him prisoner to McCoy’s camp to find out about Sharkey’s strengths and
weaknesses. Armstrong was so angered by this act that he fed McCoy
incorrect information. The result was that McCoy lost his bout against
Sharkey.
After the Kid retired from boxing in 1916, he served in
the U.S. Army during World War I. Following that, he went to Hollywood
and acted in a few movies. In 1924, he was convicted of murdering
Theresa Mors, a divorcee who was living with him. He was paroled in 1932
and, afterwards, worked for Ford Motor Company. McCoy committed suicide
in Detroit on April 18, 1940. |
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Johnston (1949) wrote “McCoy was one of the most skillful
boxers that ever climbed through the ropes. Barring Corbett, he was
probably the most artistic fighter we have ever produced.” McCoy was elected to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1957 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. Nat Fleischer ranked him as the #1 Light-Heavyweight of all-time.
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