Peter Felix

BORN  

July 17 1866; St. Croix, West Indies

DIED

November 10 1926; Sydney, Australia (heart disease)

HEIGHT

6-3 1/2

WEIGHT

176-186 lbs

 

Felix was a first cousin of Peter Jackson; He was tall like Peter with long arms but lacked the finesse, movement and power of Jackson; Nat Fleischer wrote that he was a good hitter (with a very long reach) and was clever; His prospects seemed great at the beginning of his career but as he met better competition, he ran into difficulties

He was a fancy dresser who liked the bright lights and big city; This may have been a major factor in him not reaching his potential

From the Peter Felix record on www.boxrec.com --

Peter Felix was born on the 17th July 1866 on the West Indian Island of St.Croix, the same birthplace as the immortal Peter Jackson, who he claimed to be his first cousin (Jackson was actually in Felix’s corner for some of his fights). Felix was tall for his time, standing at 6’ 3” tall, and weighing in around 180 pounds. He was said to be a flashy dresser, extravagant and a bit of an extrovert, quite the opposite of the quiet, gentlemanly Jackson. He started his pugilistic career in Australia in 1894, with a 12th round knock out win over Dan Keeley in Melbourne. The year of 1895, proved to be one of the most fruitful of his career, with three very impressive points victories over the wild man Joe Goddard, and a points victory over the superbly skilled but light punching Mick Dooley. 1896 saw him defeat Starlight Rollins, beat Mick Dooley in two out of three fights, and beat Dan Keeley for the Victorian Heavyweight title with a 5th round knock out win. The next two years saw him draw with Mick Dooley, Tut Ryan and Bill Doherty. It must also be noted that during the depression years of the 1890’s that Peter Felix also fought in unofficial bouts in travelling boxing troupe’s, which toured the agricultural shows of Australia, putting on their fights in tents.

Next up, he scored a draw with an old and sick Peter Jackson over 25 rounds in Melbourne, then he captured the coveted Australian Heavyweight title with a 7th round knock out win over Bill Doherty in Kalgoorlie. Racist attitudes had raised their ugly heads prior to this bout, when Doherty had beaten Dooley to win the Australian crown. Dooley has been quoted as saying “You’re too good for me Bill, but I would sooner lose to you than Felix. Keep” - his voice broke and died to almost a whisper – “Keep the championship white”. Doherty failed to do this. Felix defended his title successfully with a 20 round draw with Doherty, but then lost it to the ubiquitous Doherty via a 20 round points loss. Felix never won the Australian title again, though he challenged for it three times, once against Doherty for a points loss in 1902, and twice against world title challenger Bill Lang for two knock out losses in 1907 and 1908 (Felix was 41 years old when he faced Lang).

In Felix’s next notable bouts he beat the giant woodchopper Bill Heckenberg with a 2nd round knock out, drew with Arthur Cripps and beat the Maori, George Renaulf on points. Age was starting to catch up with the old warhorse, though he was still fighting in main events. The years of 1904 and 1905 saw him lose inside the distance against world title challengers “Boshter” Bill Squires (3 times) and “Gunner” James Moir. In 1907, Felix challenged the legendary Jack Johnson for World Coloured Heavyweight Championship. Felix was knocked out in 1 round.

Felix kept fighting until 1915 (aged 48 years old), though his last real “big time” fight was in 1908 in the very first main event ever held at the Sydney Stadium, in Rushcutters Bay (the stadium where Jack Johnson beat Tommy Burns). In this fight he lost on points over 20 rounds to Sid Russell.

Peter Felix retired to Sydney where he passed away on the 10th November 1926 of a heart attack aged sixty. He fought a large number of world class fighters, and held his own against most of them. He was perhaps a bit unfortunate that his career started at the advanced age of 28 years old.

Record – Total Bouts: 50, Wins 24 (9 KO), Losses 19 (12 KO by), Draws 7

1894
Dec 27 Dan Keeley                 Melbourne, Vic, Aus              KO 12

1895
Jan    Dan Keeley                                                   W 10
Mar  4 Joe Goddard                Melbourne, Vic, Aus               W 10
Jul 10 Tom Ball                   Sydney, NSW, Aus                  W 10
Oct 16 J. Murphy                  Blenheim, South Island, NZ       KO  1 

1896
Apr  4 Mick Dooley                Melbourne, Vic, Aus              LK  2
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia
Jun 27 Mick Dooley                Melbourne, Vic, Aus              ND  8
          -Felix lasted and claimed the win
Aug  1 Mick Dooley                Melbourne, Vic, Aus              ND 10
          -Felix lasted and claimed the win
Sep 26 Dan Keeley                 Melbourne, Vic, Aus               D 10
Oct 10 Starlight (Edward Rollins) Melbourne, Vic, Aus               W 15 
Oct 31 Dan Keeley                 Melbourne, Vic, Aus              KO  5

1897
Jul 3 Mick Dooley                 Brisbane, Que, Aus                D 10
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia

1898
Oct  8 James "Tut" Ryan           Melbourne, Vic, Aus               D 20
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia;
           Some sources report "D 15"
Dec 24 Bill Doherty               Fremantle, WA, Aus                D 20 

1899
Dec  2 Bill Doherty               Kalgoorlie, WA, Aus              TK  7
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia;
           Some sources report 12/04/99

1900
Jul 16 Bill Doherty               Sydney, NSW, Aus                  L 20
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia;
           Some sources report "D 20" in "Kalgoorlie, WA, Aus"

Dec  3 Bill Doherty               Kalgoorlie, WA, Aus               D 20
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia;
           Some sources report "L 20" in "Ultimo, NSW, Aus"

1901
Jun 17 Mick Dooley                Melbourne, Vic, Aus              KO  2
       Bill Doherty                                                 L 20

1902
Jul  7 Bill Doherty               Melbourne, Vic, Aus              LK 13
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia

1903
May 18 Bill Doherty               Melbourne, Vic, Aus               L 20
Jul 27 Bill Heckenberg            Sydney, NSW, Aus                 KO  2
Sep 22 Jim Scanlon                Melbourne, Vic, Aus              WF 15
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia
Nov 23 Alf James                  Melbourne, Vic, Aus              KO  3
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia

1904
Jan  4 George Ruenalf             Melbourne, Vic, Aus               D 16
Apr 12 "Soldier" Jack Thompson    Sydney, NSW, Aus                 KO  5 
Jun  4 Bill Smith                 Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LF  6 
Aug 20 Bill Squires               Newcastle, NSW, Aus              LF 11 
Sep  7 Arthur Cripps              Sydney, NSW, Aus                  D 20
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia
Nov 22 Bill Squires               Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LK  1 

1905
Feb 14 James "Gunner" Moir        Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LK  2
          -Some sources report 2/13/05
Dec 12 Bill Squires               Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LK  7

1906
May  1 Mally Johnson              Sydney, NSW, Aus                 WF  3
Jun 19 Arthur Cripps              Sydney, NSW, Aus                 WF 17
          -Some sources report "WF 16"
Jul 31 Peter Kling                Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LK  4
Oct    George Ruenalf             Cobar, NSW, Aus                  LF 11 
Nov 27 Tim "Draffin" Murphy       Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LF  5 

1907
Feb 19 Jack Johnson               Sydney, NSW, Aus                 LK  1
          -Negro Heavyweight Championship of the World
           Some sources report 12/19/06 
Aug 26 Malley Jackson             Broken Hill, NSW, Aus            KO 14 
Oct  3 Bill Lang                  Broken Hill, NSW, Aus            LK 12 
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia;
           Some sources report 10/07/07

1908
Feb 17 Bill Lang                  Melbourne, Vic, Aus              LT  7 
          -Heavyweight Championship of Australia
Aug 21 Sid Russell                Sydney, NSW, Aus                  L 20 

1909
Apr 13 Sid Russell                Sydney, NSW, Aus                 KO 16 
May 25 Jack Whittaker             Sydney, NSW, Aus                  W 20 
Jul  5 Mike Williams              Melbourne, Vic, Aus              LK  1 
Sep  8 Bill Turner                Hobart, TAS, Aus                 LK  8 
Nov 27 Bob Fitzsimmons            Sydney, NSW, Aus                 EX  2 
Dec  8 Billy McColl               Tamworth, NSW, Aus               LK  7 


***** The Following Bouts Are Reported But Not Confirmed *****

1895
       Joe Goddard                                                  W 20
       Joe Goddard                                                  W 10

1911
May 22 Bill Turner                Broken Hill, NSW, Aus            LK  2

Record courtesy of Tracy Callis, Historian, International Boxing Research Organization
 
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