Legend has it
that Chicago-born Jackie Fields took his ring name
from either a Chicago department store or in honor
of an obscure fighter named Marty Fields. Jackie, an
Olympic gold medal winner in 1924 at featherweight,
turned pro in September 1924.
Fighting mostly out of Los Angeles, Fields won 8 of
his first 9 bouts, his lone blemish being a draw.
Since Jackie had won a gold medal, his career began
with a measure of fanfare and instant
identification. Buoyed by his early success and the
temptation of a $5000 purse (very large shekels for
a basically prelim fighter in 1925), the 17-year-old
prototype L.A. "Golden Boy," made the huge mistake
of stepping way up in class and jumping into the
ring with one of boxing's all-time greats "Babyface"
Jimmy McLarnin on November 12, 1925. At that point,
McLarnin had 34 pro bouts with only one loss. "Babyface"
brutalized Fields with five knockdowns in 2 rounds,
finally putting Jackie away for the count with a
vicious right cross. That was the only time in his
10-year career that Fields would lose by kayo.
By 1927 Fields had grown into the lightweight
division and on April 4th he fought the reigning
lightweight champion, Sammy Mandell, in a 12-round,
no-decision bout. Mandell had refused to put his
title on the line, which turned out to be a good
call, because according to contemporary accounts
Fields won handily. Jackie won the rest of his bouts
that year with the exception of his bout with former
featherweight champion, the great, Lewis "Kid"
Kaplan (L-10). His highlight bout that year was a
convincing non-title 10 round decision on November
22 over current jr. welterweight champion & fierce
rival for the affections of the L.A. fight crowd,
Mushy Callahan. By year's end, the still growing
20-year-old lad was a full-fledged welterweight.
Facing nothing but top of the line competition,
Fields also won all but one of his bouts in 1928.
The lone loss was to nemesis Sammy Mandell in
another non-title bout (L-10). The year's high
points were two victories over future middleweight
champion Vince Dundee (W-10, W-10)& another 10 round
decision over future welterweight champion, Young
Jack Thompson. Thompson, another great fighter who
is forgotten today, was commonly referred too as
"The greatest little black man since Joe Gans."
1929 was the beginning of Jackie's championship run
... He started on January 28th with a victory over
top contender Jack McCarthy in Chicago (W-10) &
quickly followed up with wins over Baby Joe Gans
(W-10, February 15) & Al Van Ryan (KO-5, March 8),
before winning the N.B.A. version of the
welterweight title against the by now familiar Young
Jack Thompson on March 25th in Chicago (W-10). Then
on July 25th in Motown, Fields unified the
welterweight championship against the linear
titlist, Joe Dundee, in one of the strangest fights
in the annals of fistiana ...
Jackie totally dominated the abbreviated fight. He
floored Dundee once in the first round & proceeded
to bounce him off the canvass four more times in the
first part of round 2. After the fifth knockdown in
that round, Pal Joey, in front of 25,000
disbelieving paying customers crawled across the
ring on his hands & knees until he got right in
front of Jackie & sucker punched him, right in the
family jewels. Jackie twisted & flopped around the
ring like a gutted carp before he blacked out from
the pain & was awarded the world welterweight title
(W-F2). Dundee claimed he was so out of it he didn't
know what he was doing ... Yeah, right. Jackie
however, nailed the issue succinctly, "That bum and
his buddies had bet money on the fight." Dundee knew
he was a goner & he also knew if the fight ended on
a foul, all bets were off.
To keep it in the family, for his first defense,
Jackie took on Joe's brother Vince, yet again. The
soon to be crowned middleweight champion fared even
worse in this bout than he did in the previous two.
Fields battered Dundee from pillar to post, knocking
him down in the 6th on route to a lopsided 10 round
decision.
His final fight of 1929, on December 13th in Boston
was against another future middleweight title
claimant Gorilla Jones (Where did they come up with
these names!?) This bout was declared a no contest
in the 7th round. Apparently Gorilla felt more
inclined to be a lamb that night & was seemingly not
capable of raising his gloves in anger. The Bean
Town fight crowd, never known for their reticence in
displaying their displeasure, began to jeer & shake
the rafters with their stamping feet. According to
reporters at ringside, Jackie was pressing the
fight, but was ineffective against the hibernating
Gorilla. Referee Joe O'Connor, disgusted with the
lack of effort, called a halt to the miserable
proceedings in the 7th & declared the fight No
Contest. The shit really hit the fan in the press
the next day & the State Boxing Commission withheld
both fighters purses and suspended them from
fighting in Massachusetts for a year. The ruling was
later overturned.
On May 9 1930, in Detroit, Fields lost the
welterweight title by decision to familiar rival
Young Jack Thompson in 15 grueling rounds. Thompson,
a superb boxer & murderous puncher fought a tough,
smart battle & out dueled the clever Fields.
Jackie seriously considered retirement after this
fight; but when his new manager, the infamous Jack
"Doc" Kearns promised him another title shot Fields
reconsidered. Subsequently, Thompson lost his title
to French-Canadian strong boy Lou Brouillard. Now
focused on the Canuck, they were matched on January
28 1932, in Chicago. Jackie totally outclassed
Brouillard, knocking him to the canvas in the 8th en
route to a 10-round title winning decision.
The way Jackie lost his title the second time was as
bizarre as the way he first gained it. On February
22 1930, during his first reign as welterweight
champion Jackie lost a 10 round non-title decision
to Young Corbett III in San Francisco. Jackie was
bitterly adamant that he had been jobbed by a
hometown decision. Finally, three years to the day
later, Jackie granted Corbett a rematch -- again in
San Francisco. Fields and his wily manager, "Doc"
Kearns, agreed to the bout in San Francisco only
because of the huge (by Depression era standards),
$45,000 purse. In order to ensure that he wouldn't
again be a victim of a hometown decision, Kearns
insisted on well know L.A. referee Lt. Jack Kennedy.
Kennedy was noted at the time for the impeccable
honesty of his decisions.
Corbett, a converted southpaw and one of the
all-time great counter punchers, had the best of it
in the early going, but Jackie rallied strongly in
the second half of the fight. Many years later
Jackie told writer Peter Heller the story:
"We thought we won it. Then the referee raised
Corbett's hand. We were stunned. Back in the locker
room, Kearns asked the referee why he gave the title
to Corbett. He said he made a mistake, that he meant
to raise my hand in victory, but grabbed Corbett's
instead. With that, Kearns punched the referee in
the mouth and knocked him cold right there in the
dressing room."
Jackie who was a gallant warrior & never one to make
excuses, had defended his title completely blind in
one eye. The year before Fields had been in a bad
car accident and he lost the sight on one eye.
Fields fought only one more time -- on May 2, 1933,
he beat top contender Young Peter Jackson (W-10).
After this fight he was offered a title shot against
middleweight champion Vince Dundee, who he had
already bested three times. But the loss of the eye,
coupled with the death of his beloved mother, left
Jackie physically and emotionally unable to endure
the rigors of the fight game and he retired. During
his outstanding career Jackie faced 11 world
champions: Jimmy McLarnin (KO by 2), Louis "Kid"
Kaplan (L-10), Mushy Callahan (W-10), Sammy Mandell
(ND-12, L-10), Vince Dundee(W-10, W-10, W-10), Joe
Dundee (WF-2), Young Jack Thompson (W-10, W-10,
L-15), Gorilla Jones (W-10, NC-7), Tommy Freeman (
KO-5 ), Lou Brouillard (W-10) & Young Corbett
III(L-10, L-10).
Jackie earned an estimated $500,000 during his
career which he had wisely invested in real estate.
However, due to the Depression, Fields like millions
of others was financially wiped out. To keep body &
soul together, Jackie was forced to seek employment
for the first time in his life. Always a pragmatic
fellow, Jackie first landed a job as an assistant
unit manager for 20th Century Fox & in the latter
half of the '30's as a film editor for MGM.
Until 1949, Fields sold jukeboxes for Wurlitzer;
later Fields became a business representative for
J&B Scotch in the mid-west. In the late 1950's
Fields bought a large share of stock in the
Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Although he sold his
shares a few years later he remained as Public
Relations Director for the hotel. Jackie also served
for many years as Vice Chairman of the Nevada State
Athletic Commission.
Jackie Fields died in Los Angeles on June 3, 1987 at
the age of 79. Fields was a great fighter who faced
everybody available during his illustrious career.
This is borne out by the 11 champions that he faced.
Jackie was the original L.A. "Golden Boy". Oscar De
La Hoya would be well served using Jackie Fields as
a role model too help guide his own career ...
Jackie Fields was elected to the Jewish Sports Hall
Of Fame in Israel, in 1979.
Bio by GorDoom© 1996 The Cyber Boxing Zone