Joe Gans, Lightweight Champion of the World.
September 8, 1906
Summary
For the first time, a black man, Joe Gans, wins the lightweight championship, claiming his “undisputed title.”
Transcription
Joe Gans, Lightweight Champion of the World.
A colored man has an undisputed Title. A blow below the belt.
Joe Gans the Favorite-- “Battling” Nelson’s Unavailing Tactics-- Though weakened by unfair methods, he wins out-- Nelson hissed-- White Men Condemn Unsportsmanlike Tactics
Goldfield, Nev., Sept. 3--- Joseph Gans, of Baltimore, the well-known colored pugilist, is still the lightweight champion of the world. After forty-two rounds of fighting with Battling Nelson, the rugged Dane, here today, Gans received the decision of Referee George Siler, of Chicago, on a foul. All through the mill Nelson violated the rules by butting with his head, for which he was repeatedly warned, but in the last round, when he evidently realized that he was up against it for the first time in his ring career the battler hit his antagonist below the belt in such a manner that Gans fell to the floor in agony….
A colored man has an undisputed Title. A blow below the belt.
Joe Gans the Favorite-- “Battling” Nelson’s Unavailing Tactics-- Though weakened by unfair methods, he wins out-- Nelson hissed-- White Men Condemn Unsportsmanlike Tactics
Goldfield, Nev., Sept. 3--- Joseph Gans, of Baltimore, the well-known colored pugilist, is still the lightweight champion of the world. After forty-two rounds of fighting with Battling Nelson, the rugged Dane, here today, Gans received the decision of Referee George Siler, of Chicago, on a foul. All through the mill Nelson violated the rules by butting with his head, for which he was repeatedly warned, but in the last round, when he evidently realized that he was up against it for the first time in his ring career the battler hit his antagonist below the belt in such a manner that Gans fell to the floor in agony….
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Upper Left Quadrant
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Contributed By
Emma Roberts
Citation
“Joe Gans, Lightweight Champion of the World.,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed September 14, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/744.