Joe Bowker


Joe Bowker was a British boxer who was world bantamweight champion from 1904 to 1905. His defeat of Frankie Neil on 17 October in London for the world bantamweight title was acclaimed as the most remarkable event in the sport in 1904.
During his career, Bowker also won the European and British bantamweight titles, and the British featherweight title, holding the world bantamweight and British featherweight titles simultaneously from March to October 1905. In 51 professional fights, he compiled a career record of 40 wins, 8 losses and one draw with two no-decisions. Fourteen wins came by knockout.
He was regarded as a "wonderfully clever" fighter. More than 40 years after Bowker retired from the ring, British boxing historian Maurice Golesworthy wrote of him: "Indeed, there are many authorities who rate Joe Bowker as the most skillful boxer ever produced in this country. That may be an exaggeration, but it is safe to say that there have been few better."

Biography

Birth and early career

Born 12 June 1881 in Salford, England, Joseph Lord Bowker sharpened his skills in the boxing booths of England. At age 16 he joined Billy Hughes' boxing booth, defeating 60 opponents over the next four years. At the age of 20 he won a novice bantamweight competition among 64 entries at the National Sporting Club in London.
Chicago bantamweight Harry Harris, who traveled to London in 1902 to fight Pedlar Palmer for the world title, saw the young Bowker spar and was impressed with his style and poise. "He is built on the same lines as Joe Walcott," Harris said. "He has broad shoulders, a deep chest, and long, muscular arms. He is very quick but he did not impress me as being much of a puncher. As for cleverness, I think he knows more about the game than either Plimmer or Palmer, and they were pretty gifted."

Winning and defending the British Bantamweight Championship

In a very short time Bowker was rated the best bantamweight in Britain. He defeated Harry Ware in London for the British bantamweight championship on 15 December 1902, and successfully defended his title four times, beating Andrew Tokell, Bill King, Alf Fellows, and Owen Moran. The defeat of Fellows from Chicago, on 9 November 1903 at the National Sporting Club in London, was by a ninth-round knockout.

Winning the World Bantamweight Championship in 1904

On 17 October 1904 in London, Bowker defeated Frankie Neil of San Francisco for the world bantamweight championship. A slight favorite at 11 to 10, Bowker was behind in the early rounds and almost beaten in the ninth. From that point to the end of the 20-round bout, Bowker "greatly improved and administered plenty of punishment."
Following the fight, Jim Neil, father of Frankie Neil, protested to the referee that he thought his son should at least have earned a draw with Bowker. "Your boy swung repeatedly and missed," the referee explained to the elder Neil. "Now, if you were shooting at a bird and missed that would be one for the bird, wouldn't it?"

Winning the British Featherweight Title in March of 1905

In taking the world title from Neil, it was reported that Bowker was the "first foreigner" to win a world boxing championship.
On 20 March 1905, in London, Bowker knocked out Thomas "Pedlar" Palmer in the twelfth round to capture the British featherweight title. Two months later, on 29 May, Bowker successfully defended his world bantamweight title with a 20-round decision over Pinky Evans of Yonkers, New York. In 1906, Bowker confessed to reporters that he was too heavy at 115 pounds to defend his title. He subsequently abandoned his world bantamweight title and moved up to the featherweight division.

Failure to meet Abe Attell, and fight with Jim Driscoll in May 1906

What promised to be Bowker's biggest fight never materialized. Abe Attell, world featherweight champion, had decided in February 1906 to travel to London to fight the reigning world bantamweight champ. The 15-round bout was to be held in May at the National Sporting Club. Attell's title would be on the line. The match between Attell and Bowker was billed as "one of the most important international events" ever staged in England. Another report later that year had Bowker traveling to Los Angeles to take on the winner of the Attel-Neil bout. Attel defeated Neil on points on 4 July, but the Bowker-Attel fight never materialized.
The Welsh fighter, Jim Driscoll, proved to be Bowker's nemesis. Driscoll outpointed Bowker over 15 rounds in London on 28 May 1906, for the featherweight championship of Britain. In a rematch the following June, also in London, Bowker could not answer the bell after round 17.

Taking the Bantamweight championship of Europe in 1910

On 7 May 1910, a slimmer Bowker captured his fourth boxing title with an eighth-round knockout of Jean Audouy of France for the bantamweight championship of Europe.
A controversial loss to Digger Stanley on 17 October 1910 at the National Sporting Club cost Bowker his European and British bantamweight titles. The purse for the fight was nearly $3,000. The bout ended suddenly, "a pitiful finish to a fine exhibition of boxing, in which Bowker proved himself the cleverer. But in getting down to weight Bowker weakened himself, which told in the end." The end was described by author Guy Deghy: "In the eighth round of a splendidly even battle, Bowker ducked into a righthander that struck him on the jaw, and got the next one on the kidney. While he lay on the floor, writhing in agony, the Club doctor, Dr. Gilbert Lynch, was sent for. At the end of his examination, the referee, Douglas, decided that there had been no foul, and Digger Stanley was awarded the first bantamweight Lonsdale Belt." Later, the kidney punch was banned from the sport.

Retirement from boxing in the early 1920s

After retiring from the ring, Bowker starred in boxing exhibitions. A "comedic boxing match" between Bowker and Wally Packard was on the card at London's first open air boxing contest on 31 July 1922. Bowker also worked as a fight trainer. At the 1924 Summer Olympics, he worked the corner of Harry Mallin, gold medal winner in the middleweight division. Later, he trained James O'Hanrahan who defeated Ed Tiernan in a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 17 February 1925. "O'Hanrahan gave Tiernan a boxing lesson in every round and his obvious knowledge of the game and his clean punching, especially with his right hand, reflected great credit on his trainer Joe Bowker."
Bowker died in London on 22 October 1955 and lies buried in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.

Legacy and Tommy Mahon alias

Bowker was one of 80 boxers included in the popular Priddy Boxing Set of "Famous Boxers," published by W.R. Priddy Antiques in 1992.
In 2008, Bowker was ranked 74th on the all-time "top 100 British boxers" list, as compiled by Ron Lewis of The London Times.
Bowker's bout against Jim Driscoll for the British featherweight championship is the subject of a famous painting by W. Howard Robinson, the noted representative artist and portrait painter of the early twentieth century. The painting, "An Evening at the National Sporting Club," completed in 1918, contains details of 329 sporting celebrities and took Robinson four years to complete.
Speculation about Bowker's date of birth, date of death, and even his real name began as early as 1908 when an Ogden's cigarette card inaccurately listed his birth date as 20 July 1882. With the discovery by family members in 2006 of Bowker's official birth, marriage and death certificates, these questions were put to rest.
A number of boxing historians have written incorrectly that Bowker's real name was Tommy Mahon and that he used Joe Bowker as an alias. The error may have originated from a book published in 1986 in which author Denis Fleming recalled a meeting with Bowker that had taken place more than a half-century earlier. Fleming wrote that Bowker had been "a 15-year-old urchin from the Salford side of Blackfriars Bridge" whose "real name was Tommy Mahon." Harry Mullen, the distinguished editor of Boxing News, perhaps assuming the accuracy of Fleming's account, perpetuated the myth. In a book published four years after Fleming's book, Mullen wrote that Bowker's real name was Tommy Mahon and that Bowker had been his mother's maiden name.
It's possible that Bowker used Tommy Mahon as an alias at prizefights he didn't want the National Sporting Club to know about, as he was under contract to fight exclusively at the NSC. It was reported that Bowker did tour with the boxing booths, as far as the west of Ireland, for extra income.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes
58Win43–10–1 Charlie WardKO15 Oct 9, 1914New Cross Empire Theatre, New Cross, London, England
57Win42–10–1 Harold WalkerPTS6Jul 17, 1914Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England
56Win41–10–1 Robert DastillonPTS15May 11, 1914National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
55Win40–10–1 Biz MackeyKO5 Feb 16, 1914National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
54Win39–10–1 Francis CharlesPTS10Nov 24, 1913National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
53Win38–10–1 Young Johnny CohenPTS15Feb 3, 1913National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
52Loss37–10–1 Charles LedouxTKO10 Jan 29, 1912National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
51Win37–9–1 George AllenKO2 Dec 18, 1911London, England
50Win36–9–1 Paul TilDQ14 May 29, 1911National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
49Win35–9–1 Con HoughtonTKO8 Mar 27, 1911National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
48Win34–9–1 Alec LambertKO6 Dec 12, 1910National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
47Loss33–9–1 Digger StanleyKO8 Oct 17, 1910National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandLost IBU, NSC British, and world bantamweight titles
46Win33–8–1 Jean AudouyRTD8 Mar 7, 1910National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandRetained world bantamweight title
Won inaugural IBU bantamweight title
4532–8–1 Johnny SummersND3Apr 19, 1909National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
44Loss32–8–1 Tommy O'TooleKO2 Mar 20, 1909National A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
43Loss32–7–1 Al DelmontPTS12Mar 16, 1909Armory A.A., Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
42Loss32–6–1 Charlie GriffinTKO8 Apr 27, 1908National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
41Win32–5–1 Cockney CohenPTS10Dec 16, 1907National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
40Loss31–5–1 Jim DriscollKO17 Jun 3, 1907National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandFor NSC British and 122lbs English featherweight titles
39Win31–4–1 Harry SmithPTS6Mar 2, 1907Public Hall, Canning Town, London, England
38Win30–4–1 Harry SmithPTS6Feb 2, 1907Public Hall, Barking Road, Canning Town, London, England
3729–4–1 Young Bill SmithND3Jan 21, 1907National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
36Loss29–4–1 Jim DriscollPTS15May 28, 1906National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandLost NSC British and 126lbs English featherweight titles
35Draw29–3–1 Bill FielderPTS6Mar 14, 1906Glasgow, Scotland
34Win29–3 Spike RobsonPTS20Oct 23, 1905National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandRetained NSC British and 122lbs English featherweight titles
33Win28–3 Wally PickardPTS6Jul 2, 1905Nouveau Cirque, Paris, France
32Win27–3 Pinky EvansPTS20May 29, 1905National Sporting Club, London, EnglandRetained world bantamweight title
3126–3 Johnny BoyleND3Apr 1, 1905Waverley Market, Edinburgh, ScotlandNo decision trial bout
30Win26–3 Pedlar PalmerTKO12 Mar 20, 1905National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandWon vacant NSC British and 124lbs English featherweight titles
29Win25–3 Frankie NeilPTS20Oct 17, 1904National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandWon world bantamweight title
28Win24–3 Owen MoranPTS15May 30, 1904National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandRetained NSC British and 116lbs English bantamweight titles
27Win23–3 Alf FellowsTKO9 Nov 9, 1903National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandWon vacant British version of world 116lbs bantamweight title
2622–3 Alf FellowsND3Oct 19, 1903National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandNo decision trial bout
25Win22–3Bill KingPTS15Oct 5, 1903National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandRetained NSC British and 118lbs English bantamweight titles
24Win21–3Andrew Dick TokellPTS15May 25, 1903National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandRetained NSC British and 118lbs English bantamweight titles
23Win20–3Andrew Dick TokellPTS15Mar 25, 1903National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandRetained NSC British and 116lbs English bantamweight titles
22Win19–3Harry WarePTS15Dec 15, 1902National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, EnglandWon vacant NSC British and 118lbs English bantamweight titles
21Win18–3Charlie HickmanKO3 Sep 16, 1902Ginnetts Circus, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England
20Win17–3Bill FielderPTS10Jun 2, 1902National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
19Win16–3Jack GuyonPTS6May 10, 1902National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
18Win15–3Bill LampshirePTS10Apr 21, 1902National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
17Win14–3Harry PaulPTS10Mar 10, 1902National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
16Win13–3Albert WheelerRTD5 Feb 2, 1902London, England
15Win12–3Jack GuyonPTS6Dec 14, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
14Loss11–3Jack GuyonPTS6Jan 21, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
13Win11–2Bill NicholsonKO1 Jan 14, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
12Win10–2Buck ShinePTS3Jan 14, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
11Win9–2Wiliam ParryKO3 Jan 14, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
10Win8–2John AnsellPTS3Jan 14, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
9Win7–2Ernie WatermanPTS3Jan 12, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
8Win6–2Dick TarrRTD2 Jan 10, 1901National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
7Loss5–2Jim PenningtonPTS3Jan 3, 1901Boxing Club, Bolton, Lancashire, England
6Win5–1Charlie TurnerPTS3Jan 3, 1901Boxing Club, Bolton, Lancashire, England
5Win4–1Bill DoylePTS10Jul 10, 1900United KingdomExact date & location unknown
4Win3–1Tom OwensPTS10Jun 10, 1900United KingdomExact date & location unknown
3Win2–1Pat DalyPTS10May 10, 1900United KingdomExact date & location unknown
2Win1–1Tom PerkinsPTS6Jan 1, 1900United KingdomExact date & location unknown
1Loss0–1Billy PenningtonPTS4Oct 31, 1899Stalybridge Gymnastic Club, Stalybridge, Cheshire, England