John Arthur Root, known professionally as Jack Root (May 26, 1875 – June 10, 1963) was an American boxer. He was the first world

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

champion as well as a challenger for the world

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

title. He fought out of

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. He was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Family

His uncle, Janos Rutt, immigrated to Minnesota. Today, his descendants in and around south-central Minnesota evolved the spelling of their last name to Rutt. There are some descendants based in the Chicago area and have relocated around the United States to Arizona, California, Indiana, and Northern Michigan. A great-great-grandson, Travis Rutt, is a wrestler from New Prague, MN.

Championship Claim

Root (with the support of some historians) claimed that he was the first world light heavyweight champion. His bout with George Gardiner on July 4, 1903, is claimed by some to be the first title bout in the new division. Root contended that his manager, Lou Housman, created the division and billed the Root vs. Gardner fight, which Gardner won by knockout in the twelfth round. The fight was caught on film. Jack Root, George Gardner, and Bob Fitzsimmons all held the light heavyweight world championship title in 1903. During the 1980s, however, some boxing historians found records indicating that Joe Choynski won a twenty-round decision over Jimmy Ryan on August 18, 1899, in a fight billed as being for the light heavyweight championship. Choynski never seems to have made any claim to be the first light heavyweight champion, however.

Heavyweight title fight

On July 3, 1905, Root fought Marvin Hart for the vacant world heavyweight championship in Reno Nevada. The former champion, Jim Jeffries, had retired and declared that Hart and Root were the two top heavyweights. Jeffries refereed the fight to name the new champion, which Hart won by a twelfth-round knockout.

After boxing

Root served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I. After his time in the service Root became the president and boxing manager of the renowned

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium ...

. Root was also one of many boxers to attend the funeral of Feab S. Williams (better known as " George Godfrey").

Death

Root died on June 10, 1963 at Temple Hospital from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

, aged 87.

Professional boxing record

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Jack 1876 births 1963 deaths People from Jindřichův Hradec District American people of Austrian descent Light-heavyweight boxers World boxing champions Boxers from Illinois American male boxers