Montague James Furlong (22 July 1868 – 14 March 1913), commonly known as Jim Hall, was an Australian middleweight boxer. He won the Australian middleweight title in 1887 before moving to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in an attempt to take the World title from Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey. Described as "one of the best little fighters that ever lived" in ''

The Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'', Hall's career was affected by

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

, and he died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

in 1913. Hall was the 2007 Inductee for the

Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame was founded in 2001 and began inducting boxers into the Hall of Fame in 2003. Since then annual induction dinners have been held across Australia. Inductees are nominated and then voted upon by a panel of ...

Pioneers category.

Biography

Australia

Born in Murnbyee,

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, Hall began his professional boxing career in 1886 at the age of 17. Fighting mainly in Sydney, he established himself as one of the country's best middleweights with his quick and graceful style. He won the Australian middleweight title at his first attempt in 1887, defeating Jim Fogarty with a

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

. His only loss to that point was to

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

Billy Williams Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is a former left fielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1959 to 1976, almost entirely for the Chicago Cubs. A six-time All-Star, Williams was named the 1961 National League (NL) ...

, who Hall said he could knock out in 4 rounds - though he failed to do so. Successfully defending his title against Fogarty, Edward Rollins and

Peter Boland Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a ...

, Hall soon established a strong rivalry with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

emigrant Bob Fitzsimmons, who challenged him to a title fight in 1890. Though the records show that Fitzsimmons was counted out in round four, he later alleged he had taken a pre-arranged "dive" for a payment of around

$US The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

75, which he said was never paid by Hall. Hall vehemently denied Fitzsimmons' claims of a fixed bout, and the true story behind the fight is still unknown. Shortly afterwards, Hall planned to leave Australia for the United States, seeking a title match with World Champion Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey. On the way to his boat, Hall was drunk and started a fight, during which he was stabbed in the right hand. Forced to stay and recuperate in Australia while Fitzsimmons went to the US and won the world title, Hall lost his Australian belt to

Owen Sullivan Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It i ...

. By the end of 1890, however, Hall had recovered his Australian championship in a match against Starlight Rollins, before losing it to Billy (Professor) McCarthy on 18 January 1892 – he embarked for America three days later aboard the ship ''Alameda''.

United States

Hall began training at John Kline's "Manly Art Institute" in

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. History Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire, created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836 and sen ...

, and notched up an impressive string of wins. Continuing their rivalry from Australia, Hall and Fitzsimmons signed to fight on 22 July 1891 in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

for a stake of $12,000. The bout was anticipated as "one of the fiercest battles ever fought by middleweights" in the US, and one newspaper reported that the "bad blood" between the pair was incentive enough for them to fight, regardless of the money on offer. According to , Hall was in prime condition for the event, even abstaining from alcohol, "except for an occasional touch of

claret Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the b ...

". On the day of the fight however, Minnesota Governor William Rush Merriam ordered four companies of National Guardsmen to surround the amphitheatre and prevent the event from occurring. Hall's alcoholism still caused problems, and on 23 August he attacked his manager Charles "Parson" Davies with a bottle after an argument in a tavern. Davies retaliated, stabbing Hall in the neck with a small knife, reportedly missing the boxer's

jugular vein The jugular veins are veins that take deoxygenated blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomast ...

by a quarter of an inch. Hall went through 1892 undefeated in the ring - which included a trip across the

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England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, where he won the British version of the World middleweight title from Ted Pritchard. Returning to America, Hall and Fitzsimmons again agreed on a match for Fitzsimmons' World title, to be held in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publ ...

'' newspaper reporting that he ate what he pleased and continued to drink a

quart The quart (symbol: qt) is an English unit of volume equal to a quarter gallon. Three kinds of quarts are currently used: the liquid quart and dry quart of the US customary system and the of the British imperial system. All are roughly e ...

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a day. Despite this, Hall was favourite for the fight, but was knocked out by Fitzsimmons in only the fourth round. Hall contested and won two more fights in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, including one against

Frank "Paddy" Slavin Frank Patrick Slavin (5 January 1862 – 17 October 1929), also known as "Paddy" Slavin, was an Australian heavyweight boxer. He was a pioneer of prizefighting in his country, fighting under the tutelage of Larry Foley. One of Slavin's first bo ...

, whom he had challenged while drinking in a tavern that Slavin owned. From 1894 onwards, Hall's fights (and wins) became less regular, and reports of his misbehaviour increased. In

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

, Hall was sued by a doctor for "maintaining guilty relations" with the doctor's wife, and he was also arrested in Cleveland, Ohio and for drunken fights. The night before a fight against

Charles Lawler Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, Hall was again arrested for public drunkenness, and was reportedly still intoxicated when he stepped into the ring, defeating Lawler in the tenth round. In September 1899, Hall challenged Joe Choynski for the World light-heavyweight title and was knocked out in seven rounds by the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

n (although some sources report it was three rounds), who had done the same to him in thirteen rounds just three years earlier. Hall's final fight was held in 1900, against Tommy Dixon, and ended in a draw after 20 rounds.

Death

After being diagnosed with

(TB) in December 1900, Hall moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, and was taken in by a charity ward. He was told to leave however, after being found stealing personal items, such as jewelry, off unclaimed corpses at the nearby

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have c ...

and selling them to buy alcohol. Hall died at age 44 in the Wisconsin state TB sanatorium in Stevens Point. An admirer called Patsy Callahan arranged for Hall's burial at Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah, Wisconsin, but did not mark the grave with a

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

. The reason for this is that Hall had blown his money earned in boxing and sold his

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

to Dr. Rahde, a surgeon in Chicago, for $150. Hall used up this money on alcohol, however, and ripped up the contract before punching Rahde. When the doctor complained; Callahan decided to keep Hall's bones safe from the scorned Rahde. With any claim to the boxer's bones diminished, boxing historian Bill Schutte bought a headstone in June 2006, had it engraved with a pair of

boxing gloves Boxing gloves are cushioned gloves that fighters wear on their hands during boxing matches and practices. Unlike "fist-load weapons" (such as the ancient cestus) which were designed as a lethal weapon, modern boxing gloves are non-lethal, design ...

and the

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

"Prizefighter", and placed it on the grave - 93 years after Hall's death.

Boxing style

Weighing around 160 pounds (73 kg) during his career, and never heavier than

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 ...

, Hall was renowned for challenging even

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 ...

fighters without taking a backward step. Hall's remarkable grace and agility in the ring allowed him to keep his opponents off-balance, and a thorough knowledge of ring-craft helped him use this to his advantage. Hall's punch was not particularly strong, but was very effective against his opponents' vulnerable and awkward techniques. Writing in '' The Ring'' magazine, George T. Tickell described Hall as "a remarkably brilliant boxer ... iththe ability to think and act simultaneously, akinghim a perfect specimen of the bruising glove artist."

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Jim 1868 births 1913 deaths Bare-knuckle boxers Middleweight boxers Sportspeople from Beloit, Wisconsin Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Wisconsin Australian male boxers