Pat Killen (December 24, 1861 – October 21, 1891) was an American boxer. He died at 29, in Chicago while hiding from Minnesota authorities.

Early life

Killen was born in Haddington, Pennsylvania. He later moved to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, where he made his home for the majority of his life and career (notwithstanding the final five months of his life).

Boxing career

Standing and weighing around , he was large for a

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

of his era. This benefited him tremendously, as he was nearly taller than most of his opponents. He was a patient fighter who usually waited for his opponent to make the first move, while setting up his punch. He was known as the best counter-punching heavyweight of his era, but known even more for his devastating one-punch power, winning most often by

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, ...

. Some at the time felt he may have had greater one-punch power than even boxers

John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer. He is recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved ...

or Peter Maher, but he was less tough or durable, and not as aggressive or tenacious as Sullivan, the reigning champion at that time. Killen's first fight was against

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

, whom he managed to knock out in the second round. Twenty-one more wins followed (all by knockout) before he lost on a foul against Mervine Thompson. Killen had knocked down the highly regarded Thompson four times, but the referee allegedly kept giving Thompson all the time he needed to recover each time, prompting the crowd to grow angry and storm the ring, as well as Killen taking off his gloves in disgust. All of this caused him to lose by disqualification.

Death

Contrary to historical reports, Killen was not murdered; he died of

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright- red rash, ...

in Chicago, while on the run from the authorities from his home state of Minnesota, where he had been arrested for assault and battery of two different people, both within two days, and both during drunken stupors. He made bail and fled the state to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and then later Chicago. He was 29 when he died.

Legacy

He was rated as the seventh all-time greatest

heavyweight by boxing historian George Blair. His current (incomplete) record is 55 wins (52 by knockout), two losses, three draws and one no-contest.

Professional boxing record

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Killen, Patrick 19th-century births 1891 deaths American male boxers Heavyweight boxers