Foreword: Liquor has had a long association with “the manly art of self defense” as boxing sometimes was piously term. It was the advertising money from a distiller in 1910 that allowed the “Fight of the Century” between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries to take place in Reno. Featured here are three “whiskey men” whose lives were intimately involved in the fight game, one as a boxer and two as impresarios and referees.
Shown here, saloon owner “Con” Oram gained national fame for his 185-round, semi-bare knuckles prize fight in Virginia City, Montana, against a man who outweighed him by 52 pounds. Proving he was more than a pugilist, Oram, shown here, also has been credited by historians with advancing Montana toward statehood
Circa 1874, after a short successful career in boxing Oram settled in Virginia City, Montana, where he opened a liquor establishment he appropriately called “The Champion Saloon.” Oram’s ads for the Champion emphasized that he carried a stock of the best liquor and cigars. He also advertised his lessons in “boxing and sparring once a week,” signaling that Con had not entirely left the ring behind.
Not long after he arrived in Virginia City, Oram was challenged to a boxing match by a whiskey-drinking Irish heavyweight named Hugh O’Neil. The winner’s purse was set at $1,000, equivalent to about $15,000 today. That payoff was sufficient to coax Con once more into the ring. Given his size and weight advantage, O’Neil was a 3 to 1 favorite. Caught in a photo below, spectators saw what Sports Illustrated has called: “One of the longest and most brutal fights in American ring history.” O’Neil’s height, weight and reach obviously gave him an advantage but Oram was wiry and quick, said by one observer to be a “bundle of venom” in the ring. After three hours and 185 rounds, as Con seemed to be getting the worst of it, the referee stopped the fight, declaring it a draw. The pot was split between the two contestants.
Earlier, as the men of Virginia City gathered on the street in 1864 for a Western version of a town hall, Oram mounted a wagon and began to harangue the crowd about their present hardships and the need to take immediate action to separate from Idaho and form a new political entity. Apparently galvanized by Oram’s rhetoric, the crowd voted to raise money to present President Lincoln with a petition asking to make Montana a new territory with statehood to follow. The group, its work done, then repaired to a saloon, likely The Champion. Lincoln agreed to the split and signed a decree creating the new territory. After a few more fights, Oram bought a Montana ranch, retired from the ring and raised cattle and feed.
Tex Rickard, shown left, went from from barkeep to boxing boss. With its label in tatters the whiskey bottle shown below would have little interest except for the name in the smallest print: “Tex Rickard,” an artifact from one of his early drinking establishments. Born in Kansas City in January 1870, George Lewis “Tex” Rickard parlayed operating saloons into a career promoting boxing matches that made him famous throughout the United States and, indeed, the world.
Drawn by the discovery of gold in Alaska in November 1895, Rickard headed for the gold fields of Alaska where he and a partner staked and later sold a valuable claim. He used the funds to open a saloon, gambling hall and hotel in Dawson City, Canada, that he called “The Northern,” a name he subsequently gave to subsequent saloons in Nome, Alaska, and Goldfield, Nevada.
In Goldfield Rickard achieved recognition as a fight promoter. As shown here, he sponsored minor bouts held in the town square next to the Northern Saloon. Tex, however, had his sights on bigger goals. In December 1909, Rickard and a partner won the right to stage the world heavyweight championship fight in Reno between James J. Jeffries and Jack Johnson, billed as “The Fight of the Century.” The bout gained national attention and brought recognition to Rickard as a fight promoter. Tex and his partner made a profit of about $120,000 on the fight, won by a knockout by Johnson.
Richard was on his way to fame and fortune. After staging a number of high profile championship bouts, he moved to New York. By now firmly ensconced in New York City, a rich man and a world renowned fight promoter, Rickard continued to build his legend. In 1926 he promoted the Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney fight in Philadelphia. The bout attracted a world record crowd of 135,000 and earned $1,895,000. By now fabulously wealthy, Rickard later founded and owned the New York Rangers hockey team, and built the third version of the famous Madison Square Garden.
The rise of Mathias J. “Matt” Hinkel from twelve-year-old office boy in Cleveland to nationally known millionaire sportsman, boxing promoter and prize fight referee was a phenomenon founded on the sale of alcohol. From 1892 to 1919, Hinkel’s prosperous wholesale trade in wines and as a “jobber of fine whiskey” made possible his forays into boxing and other sports. He apparently did not advertise widely and artifacts from his liquor trade are few. I have been able to locate a metal jug engraved “Hinkel’s Pure Rye,” The item likely was meant for use on a bar where it would have held water or tea for “cutting” whiskey.
Hinkel would make his mark in fisticuffs, gaining recognition as both a promoter of boxing matches and as a referee. His breakout event was arranging a 15-round featherweight championship bout on Labor Day 1916 at Cedar Point, Ohio. The match pitted Johnny Kilbane, the title-holder and Cleveland native, and George Chaney of Baltimore, called “The Knockout King of Fistiana.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer opined: “Twenty thousand American dollars must pass through the gates of Cedar Point…before…[the bout] is a financial success.” A large crowd came to watched Kilbane dispatch Chaney in three rounds. Much of the credit — and profits — went to Hinkel.
Soon Hinkel was being compared to Tex Rickard. His reputation as a referee also was growing. A newspaper in Edmonton Canada identified him as Cleveland’s “millionaire boxing referee.” A Duluth, Minnesota, daily hailed him as “one of the best ring arbiters in the country.” Shown below is Hinkel refereeing perhaps the most famous bout of his career. Held at the Olympic Arena in Brooklyn, Ohio, the 1924 fight drew national attention as Harry Greb (left), the world’s middleweight champion, fought Gene Tunney, the American light-heavyweight champion. The match went ten rounds, called a “see-saw” affair, and the judges declared it a no-decision. Hinkel told the press that if he had been permitted to vote he would have declared the contest a draw.
With the coming of Ohio statewide prohibition, Hinkel was forced to shut down his liquor house in 1919 after 27 highly profitable years in business. By this time he was 52 years old and could rely on his many other enterprises for activity and revenue.
Note: These short takes on three “whiskey men” in the fight game are abbreviated versions of longer posts on each. They are: “Con Oram, June 3, 2019; Tex Richard, November 22, 2019. and Matt Hinkel, May 20, 2020.
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