Above is an 1899 news clipping from The Boston Globe. I apologize the text is mostly unreadable. It's a feature, however, on a "preacher," Mormon no less, named Willard Bean. He was a very good prizefighter out of Utah 100 years plus a generation ago. I first blogged about Bean several years ago. Here's a link. And below is Cal Grondahl's fantastic cartoon that accompanied the blog post.
Bean has an "official" 8-5-3 record with one no decision and one no contest on BoxRec between 1897 and 1902 but he likely had more wins unrecorded. He would be tagged a near world-class boxer, in my opinion. The reason I say that is his no decision fight of 10 tough rounds with Joe Choynski in 1899. Choynski is one of the greatest early pugilists; a Hall of Fame boxer. A small clip from a Quincy, Ill. newspaper is below that mentions the bout.
Bean also fought, and went the distance -- 20 rounds -- with the world-class heavyweight title challenger Fireman Jim Flynn, who fought Jack Johnson for the world heavyweight championship. Flynn also knocked out future heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in one round a few years before Dempsey won the title. Dempsey avenged the loss about a year later with a first-round KO of Flynn. Below is a recap of the decision win by Flynn.
Below are some long ago clips of recaps of a couple of bouts Bean won by knockout.
Most people know of Bean today due to his enthusiastic missionary skills and temple work later in life. A popular film on Bean and his wife's missionary efforts, "The Fighting Preacher,"' was released a couple of years ago. I reviewed it here. It's available on various streaming services, including Amazon Prime. The next clip exemplifies his missionary spirit. It is from The Salt Lake Tribune in 1899.
One more picture of the Fighting Preacher, Willard Bean. I do not know the source.
Some quick local MMA notes: Mountain Force MMA had an all amateur card Friday, Jan. 8 in Logan. In the main event, a great fight, Alan Rea stopped Aaron Boothe in Round 3. Fighting Out of Utah MMA has results on its Facebook page. Also, Utah professional welterweight Weston Wilson traveled to Knoxville, Tenn, on Saturday, Jan. 9 and knocked out Christian Sanchez in the first round.
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