A Much Need Distraction from the Horrors of War: Boxing at the Lyceum Theatre

By Matt Ward

1918 was a big year for boxing at the Lyceum Theatre in Red Bank. With World War I raging on in Europe, Jersey Shore residents looked for distraction from reports of the horrors of war. Boxing helped people on the Jersey Shore, and around the country, find that much needed distraction.

A series of five boxing cards were hosted at the Lyceum Theatre that summer. These fights were organized by the Monmouth County Athletic Club, and were the earliest professional bouts recorded in the borough’s history. The opening card of the season was held on June 7th, and featured two principal bouts, three preliminaries, and a wrestling match. The main event pitted Bantamweight contender, Frankie Burns against Joey Leonard. Burns, a popular fighter from Jersey City, entered the bout as the favorite against his Brooklyn native opponent. Renowned sportswriter, Red Smith later described Burns as “strictly a Jersey product. In the years before World War I you couldn’t glance up without seeing him fighting somebody for the bantamweight championship of the world.”

Frankie Burns

Burns’ presence in Red Bank that evening meant that boxing fans were in for a treat. Announcer, Joseph Humphreys, of Madison Square Garden fame, made his way down the shore to offer his talents to the evening of boxing. The bantamweights battled through eight action packed rounds, with the newspaper decision going to the veteran, Burns. Burns went on to box professionally until 1921, when he hung up his boxing gloves and retired. Leonard retired in 1923 with a losing record.

Joseph Humphreys

The second card of the summer was on June 14th and featured Irish-born, New York fighter, Mike McTigue and hard-hitting New Yorker, Frank Carbone. McTigue is well-known in boxing circles for holding the World Light Heavyweight title between 1923 and 1925, and competing against other division greats such as Paul Berlenbach, Jeff Smith, Harry Greb, Mickey Walker, and Tommy Loughran. This was the third encounter between the two men, with McTigue taking the first two bouts. That night at the Lyceum, the newspaper decision went to McTigue. The Red Bank Register described the bout as being a “slow affair,” in which McTigue utilized his greater reach to hold off and jab his opponent at will. Newspapermen also noted that the two middleweights clinched throughout the bout to the displeasure of fans and ringside reporters.

Mike McTigue

The June 21st show featured Kid Henry and Johnny Hayes headlining a card loaded with New Jersey based fighters making their professional debuts. The Red Bank Register described the main event as being of “high class.” Henry was the far more experienced fighter of the two men. He came into the bout having fought tough fighters including Abe Attell, Mel Coogan, and Tommy Helm. Despite both boxers fighting well over the course of eight rounds, “their scrap was marred by repeated holding and clinching.” Neither fighter was badly hurt, despite some stiff jolts landed over the course of the competition. The fight was ruled a draw by The Red Bank Register.

The June 28th card at the Lyceum Theatre featured a semi-final bout between two up and coming fighters, and a main event featuring two fighters with “.500 records.” The Red Bank Register reported that the card was viewed by a large crowd of fans. The semi-final bout was between New York fighters, Bobby Michaels and Joe Garry. Michaels, who went on to fight just under 70 career fights, defeated the less experienced Garry via The Red Bank Register newspaper decision. In the main event, Young Willie Gradwell of Newark faced Joe Mooney of New York in a lightweight contest. Gradwell controlled the bout through eight rounds of action, and was rewarded for his efforts throughout the contest with The Red Bank Register newspaper decision.

The summer boxing schedule ended on July 20th, with arguably the weakest card of the series. The card was highlighted by two Red Bank fighters, Frank Moran and Billy Valleau, winning their professional debuts. The main event featured two fighters also making their professional debuts, Billy Dasso and Joe Forgione, and ended in a second round knockout victory for Fort Hancock’s Dasso. The Red Bank Register reported that the knockout came after, “Dasso’s second told him after the first round that they had only twenty minutes to catch their car going back to Sandy Hook.” The knockout ensured that Dasso and his corner man had adequate time to catch their ride back to the base!  It appears that Dasso’s professional boxing career ended that evening; while Forgione went on to fight a few more bouts. The highlight of Forgione’s unimpressive boxing career was a 1921 bout against veteran Illinois’ boxer, Young Tony Caponi, in which Caponi decisively defeated the Newark fighter via a twelve round newspaper decision.

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Boxing at the Red Bank Armory

By Matt Ward

The Red Bank Armory is located at 76 Chestnut Street in Red Bank. The historic building dates back to 1914, and was the home of the New Jersey Army National Guard’s Troop B of the Cavalry. A major feature of the armory was the 100x144-foot equestrian riding hall. By the 1950s, the armory was used as a storage space for old tanks. In 1998, the armory was purchased from the state and converted into an ice rink. The rink is home to a number of local hockey teams including the Red Bank Generals of the New Jersey Youth Hockey League and the nearby Red Bank Catholic High School Casey’s hockey team. The facility’s rinks are also used for ice skating lessons. I had the opportunity to tour the building in May of 2017, and was amazed by how wonderfully preserved the building is. It is a standing testament to the value of repurposing historic buildings for the sake of preservation!

Red Bank Armory in Modern Times

Other than for military and ice hockey purposes, the building has also hosted a series of professional and amateur boxing matches. The most notable professional bouts occurred in 1925 and 1948.

A charity card for disabled children was put on by the Asbury Park and Long Branch Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at the Red Bank Armory on August 7, 1925. The card was arranged by John Leon, a matchmaker for Coney Island Stadium in Brooklyn. This event attracted over 4,000 fans that enjoyed an evening of thrilling fights. The main event of the card featured flyweight boxing champion Frankie Genaro and bantamweight pugilist George Marks, who agreed to fight at bantamweight.

George Marks

Frankie Genaro was a boxer from New York City who fought professionally from 1920 to 1934. Prior to turning professional, the five foot and one inch boxer captured a gold medal at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games as a flyweight boxer representing the United States of America. Over the course of his long career, he fought over 100 times and captured titles in the flyweight division. Following his long boxing career, Genaro pursued a career as a horse jockey in France. He died in 1966 at the age of 65. Genaro was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.

Frankie Genaro (front) with Primo Carnera

His opponent that summer night in Red Bank was an English born fighter billed out of Los Angeles, George Marks. Marks was a contender in the bantamweight division who captured the Pacific Coast Bantamweight title during his nine year professional career that lasted from 1917 to 1926. In 1933, Marks was tragically killed at the young age of 32 in an automobile accident in Azusa, California. 

This was the second encounter between the two men in the squared circle. Genaro had defeated Marks in June of 1925 at Coney Island Stadium in Brooklyn. The actual events of the contest, that was billed as “one of the most stirring boxing events ever carded in the state of New Jersey”, differed based on what local newspaper you read. According to The Red Bank Register, Genaro took five rounds and Marks won two. The two fighters split the other three rounds. Reporters from the Asbury Park Press were also in the press section that evening. They reported that Marks won every round with the exception of possibly the ninth “when Genaro probably conscious that Marks was getting the better of the breaks attempted to make a desperate try to even things up.” 

Because reporters from both papers saw the fight differently, the fight was ruled a newspaper decision draw. A newspaper decision was utilized in the early 20th century after a fight ended with no decision from the judges and referee. In this scenario, reporters from a local newspaper(s) would decide who won the fight. As you can imagine, these decisions were, at times, heavily lopsided in favor of a hometown fighter. This method of scoring is no longer utilized in modern boxing. 

The evening also had three other boxing matches featuring Tommy Jordan versus George Levine, Rene De Vos versus Lew Ferry, and Willie Dillon versus Erwin Bige. Belgian middleweight champion Rene De Vos, who is often listed as one of the greatest boxers not in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, took on Lew Ferry of Newark, New Jersey. Ferry was a veteran of the Jersey Shore fight scene, having fought there on numerous occasions. De Vos walked away the winner via newspaper decision after both The Red Bank Register and the Asbury Park Press scored the bout in favor of the Belgian.

Rene De Vos

Brooklyn based boxer Tommy Jordan and California’s George Levine squared off in a welterweight contest. The fight was described by the local media as having “all the earmarks of a championship bout from the start.” Levine won the bout via newspaper decision after The Red Bank Register scored the contest a draw, and the Asbury Park Press scored the fight for Levine. 

The opening bout of the evening featured Omaha’s Erwin Bige, who weighed in at 121 pounds, and New York’s Willie Dillon, who weighed seven pounds heavier than his opponent. The weight advantage had no impact on the fight’s outcome, as Bige cruised to a newspaper decision over his opponent after ten rounds of boxing. Both The Red Bank Register and Asbury Park Press scored the fight in favor of the Nebraskan. 

Professional boxing returned to the Red Bank Armory on October 12, 1948. This card had far less star power than the show 13 years earlier, and featured a card loaded with fighters from the tristate area such as Philadelphia’s Danny McCall, Newark’s Jimmy Stamford, and Asbury Park’s Don Layton. The main event featured middleweights Milton Lattimore and Billy Ellison. Lattimore, a New York City fighter, was originally supposed to face Tony Rose. Rose was replaced prior to the bout by Billy Ellison of Newark. The six round main event ended in favor of the replacement fighter, Ellison, who won by points. Before retiring in 1949, Ellison fought three of his final four bouts in Atlantic City. Lattimore retired in 1951 with an even professional record of 26-26.   

This venue was also the site of numerous amateur boxing shows from the 1930s to 1970s. These cards often pitted local Police Athletic League (PAL) chapters against one another, including the Red Bank and Middletown PALs. The rich sports history of this building coupled with the building’s current position in the world of hockey will ensure that the Red Bank Armory will be an important part of the Red Bank community for many years to come. 



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