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Wednesday, Oct. 01, 2008

Today marks 75 years since accident that led to boxer 'Young' Stribling's death

Guerry Boone Stribling knew of his father only through stories and legends.

He had heard how his dad, Macon boxer William Lawrence "Young" Stribling, loved to race motorcycles and airplanes. How he grew up as part of a family sideshow novelty act that toured the world. And how he took heavyweight champion Max Schmeling to the 15th round before suffering a technical knockout.

Many people in these parts seemed to have a Young Stribling story, and that's how Guerry Boone came to know about his father, arguably Macon's most beloved son before Otis Redding came along.

"Legend - that's a good way of putting it," said the younger Stribling, now 75 and living in Hawkinsville. "People still recognize the (family) name, but it's less and less frequently. I used to hear something about my dad once a week. Then, it was once a month. Now, it's maybe once every six months. Of course, people around Macon still recognize the name."

Today marks 75 years since an accident led to Young Stribling's death two days later on Oct. 3, 1933.

Guerry Boone was 13 days old when his father, riding his motorcycle after a round of golf at Idle Hour Country Club, was struck by a car. He died a couple days later from peritonitis. "Strib," as most people called him, was just 28.

His death cut short a promising boxing career that, while never quite reaching its full potential, was nonetheless one of the most colorful in the history of the sport.

GROWING UP

As described by author Jimmy Jones in his biography, "King of the Canebreaks," Strib practically grew up in the ring as part of his family's traveling vaudeville act, called The Four Novelty Grahams.

It was a money-making venture of W.L. Stribling Sr., whom everyone called "Pa." One of the main aspects of the act was setting the then 4-year-old Strib against his 2-year-old brother, Herbert "Babe" Stribling.

Even at such a young age, Strib already was versed enough in show business that he knew to take a dive and let Babe win, because it was always a crowd-pleaser.

When Strib turned 10, his father would let any comer challenge Strib in the ring. Many a town bully signed up, but few lasted the requisite three rounds necessary to collect what was in 1915 a princely sum of $10.

Strib emerged as a top athlete in his teen years. In addition to his developing skills in the ring, he also was a high school basketball star, sparking Lanier High School to a state championship in 1922 and a trip to the National Interscholastic Tournament in Chicago.

At about the same time, Strib joined the professional boxing ranks. He fought 75 professional bouts in his first three years in five different classifications, losing only three of them - all to much older boys. In fact, Strib was fighting so often that he was declared ineligible for basketball because of his professional status.

GETTING ESTABLISHED

In 1923, Irish middleweight champion Mike McTigue was touring America, taking on challengers at various American Legion posts when the commander of Columbus' post wired McTigue and asked to him to fight a rising star named Young Stribling.

Some 10,000 showed up to the outdoor bout, in which Strib more than held his own. Though many of the sportswriters there gave Strib the edge on their scorecards, the referee initially awarded the decision to McTigue. Faced with an angry mob (that included the Ku Klux Klan), the overwhelmed official then switched the decision to Stribling, making him the new light heavyweight champion at just 19 years old.

But once safely out of the arena, the referee changed the decision once more, awarding the victory back to McTigue.

Though he didn't win, Strib's showing against McTigue drew the attention of the boxing world, and Strib's father was determined to capitalize on it.

Strib toured the Eastern seaboard in 1924, adding to both his win total and reputation, according to his biography. His famed "buckshot punch" - a hard right to the jaw, followed by a left-right feint before another hard right - led to an impressive string of wins as well as a draw with the new light heavyweight champion Paul Berlenbach.

At this point, Stribling wasn't even 20 but already had fought more than 100 pro bouts, losing just four times. About 60,000 people turned out to the newly opened Yankee Stadium, where Strib won a six-round decision over rising star and future Hall of Famer Tommy Loughran.

It marked the beginning of Strib's golden years. From 1924 to 1931, he was ranked in "The Ring" magazine's top 10 among heavyweights or light heavyweights, including the top heavyweight ranking in 1928.

KING OF THE CANEBREAKS

The famed writer Damon Runyon derisively dubbed Stribling as "King of the Canebreaks" because he chalked up the boxer's career to being little more than a barnstormer who fought anyone, anywhere, Guerry Boone said.

Pa made sure Strib lived up to the reputation, mapping out a 10,000-mile, 90-day tour in 1925, fighting 33 times that year.

Stribling would end up setting a record in boxing of 127 knockouts that would last nearly 30 years until broken by the great Archie Moore. The record is something of a point of contention, even today.

"He had the greatest number of knockouts for a time," boxing historian Bert Sugar told The Telegraph. "You can quantify him, but you can't qualify him. At these sideshows, you didn't know who they would bring out of the audience. He was a phenomenon at a time when guys would have two or three fights a week. But a lot of those (guys he knocked out) went under the name of 'unknown.' "

When a sportswriter once told him he fought a lot of bums, Strib replied, "Maybe, but I never lost to one."

More defining of Strib's career was that he always fell just short when the big bouts came. Strib earned his first title shot against Berlenbach, the light heavyweight champion, at Yankee Stadium in 1926. But Strib's father didn't cut back on the barnstorming, and an overtrained and worn-out Stribling lost the decision in what then-Macon Telegraph sports editor Bobby Norris described as "the worst fight of his long career."

Still, Strib won often enough and was popular enough that he remained one of boxing's top draws. In 1929, Stribling - now a heavyweight - met No. 1 contender Jack Sharkey in Miami Beach. Scores of celebrities, from Walter Winchell to Jack Dempsey to Al Jolson, attended. Al Capone threw a huge banquet for attendees.

Strib won the early rounds but failed to follow up on a devastating shot he delivered just below Sharkey's heart. Sharkey managed to stay on his feet and won most of the later rounds to claim victory.

"Had Strib followed up with another similar punch, he would have had me out good," Sharkey told sportswriter Grantland Rice. "Had our positions been reversed, I would have murdered him."

The family went abroad following the Miami bout, and Strib proved to be an enormous draw in Europe. He was popular in England, where the fans appreciated his scientific approach and gentlemanly demeanor. During the tour, he split two decisions - both on fouls - with future champion Primo Carnera, who at 6-foot-8 and 265 pounds, towered over him.

But another European champion would prove to be the signature foe of Strib's career.

In 1930, German star Max Schmeling won the vacant heavyweight title after Sharkey hit him with a low blow and he was unable to continue. Schmeling decided to make his first defense against Stribling, the No. 2 contender at the time. The training camp was a circus-like atmosphere. Strib's father invited everyone to watch and had Strib sparring nearly every day. By the time of the fight, Schmeling had about 15 pounds on his challenger.

"(Stribling) was in the upper echelon of fighters at the time," Sugar said. "The problem was, he was very light. You didn't know if he was a light heavyweight or a light heavyweight (in classification)."

On the night of July 3, 1931, in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, the difference would prove costly. Though Stribling got off to a good start, closing the German great's left eye by the fourth round, Schmeling stunned Strib with a hard right to the head that turned the tide of the fight. Schmeling's superior conditioning showed after the ninth as Strib began to run out of gas, according to Jones' book.

With 14 seconds left in the 15th round, Strib sustained the only knockout of his career.

Despite his loss, Strib managed to continue his largely successful career, beating the likes of Loughran, Johnny Risko and Max Baer.

He remained a top contender until losing to heavyweight Ernie Schaff in 1932 in the last significant fight for both fighters. Both men would be dead within the next year.

HIS FINAL ROUND

Schaff died from injuries sustained in a bout against Carnera.

Strib, however, never carried scars or long-term injuries from his years in the ring. His tragic end came on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Macon. Strib's wife, Clara, had delivered the couple's third child 11 days earlier. After a round of golf, Strib decided to pick up some flowers and surprise her at the hospital.

According to the biography, Strib was known as a speed demon on his motorcycle. But on this particular day, he was driving at a normal speed when he passed the truck of a friend, Roy Barrow. Both men failed to notice the car of R.V. Johnson, which had been trailing Barrow when he decided to pass on the left side. Stribling's motorcycle struck Johnson's car and hurtled to the side of the road, sending the boxer over the handlebars. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office later ruled it an accident.

Barrow and his companion, a nurse named Francine Jones, immediately tried to help, but Strib was bleeding badly and his foot was nearly severed at the ankle.

At the hospital, doctors did their best to contain the bleeding, but Stribling's fever hit 107 degrees and he developed peritonitis.

With his family by his side, and people both in Macon and around the world desperate to stay close to the news, Strib continued to battle on.

"Now listen, son," Strib's father told him at his bedside, later recounted in news reports. "We're in the 10th round now and we've got to fight. I'm your manager, see, and you've got to do what I say; and I say fight!"

Calls and telegrams came from around the world, from the likes of Dempsey and Schmeling to the regular folks who had watched Strib in the ring for all those years.

But Strib lost his final decision.

The funeral and memorial service at the Macon City Auditorium was described as the biggest in state history at that time. More than 25,000 people went to the public viewing, and six planes from the 457th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps flew maneuvers in honor of Stribling, who was a first lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserves.

Strib was laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery. Today, the Spring Street bridge still bears his name, and a monument built into the wall at the old YMCA (now the Macon Health Club)where he trained still exists.

Guerry Boone Stribling said life wasn't easy after the death of his father. Though Stribling had earned a considerable sum during his boxing days, Pa Stribling, his manager-father, squandered away the fortune. That led to a rift between Clara and her in-laws that never healed.

"The early years were pretty rough," Guerry Boone said. "My mother was a wizard. You'd never know that we didn't have much money. You'd have thought we would have a lot of money, but all of the money in the Stribling machine was in Pa Stribling's name. All of the purses were paid to Pa, and he was a notoriously bad businessman. ... Pa had hoarded all the money and squandered it. There was hardly any left, and my mom was left holding the bag."

Guerry Boone's asthma caused the family to relocate to St. Simons Island when he was 6. During World War II, his mother served as a spotter for the Navy, and later she leased the family home to the federal government for the extra income.

He grew up in his famous father's shadow.

"I had a pretty hard time getting home from school," he said. "Everyone just wanted to whip my butt so they could say they beat Young Stribling's kid, which was not that hard to do, believe me." Guerry Boone's siblings, W.L. III (called "Tee") and Mary Virginia (called "Sis"), are both deceased. Guerry Boone attended Georgia Tech and became a commercial real estate developer in Florida. He has been battling lung and throat cancer for the past few years.

For years, many considered Young Stribling to be Georgia's greatest athlete.

Though Ty Cobb and Bobby Jones had more success, neither matched Stribling's overall athleticism, since he was a star basketball player, a scratch golfer and a pretty fair baseball player in addition to his ring prowess, according to his biography.

New York sportswriter Dick Williams might have summed up Strib's life best when he recalled the Stribling-Sharkey bout in Miami.

"I wanted to see Stribling win, because, personally, he was one of the finest gentleman the ring ever saw," Williams wrote. "In fact, he was too much of a gentleman for the boxing business and had he been allowed to fight his own fight, he probably would have been one of the greatest heavyweights that ever drew on the red leather mittens. ... The Southerner was one of the most courageous men that ever slid between the hempen lines, and no one died a braver death when his number was up."

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.