They had to fight to defend their turf.Ī boy holding a bunch of newspapers under one arm as he barked out his spiel was once a ubiquitous shard of the urban landscape. They did not have the luxury of a well-defined route free of interlopers like the kids in suburbia. With few exceptions, the newsboys that went on to become boxers were city dwellers who had to hustle to make a little money in the face of fierce competition. This was the sissified version of a newsboy. The Press was an afternoon paper so there was no conflict with school. At the distribution center, copies of the Long Island Press were folded in such a way that they became projectiles which could then be launched on to a homeowner’s stoop without getting off one’s bicycle. Many years ago, this reporter had a newspaper route. Montrose was enshrined under his ring name, Newsboy Brown. There are undoubtedly a few others in there with a newsboy background. Abe Attell, Tony Canzoneri, Young Corbett III, Pete Herman, Rocky Kansas, Fidel LaBarba, David Montrose, Lew Tendler, and Kid Williams are enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. Some newsboys went on to have Hall of Fame careers. The promoters had no trouble finding volunteers. Some amateur tournaments were restricted to newsboys. The newsboy boxer was a staple of so-called smokers during the early decades of the twentieth century. In olden days, many boxers were drawn from the ranks of newsboys.
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