Tommy Burns (Canadian boxer)

For the Australian boxer, see Tommy Burns (Australian boxer).

Tommy Burns
Tommy Burns, circa 1912
Born	Noah Brusso (1881-06-17)June 17, 1881 Hanover, Ontario
Died	May 10, 1955(1955-05-10) (aged 73) Vancouver, British Columbia
Other names	The Little Giant of Hanover
Statistics
Weight(s)	Welterweight Middleweight Heavyweight
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Reach	73 in (185 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	61
Wins	47
Wins by KO	35
Losses	5
Draws	9

Tommy Burns (June 17, 1881 – May 10, 1955), born Noah Brusso, was a Canadian professional boxer. He is the only Canadian-born World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. The first to travel the globe in defending his title, Tommy made 13 title defences against 11 different boxers, despite often being the underdog due to his size. Burns famously challenged all comers as Heavyweight Champion, leading to a celebrated bout with the American Jack Johnson. According to his biographer, Burns insisted, "I will defend my title against all comers, none barred. By this I mean white, black, Mexican, Indian, or any other nationality. I propose to be the champion of the world, not the white, or the Canadian, or the American. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don't want the title."

Burns was the first heavyweight champion to fight with a Jewish challenger, defeating Joseph "Jewey" Smith in a fight staged in Paris. He also fought a bout with a Native American on his way to the Championship. According to one biography, he had two black sparring partners and was married for a brief time to a black woman. At a time when most white American fighters adhered to the so-called "colour line", refusing to fight African Americans, Burns had half a dozen contests with black boxers before his clash with the legendary Jack Johnson.

Early life

Noah Brusso was born in Normanby Township near Hanover, Ontario, as the twelfth of thirteen children of an impoverished Italian-Canadian family. His family lived in several locations around Ontario's Grey County and Bruce County counties before moving to Galt, Ontario. Noah grew up in difficult circumstances; five of his siblings died before reaching adulthood. Brusso began his prizefighting career in 1900 in Detroit, Michigan. In June 1903, he was discovered playing lacrosse under an assumed name for a Detroit team that was playing in Chatham, Ontario.

Boxing career

Film of the 1907 heavyweight championship prize fight with Squires, shot by the Miles Brothers

After starting his boxing career under his real name, in 1904 Brusso took the Scottish-sounding name of Tommy Burns. He was 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) tall and about 175 pounds (79 kg), but his relatively small size did not stop him from becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion. When Burns met Marvin Hart for the heavyweight championship of the world in Los Angeles on February 23, 1906, Burns was a 2-1 underdog and the betting was 10-7 that he would not last ten rounds. Burns won a 20-round decision and went on to defend his title eleven times within a period of less than three years.

All previous gloved world champs had been European-American U.S. citizens (except for Robert Fitzsimmons, of the United Kingdom and New Zealand), who defended their titles only against other white opponents (although Fitzsimmons fought Jack Johnson after losing the title). Burns travelled the globe, beating the champions of England, Ireland, France and Australia. He was the first heavyweight champion to fight with a Jewish challenger, defeating British boxer Joseph "Jewey" Smith, in a 1908 bout held in Paris. He also fought a bout with a Native American and won.

Burns once defended his title twice in one night, although some historians refuse to accept those wins as title defences, insisting they were exhibition bouts. But in newspapers at the time, they were advertised as heavyweight title fights. If those defences are counted in his record, he successfully defended his title 13 times.

Burns (left) during a sparring session

In December 1908, Burns agreed to a bout with Jack Johnson, becoming the first fighter to agree to a heavyweight championship bout with an African American. Burns lost his title in the match held in Sydney. He had refused to fight Johnson until Australian promoter Hugh D. McIntosh paid him $30,000 for the fight (Johnson received $5,000). Burns was rumoured to be suffering from the effects from jaundice or influenza, and weighed in at 168 pounds (76 kg)—15 pounds (6.8 kg) lighter than his previous fight, and well below Johnson's 192 pounds (87 kg). The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police. Burns later claimed the disruption was due to spectators' concern he had a broken jaw. He also stated numerous right uppercuts from Johnson led to swelling on his face and the request to stop the fight. Referee Hugh McIntosh awarded the decision and the title to Johnson.

In a filmed interview, Burns ranked Johnson as the second-best boxer up to his time, after James J. Jeffries. Johnson defeated Jeffries in 1910 when Jeffries, who hadn't fought for six years, came out of retirement to fight. It is said that Jeffries was grossly out-of-shape and had lost much of his muscle. In 1909 in Vancouver, B.C., Johnson told a crowd of people that Burns deserved credit as the only white heavyweight who ever gave a black man a chance to win the title. He said, "Let me say of Mr. Burns, a Canadian and one of yourselves, that he has done what no one else ever did, he gave a black man a chance for the championship. He was beaten, but he was game."

Burns continued to box occasionally after dropping the title. During the Great War he joined the Canadian army, serving as a physical fitness instructor for troops in Canada. In 1920, and a month after his 39th birthday, Burns challenged British champion Joe Beckett. Burns was stopped in the seventh round when, after suffering two knockdowns, his corner threw in the towel to end the fight.

Life after boxing

After retirement, Burns promoted some boxing shows. In 1928 he moved to New York City where he ran a speakeasy. Although he was wealthy at the end of his boxing career, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression wiped out his fortune. Burns went to work as an insurance salesman and security guard, among other jobs.

In 1948 Burns was ordained as a minister. At the time of his death, he was an evangelist living in Coalinga, California. He died while visiting a church friend in Vancouver, British Columbia, suffering a heart attack at age 73. Four people attended his burial at Ocean View Cemetery in Burnaby, British Columbia. He was interred in an unmarked pauper's grave. In 1961 a Vancouver sports writer raised funds to commission a memorial plaque for Burns' grave.

Legacy

Burns is one of the more over-looked heavyweight champions in history, best remembered today as the man whom Jack Johnson beat to become the first black heavyweight champion. Yet Burns was the first truly international heavyweight champion, defending his title in America, England, Ireland, France and Australia. His 1907 title defense against Gunner Moir in London was the first World Heavyweight championship fight of the gloved era to be held outside of The United States. Standing at just 5'7", Burns is the shortest heavyweight champion in history, while only Bob Fitzsimmons weighed less in a world heavyweight title fight than Burns' 168½ lbs when losing the championship to Jack Johnson.

Burns' 8 consecutive title defenses by knockout or stoppage is equaled only by Larry Holmes and remains a record for the heavyweight division. Burns was also the first World Heavyweight champion to win the title on points. Although physically over-matched against Johnson, who handed him his first stoppage loss, it is notable that Burns did not lose inside the distance again until the final fight of his career, at the age of 39. It should be noted, however, that some sources record the result as Johnson winning the title on points after the bout was stopped by the police. The filming of the fight was stopped due to the one-sided nature of the contest, however, and regardless of the official ruling, is generally considered by historians to be a stoppage victory for Johnson.

Burns' reign as heavyweight champion lasted for two years, ten months and three days, the 19th-longest reign in heavyweight history. His eleven consecutive successful title defenses is the joint-fourth highest total in heavyweight history, alongside Vitali Klitschko and behind Wladimir Klitschko (18 defenses), Larry Holmes (20 defenses) and Joe Louis (25 defenses). Many of Burns' title challengers, however, were not of World Championship quality, as he frequently defended against the best available local heavyweights while touring the world. In Burns' first defense of the title, for instance, he knocked out James J. Walker in the first round. Walker's record going into the bout was 1-5 and he had lost by stoppage in five of his previous six bouts prior to challenging Burns. Burns also defended the title three times against Bill Squires. Squires, the Australian heavyweight champion, was actually a 10-9 favourite to defeat Burns, yet lost in the first round. Nevertheless, Squires obtained two further shots at Burns' title, despite losing two of his next three fights following their first bout. His trilogy with Burns is notable, however, as their three title fights took place across three different continents (America, Europe and Australia). This remains the only instance in history where two boxers have fought three times for a World title with each fight taking place on a different continent. Burns' best win as champion was a 20-round points decision over Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, who two years previously had stopped Bob Fitzsimmons to claim the World light-Heavyweight championship.

Despite his impressive statistics, Burns is not considered one of the great heavyweight champions. This can be attributed to the poor quality of the majority of his challengers, as well as his unimposing physique and small dimensions. The current (as of June 2020) WBC and lineal heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, for instance, stands 14 inches taller than Burns did, has an eleven inch longer reach and would have outweighed him by approximately 95 pounds. These factors makes it difficult for boxing historians to imagine Burns competing with later heavyweight champions, who would have held significant physical advantages. His one-sided loss to Johnson in his most famous fight demonstrates this fact, and perhaps contributes to Burns' poor historical standing.

Although Trevor Berbick and Bermane Stiverne have also won a version of the World Heavyweight Championship while Canadian citizens, Burns remains the only Canadian-born heavyweight champion in history. (Berbick and Stiverne were born in Jamaica and Haiti respectively.)

Honours

Australian boxer and Welterweight champion Geoffrey Mostyn Murphy would fight under the ring name "Tommy Burns", in honour of his Canadian namesake.

Burns has since been posthumously inducted into the following sporting institutions: the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, the International Boxing Hall of Fame on June 9, 1996, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Professional boxing record

61 fights	47 wins	5 losses
By knockout	35	1
By decision	10	4
By disqualification	2	0
Draws	9
No contests	0

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
61	Loss	47–5–9	Joe Beckett	RTD	7 (20)	16 Jul 1920	Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada	For Commonwealth heavyweight title
60	Win	47–4–9	Bob Bracken	KO	4 (10)	19 Sep 1918	Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
59	Win	46–4–9	Battling Brandt	KO	4 (10)	26 Jan 1914	Taft, California, U.S.
58	Draw	45–4–9	Arthur Pelkey	PTS	6	2 Apr 1913	Manchester Arena, Calgary, Canada
57	Win	45–4–8	Bill Rickard	TKO	6 (15)	8 Aug 1912	Saskatchewan, Canada	Won vacant Canadian heavyweight title
56	Win	44–4–8	Bill Lang	PTS	20	11 Apr 1910	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Won Commonwealth and Australian heavyweight titles
55	Loss	43–4–8	Jack Johnson	PTS	14 (20)	26 Dec 1908	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Lost lineal heavyweight title
54	Win	43–3–8	Bill Lang	KO	6 (20)	3 Sep 1908	West Melbourne Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Retained lineal heavyweight title
53	Win	42–3–8	Bill Squires	KO	13 (20)	24 Aug 1908	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Retained lineal heavyweight title
52	Win	41–3–8	Bill Squires	KO	5 (10)	13 Jun 1908	Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris, France	Retained lineal heavyweight title
51	Win	40–3–8	Jewey Smith	KO	5 (10)	18 Apr 1908	Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris, France	Retained lineal heavyweight title
50	Win	39–3–8	Jem Roche	KO	1 (20), 1:28	17 Mar 1908	Theatre Royal, Dublin, Ireland	Retained lineal heavyweight title
49	Win	38–3–8	Jack Palmer	KO	4 (20)	10 Feb 1908	Wonderland London, England	Retained lineal heavyweight title
48	Win	37–3–8	Gunner Moir	KO	10 (20)	2 Dec 1907	National Sporting Club, London, England	Retained lineal heavyweight title
47	Win	36–3–8	Bill Squires	KO	1 (45), 1:28	4 Jul 1907	Mission Street Arena, Coma, California, U.S.	Retained lineal heavyweight title
46	Win	35–3–8	Philadelphia Jack O'Brien	PTS	20	8 May 1907	Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Retained lineal heavyweight title
45	Draw	34–3–8	Philadelphia Jack O'Brien	PTS	20	28 Nov 1906	Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Retained lineal heavyweight title
44	Win	34–3–7	Fireman Jim Flynn	KO	15 (20)	2 Oct 1906	Naud Junction Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Retained lineal heavyweight title
43	Win	33–3–7	James J Walker	KO	1 (10), 2:55	28 Mar 1906	National Athletic Club, San Diego, California, U.S.	Retained lineal heavyweight title
42	Win	32–3–7	Jim O'Brien	KO	1 (10), 2:18	28 Mar 1906	National Athletic Club, San Diego, California, U.S.	Retained lineal heavyweight title
41	Win	31–3–7	Marvin Hart	PTS	20	23 Feb 1906	Pacific Athletic Club, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Won lineal heavyweight title
40	Loss	30–3–7	Jack Twin Sullivan	PTS	20	17 Oct 1905	Pacific Athletic Club, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
39	Win	30–2–7	Dave Barry	TKO	20 (20), 2:18	31 Aug 1905	Woodward's Pavilion, San Francisco, California, U.S.	Retained Pacific Coast middleweight title
38	Draw	29–2–7	Hugo Kelly	PTS	20	28 Jul 1905	Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
37	Draw	29–2–6	Hugo Kelly	PTS	10	7 Jun 1905	Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
36	Win	29–2–5	Dave Barry	PTS	20	2 May 1905	Germania Hall, Tacoma, Washington, U.S.	Won Pacific Coast middleweight title
35	Draw	28–2–5	Jack Twin Sullivan	PTS	20	7 Mar 1905	Tacoma Athletic Club, Tacoma, Washington U.S.
34	Win	28–2–4	Joe Schildt	KO	6	31 Jan 1905	Ballard, Seattle, Washington U.S.
33	Loss	27–2–4	Philadelphia Jack O'Brien	NWS	6	7 Oct 1904	Panorama Building, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
32	Draw	27–1–4	Billy Woods	PTS	15	16 Sep 1904	Seattle Theater, Seattle, Washington, U.S.
31	Win	27–1–3	Cyclone Kelly	KO	4 (20)	19 Aug 1904	Germania Hall, Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
30	Win	26–1–3	Hans Erickson	KO	3	9 Jul 1904	Kemmerer, Wyoming, U.S.
29	Win	25–1–3	Joe Wardinski	KO	1	1 Jul 1904	Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
28	Win	24–1–3	Tony Caponi	PTS	6	9 Apr 1904	Chicago Athletic Association, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
27	Draw	23–1–3	Tony Caponi	PTS	6	18 Mar 1904	Battery D Armory, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
26	Draw	23–1–2	Mike Schreck	PTS	6	27 Feb 1904	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
25	Win	23–1–1	George Shrosbree	KO	5	26 Feb 1904	Battery D Armory, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
24	Win	22–1–1	Ben O'Grady	KO	3 (10)	28 Jan 1904	Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
23	Win	21–1–1	Tom McCune	PTS	10	31 Dec 1903	Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	Retained Michigan State middleweight title
22	Win	20–1–1	Jack O'Donnell	KO	11	25 Nov 1903	Evanston, Illinois, U.S.	Retained Michigan State middleweight title
21	Win	19–1–1	Jack Butler	KO	2	8 Nov 1903	Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, U.S.	Retained Michigan State middleweight title
20	Draw	18–1–1	Billy Moore	PTS	10	24 Oct 1903	Amphidrome, Houghton, Michigan, U.S.	Retained Michigan State middleweight title
19	Win	18–1	Jack Hammond	KO	3 (10)	12 Oct 1903	Soo Opera House, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, U.S.	Retained Michigan State middleweight title
18	Win	17–1	Jim Duggan	KO	9	25 Sep 1903	Amphidrome, Houghton, Michigan, U.S.	Won Michigan State middleweight title
17	Win	16–1	Earl Thompson	KO	3	18 Apr 1903	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
16	Win	15–1	Dick Smith	KO	3 (6)	25 Mar 1903	Delray Athletic Club, Delray, Michigan, U.S.
15	Win	14–1	Reddy Phillips	DQ	2 (6)	25 Mar 1903	Delray Athletic Club, Delray, Michigan, U.S.
14	Win	13–1	Jim O'Brien	PTS	10	13 Feb 1903	Handloser Hall, Delray, Michigan, U.S.
13	Loss	12–1	Mike Schreck	PTS	10	16 Jan 1903	Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
12	Win	12–0	Tom McCune	KO	7 (10)	26 Dec 1902	Light Guard Armory, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
11	Win	11–0	Reddy Phillips	TKO	9 (10)	6 Nov 1902	Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
10	Win	10–0	Jack O'Donnell	KO	11	19 Sep 1902	Butler, Indiana, U.S.
9	Win	9–0	Dick Smith	PTS	10	8 Jul 1902	Mount Clemens, Michigan, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Dick Smith	KO	2	27 Jun 1902	Nelson's Opera House, Mount Clemens, Michigan, U.S.
7	Win	7–0	Ed Sholtreau	PTS	10	16 May 1902	Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Ed Sholtreau	TKO	1 (10), 1:35	18 Apr 1902	Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Billy Walsh	PTS	6	4 Apr 1902	Handloser Hall, Delray, Michigan, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Archie Steele	DQ	2 (6)	5 Mar 1902	Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Harry Peppers	RTD	2 (8)	3 Mar 1902	Weyler's Hall, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Billy Walsh	TKO	5 (8)	5 Feb 1902	Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Fred Thornton	TKO	5 (10)	16 Jan 1902	Handloser Hall, Delray, Michigan, U.S.

See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• The Burns-Johnson Fight – contemporary documentary on the fight

External links

• Tommy Burns - CBZ Profile
• Boxing record for Tommy Burns from BoxRec (registration required)
• Boxing Hall of Fame