Jack Britton

For the Scottish footballer, see Jack Britton (footballer).

Jack Britton
Born	(1885-10-14)October 14, 1885 Clinton, New York
Died	March 27, 1962(1962-03-27) (aged 76)
Nationality	American
Other names	Boxing Marvel
Statistics
Weight(s)	Welterweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Reach	70 in (178 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	344
Wins	239
Wins by KO	30
Losses	57
Draws	43
No contests	5

portrait of Britton

Jack Britton (October 14, 1885 – March 27, 1962) was three-time world welterweight boxing champion. Born William J. Breslin in Clinton, New York, his professional career lasted for 25 years beginning in 1905. He holds the world record for the number of title bouts fought in a career with 37 (18 of which ended in no decisions), many against his arch-rival Ted "Kid" Lewis, against whom he fought 20 times. Statistical boxing website BoxRec lists Britton as the #6 ranked welterweight of all time while The Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer placed him at #3. He was inducted into the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1960 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a first-class member in 1990.

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Fifty Grand" is based on the Jack Britton/Mickey Walker fight in Madison Square Garden on November 1, 1922. Other sources link this story to the Britton/Benny Leonard fight the previous June in the Bronx Hippodrome where Leonard lost in what appeared to be an intentional foul. Leonard was specifically mentioned in the first draft of Hemingway's short story.

Notable bouts

Result	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	Red Herring	PTS	8	1929-04-22	Memphis Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Loss	Mickey Walker	UD	15	1922-11-01	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost World Welterweight Title.
Win	Benny Leonard	DQ	13 (15)	1922-06-26	Velodrome, Bronx, New York	Retained World Welterweight Title.
Draw	Dave Shade	MD	15	1922-02-17	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained World Welterweight Title.
Win	Mickey Walker	NWS	12	1921-07-18	Armory, Newark, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Dave Shade	PTS	10	1921-06-03	Milwaukie Arena, Milwaukie, Oregon
Win	Kid Lewis	UD	15	1921-02-07	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained World Welterweight Title.
Loss	Mike O'Dowd	NWS	12	1920-05-17	Canton Auditorium, Canton, Ohio	Newspaper Decision
Win	Mike O'Dowd	NWS	8	1919-08-22	Armory, Newark, New Jersey	Newspaper Decision
Win	Kid Lewis	NWS	8	1919-07-28	Armory A.A., Jersey City, New Jersey	Retained World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision
Win	Kid Lewis	KO	9 (12)	1919-03-17	Canton Auditorium, Canton, Ohio	Won World Welterweight Title.
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	8	1918-06-25	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Kid Lewis	NWS	6	1918-06-20	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1918-05-02	Town Hall, Scranton, Pennsylvania	For World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision
Win	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1918-03-06	Armory Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia	For World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision
Loss	Benny Leonard	NWS	10	1917-10-19	Harlem S.C, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Kid Lewis	PTS	20	1917-06-25	Westwood Field, Dayton, Ohio	Lost World Welterweight Title.
Loss	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1917-06-14	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1917-06-06	Saint Louis Coliseum, Saint Louis, Missouri	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1917-05-19	Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Mike O'Dowd	NWS	12	1917-05-08	Broadway S.C., Brooklyn, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1917-03-26	Queen City A.C., Cincinnati, Ohio	Newspaper Decision
Win	Mike O'Dowd	NWS	10	1917-01-25	Saint Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota	Newspaper Decision
Win	Charley White	PTS	12	1916-11-21	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts	Retained World Welterweight Title.
Draw	Kid Lewis	PTS	12	1916-11-14	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	Kid Lewis	PTS	12	1916-10-17	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	Mike O'Dowd	PTS	12	1916-06-06	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	Kid Lewis	PTS	20	1916-04-24	Louisiana Auditorium, New Orleans, Louisiana	Won World Welterweight Title.
Win	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1916-02-15	Broadway Arena, Brooklyn, New York	For World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision
Win	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1916-01-20	Broadway Auditorium, Buffalo, New York	For World Welterweight Title. Newspaper Decision
Loss	Kid Lewis	PTS	12	1915-09-28	Arena (Atlas A.A.), Boston, Massachusetts	For World Welterweight Title.
Loss	Kid Lewis	PTS	12	1915-08-31	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts	Lost World Welterweight Title.
Win	Kid Lewis	NWS	10	1915-03-26	135th Street A.C., New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Packey McFarland	NWS	10	1913-12-08	Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Newspaper Decision
Win	Matty Baldwin	NWS	10	1913-04-15	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Packey McFarland	NWS	10	1913-03-07	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Willie Ritchie	PTS	4	1911-10-06	Dreamland Rink, San Francisco, California
Draw	Packey McFarland	PTS	8	1911-01-30	Armory A.C., Memphis, Tennessee
Draw	Leo Houck	NWS	6	1909-03-18	Lancaster A.C., Lancaster, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Draw	Leo Houck	NWS	6	1909-02-04	Lancaster A.C., Lancaster, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision
Loss	Leo Houck	NWS	6	1906-10-18	Lancaster A.C., Lancaster, Pennsylvania	Newspaper Decision

External links

• Boxing record for Jack Britton from BoxRec (registration required)
• Cyber Boxing Zone Bio
• Hickok Sports Bio